As bad was 1II for skipping hrr panel, this 5II is now the perfect phone, covering all the basics a flagship phone must have, only charging is a bit slow but that's fine.
yeah ok perfect phone - for idiots who think this ugly phone worth more than twice as much as other sd865’s on Amazon. Oh please, Sony Samsung Google Apple never spy on you.
Maybe its the opposite of the opposite and you are the leader of all the idiots and the phone is really an ugly phone, did you ever think of that? of course not because thats why they call you leader of the idiots.
You know there are cars for $100,000+, graphics cards for $2000, and shoes for $1000+...and they sell like hotcakes. If you can't afford it, it doesn't mean there isn't a massive market out there for it.
or people with different values, value things differently. It costs what? $150-200k to raise a kid to adulthood. Are they fools to spend money to have kids?
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't spend $1000 on a cellphone, but I won't consider those that do to be fools either.
Item A can be compared to Item B. What those items are, doesn't matter. In other words, you can compared whatever you want to something else. Course the comment already shows the lack understanding in the comparison, so no point trying to enlighten fools.
yields were likely awful for the screen on the Xperia 1 and 1 II which makes sense as to why stock was always low despite never selling all that many. lower res at higher refresh still likely works out cheaper for Sony.
What did you not understand? HRR panels are way cheaper than 4K. Packing more pixels add two dimensional yield issues. There're more pixels that can fail, AND smaller pixels are way more prone to defects. 120Hz panels is that, high refresh rate, panels that doesn't meet the requirement can still be sold as 60/90Hz panels.
Now that's a phone, with no stupid comprises, no awful useless ugly dead pixels that prevent the enjoyment of the screen, headphone jack to enjoy better quality and freedom of having both wired and wireless headphones, SD card to expand the storage and not be limited by the storage.
If I'm not mistaken, every phone running Android (custom baked ROMs like LineageOS aside) report back to Google and there was a class action lawsuit launched this past summer over that specific issue. I don't think its realistic, at this point, to expect anything you do on your phone or data that passes through your phone to be private from your TELCO or Google. It shouldn't be like that and it may eventually change, but for the time being, collecting, storing, and processing every scrap of data you generate and watching everything you do is quite valuable.
Google has much more incentive to spy given their business model depends on collecting data. They have also been sued over the past few months in the US and Canada for gathering data through Chrome and Android even though users do not consent and their EULA states they will not collect data from non-consenting users. Then there are antitrust investigations in 48 states and at the US federal level against Google plus the EU has already fined the company for privacy abuses. The track record on the Google end of the world is far worse than any other tech company besides maybe Facebook. If I were on an Apple platform, I would not be so concerned, but there locked ecosystem and hardware costs are too high so I have my fingers crossed that Google will suffer enough pain to be forced to respect users per the wording in their own user agreements.
Nice to see a great phone from Sony again except for that price though. That name, however, it's a Xperia 1 series and it is called Xperia 5 II. Great going. Why don't they collaborate with Intel and get even more confusing names!
Once you've changed your habit to use something, you don't want to let it go. I've got a wireless charger built into my desk, my nighstand and at work. We're talking a few seconds saved in a day, but it's so convenient.
It's ludicrous how some people ignore magnetic adapters while claiming how the current wireless is a necessity. With magnetic, you can use it without interrupting your charge, and without taking up internal space of the chassis, and although the cable still needs to be attached manually, you could do it blind, with one hand, with a general idea of where your phone is, or if you know where the cable is, you could have the phone reach out for the cable instead and it will attach automatically when close enough.
No it's not, when you have to choose between using the phone and charging it, obviously not. And every wireless charger is an "adapter" in its own sense. With magnetic, all you buy is a cable and the tips come bundled, and you use whatever USB-A charger you had, including the one bundled with your phone.
Yes. It's the difference between continual USB port wear, and having your phone recharge every time you put it down. For people who work from a desk, wireless charging basically means your phone never gets far from 100% charge, all day every day.
... That's not a good thing, batteries last longest if kept between 40-70% state of charge. I don't keep mine at 100% even though I have access to a charger all day.
Yes, because restricting yourself to 30% of your phones run time is such a fantastic user experience, and constantly recharging has NO adverse affects on lithium cells.
I did not say you need to restrict yourself to 30%. You can double your battery longevity by just not using the first and last 10% of your battery capacity. Constantly recharging is orders of magnitude better than keeping it close to 100%. Btw note the previous comment " having your phone recharge every time you put it down"...
Yep I’d make that trade off easily, but instead of that trade off I think it might just make the phone a tiny bit thicker and keep the battery size, totally worth it.
I was excited about wireless charging 5 years ago on my first Windows phone, but with fast charging on modern phones I find that I'm only plugged in for 30 minutes every couple of days.
Umm, what? If you're implying I should use my phone vertically outside watching videos or games, sorry but I'm not gonna do that. There are still under 150mm phones out there, thank you very much.
Agreed. I like the size of my iPhone SE (first-gen). Seemingly no one (including Apple) is offering a phone of that size anymore. So I'll probably keep it as long as it continues to work.
Though I do like that this one has a headphone jack. I used to make use of that when I worked in the office.
Subject to reviews confirming that the specs accurately reflect the phone's actual capabilities, this might be high up my list when it comes to picking up a replacement phone in a year's time. It's certainly justifying the flagship price better than most of this generation's Android devices, as there's literally no downsides to the design *and* it's a reasonable size. All I have to do is wait to be able to afford it 😂
Looking for 16:9 phone as my next workphone, these elongated shapes serve no practical purpose especially now that we have 90+ percent screen coverage. Heavy phones with medium batteries, no thanks.
Ah, yes. Benchmark, whereas it overheats super fast in real-world usage. And don't get me started on that pathetic battery, super-small screen, so small that I have to stretch my eyes to read and don't forget it doesn't have a 120hz screen, and did I mention that that thing has an LCD screen? :)) Yes, just keep your 4.7-inch screen iPhone and your "fantastic" benchmark score, you pathetic garbage :)
Agreed on the inaccuracy of the claim about this device as a "small phone" because it simply is not the case. However, the specs are nice and the fact that there is a 3.5mm jack is good too. The price is deep into the domain of unreasonable though.
Yes. I'm calling 6.1" a small phone. I went from a 5.7" phone with minimal bezel to my current 6.2" S20 and it's the same width in my hand. Same experience and very pocketable. So, big screen in a small size. Any smaller and you'd have an old Apple phone. Those days are long gone. Now, if we're talking 6.7" or 6.9" of the S20+ and S20 Ultra are definitely huge. That's why you see all the ladies with their phones shoved in their back pocket. They won't fit in the front pocket. My 6.2" S20 will.
I went from a KeyOne to an S10 which is 6.1 display and its the same physical dimensions as the blackberry just bigger screen.Both easily slide into a pocket.
"In terms of design, the Xperia 5 II takes queues from the Xperia 1 II" should be "In terms of design, the Xperia 5 II takes cues from the Xperia 1 II" Understandable mistake, English is a rubbish language for consistent spelling rules.
