Sony Xperia 5 V

Pocketable size ; Long battery life ; Bucks trends with headphone jack and microSD

No zoom camera ; Beaten on value by big names ; Low light photos a grade below the best

The Xperia 5 V is a pocket-friendly and powerful phone with unusual features like a headphone jack and expandable memory. It’s not perfect, but it is very easy to live with.

Classic design, compact, lightweight, grippy, well-protected.

No charger and no cable in the box.

Being an expensive device makes the Xperia 5 V a tough sell, but far from impossible. This phone, just like many other Xperias, has a unique charm and innovative set of features - a combo that will make it attractive to the right people for sure.

Sharp and detailed image ; Excellent contrast and depth ; Natural and rich sound

Speakers sound slightly lightweight

Sony’s mid-range smartphone is cheaper than its predecessor while still offering the same excellent portable cinematic experience

Slick performance. Solid battery life. Includes a headphone port and microSD card slot. Physical camera button and manual mode.

Not available in the US. Still too expensive. Nothing else comes in the box. Lackluster software update policy: two Android OS upgrades and three years of security patches.

It's really small – exactly what some will want! ; True flagship power & decent battery life ; Super-snappy & detailed camera operation

It's really small – some will find it hard to use! ; Still pricey for a small phone ; No telephoto zoom camera

The Sony Xperia 5 V is a small phone that won't be for everyone on account of its elongated design. For those who love this specific scale, however, it's the stellar main camera, top-tier hardware, and decent battery life that make it a niche beast.

All-day battery life ; Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor ; Includes a 3.5mm audio port and camera shuttter button

Expensive ; The 6.1-inch screen can feel cramped ; Slow charging

The Sony Xperia 5 V packs flagship features, impressive performance, and an iconic Xperia camera system into a small package. Photography and videography enthusiasts will get on particularly well with it, but that's not all it has to boast about.

Brings back all the familiar Sony must-haves ; Flagship performance and long-lasting battery ; Very capable main camera with many manual modes

Contrast-heavy photos not to all tastes ; No adaptive refresh rate ; Skinny aspect screen can be divisive

Stuffed full of features and packing photographer-friendly cameras, the Xperia 5 V is everything we’d expect from a mainstream Sony smartphone – only now it’s also a little more newbie-friendly.

Premium design with great build quality ; Compact size ; Fast and snappy ; 48MP Exmor T main camera sensor ; Bright 6.1-inch OLED display with great color accuracy ; MicroSD card (up to 1TB) ; 3.5mm audio jack ; Loud stereo speakers ; Solid battery...

Gets hot under load ; No variable refresh rate ; Slow fingerprint scanner ; Expensive ; Barebone retail box ; Heavier and thicker than its predecessor ; Notification LED is gone ; Gets hot under load ; No variable refresh rate ; Slow fingerprint...

Compact design

Good performance ; Excellent battery life ; Nice screen ; Great camera hardware ; MicroSD slot ; Headphone jack

Expensive ; Mediocre update policy ; Camera preview looks nothing like the saved photo

The 2023 Xperia 5 follows the patterns we have come to expect from Sony: Some impressive technical specs mixed with lots of things that were inherited from previous generations. By this time, it appears that the Japanese company is tailoring its...