A little phone with a lot of features.
Since the Sony Xperia 5 IV wasn’t revealed with the Sony Xperia 1 IV, we assumed the tiny flagship series wouldn’t continue. However, a recent leak says otherwise.
The Sony Xperia 5 IV’s incomplete specifications list has been discovered on the Chinese social network Weibo, according to Sumahodigest(opens in new tab). If the phone is still under development, as indicated by this spec sheet, then the features it contains look promising.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Sony’s Xperia 5 IV’s camera system is its ability to easily switch between the 85mm and 125mm optical zoom ranges of its 12MP telephoto camera. In terms of focal length, that’s somewhere between 3.5x and 5.2x zoom.
Additionally, the Sony Xperia 5 IV is expected to arrive in RAM options of 8GB and 12GB, the latter of which is 4GB more than the Sony Xperia 5 III and a match for the Xperia 1 IV in terms of memory.
Wireless charging appears to be supported, although the Xperia 1 IV did not. The battery size appears to be similar to the Xperia 1 IV at 5,000mAh.
Among the specifications are a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, a 6.1-inch screen, and either 128GB or 256GB of storage capacity. Also, Android 13 is mentioned, but it’s accompanied by a question mark, so it’s possible the source isn’t certain.
With little to go on, we would be wary of this information, especially because the source hasn’t previously revealed anything. That this post appears to have been removed, but they’ve posted another one indicating that the Sony Xperia 5 IV does exist, but that another Sony phone will most likely be released before it, is also a red sign.
Analysis: a long wait for an intriguing smartphone
If this source is correct, the Xperia 5 IV might be a long time away from being released if the Xperia 5 IV is indeed delayed.
Another hint of this is the mention of Android 13 operating on it, which isn’t slated to be released until October. According to the specifications list, the Xperia 5 IV is “very near” to being manufactured.
All of this implies that we’ll have to wait a long time. For all we know, Sony’s Xperia 5 III won’t even be available in the United States until January of 2023. That, however, is all conjecture.
As far as I can tell, the Sony Xperia 5 IV has the same features as the Xperia 1 IV, but if previous history is any guide, it will almost probably cost a lot less. This is essential, as the Xperia 1 IV is unreasonably costly.
The Xperia 5 IV might be Sony’s most intriguing phone in a long time if Sony manages to put in a lot of the creative features it has on its top-end flagship.