As this is about the Xperia 5 II then why not have the the Xperia 5 in the feature comparison table?
It's funny that nowadys you have to go with a flagship for $1000 to not get a huge phone. This one and the galaxy S20 seems to be the only reasonably sized ones.
That's too much to ask. A compact flagship is one niche, and stylus support is another, and they're nearly mutually exclusive since writing/drawing on a small screen is not preferred to those big ones.
Tgis is not a small phone. Xperia xz1 compact was a small phone. Original Apple se was a small phone. New iPhone 12 5.4 is allmost small phone... this is middle sized at least...
Good Article. I just wish Sony stop blasting their bs anti BL unlock with DRM keys for their Display and Audio processing technologies. Except that and price this phone is phone of the year 2020.
- No Notch - 120Hz with 240Hz Polling - 3.5mm jack - Dual Stereo Speakers - 4000MaH for a FHD+ (a bit of downgrade but it's ok tbh) - BL unlock available - IP rating - Qi Charging - Great HW for Camera - Solid PRO camera software for both Photos and Videos, esp Cinealta Pro for Videos offers stunning options like LG.
Only con that I miss would be not having a dedicated Sony DAC which is found on their prized Sony Walkman DAPs and praised for their superb Low end emphasis and fantastic sound.
It's on my list now for sure once my V30 gets very old I will replace it with this and use that as a DAP (thanks for the flawless ESS9218 with DSD and software audio tuning for both playback and record)
You should be aware that your coverage will drop significantly in the USA going from LG V30 to Sony anything. You need to make sure the phone supports LTE bands 66 and 71 or it's basically just a city center device. Almost like a really long range cordless phone, more so than a cellular phone.
That is a listing of all the phones which support band 71 in America, which is necessary to have coverage which is actually useful. Now, if you only ever want your phone to work places the population density exceeds 100 ppl/sq mile just buy anything, literally anything. If you want it to work places human beings can actually maintain their humanity, you need band 71.
It looks nice, but like others I would really prefer a shorter device with a 16:9 screen, 21:9 doesnt really work for me ona device like this, just makes it that much harder to use one handed.
My XZ1C is that phone. I believe they could fit an 18:9 screen with FF speakers in the same footprint 130x65mm) these days. The XZ2C felt oddly skinny though, and 21:9 + speakers is TV remote territory. Sigh.
It's 1mm narrower than S20, but it has smaller screen, and it's 7mm taller. I don't see how this phone is competitive in any way. Maybe the headphone jack?
Those headphone jacks are difficult to find on higher priced phones so the fact that one is being included may act as a primary motivator for quite a few people that feel strongly about getting that capability. When it comes down to it, if you're going to put down that much money (or take it over the course of a cellular contract) you may as well get the feature set that you want. Everything in that price bracket is pretty much using the same SoC so there isn't much variance in performance anyway. Everyone gets Android and everyone gets their current gen Snapdragon so the purchase choice boils down to other factors like a microSD slot or a headphone jack as product differentiation.
It wasn't too long ago that people were making comments like this about the first Galaxy Note with it's 5.3 inch screen:
"The Galaxy Note received positive reviews, but with critics divided on user acceptance of its polarizing form factor; Pocket-lint remarked that the device was "positively gargantuan" in comparison to an iPhone 4S and that users would look "like a fool" if they held it to their face to take a call."
And now here we are with the remark that a 6+ inch screen is small by the tech industry's journalistic end. Memories are certainly short when product life cycles are annual. On a personal note, I still contend that we humans look positively absurd with our big, silly bricks covered in screens and cameras that we spend so much time fussing over and pay so much of our incomes to irrationally keep up with each other's purchases.
All of us have been dealing with industry standard diagonal measurements for years and instead of referring to the screen area or height and width measurements, which are cumbersome to type out in a comment, we are using the same standard you yourself also use in the article. The problem you're upset about is not at all diagonal measurement. You're only using that as a funnel for aggression in order to respond to feedback that you do not like. Grow as a person. Consider the feedback with a higher level of poise and self-control and think about how it may help you improve as a journalist in the future rather than surrendering to simple human aggressiveness and lashing out. In our own snarky way, we readers would love to help you do better work and deliver higher quality output as it benefits us just as much as it helps you.
Screen diagonal has not been used as a standard measurement of form-factor ever since the S8 first debuted and we've moved on from 16:9 screens, this was well over 3 years ago. 18:9, 19:9, 19.5:9 and now even 21:9 is what is being released.
I specifically ignored the screen diagonal and focused on the 68mm width of the phone because that's actually the determining factor when holding a phone one-handed.
I am not going to tolerate attacks on journalistic coverage quality just because you cannot wrap your head around Pythagorean theorem and the fact that there hasn't been a 16:9 device in years.
If it's too cumbersome (as you say) to adapt from one metric to the other then please just avoid making pointless comparisons such as the above one, it benefits no one.
I find it hard to believe that you do not thing screen diagonal measurements have been used as a standard across the industry. Here is an Anandtech article from 2004 that uses diagonal measurements rather casually to describe screen size:
Your response is confusing to say the least. I've supported my reasoning with information available to anyone and now further support it with data from your own employer as far back as 16 years ago. Other readers have offered similar feedback in the comments section so my opinion is certainly not unique among those that looked over your article.
I've literally explained that with the recent shift from a standard screen aspect ratio to elongated form-factors that screen diagonal is not a valid metric for smartphones.
I don't know what you are trying to achieve by quoting a 2004 article before smartphones are even a thing.
Please use common sense instead of doubling down on a single figure when it it's no longer a valid way to compare things.
Here is a visual representation of the Galaxy Note versus the Xperia 5 II:
Please do tell me again that a 5.3" device is smaller than a 6.1" in your book, and that indeed is the metric we should be going by when comparing device form-factors, even though they're blatantly very different aspect-ratios.
You claimed that diagonal screen measurements have not been in standard usage since the release of the S8 three years ago. I assert that diagonal screen measurements have been and continue to be used to articulate screen size almost universally including over the course of the last three years for various Samsung branded devices that have been sold since the S8. Here are links from Samsung's website where you can see for yourself that the company represents screen measurements diagonally:
Apple does the same. LG does so. Huawei lists diagonal measurement and so forth. Various websites that list phone specifications and that review phones list diagonal measurements including Anandtech in reviews of said post-S8 model devices. Many of those reviews are your work.
If that measurement is invalid, why is everyone including you still using it? Why did it not become invalid when screens shifted from 4:3 to 16:9? It persists to this day over decades of information technology history and it most assuredly will survive further aspect ratio changes. You and I both know that is the case so what does it accomplish to contend it isn't relevant at this moment and in this article? I think we also both know the answer to that question and need not lash one another about it here especially given the abundance of pressure all of us face simply by the fact that we are alive in 2020.
Take or leave the thoughts a few of your readers here are echoing and interpret those thoughts however you wish. Perhaps think it over a bit more or even feel free to ignore us if the snarky way most of us toss out suggestions might bother you. We are unlikely to take offense at it and I assure you I do not begrudge anything in this particular exchange or any other we may have along your path as a tech journalist. I wish you all the best professionally and I expect you'll run into me in some other article in the future where we web denizens will most certainly be our usual rowdy selves.
