Sony Xperia 5 IV 128GB Factory Unlocked Smartphone

3 reviews for Sony Xperia 5 IV 128GB Factory Unlocked Smartphone

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Tyler – October 16, 2022

   I’m going to start this review out by addressing two of the dumber criticisms I’ve seen about this phone.

   The first one being the Wi-Fi calling. IT IS NOT SONY’S FAULT THIS PHONE DOESN’T SUPPORT WI-FI CALLING. You can thank your carrier for that lack of functionality. T-Mo is less toxic in regards to unlocked phones than Verizon or AT&T is, but they do still restrict certain functionality to T-Mo branded phones. There are multiple MVNOs you can choose from that have far more lax policies regarding unlocked phones.

   The second criticism is the heat issue and while this one is valid for certain use cases, it applies to literally every single phone in the Android market today. Period. There isn’t a single phone, running a modern Qualcomm SOC that doesn’t thermal throttle to an extreme degree under sustained loads. Even my old GS9 running an SD840(4.5w peak) thermal throttled under sustained load. You’re dealing with a sealed device, with passive cooling and an SOC that’s pulling as much power as your average laptop CPU(8.5w). It’s a high power draw chip, it’s going to thermal throttle.

   The only reason that the thermal issue came up, is that Sony was too honest in the camera app. Sony chose to shut the camera down instead of dropping the framerate or dropping frames. Most manufacturers choose to allow you to continue recording, but sacrifice quality in the process. This is not a design flaw, this is a design DECISION. Sony chose to protect the integrity of your footage over allowing you to record a 35 hour long 4k video(which would be a wreck of dropped frames anyways).

   In day to day use, this phone gets no hotter than my GS9 did. I tested it against a Moto Edge+ 22, which is an absolute powerhouse of a phone and in most instances the Sony performs just as well. Take a look at either Beebom’s video on thermal throttling or GSMArena’s reviews of modern phones. They all thermal throttle which means they all are going to have a hard time driving the camera at the limits of performance. It just comes down to how the manufacturer chooses to deal with that.

   Closing this small rant out, I don’t think this is an issue with thermal design. This is an issue of Sony not being willing to budge on quality and that not jiving with what most consumers in America expect. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is an inefficient pile of crap, but I think Sony’s cooling solution is adaquate for most use cases. If heat is that big of issue for you, then buy an iPhone because there’s nothing in the Android space that can touch the efficiency of the A14 or A15 right now.

   Now, onto my actual thoughts about this phone.

   This in my opinion is the last true Android option. If you think back to 2017/2018 with the GS9 and the GS10, every phone that Samsung released added functionality. You still had a headphone jack, you still had a microSD card slot, you still had a full edge to edge display without a stupid hole punch. They were distinctly different products, aimed at people who wanted a different user experience than what Apple was offering. That’s what made them Android phones.

   Now you have Samsung, who has diluted their brand to the point that they’re basically Great Value Apple
   and the rest of the Android market(save for a few brands), has followed their example. They’ve cut a hole in the screen, because God forbid a phone have even the smallest black bar around the screen. They’ve removed the headphone jack after mocking Apple for doing the exact same thing only a year earlier. They’ve removed the microSD card slot because they saw Apple making money hand over fist by charging absurd amounts of money increased storage capacities. That’s not even touching on the privacy concerns of uploading all your personal data to cloud based storage.

   So now were stuck in a phone landscape where you have Apple and then green robot Apple for people that don’t want an iPhone for some reason. None of these modern phones do anything to differentiate themselves from their competition. So you end up with phones that are trying to copy iPhones, but doing so poorly because they’re running crappier crappier, less power efficient SOCs.

   But… Then there’s Sony.

   The one company that’s still giving us basic features that we enjoyed 5 years ago. Unlike other manufacturers that act like we’re idiots for expecting phones to get better with time… Sony has developed a bold new strategy of improving their products generation over generation, instead of making them worse and more expensive. So from a business ethos standpoint I feel like Sony is giving better value for money than you get from other brands.

   So pros and cons then.

   PROS:

   Display:
   Phenomenal. Seriously best display I’ve ever used on a mobile device. DXO gave it a perfect score for color accuracy and I can see why. It’s the proper brightness under all conditions. The gamma and white balance are perfect. The panel is extremely uniform as well.

   Speakers:
   Great. Actual front firing speakers. They sound good for phone speakers and they have really fine control over the volume. It always felt like my Samsung was either a little too loud or a little too quiet when I was using my phone in quiet surroundings. I don’t have that issue with the Sony. They range from loud to so quiet you can’t hear them without the speaker directly against your ear.

   Camera:
   This is it. This is the main selling point of the phone. It’s exactly what you would expect. Auto mode takes great photos with minimal processing. If you’re expecting the hyper-sharpened, rainbow neon vomit that you get from Pixel or Samsung phones, you’re going to be disappointed. The Xperia takes very natural, soft, DSLR like photos. If you’re willing to tinker with settings, you can take some truly jaw dropping photos with this phone.

   Performance:
   Everything is snappy and fast. It holds 60FPS in all the games I play and that’s all I really expect out of it.

