Sony Xperia 5 V – Black - 6.1” 21:9 HDR OLED 120Hz - Triple Focal Length (with Next Gen Sensor & ZEISS) - 3.5mm audio jack - Android 13 - SIM free - 8GB RAM - 128GB Storage - IP65/68 rating - Dual SIM

After a very frustrating experience with a Google Pixel 8 Pro, I decided to give the Xperia 5 V a go. This phone surpassed my expectations by a large margin. The build quality is mindblowing, I have never seen something so well finished like this in my life, (iPhones included). Unlike Google's approach that fills their phone with bloatware, push the hardest their services to you, like Google News on your homescreen, search bar (that cannot be removed!), the Sony is transparent straight from the first time setup: It asks what apps you want and don't want to be installed. It comes with the Google news and search bars, but with two simple settings you can disable these. The phone is very responsible and I didn't have any UI bugs like the Pixel 8 pro. The photos I take with it are beautiful, colours look natural, and unlike some reviewers that say you need to be experienced to use this camera, you get absolutely stunning images using the click and shoot basic mode. I'm not a big fan of big phones, and the narrow format of this Sony makes it really comfortable to hold and reach anywhere in the screen with one hand operation (sad that Sony has given up on this format for the Xperia 1 VI!). It is also very light and unobtrusive to carry in a trousers/ jeans pocket. Battery life is from another world, I get 70% at night after using the phone quite regularly during the day, including listening to music whilst working. The fact that Sony still offers the 3.5mm jack and an incredible sound quality from that port (paired with my Beyerdynamic T51 it's a dream!) and the option to have eSim + SIM card + SD simultaneously, is one of the main reasons I ended up with this phone over other options around. Some people talk about the bezels on this phone, for me it looks absolutely natural. I honestly prefer this screen style rather than the LCD invading the front camera area. Honestly, I'm in love with this phone. I just hope Sony won't give up on their phones, I got so many frustrating options until I found this one, and I'm definitely going for another Sony in the future.

..For me, anyway.. I am absolutely thrilled with my Sony phone. Love it!! Features of the phone that have contributed to this outlet of praise are many.. The camera; The audio quality; The compact size, build quality and aesthetics of the phone; The UI and its enjoyable and useful features; The inclusion of what appears to be yesteryear features in some phones (particularly 'flagship' models) ie, 3.5mm headphone outlet and expandable storage slot; Physical camera shutter button; And let's not forget the two days plus battery life; Prior to purchasing this marvel of a device and having owned wider and taller phones prior, I was slightly concerned as to whether the Xperia 5 v's 6.1" size and unique slimline design would be an issue. It has proved not to have been, and is a joy to use. I have 'twiddled' with my Sony for the past two days and have yet to transfer my sim over from existing phone, so that it is in full phone usage mode, but so far, so enjoyable. Everyone should know about what capable phones Sony can and has produced with the Xperia 5 v. If you are a camera enthusiast and also want a reliable, robust phone, then I cannot recommend this Sony model enough. It is a weighty phone, which further enhances its quality appeal. Thank you for reading.

I could opine at length about the merits of this phone but I will keep it succinct and say that it fulfils every need and wish you could have for a compact but premium smartphone at a reasonable price. Everything about it exudes quality - the build, the screen, the cameras (just wow), the audio, the chipset, the battery, the clean Android interface, the features not readily found elsewhere (e.g. headphone jack and SD card slot) ... and so on. Plus it's a Sony which sets it apart from the masses in this field. Have no hesitation :)

Compared to the previous phone, I had the Sony Xperia 5 III, this one is a bit better. The size is more or less the same, which is good. The battery keeps a bit longer. The camera is better and I like that there are more options in the basic mode. Overall the phone looks better and I am happy with it, but it has one thing which disappointed me a lot... It doesn't have the notification dot. I use my phone a lot in silent mode and the notification light was very useful. Now I have to check the phone all the time to know if I have a message or something.

I went for a phone that has great audio and this does. Camera is very good although the screen view area is small it does fit a wide scene in albeit smaller than prviously been used toon a previos phone. Highly recommeded.

You get a great great camera in this device. It is a compact device. I love the simplicity of the software, almost untouched android but the camera app. Sometimes the finger print sensor seems to be a bit behind of a quite responsive one, but it is not definetively an issue.

The main things I love: the design, the two SIMs (eSIM+SIM), the microSD slot and the headphone jack I use daily. I don't dislike at all the 21:9 format, even if you don't watch movies, it's great for multitasking and keeps the width of the phone within more manageable limits. Let's be clear, it's far from being a compact & light phone, but the build quality and feel is great. The phone is fast and smooth, the camera is compartment is good although not revolutionary, the fingerprint reader is very fast and accurate and the battery is very good if you don't hammer it. Great photo & video apps, but that's all, I can't think of any other pro. The so so part: the audio quality could be better and the equilizer is not very effective too. The weight is okay, but definitely not on the light side. The ultra cheap and yet useful notification led is gone, Sony did not even wait to introduce a LTPO display... just gone for no good reason. Now, let's discuss instead about what when really wrong with this phone in all honesty and why it is not worth buying: the display, the competition and the price. - about the display, there is no other way of putting it: it's bad. Except for HDR and the 120Hz refresh, it's the same panel you can find on the much much cheaper Xperia 10 V, and even worse with respect to not only the previous 5s but also 10s when it comes to viewing angles. Sony talks about colour accuracy but it is absolutely impossible to see any consistent white, due to the rainbow effect, without moving the device a meter away. Put this Xperia 5 V next to similarly priced Samsung and Apple products and you will realize how bad this display is, it really belongs to a budget smartphone. Absolutely unacceptable. - despite being a unique phone, the competition is not lacking at this price point, both by Samsung & Apple but also some chinese brands. However there is another competitor, that is, the Xperia 1 V. Because for a "little" more money and basically no extra weight you get a great display (instead), twice the storage, more RAM, an extra camera and a more refined frame. Yes, it's bigger but not by much, for some people may be a negligible difference, if you can afford it. In other words, the 1 V is a better value, putting this 5 V in a not so good position. - In short, the value/price ratio is quite bad: either the quality should be higher or the price lower. Effectively it's a downgraded phone with respect to the Xperia 5 IV (which could still be okay) but with a higher street price. For this price the display should have stayed the same, at the very least. Or with the same mediocre display but a much cheaper price. The Xperia 1 is (too) expensive, but at least it is very good! The Xperia 10 is disappointing, but at least it's cheap! This one happens to be disappointing and expensive. It makes no sense. Bottom line, don't buy, it's really not worth it, unless it gets a big price cut. But even then, can you live with the ugliness of this display?

I was an XA2 ultra user from 2018. I switched to this because I am a fan of sony and their pro-consumer focus on their phones, such as having an SD card slot and headphone jack, these are MASSIVELY appreciated. The 5 V has a fantastic camera too and a gorgeous display. However, I personally could not use the phone because it is too narrow due to the 21:9 aspect ratio. It makes reading text very difficult and feels like my head is in a vice. I tried changing the font size and display sizes in the settings, but I could not sort it. 99 % of apps are not designed for this aspect ratio. As a result, I returned the phone and went back to my xa2 ultra.