> "You claimed that diagonal screen measurements have not been in standard usage"
Not only are you completely missing the point, you're just outright lying now. Let me quote myself again, from the comment above:
> "Screen diagonal has not been used as a standard measurement of form-factor "
I do not know how more clear I can be here. A screen diagonal does not determine the phone's size nor its usability. A 5.3" 16:9 device is not even remotely smaller than a 6.1" 21:9 device.
We use our phones the majority of the times in portrait, and the way we grip it with our hands basically is determined by the width of the device. The Xperia 5 II's 68mm is smaller than almost any other available device on the market, making it a small phone. Any discussion beyond this is futile.
I continue to wish you the best even if you do accuse me of lying over something as trivial as whether or not screens are still measured diagonally and I look forward to your future articles along with further growth in your career.
The industry has failed though. Just because they provide no small phones at all doesn't make this a small phone. Small phones don't exist, the industry has utterly failed to provide them. In fact, the phone industry doens't make phones at all. THey make phablets and tablets. There are no devices connected to cellular networks in America that are small enough to legally quality as "phones". They don't exist at all.
This argument is silly and dumb, but 68mm wide should be the WIDEST PHONE ON EARTH! Anything wider than that should legally be required to be called something else, and legally prevented from being called a "phone" as it cannot be used in one hand. 68mm with a decent case is still a 2 handed device. This is not a "small phone".
Where's the 60mm wide phones? 64mm, 66mm?
Peach, diagonal screen measurements aren't a valid way to compare tech, the 5.3" Samsung is much wider than modern 6" phablets. Also thicker.
I just really want one handed devices that support all LTE bands on T-mobile in the USA. Currently the ONE AND ONLY AFFORADABLE PHONE to offer this is a phablet, called the LG V30, a fairly old phone already. I want more options, and I want them to be smaller, thinner, LESS WIDE than the LG V30, which even my giant Scandinavian 6'4" ass has to use 2 hands to use properly. Thing is a solid 33% wider than I would like it to be. But I literally have no choice, no option, no way to obtain something that would work better for me.
The market has utterly FAILED to provide the option.
Vertical resolution should never exceed 1080, so I'm glad to see Sony at least keep some small piece of sanity here.
Since when is width the only determining and important factor when it comes to smartphone size? The height is equally as important. And sorry to break it to you, 15.8 cm is NOT small.
I'm currently using the Sony XZ1 Compact, which is truly the last Sony, or even Android-based, phone that can be considered small (or small-ish). To be honest, even a phone of this size I cannot use one-handed and I have pretty big hands.
Also, there's a reason the iPhone SE (old and new) is so popular. Considering how much I dislike Apple it really irks me that there's no longer anything comparable based on Android.
Rumours say that it will get Android 11 in October, and then up to Android 13. Shame that the lower-spec'd sibling Xperia 10 II will only get updated to Android 11 though.
You mean like the XZ1 Compact barely got Android 9 because Sony decided it needed to shove the XZ2 Compact out the door? And it's been over a year since I've gotten *any* Android patches at all.
The 5 II sounds like the perfect phone in every aspect but charging speed. Keeping the 4000mAh battery and reducing the size and weight is just making this phone stand in a league of its own! Price may be high but can you really say that when Fold 2 and even the vastly underpowered Razr 2 are $1500+? Microsoft Surface for $1300 anyone?
I don't care how narrow you make it, 158mm tall is not compact or small. Get that height down to 130-140mm, add a bit more thickness to eliminate the camera bump (seriously, we're still doing camera bumps??) and use that thickness to add more battery and/or a wireless charging coil. Then drop the price a bit, make all camera features available when the bootloader is unlocked, and I'll buy it.
Oh, and to drop the price, halve the amount of RAM, and give me a mid-range SoC like the 765. I do not want the top end SoC or 8GB of RAM, like actively don't want - it's money pissed down the drain for no benefit.
The Z3 Compact was still one of the best phones I ever had. At a time when every high-end Android device was 5-6" having a 4.5" phone was a treat. I get it isn't for everybody which is why I understand they don't exist anymore (outside the iPhone SE2)
It's still almost full 2 cm longer. It can be a make or breake on how it fits in your pockets or how its weight is balanced in your hand. Not to even mention software problems such as reachiong for a top placed items in the interface.
It's true that on OLED hardware allows a "solution" of virtually shrinking the screen to your liking, but it's not so easy on non-rooted device (or at least I failed to find a satysfying solution to shorten my P30, which is already too much on a longer side for me - any recommendations?:P)
I, for one, would very much welcome the return of ~5" 16:9 devices, maybe with the thickness increased enough to accomodate an adequate battery and get rid of campera bump. There was nothing wrong with this form factor, I don't know why it's been abandoned. There are countless devices in the market, but if you're looking for something different from the current "trend", you're frequently left in the cold.
Thus, still I believe Sony deserves kudos for delivering probably the narrowest flagship of 2020!
My point is that the Note series has always been Samsung's phablet line, and I'm not ignorant of the fact that the Note 10 is nowadays considered "small". In fact that bolsters my point: "small" has lost its meaning regarding phones.
That is a nice page, Andrei, thank you (spasibo?). Compared my current Pixel XL and iP XR to the 5 II, wow, 5 II is so much narrower. A priori I think it will make reading text on Sony a bit of a choir, long and narrow is not particularly "ergonomic". I'd like to see 5 II in a shop, I am curious what it is like in real life.
Here's a comparison with the Samsung Galaxy S20: S20 Xperia 5 II Size 151.7 x 69.1 x 7.9 mm 158 x 68 x 8 mm Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 80.9% Resolution 1440 x 3200 1080 x 2520 Other specs are similar.
As much as I like the headphone jack, I'd suck it up and use a USB-C-to-headphone adapter to get the wireless charging and other advantages of the S20. The S20 should also have a better resale value down the road. Samsung is now doing three years of updates, Sony? The headphone jack is possibly the ONLY thing the Sony has going for it...
You're not going to notice any difference between 449 and 563 PPI. The Samsung has FM radio in some markets, while the Sony does not. The Sony is expected to also get three years of updates. I think the Sony could have a small edge on the cameras, because the telephoto is optical 3× (not merely scaled), the ultrawide has AF and the Sony comes with its Pro camera software.
What kills the Sony in the comparison is the Samsung's lower price IMHO.
"The Sony is expected to also get three years of updates."
I'll believe that when I see it. The only thing with Sony's name on it that still gets updates past the warranty period are their current gen gaming consoles, and that's a whole different division of the company.
How good/bad is Sony nowadays with OS updates - both security patches and major updates?
As LG G7 ThinQ user in NZ... 1 security update between purchase in June 2018 and Android 9 update in July 2019. ZERO security updates since then, still waiting for reliable info about Android 10 update.
Disappointing. Even more that phone itself is fine, especially for asking price. Reliable and performs well.
Bitten by snake, scared of lizards, as the old saying goes.