   The UI:
   This is something I really, really like about this phone. It runs a super lightly skinned version of android, but the improvements that Sony has made don’t feel intrusive at all. Doing little things like explaining menu options in more detail, changing the layout of certain menus, even the custom clock they added on the lock screen, all add up to a better Android experience in my opinion. Also, features like H.S. power control are absolutely great.

   Design:
   Great. The 21:9 aspect ratio is great for most things that you use your phone for. Social media really benefits from the taller aspect ratio as do most 3D games. I absolutely love the dedicated shutter button. I didn’t think I would, but I use it constantly. Also, the notification LED is tremendously useful.

   Battery life:
   Holy f***. I’m not a super heavy user but I can usually get 2.5 – 3 days out of this battery. That’s with 5G, 120hz, 5ish hours of SOT and background bluetooth use. The idle power draw on this phone is so insanely low. It usually only loses ~3% overnight while idle.

   CONS:

   Software:
   It gets wonky sometimes. Sometimes random parts of menus will lose the correct theming and look like a stock android menu. Screen rotation gets fussy sometimes. The camera learning curve once you leave auto mode is more like a camera wall.

   Heat:
   So despite what I said in the outset, this is a big issue. The camera will shutdown under prolonged use. The phone does get warm when you push it. There’s simply no getting around the fact that the SD 8 gen 1 is a dumpster fire.

   Accessory support:
   There basically is none. Your only options are either knock off Chinese brands, Spigen or Devilcase. And Devilcase is no longer shipping to the US starting in January. So finding cases and screen protectors that are well made for this phone is very difficult.

   So, I think that’s about all I have to say about this phone. I think despite the thermal issues this is still easily a 5/5 phone. I don’t experience issues with heat during my day to day use and even if I did, I would still balance that against what the phone brings to the table. Every product is a balance of pros and cons.

   If the only thing that matters to you is thermal management, get an iPhone or something with either a Dimensity 8100 or a SD778G.

   Also, just started typing and didn’t realize I wrote a small novel until I went to proof-read this lol

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Heather – November 17, 2022

   I’ve been using this phone for about a month now and have been able to take some really nice pictures with the camera. All 3 of the lenses are really well tuned and consistent. I can switch seamlessly between them and the color and white balance stay close to what I see with my eyes. The screen is also really well calibrated, which helps setup good shots and check the pictures you’ve taken.

   The battery life is crazy on this phone. I get around 2 days with >9 hours of screen time on a single charge. I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about overheating, but it hasn’t been an issue for me. It got hot when I first took it out of the box and it was setting everything up, but it’s been fine ever since then. I’ll update this review if that changes.

   I also really like the size of this phone. The 6.1″ screen is just the right size and it’s really tall which is nice for web browsing. The tall screen also helps with the camera because all the controls are on the one side and you still get a lot of room for the viewfinder.

   Overall I really like this phone. It has all the features I need and is well built. Also, the SD card slot gives me plenty of extra room for pictures and videos.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Number Six – January 8, 2023

   Setting up the device was simply joyous. Sound quality is spot on with clarity. The size is just right, not too large and not too small. Battery life is as expected and will get at least two days out of it, maybe 2.5. Haven’t explored the camera yet, not that I have the device no rush really. I’m familiar with the camera from having a prior Xperia 1 Mark III. The OLED screen is still wonderful to view Will add Steam Wallpaper engine tomorrow for those beautiful live images. I bought the package with the Sony earbuds so I’ll open them up this weekend and experience how they sound as I round up fallen leaves. I set my Micro SD card in the SIM tray as that too was one of the secondary reasons I purchased this device. I’m very pleased Sony hasn’t taken away the storage expandability factor; where would I store my photographs as I take them? Or that set of certain tunes I’d like to hear at certain times? Cloud schmoud.
   I’m still smiling and have been since the delivery person put the box in my hand this morning or early afternoon. It was timely regardless because it was originally expected to arrive on Monday 10-31-2022. Worth the money and the wait from pre-ordering. I’m pleased. UPDATED Thursday, 11-22-2022: Still very much enjoying the device and I finally opened the Sony earbuds to use with the phone. Noise-canceling works very well, I’m impressed. I’ve encountered no heat issues even when using the camera! As I briefly mentioned originally, the phone sits comfortably in my hand with no problems. I use it everyday when working to listen to music in my office with one earbud and I have no issues doing so. The voice clarity with or without earbuds is crystal. If there is one minor concern, it’s the flashlight which is not very bright as it’s quite dim when I’m leaving home in the early morning trying not to bump into anything on my way to the garage. But that’s why I’ve always carried a proper illumination device [it has a British accent, very prim and precise. :)] So, though I wish the phones’ flashlight were brighter, I do not consider that to be a major detraction of the device! To be frank, if that’s the only concern I have, I have no real concern at all and that’s what’s important! I’ve finally found a keeper which I’m satisfied with. If you’re looking for a great device that does its’ job every time, this is the phone for you. It’s individual and not a “me too” lemming device. Go your own way and have the Micro SD card, great headphone capability, take fantastic pictures that you control, and get off of the duopoly train. We all don’t want what Apple and Samsung are selling – good devices but they’re dictating what you need instead of listening to what you want. Even Xiaomi has gone off the rails. I’ve owned them all at some point but Sony shines through, who would’ve thought that? Surprise yourself with a 5iv or even a 1iv and enjoy without over saturated images.