Sony Xperia 5 IV Audio Review

[Bam!]

You can still get the Asus Zenfone 8 or 9, which have the 3.5 mm out. Biggest downside is that the Zenfone 8 won't go beyond Android 13 and the 9 likely won't go beyond Android 14. But at least they are rather cheap for flagships.

No SD card support. Max version 256GB. Otherwise a great phone.

 

[woofersus]

You can still get the Asus Zenfone 8 or 9, which have the 3.5 mm out. Biggest downside is that the Zenfone 8 won't go beyond Android 13 and the 9 likely won't go beyond Android 14. But at least they are rather cheap for flagships.

Thanks for this. The Zenfone 9 looks pretty great, but alas, according to reviews won't work on Verizon. I wonder if that's only "officially" won't work. Looks like no CDMA support but I'm not really seeing anything but LTE these days.

 

[markanini]

How things have changed, Xperia was great 5-6 years ago when IP65, expandible storage, gorilla glass, and a cool understated and design and UI in one phones was a exclusive feature.

 

[markanini]

Sometimes nanny state regulations are put in place to curb litigation, and therefore allow companies to make and sell products rather than spend time in the courtroom. So in many cases, the “nanny state” flows from capitalism, not socialism.

I'm not sure I could picture that. Because capitalism is state agnostic, while socialism would be very challenging to implement without a powerful state.

 

[amirm]

Amir"I went through extensive search for a month to find a replacement for my aging Samsung S8+"

So Sony's aspect ratio could hardly be a surprise, after extensive research. But I guess the real life experience was a bit of a surprise...

I did a test again last night side by side, watching the identical video on my S8+ and Sony. The Sony's image is at least half an inch smaller if not more! Yes, both have dark windows on each side but the ones on Sony are massive, making actual image area very small. I zoomed it and as before, it cut off a bunch of the image.

 

[Bam!]

I did a test again last night side by side, watching the identical video on my S8+ and Sony. The Sony's image is at least half an inch smaller if not more! Yes, both have dark windows on each side but the ones on Sony are massive, making actual image area very small. I zoomed it and as before, it cut off a bunch of the image.

Yes. S8+ 1440 x 2960 pixels, 18.5:9 ratio (~529 ppi density) vs. XPERIA 5 IV 1080 x 2520 pixels, 21:9 ratio (~449 ppi density)

18,5 + 2,5 = 21 = cut off.

Apple/ or Galaxy S23(+) ultra with dongle
A52s 5G/ Rog Phone 5 without wireless charging

Or (not flagship but good enough)
Redmi Note11+ Pro without wireless charging (but full charge in 16min)

 

[Jimster480]

BTW, if someone wants to buy this for what I paid for it, I am happy to sell it to you given the higher retail cost now.

Btw I have the Xperia 1 IV and my wife has the 1 III and both of them are great. I can tell you for sure the headphone output is DISMAL compared to my old LG G8. However the connectivity is really good. The Wifi problems were fixed in a recent update; so if you happened to just take it out of the box make sure to update it to the most recent software before judging the wifi performance. It was REALLY BAD when I first got the phone almost 2 months ago. The 1 IV has a larger screen and 12GB of Ram and I do lots of Video consumption with my phone as I use the bathroom, shower, etc and it hasn't been a problem for me. The black bar's aren't so bad but a nice feature is that you can browse comments while the video is playing and keep it in full resolution. The 4K version is also better in the sense that alot of text fits on the screen if you want to lower the font size (not sure how your vision is being older than me) but if your vision is perfect I use the smallest font size and it fits about 50% more on the screen vs my LG G8 at the smallest font size.

 

[Jimster480]

Yes. S8+ 1440 x 2960 pixels, 18.5:9 ratio (~529 ppi density) vs. XPERIA 5 IV 1080 x 2520 pixels, 21:9 ratio (~449 ppi density)

18,5 + 2,5 = 21 = cut off.

Apple/ or Galaxy S23(+) ultra with dongle
A52s 5G/ Rog Phone 5 without wireless charging

Or (not flagship but good enough)
Redmi Note11+ Pro without wireless charging (but full charge in 16min)

The problem with all these phones that are not certified in the USA is that you WILL NOT GET 5G. YOU WILL NOT GET 5G (Just to repeat because so many people have been lied to). ONLY Certified phones can get any form of 5G. This means that even the Sony Xperia 1 III which has 5G cannot get 5G on anything but T-Mobile (and not even most of the bands) because it IS NOT CERTIFIED. The 1 IV and 5 IV Sony phones are the only CERTIFIED 5G phones that are flagships with a headphone jack & SD Card slot. They also have Dual SIM support if you want to give up the SD Card.
As far as the Camera; Basic mode is alright, auto mode can sometimes do better but the camera app could defintely be better for an "everyday shooter camera app".

 

[Bam!]

The problem with all these phones that are not certified in the USA is that you WILL NOT GET 5G. YOU WILL NOT GET 5G (Just to repeat because so many people have been lied to). ONLY Certified phones can get any form of 5G. This means that even the Sony Xperia 1 III which has 5G cannot get 5G on anything but T-Mobile (and not even most of the bands) because it IS NOT CERTIFIED. The 1 IV and 5 IV Sony phones are the only CERTIFIED 5G phones that are flagships with a headphone jack & SD Card slot. They also have Dual SIM support if you want to give up the SD Card.
As far as the Camera; Basic mode is alright, auto mode can sometimes do better but the camera app could defintely be better for an "everyday shooter camera app".

