Sony Xperia 5ii Review: This is the One!
Retail Price: $949.99
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees and support our channel by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Product Specs +
- 6.1 inch 1080 x 2520p
- 449ppi
- OLED display
- Snapdragon 865
- 8GB of RAM
- 128 GB of storage
- 4,000 mAH battery
- Android 10
Camera Specs +
Rear Cameras
- 12 MP F/1.7 Wide
- 12 MP F/2.4 Telephoto
- 12 MP F/2.2 Ultrawide
Selfie Cameras
- 8 MP F/2.0
Video
- Shoots 4k at up to 30 FPS
This is the one we’ve been waiting for. Sony’s Xperia 5ii is the real deal and should be on everyone’s short list for their flagship phone in 2020. Of course, that’s not the reality nor the market Sony faces here in the USA, but that shouldn’t deter us from speaking as it is in this review of the Xperia 5ii.
A Warm Welcome
As the second generation of the Xperia 5 line, the Mkii serves as a secondary flagship for Sony after the top of the line Xperia 1. Even though it plays second fiddle make no mistake about it, the 5ii probably is the flagship Xperia you should choose in 2020. This phone has most of what makes the Xperia 1ii such a formidable flagship but at a near $400 (MSRP) discount from it’s sibling. While you can get the 1ii for sub-$1,000 now, the same can be said for the 5ii after a relatively short time on the market.
The Xperia 5ii uses the same flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor as the 1ii and has 8 GB of Ram with 128 GB of storage. Continuing from traditional Xperia traits, the 5ii gives users microSD card expansion in the form of a sim tray that can be pried out with your fingers instead of a tool. The shutter button which was a Sony staple also retains it’s spot on this tall phone.
Great For Consuming Media
And a tall phone this is as the 21:9 aspect ratio continues to be Sony’s defining mobile feature with this 6.1 inch Full HD display. The OLED panel has a 120hz refresh rate and with Sony’s Triluminos and X-Reality Engine (marketing words!), colors and image reproduction are just terrific. Much like with previous generations of Sony products, a lot of emphasis is put on having a quality viewing experience for users. Not only are the viewing angles superb, but the narrower aspect ratio gives the phone a PPI bump for a 1080p panel. 449 PPI for a 6.1 inch display makes this display deceptively sharper than you’d think a Full HD panel should be. I love watching music videos and viewing pictures on this panel and this is one aspect of Sony phones that I’ve never had concerns about when reviewing.
I’ve gone in depth about my thoughts on the 21:9 aspect ratio format in other Xperia reviews, so check those out to get a clearer picture.
A Promised Update
Sony has promised to update the Xperia 5ii to Android 11 sooner rather than later, but right now we have no idea when that will take place as the phone is still on Android 10. Traditionally, Sony is pretty good with updates so we’ll most likely see the new OS sometime in early 2021 if I had to guess.
Android 10 runs pretty well on what is essentially a stock Android skin. It’s the same experience Sony has been offering for years now and that’s one of the reasons many Sony users are so loyal to Sony. They don’t include much of any non-essential first party apps. We’ll get to the Pro apps in the next section of this review, but if you’re a fan of a clean Android experience, you’ll get more of that here. As far as performance goes, I’m satisfied with how the phone has handled itself with my unique usage. Apps move along fluidly for the most part, save for a few renegade ones like Slickdeals and Reddit. I’ve seen those two specific apps act up on a couple varying phones with no real similar variables, but not on other phones; so I still have yet to determine why it is. I’ve also come across the occasional 2 to 3 second lockup when navigating across the Android experience which once again, I have seen this before on Xperias. On this particular phone it hasn’t been that deterring of an issue where it did irk me on some of the XZ’s I reviewed.
Games on all levels of graphical intensity play well on the 5ii. Combine that once again with the gorgeous display color reproduction and it makes for a fun mobile gaming phone. Like many other OEMs aiming to capture the spaces people use their phones the most with, Sony provides gamers with a Game enhancer drop down menu that can allow you to get the most out of your gaming experience. Through this, gamers are able to toggle where the phone directs its resources to maintain battery life or performance as well as easily record gameplay footage.
Camera Experience
To satiate fans of their Alpha camera division, the Xperia flagships of this year have developed a surprisingly solid Pro app for both cinema and photography. These Sony developed applications allow you refined precision in things you traditionally manually set on a DSLR like aperture, ISO, and even focus control. Best of all the two apps utilize Sony’s dynamic vibration system which is a haptic feedback that really helps with the toggling. I can’t visually show you just how nice this feels as it is a physical sensation, but you’ll have to take my word for it. I personally don’t use manual controls on my smartphones for various reasons, but to have such a thorough one at your disposal is a benefit well worth having in your arsenal.
For me, mobile photography usually consists of quick “blink and you miss it” captures of nieces and nephews or pets doing something cute. To construct my own frame the same way I would on a set just wouldn’t be feasible. Luckily for us, Sony seemingly upped their game with camera optics on the 5ii. With triple 12 MP cameras that cover wide, telephoto and ultrawide, I was thoroughly impressed with this Sony’s photo taking results. Images come out clear and sharp with everything ranging from exposure to focus being beyond acceptable. When you move into the f/2.4 telephoto lens, focus is a bit spotty with certain subjects, but I’m very happy with the photos I’ve snapped with this phone. I really am impressed with the way this camera handles different variables of lighting. I see way too many cameras in 2020 still not able to properly distinguish what to expose for in a frame.
Shot on Sony Xperia 5ii
Battery Life
Other superb aspects of the 5ii include the performance of the 4,000 mAh battery. This is an unheralded champion of battery life. I recently introduced two additional intensive always on background apps to my suite and that still manages to keep me happy with longevity. I can get at least 12 hours off a charge and I’ve hit 6 hrs of Screen on Time before. I can confidently say that an average user can easily double that. I’m really surprised to say that, but that’s what I’m seeing here. I just wish that for a $1,000 phone we could at least plop this onto a Qi charger at night. Unfortunately, this Xperia is incompatible with wireless charging.
Overall Thoughts
There are a lot of flagship phones surpassing the $1,000 barrier in 2020. That seems to be the new normal now. While the Xperia 5ii doesn’t have the aesthetic flare of something like the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 or the praises from the masses like the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, this particular Sony flagship is a no nonsense phone that checks every box out without any major compromises. I’ll go as far as to even say that there isn’t another phone design on the market that has the “business phone” look down as well as the Xperia’s do. In my opinion, this is the phone that Sony has been trying to make for years but always fell short of hitting every nail on the coffin. Now let’s see them build on it and continue the momentum.
Related
Alex
Caught in between the conundrum of his fascination with retro and the future, Alex has a very unique taste in technology. Never one to follow trends like his millennial peers yet constantly desiring to get ahead of the curve, he sees technology like he does his other love: comic books. Always looking for the best value or a hidden gem, his collector mindset reflects on some of his favorite gadgets: the Moto X (2015), HTC U11 and the Google Pixelbook. If there’s a good tech deal out there, Alex is on the hunt!