Stuff - UK (2020-12)

TESTED SONY XPERIA 5 II

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Has Sony succeeded in cramming the tasty specs

(and very tasty camera skills) of its flagship phone

into a more compact and affordable alternative?

Meet the latest ‘shrunken

flagship’. You know the drill

by now: take the whizz-bang

range-topper, cut a few features

here and there, then find a way

to squeeze it all into a more

pocket-friendly shape.

Seeing just how much Sony

packed into the Xperia 1 II, scaling

it down sounds tough... and yet

the Xperia 5 II might be its most

competitive phone to date.

For a start, the 5 II’s skinny

dimensions make it easier

to hold. The glass and metal

sandwich styling remains, as

does water-resistance, while

the three-lens rear camera array

is largely unchanged – so it still

sticks out, but only a bit.

The physical camera shutter

button returns and there’s one

dedicated to Google Assistant,

while the power button and

fingerprint sensor have finally

been merged. Southpaws might

not like the right-side bank of

buttons... but you could always

hold it upside-down?

£799 / stuff.tv/Xperia5ii

Gone squishing

I love juicy

The battery is the

same as in the larger

Xperia 1 II and fine for a

full day, or 50% from a

half-hour charge... but

there’s no wireless

option.

The thunder years

Skinny display bezels (2) don’t

just hide the selfie-cam – they

make room for stereo speakers.

Sony Music tuned them and they

have proper punch. Dynamic

vibration uses the haptic motor

to boost bass, but if you don’t like

that it’s easy to disable. There’s

also a 3.5mm headphone port.

Snappy days

The same Snapdragon 865 CPU

with 8GB of RAM makes the 5G

5 II every bit as zippy as its bigger

brother (3). Apps open swiftly,

multitasking isn’t a concern and

the UI is silky-smooth. A slice

of heat-dissipating graphene

apparently helps keep the chipset

from getting too toasty.

I dream of screeny

There’s enough GPU grunt for

games, so even demanding 3D

titles like Fortnite and Call of Duty

Mobile benefit from the 120Hz

display, and there’s a 240Hz

blur-reduction setting for an

even smoother appearance. The

21:9 aspect ratio literally expands

your view in compatible games.

It’s always Sony

Sony’s approach to Android is

fairly hands-off. You get to pick

between onscreen buttons or

gesture navigation, and Google

Assistant is just a swipe away...

or a push of the new button (4).

It’s easy to reach, and far enough

away from the camera shutter (5)

that you won’t mix the two up.

Refresh prince

The HDR OLED panel comes in a

cinema-like 21:9 aspect ratio (1)

and maxes out at 2520x1080...

but with a refresh rate boosted

to 120Hz, turn it on and you won’t

want to turn it off. Photos leap

off the screen in Standard mode,

while Creator mode uses 10-bit

colour for more nuanced hues.

GOOD

MEH

EVIL

Flagship

hardware,

well priced

Pro-grade

camera

apps...

...but no

dedicated

night mode

Gorgeous

fast-refresh

screen

Fingerprint

sensor tricky

for lefties

No wireless

charging

option