Sony Xperia 5: a smaller, more mainstream Xperia 1

Sony has launched a smaller brother to accompany its flagship Xperia 1. The Xperia 5 drops the screen down from 6.5-inches to 6.1-inches, but continues to offer premium features.

The handset will be available to buy from next month, with pre-ordering opening in a couple of weeks.

Like the Xperia 1, the Xperia 5 retains a compact body that’s virtually all screen. It has a triple-lens camera setup, with Eye AF technology taken from Sony’s Alpha cameras and continuous burst shooting at up to 10 frames per second.

The 6.1-inch 21:9 OLED cinema widescreen display with HDR is accompanied by Dolby Atmos sound.

For gamers, there’s an improved game enhancer that allows you to record your gameplay and even change your voice. Fortnite fans will be happy to see DualShock 4 controller compatibility.

“With Xperia 5 we’ve brought what our customers loved from Xperia 1 into a smaller design with the latest award-winning technology from Sony. Xperia 5 continues to bring uncompromised performance and leading experiences to a smartphone, only possible with Sony.”

Mitsuya Kishida, President, Sony Mobile Communications

The metal framed Xperia 5 comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 on the front and back, with IP68 certification to protect it from the elements.

New for the Xperia 5 is a photography advice feature that helps prevent simple mistakes like having a photo in front of the camera, or taking a photo of someone with their eyes closed.

The Xperia 5 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC with gigabit LTE/4G but no 5G (and Sony didn’t use IFA to announce any other developments on 5G, such as a 5G-enabled Xperia 1).

Charging of the 3,140mAh battery is via USB-PD.

The Xperia 5 goes on sale from 4th October 2019, but early birds that pre-order from 19th September will receive a free pair of Sony WF-1000XM3 wireless noise cancelling headphones from selected retailers.

More info (including full specs): Sony Xperia 5