Sony Xperia 5 IV Audio Review

[JeremyFife]

Interesting, and thanks for review.

Slightly (but not much) off-topic: I have the Sony but it's time to upgrade/replace. I like small screens and I'd like to move away from Sony (review backs that up)

Any thoughts on the iPhone Mini - for audio and as a phone? I've never appled so slightly unsure

 

[pavuol]

ROG Phone 5.

Nice, so smartphone "emedded audio power" died definitelly some 2 years ago..(?)

Spoiler: Asus ROG Phone 5 (audio @gsmarena)

 

[fluufy]

Went through this process last year. After a disastrous detour via Xiaomi (really good at everything except making phone calls!), I ended up back at Samsung s22+. Should really have stayed there, I’ve had Samsungs since the Omnia (before android). I’ve come to accept that BT audio is mostly good enough for my 50yo ears, except SBC. I’ve even managed to EQ some Galaxy Buds Live to sound good (came free with an S20FE).

If I’m at home I still prefer the desktop set, but playing from the phone through SMSL SU9 using LDAC is plenty good enough for Tidal and Sundaras if the PC is occupied. I guess I’m just doing what I’m told and buying what the social structure of capitalism tells me to, but it works ok.

 

[Bam!]

Interesting, and thanks for review.

Slightly (but not much) off-topic: I have the Sony but it's time to upgrade/replace. I like small screens and I'd like to move away from Sony (review backs that up)

Any thoughts on the iPhone Mini - for audio and as a phone? I've never appled so slightly unsure

Iphone 13 mini:
+ Apple (dongle)
+ Great Display
+ Very fast
+ Face ID
+ Tiny

- battery life ok for casual but imho not for power users
- 60hz: once you are used to 120hz you will not like 60hz at all
- ugly notch
- Apple (locked in)

 

[Sputnik]

I recently bought the Asus Zenfone 9, flagship performance, good 120hz amoled and analog out in a convenient 5,9'' package. No wireless charging, but I don't miss the 'placing it just right on the charger' hassle at all.

It has such good battery life that I never charge it during the day anyway.

 

[poxymoron]

Sony make some of the best camera sensors available today and coupled with Zeiss optics one would expect very good camera performance but I've always found them to be way behind anything from Samsung or Huawei.

 

[uwotm8]

I went through extensive search for a month to find a replacement for my aging Samsung S8+. I wanted a phone with analog out, OLED high-resolution display, wireless charging and 5G. Believe it or not, in US, this translates to only two phones, both from Sony. The Xperia 5 Mark IV and Xperia 1 Mark IV

Noooo

Amir, as Galaxy Note8 owner and a person who don't accept xiaowei redmatenote 68T pro etc Chinese smartphones I'd only look at iPhone 14 Pro(Max) - if I liked iOS but I don't - and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (S23 will be presented at Feb 1 and awailable 2 weeks later).

YES, they don't have analog audio output but for all smartphone-grade purposes TWS headphones are more than enough, and you can use a dongle DAC if you need some heavy artillery, say, at home (why to use smartphone then - well, not my business). And yes, just these 2-3 models simple because of overall experience, proven reliability, very good and - more important! - predictable camera performance etc etc.

Sony totally lost smartphone market for a reason and you have just seen why exactly. Unfortunately. It's just an annoying smartphone and DAC can't make you love it.

Some other solutions with 3.5 mm will be even more niche...

P.S. I personally use S Pen a lot for fast sketches so S22/23 Ultra is a no-brainer. Maybe Fold 4 also but I'm not a fan of the concept

P.P.S. Note8 shows severe OLED burnouts after 3+ years

 

[Rosenbloom]

This post made me to take out my old Samsung Galaxy Note 4 again. There is a feature “adapt sound” which is I think quite interesting. It tests the hearing of your ears and adjust the frequencies for each of your ears. I plugged in HD599 and turn on the “adapt sound” function. Subjectively not bad at all.

 

[YSC]

actually a lot better than what I expect from the panther grading! low power IMO isn't a problem for phone as that conserve battery and if it can produce better SINAD. Realistic usage here with phone out are with IEM which don't need that much power, and if one dares to carry a full sized headphone to use outdoor one would likely buy external DAP/dac+battery bank solution on the go.

