Sony Xperia 5

(Still) the best camera we’ve seen on a Sony phone;Sony design fairly distinctive;Balanced, attractive OLED display

21:9 screen has its practical drawbacks;Camera good, but not among the best;Strong rivals at the same price

Bright and HDR-capable notchless cinematic display.

No audio jack.

The Pixel 4 might prove to be your thing when it arrives, an iPhone 11 Pro could make sense if you're fruitily inclined, and a selection of reasonably-sized Galaxies exist that may tempt you as well. Esteemed rivals these, and ones that the Xperia 5...

Crisp OLED display. ; Excellent build quality. ; Solid voice calls.

Mediocre battery life. ; No wireless charging. ; Clunky Xperia UI. ; Middling camera quality. ; Clumsy fingerprint sensor.

Sony's Xperia 5 smartphone features flagship-level hardware and build quality, but falls short on a number of other key factors.

Decent camera ; Good battery life ; Big screen in an easy-to-hold body

Sony software still needs work ; No wireless charging ; Fingerprint sensor is hit or miss

At the end of the day, I don’t have any reasons to really dislike the Sony Xperia 5. I don’t have any really essential reasons to recommend it, either.

Crisp and vibrant display ; Very decent camera performance ; Bloat-free Android

Ultra-tall screen feels a little weird ; Oddly placed fingerprint sensor ; Glossy back gets smudged quickly

Strong specs Premium design

Not as small as previous handsets No 3.5mm headphone jack

The Sony Xperia 5 features a variety of high-end features that you wouldn't normally see on a smaller phone, but its 21:9 aspect ratio may make it difficult to hold for those with smaller hands.

Battery lasts the day ; Plenty of power ; Quality design and waterproofing

Fingerprint scanner ; Camera is slow and doesn't perform well ; Screen aspect ratio doesn't really work at this size

If you want a smaller-scale phone and can live with the design, then this is a perfectly powerful phone, with a battery that lasts well enough. But the camera isn't competitive and the fingerprint scanner is poor.

Cheaper than Xperia 1 with similar list of features ; Colour accurate 21:9 screen ; Battery life is much better

Similar issues with video stabilisation ; HDR is a bit dull

With an (almost) identical feature list as its bigger brother, it’s certainly a smart move on Sony’s part to bring the price of its flagship down a peg or two. I might be seeing double, but considering you can get a similar sort of experience as the...