Sony Xperia 5 V: a compact smartphone with a flagship camera and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

With the Xperia 5 V, Sony is taking unusual approaches. The 6.1-inch Android smartphone not only has the main camera of the microSD. This is complemented by very good stereo speakers and a bright 120Hz OLED panel

Slim 21:9 body with large battery

Sony’s housing is also unusual. The Xperia 5 V, weighing 182 grams, relies on a slim, high-quality body with dimensions of 21:9. Both the display and the back are protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and are connected to each other by a metal frame.

The screen bezels are somewhat thicker than other top-tier smartphones. However, the Xperia 5 V could do without a punch-hole or cutout for the selfie camera and instead integrate it discreetly into the screen bezel.

The Xperia 5 V has a large battery despite its small size. It has a capacity of 5,000 mAh and helps Sony achieve excellent battery life in the test, with which it can beat compact and powerful competitors like the Apple iPhone 14.

Optical zoom via software

The main camera of the full 52MP resolution is not used either, but only a section of it with a maximum of 48MP to simulate a 48MP telephoto lens.

In the standard setting, the Xperia 5 V creates 12MP images using 4x pixel binning. If you use the zoom at the standard 2x setting, the main camera switches to a 48mm focal length and thus mimics optical zoom with almost no loss.

Read our full Sony Xperia 5 V review here.

My passion for computers started with the C64. Since then, I’ve tested everything I can get my hands on in terms of hardware. From the C64 to the Amiga 500 and the first computer with an 8088 CPU, the list of projects eventually got longer and longer. I have been turning my hobby into a profession for over 20 years and have been active in the mobile sector at Notebookcheck since 2012. Before that, I worked as a hardware editor for IDG Media (tecChannel.de) and VNU Business Publications (PC Professionell), among others.