 

[ShuiJu]

I never expecting anything good in the night from a small sensor camera, but I think 5iv is not that bad... And it's great and reliable in daylight in my hand..

 

[capslock]

Were LG phones last ones to feature 2Vrms with 3,5mm jack? I noticed there were some Vivo phones with CS43131 but without jack, you had to use passive USB-C to 3,5mm jack adapter at least (also I didn't find them measured anywhere). At times GSMarena measured audio output, I remember they often praised Motorolas for having "louder" output.

funny&sad trivia: I let my LG V30 jack get repaired, still waiting for a reply from service guy if he manages to obtain spare part

Now I'm confused. Isn't USB-C purely digital? How can a passive adapter make an analog signal available that is not even on the connector? Why would one even think to put a CS43131 if there is no analog output for it?

 

[ZolaIII]

I do. Wanted to avoid it but seems not possible. I am waiting for Feb 1 announcement of S23 if I go that route. I realized that with wireless charging, I can use the USB for audio and still be able to charge, albeit with the phone in the cradle of the charger.

As there really is no available solution at least you probably could pair the Sony over LDAC High to Topping G5 and drive hedaphones like that without dropouts/disconects and having LDAC to switch to the lower bitrates (at least older Sony's and LG's where only one's where that part used to work as it should). Actually QAcustic codec amp section can operate in H class mode improving both output power and performance (for a long time and on many SoC's) but no firmware up to date ever used it (there were costume ROM's with it enabled but not much) thanks to increased power drive with it and you can't fight the regulations from manufacturers point of view.

 

[Clanseven]

My last phone was a Samsung S10 5G. Excellent phone with a 3.5mm headphone jack! Now using an S22 and listen to my headphones with a Hidizs S9Pro. Sounds wonderful.
I know you've tested the S9, but any chance of testing the Pro version? Regardless, keep up the good work.

 

[Marc v E]

@amirm Why not use an apple usb dongle with any android phone? It works on my samsung.

 

[Cars-N-Cans]

This post made me to take out my old Samsung Galaxy Note 4 again. There is a feature “adapt sound” which is I think quite interesting. It tests the hearing of your ears and adjust the frequencies for each of your ears. I plugged in HD599 and turn on the “adapt sound” function. Subjectively not bad at all.

View attachment 258498

It does work pretty well. Used it to make a set of trashy Klipsch R6i's livable. Only issue I ran into is that the corrections were not immediately visible when it came time to undo them with good IEMs. Could not get the phone to display the corrections until I went back in and "repeated" the test, after which it let me go back to a flat response. But if you principally only use one set of headphones or IEMs and they need EQ corrections it can make them sound substantially better.

 

[staticV3]

Why not use an apple usb dongle with any android phone? It works on my samsung.

The Apple dongle has an annoying bug on Android: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...luetooth-dac-headphone-amp.17386/post-1302123

Without opening an App like Neutron, Hiby, or UAPP each time you plug in the dongle, output voltage will be limited to just 0.08Vrms on the US version, and even less on the EU version.
Fine if you use super sensitive IEMs, but if you need the full voltage that these can provide, then they're really tedious.

 

[Count Arthur]

Strange as you would think that Sony has the wherewithal to create a truly performant solution here.

Perhaps Sony feel that an overly good audio solution on their phones would cannibalise the sales of their DAPs?: https://www.sony.co.uk/walkman/gallery

 

[staticV3]

Strange as you would think that Sony has the wherewithal to create a truly performant solution here.

You'd think that, but then you'd remember that some $50 dongle from China beats Sony's top of the line, $3700 DAP in performance: https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/sony-nw-wm1zm2/

 

[Dennis_FL]

An iPhone has everything you want except you need one of these

 

[Deleted member 35357]

Bought the Sony 1 IV a few months ago. I think the lower variants didn't have the same camera as the top model if you didn't like it on the Sony 5 IV.

I'm not a avid phone user, just got it as my old Sony was just getting to old for updates & compatibility for software.
The camera is good enough for me, better than anything else I've had previously but I was expecting a higher resolution than it provided with all the marketing it was pushed with.
Better quality overall but was thinking there would be more to it with the marketing.

Good to see the potential Audio being tested here for these phones but it's not a priority device for me, it's not garbage but not optimal either.
I was thinking more about the LDAC than anyhing else about these than the headphone jack performance.