Perfect and compact phone for all standards. Really hats off to Sony to come up with the bunch of positive specs all together against all competitors. I would say this phone will revolve round the corner. Bit worry, why it is not been releasing in India...
I want a thinner phone not a flatter phone these idiots can't even use English correctly. Flatter is what you've been doing, your marketing has been lying, we should sue them! Phones aren't getting thinner they're flatter, you need to go back to 1st grade!
Fucking stupid engineers. Flatter is dumb, thinner is needed. 68mm wide should be the largest phone you make, anything and everything over that should be clearly labled "GIANT FUCKING TWO HANDED PIECE OF SHIT TABLET!"
No ToF sensor.....this could have been the perfect phone fro me! I like to do photogammetry and although I have other tools, having ToF on a phone camera is awesome!
This phone looks so great. But it has bad support for all of the U.S. carriers. In particular, it doesn't support band 71 on T-Mobile, which is a huge part of their network and improved 4G bandwidth. And it doesn't support any of T-Mobile's 5G bands. There a cheap three year old phones that have better support for U.S. networks. This is just not a phone meant for the U.S. Big disappointment.
It's amazing how few phones there are that support band 66 and 71 LTE. Of all the cheap, easy, quick, simple ways to add value to your product, and almost nobody does it. LG V30, old as it is, is still the best option for full coverage in America without getting ass-raped daily by Verizon.
That is not a small phone. Sony's continued obscurity in the smartphone market will continue because Sony refuses to service market segments that are mostly ignored by their competition. The XZ2 Compact was the last, great "small" smartphone; the display on this monstrosity is 1.1" wider. No. Just no.
Sony, if you want people to sit up and pay attention, go back to the XZ2 compact formula. All the features of a top-tier phone....downscaled into a 5" screen. Then you put it on the market for 600-700 bucks and make record profits (the XZ2 Compact was around 649 MSRP on release).
Even Apple is offering an iPhone SE in this segment (although it's nowhere near as good as the flagship). And unlike the Galaxy Z Flip, it won't cost you an arm and a leg to get a compact form factor that will actually fit in your pocket.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop making phones that practically require you to have a fannypack to fit in. Ask women about the last time they actually fit a smartphone into a jeans pocket--I promise you, it wasn't any time recently.
XZ2 Compact. Who cares if it's 2 years old. It's every bit as powerful as that year's top-of-the-line models...and it's 127mm screen (135mm body). Sony knew how to do this 2 years ago. The went full retard since then.
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Sharma_Ji - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
As bad was 1II for skipping hrr panel, this 5II is now the perfect phone, covering all the basics a flagship phone must have, only charging is a bit slow but that's fine.Xajel - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
There's some talks that Android 11 update to the 1II will add 120Hz & 240Hz equivalent afterimage reduction technologyhttps://androidnext.info/?p=6825 (Use Google Translate)
sonny73n - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
yeah ok perfect phone - for idiots who think this ugly phone worth more than twice as much as other sd865’s on Amazon. Oh please, Sony Samsung Google Apple never spy on you.Cellar Door - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Maybe it is the opposite - and you are the idiot thinking this phone is ugly but it is actually a good looking phone, did you ever think that?bigboxes - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Yeah, I don't see what is so ugly about this phone. It pretty much looks like every other phone. Rounded corners and all.aj654987 - Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - link
Maybe its the opposite of the opposite and you are the leader of all the idiots and the phone is really an ugly phone, did you ever think of that? of course not because thats why they call you leader of the idiots.yttersta - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Charging may be slow but it won't require a proprietary charger! I'd say that's better. Charge it on any PD charger and it'll be as fast.brucethemoose - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
Sloe charging is good! The extra longevity is worth the tradeoff.YB1064 - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
Almost $1000 for a cellphone? GTFO...poohbear - Saturday, September 19, 2020 - link
You know there are cars for $100,000+, graphics cards for $2000, and shoes for $1000+...and they sell like hotcakes. If you can't afford it, it doesn't mean there isn't a massive market out there for it.YB1064 - Saturday, September 19, 2020 - link
A fool and his money are soon parted.khanikun - Monday, September 21, 2020 - link
or people with different values, value things differently. It costs what? $150-200k to raise a kid to adulthood. Are they fools to spend money to have kids?Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't spend $1000 on a cellphone, but I won't consider those that do to be fools either.
YB1064 - Monday, September 21, 2020 - link
I've never seen anyone compare a child to a cellphone. Sign of the times?khanikun - Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - link
Item A can be compared to Item B. What those items are, doesn't matter. In other words, you can compared whatever you want to something else. Course the comment already shows the lack understanding in the comparison, so no point trying to enlighten fools.Sharma_Ji - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Didn't understand how 5II is cheaper even when going for a expensive panel than 5II.It means sony was overcharging for its 1II.
MrPhilo - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Probably because its a smaller device.Mobile-Dom - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
yields were likely awful for the screen on the Xperia 1 and 1 II which makes sense as to why stock was always low despite never selling all that many. lower res at higher refresh still likely works out cheaper for Sony.dotjaz - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
What did you not understand? HRR panels are way cheaper than 4K. Packing more pixels add two dimensional yield issues. There're more pixels that can fail, AND smaller pixels are way more prone to defects. 120Hz panels is that, high refresh rate, panels that doesn't meet the requirement can still be sold as 60/90Hz panels.Xex360 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Now that's a phone, with no stupid comprises, no awful useless ugly dead pixels that prevent the enjoyment of the screen, headphone jack to enjoy better quality and freedom of having both wired and wireless headphones, SD card to expand the storage and not be limited by the storage.Jens R. - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
I was interested until I saw this phone costs a thousand dollars.sonny73n - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
I wouldn’t pay $400 for this spywares ridden POS.thunderbird32 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
What spyware?PeachNCream - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
If I'm not mistaken, every phone running Android (custom baked ROMs like LineageOS aside) report back to Google and there was a class action lawsuit launched this past summer over that specific issue. I don't think its realistic, at this point, to expect anything you do on your phone or data that passes through your phone to be private from your TELCO or Google. It shouldn't be like that and it may eventually change, but for the time being, collecting, storing, and processing every scrap of data you generate and watching everything you do is quite valuable.bigboxes - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
If it's not Google, then it's Apple spying on you. You pick your ecosystem.PeachNCream - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
Google has much more incentive to spy given their business model depends on collecting data. They have also been sued over the past few months in the US and Canada for gathering data through Chrome and Android even though users do not consent and their EULA states they will not collect data from non-consenting users. Then there are antitrust investigations in 48 states and at the US federal level against Google plus the EU has already fined the company for privacy abuses. The track record on the Google end of the world is far worse than any other tech company besides maybe Facebook. If I were on an Apple platform, I would not be so concerned, but there locked ecosystem and hardware costs are too high so I have my fingers crossed that Google will suffer enough pain to be forced to respect users per the wording in their own user agreements.bigboxes - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
Sorry, data is every businesses biggest asset. They all do it.Showtime - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Which phone does not have spyware?cuckmaster - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
it has no competition with these specs though.Teckk - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Nice to see a great phone from Sony again except for that price though.That name, however, it's a Xperia 1 series and it is called Xperia 5 II. Great going. Why don't they collaborate with Intel and get even more confusing names!
