Hands-On with the Sony Xperia 5ii: Unboxing & First Impressions
Retail Price: $929.00
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Initial Thoughts
Sony is finishing 2020 off strong with a second flagship showing that may actually be the better buy for consumers over their first showing, the 1ii. This is the Sony Xperia 5ii and it is the $1,000 phone that many people won’t even know exists, but probably should.
While the price tag screams upper premium segment, the specs behind the Sony Xperia 5ii certainly back it up. Powered by the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor with 8 GB of ram and 128 GB of storage with microSD card support, Sony has packed competitive performance into what has become their signature form factor, the 21:9 aspect ratio.
Right out of the box you can instantly recognize the combination of past and present Xperia design language with the boxy shape and clean candy bar aesthetic. We purchased the blue colorway and as always, Sony has designed this phone to be very professional oriented.
The major distinguishing factor between this 5ii and the 1ii is the display size and resolution. The Xperia 5ii provides users with a 6.1 inch 1080 x 2520 p display. Since this phone also uses a cinematic aspect ratio, it is more “compact” than its bigger sibling. However, just because it’s slightly shorter than the 1ii, I wouldn’t classify this as a compact phone by any means, especially if you refer back to the Xperia compact line as reference. The phone is indeed narrower and easier to hold in one hand per se, but when it comes to ease of transportation, the long body still bodes difficulty if you keep the phone on your body. I must admit it is a very sleek and slick device.
There’s a 4,000 mAh battery but no wireless Qi charging even though the phone consists of a glass back. That’s disappointing for me already considering the price point. We’ll see how the battery holds up, but after only a couple of days I’m actually pretty happy so far.
The triple camera setup is most likely where Sony will get your attention now especially with its focus on the Pro modes. On the Xperia 5ii there are three 12 MP Zeiss optic lenses. One f/1.7 for wide, one f/2.2 for ultrawide and one f/2.4 for telephoto. Combine that with the same Pro App control for cinema and photo that you get on the 1ii and that looks like a very capable setup. Of course we’re going to hold judgement until we’ve spent some quality time with these cameras, but I’m quite optimistic for this year. It really feels like Sony has turned the corner with their hardware and this could be the phone that succeeds in delivering everything Sony has promised us for years.
Other than that, the Xperia 5ii is a cleanly skinned Android phone running Android 10 out of the box. If you’re used to a Pixel experience, this phone is more of the same with very limited software alterations to Google’s experience. There is a side mounted fingerprint scanner that works cleanly from initial impressions. I’ve also quite enjoyed the dynamic vibration system for the audio experience in my few days with the 5ii. When you listen to audio on this phone, the 5ii will vibrate to enhance the dynamic range of whatever it is you’re listening to. It’s quite a neat little feature.
The Xperia 5ii is shaping up to be quite an intriguing flagship phone and I can’t wait to put it through my everyday routine. Be sure to come back for the full review!
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!