Ever since Sony reinvented the Xperia lineup with the Xperia 1, it has been building on and refining a very definitive playbook — a sensible design, pro-grade photography, and robust performance. Its confusing naming scheme aside, their newest Xperia 5 II might be the finest Sony flagship yet. We’re gonna take a look at it.
While cosmetics may vary from brand to brand, we’ve seen an almost identical design layout this season: either an O-hole or a notch on top of an oversized display and an elaborate, chunky camera setup on the back. Unlike Samsung's Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the Sony Xperia 5 II takes a step back again with a compact 6.1” screen, surrounded in standard strip bezels.
It’s an FHD+ OLED panel featuring a wide 21:9 aspect ratio — optimized for a cinematic viewing experience. It can insert black frames into the video to reduce blur, uses HDR for crisp clarity and better contrast, not to mention has the ‘Creator Mode’ which reproduces studio-level color accuracy. The visual experience is rounded off by a responsive 240Hz touch sampling rate and a fluid 120Hz screen refresh rate.
You find a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top (a feature missing from every major flagship release this year) and two stereo speakers on the front, powered by multi-dimensional Dolby Atmos. Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon 865 processor at the Xperia 5 II’s heart promises seamless performance. Especially for gaming since the high refresh rate, lower touch latency, and the dedicated ‘Game Enhancer’ onboard are aimed at mobile gamers.
The design is familiar with slight tweaks made to it. The camera housing is wider and the display curves ever-so-slightly around the edges but the squared-off body remains. It comes in charcoal grey and blue editions. The camera system is inherited from the Xperia 1 II (more or less). The ToF sensor has been lopped off, leaving the 12MP trio made of a 16mm ultra-wide-angle lens, a 70mm telephoto lens, and a 24mm main sensor. The unique shutter button still sits on the side of the frame.
The phone is kept feather-weight at 163g but the battery capacity only reaches 4,000 mAh that recharges over an unremarkable 21W. It’s available in 128GB/256GB configurations and might start from Rs. 1,57,000, if it lands in Pakistan.