s.yu - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
No they should go to Nvidia for inspiration like more "TI's" and "Super's".ads295 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
*reads specs**Sees 3.5mm TRRS jack*
*Sees size*
*Sees battery capacity*
*Sees display spec*
*Salivates heavily*
stanleyipkiss - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
If only it had Wireless Charging...Ptosio - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
What for? Is "wireless" charging really worth a smaller battery?RobinRosengren - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
For some it is (including me).Once you've changed your habit to use something, you don't want to let it go. I've got a wireless charger built into my desk, my nighstand and at work. We're talking a few seconds saved in a day, but it's so convenient.
s.yu - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
It's ludicrous how some people ignore magnetic adapters while claiming how the current wireless is a necessity. With magnetic, you can use it without interrupting your charge, and without taking up internal space of the chassis, and although the cable still needs to be attached manually, you could do it blind, with one hand, with a general idea of where your phone is, or if you know where the cable is, you could have the phone reach out for the cable instead and it will attach automatically when close enough.iphonebestgamephone - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Wireless is still more convenient tho, and these people wont have to buy additional adapters for magnetic.s.yu - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
No it's not, when you have to choose between using the phone and charging it, obviously not. And every wireless charger is an "adapter" in its own sense. With magnetic, all you buy is a cable and the tips come bundled, and you use whatever USB-A charger you had, including the one bundled with your phone.mr_tawan - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
somehow I think using wireless charger may lower my productivity :-).edzieba - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Yes. It's the difference between continual USB port wear, and having your phone recharge every time you put it down. For people who work from a desk, wireless charging basically means your phone never gets far from 100% charge, all day every day.ads295 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
... That's not a good thing, batteries last longest if kept between 40-70% state of charge. I don't keep mine at 100% even though I have access to a charger all day.TheinsanegamerN - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Yes, because restricting yourself to 30% of your phones run time is such a fantastic user experience, and constantly recharging has NO adverse affects on lithium cells.ads295 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
I did not say you need to restrict yourself to 30%. You can double your battery longevity by just not using the first and last 10% of your battery capacity.Constantly recharging is orders of magnitude better than keeping it close to 100%. Btw note the previous comment " having your phone recharge every time you put it down"...
edzieba - Saturday, September 19, 2020 - link
Modern battery charge controllers already take this into account. "100%" in the status bar does not mean 100% charge.Myrandex - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Yep I’d make that trade off easily, but instead of that trade off I think it might just make the phone a tiny bit thicker and keep the battery size, totally worth it.s.yu - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
The charging coil would be about 0.5mm thick, not really "a tiny bit" by standards of thickness of modern smartphones.cuckmaster - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
nope. I'll take the bigger battery all daysorten - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
I was excited about wireless charging 5 years ago on my first Windows phone, but with fast charging on modern phones I find that I'm only plugged in for 30 minutes every couple of days.s.yu - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
I'm more surprised your phone lasts that long.vladx - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Smh158mm is small now, meanwhile I'm still looking for phones under 150mm like my current phone.akvadrako - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
It's not considered small because of the height, but in terms of weight and width there are few better options; none at this absurd price.Andrei Frumusanu - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
You hold your phone vertically when one-handed. You get used to the 21:9 aspect ratio very fast and enjoy the increased screen real-estate.For ergonomics, the 68mm width is the crucial dimension, and in that regard, there's very very few alternatives on the market.
vladx - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Umm, what? If you're implying I should use my phone vertically outside watching videos or games, sorry but I'm not gonna do that. There are still under 150mm phones out there, thank you very much.vladx - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Oops my bad, I had a brain fart there. Still over 150mm is too uncomfortable in one hand for me to use.ads295 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
How could the length affect one handed use?iphonebestgamephone - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Reaching for the status bar? Some menu on the top corner?IBM760XL - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Agreed. I like the size of my iPhone SE (first-gen). Seemingly no one (including Apple) is offering a phone of that size anymore. So I'll probably keep it as long as it continues to work.Though I do like that this one has a headphone jack. I used to make use of that when I worked in the office.
Spunjji - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Subject to reviews confirming that the specs accurately reflect the phone's actual capabilities, this might be high up my list when it comes to picking up a replacement phone in a year's time. It's certainly justifying the flagship price better than most of this generation's Android devices, as there's literally no downsides to the design *and* it's a reasonable size. All I have to do is wait to be able to afford it 😂Kaziglu Bey - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Looking for 16:9 phone as my next workphone, these elongated shapes serve no practical purpose especially now that we have 90+ percent screen coverage. Heavy phones with medium batteries, no thanks.shabby - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Wheres that ampere review? 🤔Makaveli - Saturday, September 19, 2020 - link
What does this off topic comment have to do with the article they already explained why the review is delayed.sorten - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
You're calling a 6.1" phone small because it's narrow?Difficult to justify a $1000 "gaming" phone, when Apple's $400 SE would destroy this in any benchmark.
heoheo00911 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Ah, yes. Benchmark, whereas it overheats super fast in real-world usage. And don't get me started on that pathetic battery, super-small screen, so small that I have to stretch my eyes to read and don't forget it doesn't have a 120hz screen, and did I mention that that thing has an LCD screen? :))Yes, just keep your 4.7-inch screen iPhone and your "fantastic" benchmark score, you pathetic garbage :)
superflex - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Mom says take your meds.Stretch your eyes. WTF is that Copernicus?
PeachNCream - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Agreed on the inaccuracy of the claim about this device as a "small phone" because it simply is not the case. However, the specs are nice and the fact that there is a 3.5mm jack is good too. The price is deep into the domain of unreasonable though.bigboxes - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Yes. I'm calling 6.1" a small phone. I went from a 5.7" phone with minimal bezel to my current 6.2" S20 and it's the same width in my hand. Same experience and very pocketable. So, big screen in a small size. Any smaller and you'd have an old Apple phone. Those days are long gone. Now, if we're talking 6.7" or 6.9" of the S20+ and S20 Ultra are definitely huge. That's why you see all the ladies with their phones shoved in their back pocket. They won't fit in the front pocket. My 6.2" S20 will.Makaveli - Saturday, September 19, 2020 - link
I would have to agree.I went from a KeyOne to an S10 which is 6.1 display and its the same physical dimensions as the blackberry just bigger screen.Both easily slide into a pocket.
nicolaim - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
A rare phone that ticks all the boxes... oops, they forgot wireless charging: fail.gizmo23 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
"In terms of design, the Xperia 5 II takes queues from the Xperia 1 II" should be "In terms of design, the Xperia 5 II takes cues from the Xperia 1 II"Understandable mistake, English is a rubbish language for consistent spelling rules.