For the mentioned by me upcoming galaxy s23 this should be no problem and I also mentioned generic "iphone" and assume/am pretty shure for new iphone 14 and older 13 it should also be no problem.

A52s, Redmi note 11+ pro, ROG Phone 5 I really don't know. But should be easy to find out. Some people are just as anal about phones as people on ASR are about Audio products

 

[Bam!]

Will Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G work in USA?

In this page we are going to show you the compatibility of Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G with the mobile networks of USA and with the telephony operators that provide service in USA.

www.kimovil.com

 

[Bam!]

21:9 on my Xperia 5 Mark Ii

 

[Guerilla]

the Sony Xperia 5 MK IV.
As always, questions, comments

My video now got Samsung s22 and likes it very much except not always best color when "default autoshooting" camera. Aspect ratio not as wide as Sony. Sadly 16:9 ratio cant be found on new phones. -Seems as a conspiracy between major brands Maybe a few highspec Chinese rugged phones still use 16:9. When you get more powerful Amirn Please fight for 16:9 Phones.

Good luck finding right phone

 

[Guerilla]

5g is not really needed

 

[JaccoW]

I have the Sony Xperia 5 III and I love this phone. I was done with huge phones 4 years ago and the narrower screen makes it a very comfortable phone to hold and keep in my pocket.

As for the camera, it certainly lacks most of the AI "enhancements" that other phones have, with Sony opting for a more natural looking image. But to be fair, other phones make it easier to shoot good-looking shots whereas the Sony is more dependant on user skill. But even with my meager skillls I enjoy something as simple as adjusting for exposure and its quick focus.

For my uses the micro-sd card in combination with a pair of good quality noise cancelling headphones make this a very enjoyable phone.
Not as much fun as the old Nokia/Microsoft Lumia's I've had in the past. But the huge Lumia 1520 and 950XL hold a special place in my heart.

 

[Jimster480]

For the mentioned by me upcoming galaxy s23 this should be no problem and I also mentioned generic "iphone" and assume/am pretty shure for new iphone 14 and older 13 it should also be no problem.

A52s, Redmi note 11+ pro, ROG Phone 5 I really don't know. But should be easy to find out. Some people are just as anal about phones as people on ASR are about Audio products

None of the non big brand phones are certified and I wouldn't be caught dead with samshit or ishit. It's an unfortunate situation.
Sony is unfortunately the last stand with certified phones providing headphone Jack's and SD card slots. I have 300GB used on my SD card and I take it from phone to phone for like 5y already... And I have 3 cars that use AUX input so I need a headphone jack.

 

[Dro]

If my wireless provider told me that I couldn't use my perfectly up to spec phone because it is not "certified", I would change providers, not phones.

 

[Jimster480]

If my wireless provider told me that I couldn't use my perfectly up to spec phone because it is not "certified", I would change providers, not phones.

Good luck in "changing". Every network has the same rules. Our government here in the USA does nothing to regulate wireless companies.
AT&T doesn't allow non certified phones (or even certified phones that they don't sell)
Verizon doesn't allow non certified phones (or any phone they don't sell).
T-mobile partially allows non verified phones but restricts the actual performance to nothing unless it's certified. It also depends on what market you are in as far as what tower bands you can use with a non certified phone.

So basically of the 3 networks in the USA; all 3 have the same rules. Specs don't matter. Phone market duopoly matters with Samsung and Apple. They killed off LG with this garbage and Sony now remains as the only certified option. Even most Motorola phones don't count these days, unlocked means nothing since it has to be on that network or purchased directly from that network.

 

[Jmudrick]

None of the non big brand phones are certified and I wouldn't be caught dead with samshit or ishit. It's an unfortunate situation.
Sony is unfortunately the last stand with certified phones providing headphone Jack's and SD card slots. I have 300GB used on my SD card and I take it from phone to phone for like 5y already... And I have 3 cars that use AUX input so I need a headphone jack.

I agree about the utility of the micro SD. Have a 1TB drive in my V60, 400GB in my V30.

 

[julian_hughes]

I agree about the utility of the micro SD. Have a 1TB drive in my V60, 400GB in my V30.

Totally agree. I have a 1TB microsd which has moved from my old Sony Xperias to my Samsung A52s and it holds a lossless audio collection, masses of audiobooks, all my ebooks, tons of recipe pdfs and photos and audio clips and video clips etc. If Apple or Google ever bring out a phone with microSD slot & 3.5mm audio jack I'd consider buying one. Meanwhile, back at reality...

 

[Roland301]

Yes. S9: 1440 x 2960 pixels, ~570 ppi. S22: 1080 x 2340 pixels, ~425 ppi. Not sure about S23 as it is not yet officially released but probably will be the same as S22.

On the other hand it is 120hz, which is a much more noticeable difference than 1080p to 1440p on a phone screen. The S22 and S23 is supposed to have 1440p on the Ultra model, though I wonder if they actually run at 1440p when refresh rate is 120hz, or if they drop to 1080 like my Note 20..