With the official release of the Xperia 5 IV, Sony’s phone range for 2022 is complete. Sony preserved the Xperia 5 series’ little size while introducing some big-phone features and a big-phone pricing.
The Xperia 5 IV is roughly the same size as the Xperia 5 III in terms of size; it is even 1 mm narrower and heavier by 4g. The main display, a 6.1-inch 1080x2520px OLED with a variable refresh rate of 120Hz, is still present, and it is now 50% brighter than the previous screen.
Sony was able to cram a 10% bigger battery inside the Xperia 5 IV despite its size being the same, bringing it up to 5,000mAh and putting it on level with the Xperia 1 IV and Xperia 10 IV. It should have class-leading battery life as a result of this.
As for charging Sony promises the Xperia 5 IV can go up to 50% on a 30-minute charge with a 30W PD charger. The company also claims the phone will retain its battery health up to 3 years.
However, you’d need to get your own charger, and even your own USB cable as Sony has removed all plastics from the now very compact retail box. On a positive note, the Xperia 5 IV has wireless charging in a first for the 5 series.
A bigger battery and wireless charging
Sony went conventional with the Xperia 5 IV’s camera setup. There’s a 12MP triple setup with a 16mm 1/2.5″ ultrawide, a 24mm 1/1.7″ wide with 1.8um pixels, and a 60mm 1/3.5″ telephoto. Gone is the variable 3x-4.4x periscope, instead you get 2.5x this year.
All three lenses feature autofocus, while the wide and tele both have optical stabilization. All three sensors have fast 120fps readout, and thanks to the addition of distance analysis with AI, Sony has brought its Real-time Eye AF and Real-time tracking from its camera lineup to the Xperia 5 IV’s main shooters.
The selfie camera has been bumped up to the larger 12MP 1/2.9″ sensor from the Xperia 1 IV – with a fixed-focus 24mm f/2.0 lens.
The Xperia 5 IV packs a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. There’s a microSD card slot for further expansion and combined as we all a 3.5mm headphones jack – Sony is the last phone maker to keep these features for its premium smartphones.
The Xperia 5 IV packs new full-stage stereo speakers, as well as some audio magic under the hood – Dolby Atmos, Hi-Res Audio, DSEE Ultimate, and 360 Reality Audio.
The Xperia 5 IV is IP68 water-resistant and dustproof and comes clad in Gorilla Glass Victus on both sides.
The Xperia 5 IV is coming in mid-September for €1,049. There are three color choices – Green, Black, and Ecru White.