As this is about the Xperia 5 II then why not have the the Xperia 5 in the feature comparison table?
beginner99 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
It's funny that nowadys you have to go with a flagship for $1000 to not get a huge phone. This one and the galaxy S20 seems to be the only reasonably sized ones.Tams80 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Now if only they could release a version with a built-in Wacom EMR/S-pen stylus.s.yu - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
That's too much to ask. A compact flagship is one niche, and stylus support is another, and they're nearly mutually exclusive since writing/drawing on a small screen is not preferred to those big ones.isthisavailable - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
want want want wanthaukionkannel - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Tgis is not a small phone.Xperia xz1 compact was a small phone. Original Apple se was a small phone. New iPhone 12 5.4 is allmost small phone... this is middle sized at least...
Krismar00 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Was interested untill I saw the price. Too much money for a phone..It's crazy.s.yu - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
The price will drop, somewhat, in a few months.Quantumz0d - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Good Article. I just wish Sony stop blasting their bs anti BL unlock with DRM keys for their Display and Audio processing technologies. Except that and price this phone is phone of the year 2020.- No Notch
- 120Hz with 240Hz Polling
- 3.5mm jack
- Dual Stereo Speakers
- 4000MaH for a FHD+ (a bit of downgrade but it's ok tbh)
- BL unlock available
- IP rating
- Qi Charging
- Great HW for Camera
- Solid PRO camera software for both Photos and Videos, esp Cinealta Pro for Videos offers stunning options like LG.
Only con that I miss would be not having a dedicated Sony DAC which is found on their prized Sony Walkman DAPs and praised for their superb Low end emphasis and fantastic sound.
It's on my list now for sure once my V30 gets very old I will replace it with this and use that as a DAP (thanks for the flawless ESS9218 with DSD and software audio tuning for both playback and record)
Quantumz0d - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Missed out that Sony excl. Battery H.S power control.Quantumz0d - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
And the most important feature of all - Micro SD slotTams80 - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
Shhhh, this is AnandTech. We don't mention that too much else they might post another stupid editorial.nicolaim - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Unfortunately no wireless charging.Quantumz0d - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Dang. The phone costs a lot they missed out on that...shameHrel - Saturday, October 10, 2020 - link
You should be aware that your coverage will drop significantly in the USA going from LG V30 to Sony anything. You need to make sure the phone supports LTE bands 66 and 71 or it's basically just a city center device. Almost like a really long range cordless phone, more so than a cellular phone.https://www.frequencycheck.com/models?q%5Bfrequenc...
That is a listing of all the phones which support band 71 in America, which is necessary to have coverage which is actually useful. Now, if you only ever want your phone to work places the population density exceeds 100 ppl/sq mile just buy anything, literally anything. If you want it to work places human beings can actually maintain their humanity, you need band 71.
TheinsanegamerN - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
It looks nice, but like others I would really prefer a shorter device with a 16:9 screen, 21:9 doesnt really work for me ona device like this, just makes it that much harder to use one handed.asfletch - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
My XZ1C is that phone. I believe they could fit an 18:9 screen with FF speakers in the same footprint 130x65mm) these days. The XZ2C felt oddly skinny though, and 21:9 + speakers is TV remote territory. Sigh.mrvco - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
I'll wait for that price to get closer to reasonable. I'd rather not give up wireless charging, but it won't be the first time.vanish1 - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
FINALLY a manufacturer that gets that we want a headphone jack with the capabilities of a smartphoneMxC6maxP - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
It's 1mm narrower than S20, but it has smaller screen, and it's 7mm taller. I don't see how this phone is competitive in any way. Maybe the headphone jack?PeachNCream - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Those headphone jacks are difficult to find on higher priced phones so the fact that one is being included may act as a primary motivator for quite a few people that feel strongly about getting that capability. When it comes down to it, if you're going to put down that much money (or take it over the course of a cellular contract) you may as well get the feature set that you want. Everything in that price bracket is pretty much using the same SoC so there isn't much variance in performance anyway. Everyone gets Android and everyone gets their current gen Snapdragon so the purchase choice boils down to other factors like a microSD slot or a headphone jack as product differentiation.nicolaim - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
Good point about the S20.boozed - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
"Small"Screen size begins with a 6.
PeachNCream - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
It wasn't too long ago that people were making comments like this about the first Galaxy Note with it's 5.3 inch screen:"The Galaxy Note received positive reviews, but with critics divided on user acceptance of its polarizing form factor; Pocket-lint remarked that the device was "positively gargantuan" in comparison to an iPhone 4S and that users would look "like a fool" if they held it to their face to take a call."
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_Note_...
And now here we are with the remark that a 6+ inch screen is small by the tech industry's journalistic end. Memories are certainly short when product life cycles are annual. On a personal note, I still contend that we humans look positively absurd with our big, silly bricks covered in screens and cameras that we spend so much time fussing over and pay so much of our incomes to irrationally keep up with each other's purchases.
Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
You're comparing a 82.9mm wide phone to a 68mm wide phone.People not understanding display aspect ratios and just ranging in the comments section when they see the screen diagonal is getting old.
PeachNCream - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
All of us have been dealing with industry standard diagonal measurements for years and instead of referring to the screen area or height and width measurements, which are cumbersome to type out in a comment, we are using the same standard you yourself also use in the article. The problem you're upset about is not at all diagonal measurement. You're only using that as a funnel for aggression in order to respond to feedback that you do not like. Grow as a person. Consider the feedback with a higher level of poise and self-control and think about how it may help you improve as a journalist in the future rather than surrendering to simple human aggressiveness and lashing out. In our own snarky way, we readers would love to help you do better work and deliver higher quality output as it benefits us just as much as it helps you.Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
Screen diagonal has not been used as a standard measurement of form-factor ever since the S8 first debuted and we've moved on from 16:9 screens, this was well over 3 years ago. 18:9, 19:9, 19.5:9 and now even 21:9 is what is being released.I specifically ignored the screen diagonal and focused on the 68mm width of the phone because that's actually the determining factor when holding a phone one-handed.
I am not going to tolerate attacks on journalistic coverage quality just because you cannot wrap your head around Pythagorean theorem and the fact that there hasn't been a 16:9 device in years.
If it's too cumbersome (as you say) to adapt from one metric to the other then please just avoid making pointless comparisons such as the above one, it benefits no one.
PeachNCream - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
I find it hard to believe that you do not thing screen diagonal measurements have been used as a standard across the industry. Here is an Anandtech article from 2004 that uses diagonal measurements rather casually to describe screen size:https://www.anandtech.com/show/1370/6
Your response is confusing to say the least. I've supported my reasoning with information available to anyone and now further support it with data from your own employer as far back as 16 years ago. Other readers have offered similar feedback in the comments section so my opinion is certainly not unique among those that looked over your article.
Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
I've literally explained that with the recent shift from a standard screen aspect ratio to elongated form-factors that screen diagonal is not a valid metric for smartphones.I don't know what you are trying to achieve by quoting a 2004 article before smartphones are even a thing.
Please use common sense instead of doubling down on a single figure when it it's no longer a valid way to compare things.
Here is a visual representation of the Galaxy Note versus the Xperia 5 II:
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Samsung-GAL...
Please do tell me again that a 5.3" device is smaller than a 6.1" in your book, and that indeed is the metric we should be going by when comparing device form-factors, even though they're blatantly very different aspect-ratios.
