Sony Xperia 5 II Review: Sony Finally Gets It Right

Sony Xperia 5 II price in India is expected to be Rs. 69,990 and essentially, Sony is offering a more affordable and compact version of the Xperia 1 II released in May.

On the whole, this phone is a wonderful choice for those who love recording videos, taking pictures, and gaming on their handset. Sony is targeting a very niche market so it understands that this phone won’t appeal to the general mass. However, for those who like that kind of thing, the Sony Xperia 5 II is a real treat.

Sony Xperia 5 II Release Date

The smartphone will be launched on December 4 and preorders are already open.

Purchasing the Sony Xperia 5 II and you will be treated with 21,600 Call of Duty points, a 10,000-mAh portable power bank, and a HyperX Cloud II gaming headset.

Sony Xperia 5 II Review

Xperia 5 II Design

Sony Xperia 5 II doesn’t have as sharp a display as the Xperia 1 II so Sony has given the former a higher refresh rate to make up for users. So if you are wondering what you should go for, and given that money isn’t a problem, choose the Xperia 5 II for a high refresh rate of 120Hz and its 6.1-inch screen; otherwise, go for the Xperia 1 II’s 4k, 6.5-inch display.

The two phones share an aspect ratio of 21:9, which is wonderful for watching Netflix movies as most of its content is filmed to be displayed in widescreen.

While there is no problem with the design of the Sony Xperia 5 II, those who have accustomed to modern-looking smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S20 will think the Sony phone looks a little bit boring.

The most frustrating part of the design is arguably the Google Assistant button, which is on the same side with the volume rocker, the fingerprint reader, and the power button, along with the shutter button for the cameras. This kind of placement will definitely confuse lots of users.

Sony Alpha Mirrorless Cameras In A Phone

To try out the 4K at 120FPS video recording ability of the phone, you will need to open the Cinema Pro app. Files are saved with either 24FPS or 30FPS, which gives the videos a slow-motion effect. If you are into this kind of video, the Sony Xperia 5 II is arguably the best handset for the job.

Apart from the absence of a time-of-flight sensor, the more affordable Sony handset has similar hardware and software to the Xperia 1 II.

Users who like to edit their photos later will love the fact that the phone supports saving shots on the RAW format.

One of the rare drawbacks of the camera app is the lack of ways to control the exposure. Your only choices are the shutter angle and the IOS. Xperia 1 II has the same problem. To fix it, one of the handiest solutions is to get a neutral density filter.

Game Enhancer, Battery, And High Refresh Rate

You get to choose between 60Hz and 120Hz for the Sony Xperia 5 II. There isn’t an adaptive software like what you have with the OnePlus 8.

The higher refresh rate proves its power when you play games. The Game Enhancer app lets you choose the refresh rate for the game you play. The app is most useful for games like Call of Duty. It allows you to preview the game at different rates so you can choose which settings you want to go for.

Sony Xperia 5 II has a larger battery than its predecessors, standing at 4,000-mAh. The phone can last for a day of use with refresh rate cranked to 120Hz.

Video playback tests with the same refresh rate and half brightness result in 18 hours and 36 minutes. That outcome is great as it comes very close to what OnePlus 8 Pro can do and is 4-hour longer than the Xperia 1 II.

Sony has taken another step toward making gaming an enjoyable experience by introducing the HS Power Control. The HS stands for heat suppression and what this feature does is to reroute the power directly to the phone without going through the battery.

This function ensures that the phone can get warm, but never reach the point where the handset is too hot to hold.

Snapdragon 865 Processor And 5G

Under the hood, the Sony Xperia 5 II runs on a Snapdragon chipset and has support for sub-6 5G connectivity.

The phone is snappy doing most tasks, even video recording, and photo-taking.

In tests, the Sony Xperia 5 II is on par with other phones powered by the Snapdragon 865 processor like Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, OnePlus 8 Pro, and Xperia 1 II.

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