Sony Xperia 5 official IV: the compact with the poorest packaging ever

After Sony Xperia 1 IV and Xperia 10 IV, the line-up of the Japanese manufacturer for 2022 is enriched by the intermediate device that perhaps many were waiting for: Sony Xperia 5 IV. The smartphone focuses as usual on compact dimensions (although not too much), on a photographic sector worthy of the name and on hardware capable of satisfying even the most demanding users. Let’s find out together.

• Screen: OLED 6.1 “full HD +, 120 Hz, 240 Hz touch sampling rate, HDR
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
• RAM: 8 GB
• Memory internal: 128 GB expandable (up to 1 TB micro SDXC)
• Rear cameras:
  • 16 mm, 12 megapixel 1 / 2.5 “, 120 fps, f / 2.2 AF
  • 24 mm, 12 megapixel 1 / 1.7 “, 120 fps, f / 1.7, 1.8 um, AF, OIS
  • 60 mm, 12 megapixel 1 / 3.5 “, 120 fps, f / 2.4, AF, OIS
  • Zeiss lenses, Eye Autofocus (all lenses), real-time tracking (all lenses), 20 fps AF / AE burst (all lenses, with HDR), 4K @ 120fps slow-motion, object tracking and eye tracking for video
• Front Camera: 12 megapixel 1 / 2.9 “
• Audio: 3.5 mm audio jack, Full-stage Stereo Speaker with new anti-vibration ear capsule, Dolby Atmos, Hi-Res Audio, DSEE Ultimate, 360 Reality Audio, 360 Reality Audio Upmix, Music Pro
• Battery: 5,000 mAh, support for charging at 30W (50% in 30 minutes) and wireless charging, guaranteed for 3 years
• Features physical: IP65 / 68, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
• Dimensions: 156 x 67 x 8.2 mm
• Weight: 172 g

Sony Xperia 5 Mark IV was born as a smartphone designed for creators. A statement that may discourage some buyers, since not everyone needs to create content. Indeed, defining it as such could almost label it as a niche product. The truth is that there are a whole series of precautions designed for those who want to create content of various kinds (even on the gaming side), but in general the features it is equipped with are designed to satisfy a much wider audience.

Raw hardware side don’t expect big surprises, but we are still faced with a medium / top of the range: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory (expandable), screen from 6.1 “OLED full HD at 120 Hz. All this, however, is enclosed in a sufficiently compact body (although not the smallest of this 2022) and powered by a particularly generous battery: a 5,000 mAh with support for 30W fast charging and wireless charging.

The camera triptych may not surprise with megapixels, but there are various hardware and software features that will delight many. There are technologies, for example Optical SteadyShot And Flawless Eye for making videos “shake-free”, the real-time tracking not only of the eyes but also of objects (Sony gave a classic example with a basketball during the presentation), and i 4K slow-motion video at 120 fps. There is no lack of mode Videography Pro to manage all the parameters manually, and if you want you can also use it as external monitor for Alpha cameras. The front camera also improves, which goes from the 8 megapixels (1/4 “) of the Xperia 5 III to the current 12 megapixels (1 / 2.9”).

A smartphone of this kind could certainly not leave out the audio sector. We find on board 3.5mm audio jack with Hi-Res Audiotechnology LDAC And Hi-Res Audio wireless regarding wireless listening e a pair of really special stereo speakers. Sony has enclosed them with some sort of internal bulkheads that ensure that the sound emitted does not cause vibrations to the body of the smartphone. In this way the emitted sound is also clearer. Always for content creators there is also Music Proa special subscription (we still don’t know if it will be available in Italy) that processes musical audio recordings and returns them with noise reduction, reverb and trying to reproduce the frequency response of a condenser microphone.

Finally, Sony also spent a few words on the comparison with its predecessor. Xperia 5 Mark 4 manages to be a little smaller of the predecessor (156 x 67 x 8.2 mm vs 157 x 68 x 8.2 mm of the Mark 3) while increasing the battery, which goes from 4,500 to 5,000 mAh. In short, autonomy shouldn’t be a problem.

We have become accustomed to the absence of power supplies in smartphone packaging. Only one last piece was missing, and apparently Sony will lead the way to the other producers. The packaging of Sony Xperia 5 IV will indeed “the poorest ever”, just to paraphrase a famous catchphrase from the world of technology. Via the power supply e via the USB-C cable as well. All the plastic is also gone, except of course the one that makes up the smartphone. The box will consequently be only 26 mm high and will in fact contain the smartphone, the manuals and perhaps even the pin for removing the SIM trolley. Another gadget that perhaps will soon disappear, if eSIMs manage to gain a foothold in the short term. The motivation is always the same: to optimize the packaging and, above all, reduce CO2 emissions. Given the removal of the power supplies, it may also make sense to remove the cables, but it is still strange that on medium / high-end smartphones the sales packages are increasingly poor.

Sony Italy has confirmed that Xperia 5 IV will be available for purchase in our country from mid-September 2022. The Italian price has not been communicated, but we are talking about abroad € 1,049 for the European market. The smartphone will be sold in three different colors, the ones you can see in the gallery below.