PeachNCream - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
You claimed that diagonal screen measurements have not been in standard usage since the release of the S8 three years ago. I assert that diagonal screen measurements have been and continue to be used to articulate screen size almost universally including over the course of the last three years for various Samsung branded devices that have been sold since the S8. Here are links from Samsung's website where you can see for yourself that the company represents screen measurements diagonally:https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/phones/galaxy-s/...
https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-note...
Apple does the same. LG does so. Huawei lists diagonal measurement and so forth. Various websites that list phone specifications and that review phones list diagonal measurements including Anandtech in reviews of said post-S8 model devices. Many of those reviews are your work.
If that measurement is invalid, why is everyone including you still using it? Why did it not become invalid when screens shifted from 4:3 to 16:9? It persists to this day over decades of information technology history and it most assuredly will survive further aspect ratio changes. You and I both know that is the case so what does it accomplish to contend it isn't relevant at this moment and in this article? I think we also both know the answer to that question and need not lash one another about it here especially given the abundance of pressure all of us face simply by the fact that we are alive in 2020.
Take or leave the thoughts a few of your readers here are echoing and interpret those thoughts however you wish. Perhaps think it over a bit more or even feel free to ignore us if the snarky way most of us toss out suggestions might bother you. We are unlikely to take offense at it and I assure you I do not begrudge anything in this particular exchange or any other we may have along your path as a tech journalist. I wish you all the best professionally and I expect you'll run into me in some other article in the future where we web denizens will most certainly be our usual rowdy selves.
Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
> "You claimed that diagonal screen measurements have not been in standard usage"Not only are you completely missing the point, you're just outright lying now. Let me quote myself again, from the comment above:
> "Screen diagonal has not been used as a standard measurement of form-factor "
I do not know how more clear I can be here. A screen diagonal does not determine the phone's size nor its usability. A 5.3" 16:9 device is not even remotely smaller than a 6.1" 21:9 device.
We use our phones the majority of the times in portrait, and the way we grip it with our hands basically is determined by the width of the device. The Xperia 5 II's 68mm is smaller than almost any other available device on the market, making it a small phone. Any discussion beyond this is futile.
PeachNCream - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
I continue to wish you the best even if you do accuse me of lying over something as trivial as whether or not screens are still measured diagonally and I look forward to your future articles along with further growth in your career.Hrel - Saturday, October 10, 2020 - link
The industry has failed though. Just because they provide no small phones at all doesn't make this a small phone. Small phones don't exist, the industry has utterly failed to provide them. In fact, the phone industry doens't make phones at all. THey make phablets and tablets. There are no devices connected to cellular networks in America that are small enough to legally quality as "phones". They don't exist at all.60mm wide, get on it LG!
Hrel - Saturday, October 10, 2020 - link
This argument is silly and dumb, but 68mm wide should be the WIDEST PHONE ON EARTH! Anything wider than that should legally be required to be called something else, and legally prevented from being called a "phone" as it cannot be used in one hand. 68mm with a decent case is still a 2 handed device. This is not a "small phone".Where's the 60mm wide phones? 64mm, 66mm?
Peach, diagonal screen measurements aren't a valid way to compare tech, the 5.3" Samsung is much wider than modern 6" phablets. Also thicker.
I just really want one handed devices that support all LTE bands on T-mobile in the USA. Currently the ONE AND ONLY AFFORADABLE PHONE to offer this is a phablet, called the LG V30, a fairly old phone already. I want more options, and I want them to be smaller, thinner, LESS WIDE than the LG V30, which even my giant Scandinavian 6'4" ass has to use 2 hands to use properly. Thing is a solid 33% wider than I would like it to be. But I literally have no choice, no option, no way to obtain something that would work better for me.
The market has utterly FAILED to provide the option.
Vertical resolution should never exceed 1080, so I'm glad to see Sony at least keep some small piece of sanity here.
azrael- - Wednesday, September 23, 2020 - link
Since when is width the only determining and important factor when it comes to smartphone size? The height is equally as important. And sorry to break it to you, 15.8 cm is NOT small.I'm currently using the Sony XZ1 Compact, which is truly the last Sony, or even Android-based, phone that can be considered small (or small-ish). To be honest, even a phone of this size I cannot use one-handed and I have pretty big hands.
Also, there's a reason the iPhone SE (old and new) is so popular. Considering how much I dislike Apple it really irks me that there's no longer anything comparable based on Android.
nicolaim - Thursday, September 17, 2020 - link
The article should mention Sony's software update policy...Findecanor - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
Rumours say that it will get Android 11 in October, and then up to Android 13.Shame that the lower-spec'd sibling Xperia 10 II will only get updated to Android 11 though.
azrael- - Wednesday, September 23, 2020 - link
You mean like the XZ1 Compact barely got Android 9 because Sony decided it needed to shove the XZ2 Compact out the door? And it's been over a year since I've gotten *any* Android patches at all.Peskarik - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
It appeals to me like nothing else, but the price makes me sad. I wait for Pixel 5 as well.tkSteveFOX - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
The 5 II sounds like the perfect phone in every aspect but charging speed.Keeping the 4000mAh battery and reducing the size and weight is just making this phone stand in a league of its own!
Price may be high but can you really say that when Fold 2 and even the vastly underpowered Razr 2 are $1500+? Microsoft Surface for $1300 anyone?
nicolaim - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
It's not in a league of its own, because the S20 is comparable.Findecanor - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
The S20 is not comparable: It does not have a headphone jack!yetanotherhuman - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
I don't care how narrow you make it, 158mm tall is not compact or small. Get that height down to 130-140mm, add a bit more thickness to eliminate the camera bump (seriously, we're still doing camera bumps??) and use that thickness to add more battery and/or a wireless charging coil.Then drop the price a bit, make all camera features available when the bootloader is unlocked, and I'll buy it.
yetanotherhuman - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
Oh, and to drop the price, halve the amount of RAM, and give me a mid-range SoC like the 765. I do not want the top end SoC or 8GB of RAM, like actively don't want - it's money pissed down the drain for no benefit.kepstin - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
Sony's all in on the tall phone thing now, so you're not gonna get a change there.But they *already* make a phone with a similar form factor to the 5 that's cheaper with worse SoC, less ram, etc... the Xperia 10 series.
Samus - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
The Z3 Compact was still one of the best phones I ever had. At a time when every high-end Android device was 5-6" having a 4.5" phone was a treat. I get it isn't for everybody which is why I understand they don't exist anymore (outside the iPhone SE2)Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
I don't understand why you exclude the iPhone SE2 from your criticism when that's literally only 0.7mm narrower than the Xperia 5 II covered here.Ptosio - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
It's still almost full 2 cm longer. It can be a make or breake on how it fits in your pockets or how its weight is balanced in your hand.Not to even mention software problems such as reachiong for a top placed items in the interface.
It's true that on OLED hardware allows a "solution" of virtually shrinking the screen to your liking, but it's not so easy on non-rooted device (or at least I failed to find a satysfying solution to shorten my P30, which is already too much on a longer side for me - any recommendations?:P)
I, for one, would very much welcome the return of ~5" 16:9 devices, maybe with the thickness increased enough to accomodate an adequate battery and get rid of campera bump.
There was nothing wrong with this form factor, I don't know why it's been abandoned. There are countless devices in the market, but if you're looking for something different from the current "trend", you're frequently left in the cold.
Thus, still I believe Sony deserves kudos for delivering probably the narrowest flagship of 2020!
kaidenshi - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
"Small phone" with virtually the same dimensions as the Galaxy Note 10? I don't think that word means what you think it means.Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
The Note10 was a smaller form-factor phone, I don't think that's what you want to make your argument with.Here's a visual representation:
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Samsung-Gal...
It is literally amongst the smallest non-speciality devices you can get today, even if it's slightly longer.
kaidenshi - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
My point is that the Note series has always been Samsung's phablet line, and I'm not ignorant of the fact that the Note 10 is nowadays considered "small". In fact that bolsters my point: "small" has lost its meaning regarding phones.Peskarik - Saturday, September 19, 2020 - link
That is a nice page, Andrei, thank you (spasibo?).Compared my current Pixel XL and iP XR to the 5 II, wow, 5 II is so much narrower. A priori I think it will make reading text on Sony a bit of a choir, long and narrow is not particularly "ergonomic". I'd like to see 5 II in a shop, I am curious what it is like in real life.
nicolaim - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
Here's a comparison with the Samsung Galaxy S20:S20 Xperia 5 II
Size 151.7 x 69.1 x 7.9 mm 158 x 68 x 8 mm
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 80.9%
Resolution 1440 x 3200 1080 x 2520
Other specs are similar.
As much as I like the headphone jack, I'd suck it up and use a USB-C-to-headphone adapter to get the wireless charging and other advantages of the S20. The S20 should also have a better resale value down the road. Samsung is now doing three years of updates, Sony? The headphone jack is possibly the ONLY thing the Sony has going for it...
Findecanor - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
You're not going to notice any difference between 449 and 563 PPI.The Samsung has FM radio in some markets, while the Sony does not.
The Sony is expected to also get three years of updates.
I think the Sony could have a small edge on the cameras, because the telephoto is optical 3× (not merely scaled), the ultrawide has AF and the Sony comes with its Pro camera software.
What kills the Sony in the comparison is the Samsung's lower price IMHO.
kaidenshi - Friday, September 18, 2020 - link
"The Sony is expected to also get three years of updates."I'll believe that when I see it. The only thing with Sony's name on it that still gets updates past the warranty period are their current gen gaming consoles, and that's a whole different division of the company.
Jhlot - Saturday, September 19, 2020 - link
Hey Sony, MSRP should be $799 on if you want to actually sell a few and then some discounts not too long after launch.Revv233 - Saturday, September 19, 2020 - link
A flagship with everything!?The cheapest flagship on the market?
A headphone jack!?
What year is this?
Bravo, Sony.
ET - Sunday, September 20, 2020 - link
I miss the days when small phones were actually small.Zagor Te Nay - Monday, September 21, 2020 - link
How good/bad is Sony nowadays with OS updates - both security patches and major updates?As LG G7 ThinQ user in NZ... 1 security update between purchase in June 2018 and Android 9 update in July 2019. ZERO security updates since then, still waiting for reliable info about Android 10 update.
Disappointing. Even more that phone itself is fine, especially for asking price. Reliable and performs well.
Bitten by snake, scared of lizards, as the old saying goes.
Vijaykesav - Saturday, September 26, 2020 - link
Perfect and compact phone for all standards. Really hats off to Sony to come up with the bunch of positive specs all together against all competitors. I would say this phone will revolve round the corner. Bit worry, why it is not been releasing in India...Hrel - Sunday, September 27, 2020 - link
We need smaller phones way smaller much smallerwe need smaller phones way smaller much smaller
using two hands sucks so much I'd rather just not
Let's just go back to stones and sticks cause fuck this shit
Using 2 hands sucks!
If I gotta use 2 hands it's not a phone, it's a stupid tablet! I don't wanna use 2 hands need that other hand wanna just go about my day.
With a giant phone here and giant phone there, no where anywhere is there a real phone.
How about this, make one that's 62mm wide, then we can chat.
Hrel - Sunday, September 27, 2020 - link
Did you guys know that any phone over 65mm in width should be destroyed? Look it up!Hrel - Sunday, September 27, 2020 - link
The industry is filled with giant Tablets posing as phones! They must all be destroyeD!Hrel - Sunday, September 27, 2020 - link
I want a thinner phone not a flatter phone these idiots can't even use English correctly. Flatter is what you've been doing, your marketing has been lying, we should sue them! Phones aren't getting thinner they're flatter, you need to go back to 1st grade!Fucking stupid engineers. Flatter is dumb, thinner is needed. 68mm wide should be the largest phone you make, anything and everything over that should be clearly labled "GIANT FUCKING TWO HANDED PIECE OF SHIT TABLET!"
Manch - Tuesday, September 29, 2020 - link
No ToF sensor.....this could have been the perfect phone fro me! I like to do photogammetry and although I have other tools, having ToF on a phone camera is awesome!gg555 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
This phone looks so great. But it has bad support for all of the U.S. carriers. In particular, it doesn't support band 71 on T-Mobile, which is a huge part of their network and improved 4G bandwidth. And it doesn't support any of T-Mobile's 5G bands. There a cheap three year old phones that have better support for U.S. networks. This is just not a phone meant for the U.S. Big disappointment.Hrel - Saturday, October 10, 2020 - link
It's amazing how few phones there are that support band 66 and 71 LTE. Of all the cheap, easy, quick, simple ways to add value to your product, and almost nobody does it. LG V30, old as it is, is still the best option for full coverage in America without getting ass-raped daily by Verizon.inperfectdarkness - Thursday, October 29, 2020 - link
That is not a small phone. Sony's continued obscurity in the smartphone market will continue because Sony refuses to service market segments that are mostly ignored by their competition. The XZ2 Compact was the last, great "small" smartphone; the display on this monstrosity is 1.1" wider. No. Just no.Sony, if you want people to sit up and pay attention, go back to the XZ2 compact formula. All the features of a top-tier phone....downscaled into a 5" screen. Then you put it on the market for 600-700 bucks and make record profits (the XZ2 Compact was around 649 MSRP on release).
Even Apple is offering an iPhone SE in this segment (although it's nowhere near as good as the flagship). And unlike the Galaxy Z Flip, it won't cost you an arm and a leg to get a compact form factor that will actually fit in your pocket.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop making phones that practically require you to have a fannypack to fit in. Ask women about the last time they actually fit a smartphone into a jeans pocket--I promise you, it wasn't any time recently.
inperfectdarkness - Thursday, October 29, 2020 - link
XZ2 Compact. Who cares if it's 2 years old. It's every bit as powerful as that year's top-of-the-line models...and it's 127mm screen (135mm body). Sony knew how to do this 2 years ago. The went full retard since then.nightalon - Thursday, December 3, 2020 - link
Really useful post; I love Xperia for being an underdog and having great cameras.I think it should be "taking cues" instead of "taking queues." Minor idiomatic/phonetic swap.