Fast, great camera, microSD card, waterproof and the most convenient fingerprint scanner in the business make for a solid, if unremarkable smartphone

The latest smartphone from Sony has the fastest camera available on a smartphone and promises a two-day battery, but does it deliver?



After the high of the Xperia Z3 and its great battery life, Sony’s follow-up the Z3+ suffered badly from overheating issues. Skipping the number four, the Xperia Z5 has a lot to prove.

This review was conducted using a near-final prototype. Although unlikely, some aspects may be different to the device that goes on sale.

Minimalist design

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sony’s simple, minimalist design will be familiar to anyone who has looked at any of the company’s other phones from the last three years. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

To say Sony is iterative on design would be an understatement. The Z5 looks just like the various Sony flagships from the last two or three years.

All glass, back and front, held together by a band of metal with plastic corners that are meant to absorb the energy of a drop to the floor and help the screen not shatter.

The frosted glass back both looks and feels nice, while the phone is reassuringly solid in the hand. The device is waterproof, so trips into the pond won’t matter too much, but the USB port and headphones port are both exposed so there’s no need to mess with fiddly doors. Wireless charging, which you would think would be perfect for something like this, is disappointedly absent.

The 5.2in LCD display is great. Vibrant, colourful, bright and with good viewing angles. It isn’t quite as eye-popping as some rival OLED screens from Samsung or as pixel perfect as higher resolution LG’s 2K LCD, but most will be more than satisfied with the screen.

The phone is slightly thicker than high-end rivals from Apple and Samsung at 7.3mm thick, but is easy to slip into a pocket or to hold, particularly compared to larger phablets with screens over 5.5in.

The front-facing speakers are decent, for small phone speakers, and make it easier to watch videos in stereo without blocking the speaker with your hands.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Xperia Z5 is relatively easy to hold for a smartphone with a screen larger than 5in. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Specifications

Screen: 5.2in 1080p LCD (424ppi)



5.2in 1080p LCD (424ppi) Processor: octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810



octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 RAM: 3GB of RAM



3GB of RAM Storage: 32GB; microSD card slot



32GB; microSD card slot Operating system: Android 5.1.1 “Lollipop”



Android 5.1.1 “Lollipop” Camera: 23MP rear camera, 5MP front-facing camera



23MP rear camera, 5MP front-facing camera Connectivity: LTE, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4 and GPS



LTE, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4 and GPS Dimensions: 146 x 72 x 7.3 mm



146 x 72 x 7.3 mm Weight: 154g



Not quite as hot

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Xperia logo is etched into the metal sides. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The Xperia Z5 contains Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810, which has been responsible for causing overheating issues in not only Sony’s previous Z3+ but in other Android flagship devices.

The Z5 does get warm, but not enough to cause issues in my testing. It was warmest when downloading music for offline playback, not when playing a graphically intensive game.

The phone doesn’t seem to suffer from slow down when it gets hot and while it isn’t the fastest smartphone available – that would be the Samsung Galaxy S6 – the Xperia Z5 performs well. It doesn’t quite have the same zip as some other top-end Android smartphones.

I found battery life a little disappointing. Without using any of Sony’s battery saving modes the Xperia Z5 only lasted an average of 34 hours 30 minutes between charges, using it as a primary device with hundreds of push emails, notifications three hours of browsing and two hours of listening to music via Bluetooth headphones per day.

Compared to the day’s battery most smartphones provide, over 34 hours is good, but it’s a far cry from the up to two-days battery Sony is claiming. It’s possible battery life may get better in production models.

Sony’s Stamina mode, which provides a whitelist of apps while disabling others when the screen is off, works well and brings the battery life closer to 48 hours in my testing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Despite estimates, Stamina mode made the smartphone last for around 48 hours with regular use. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

I noticed that the camera impacted the battery life considerably, running the battery almost flat in under 18 hours shooting around 40 photos at a wedding.

Small, useful changes

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The additional quick settings and control over what appears in the status bar are just some of the useful additions to the standard Android experience that Sony makes. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Sony customises the standard Android 5.1 Lollipop experience with small modifications. The version installed on the Xperia Z5 is Sony’s lightest touch yet, and while it looks a little aesthetically different it will be familiar to anyone who has used Android in the past.

Sony makes some useful additions, including more customisable quick settings toggles in the notifications shade, some task automation, such as turning on the Wi-Fi when you get home, and theme support to change the look of the software.

Most of Sony’s apps, including the Music app work well enough, but can be ignored if you already use alternatives including Google’s or something like Spotify.

Camera

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The camera app is one of the best on the market with plenty of features. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The Z5 has Sony’s first new camera sensor in two years and increases the resolution to 23-megapixels from the 21 available on previous smartphones.

The megapixel count allows the phone to produce 8-megapixel images with a 5-times digital zoom without losing detail, or oversample without zooming, which helps to remove noise and artefacts.

Sony’s camera app is excellent with great automatic modes and enough manual settings to keep most happy. Photos look great, with good detail and colour accuracy in middling and good light. Low light performance is OK, but not best in class. Focusing was very fast, but sometimes struggled in lowlight situations. I found the flash was particularly ineffective.

The front-facing camera produces acceptable, if not spectacular, selfies – often looking a bit soft. This is flattering for most people, but diminishes detail in the photo.

Video recorded using Sony’s Steadyshot is smooth, removing camera shake and the jarring motion of bad dancing. The camera can record 4K video and doesn’t overheat, but at 300MB per minute you will need a large SD card for capturing anything in length.

Fingerprint scanner

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The fingerprint sensor under the power button is excellent. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Sony has fitted a fingerprint scanner under the power button on the side of the device, which is excellent. It isn’t as fast as Huawei’s sensor, but it recognised my thumb 99% of the time without issue, and has yet to fail to recognise my left index finger.

Having it under the power button on the side is the most convenient place I have come across for fingerprint sensor placement, and means there’s no risk of dropping the device.

Price

The Sony Xperia Z5 is available for pre-order in black, white, gold and green, costing £550, which makes it similarly priced to Samsung Galaxy S6 and slightly cheaper than Apple’s iPhone 6S.

Verdict

The Xperia Z5 is a great flagship smartphone, and arguably the best Sony smartphone yet. The slightly more squared-off design compared to the Z3 makes it look a little more generic, but the frosted glass on the back is considerably more attractive.

The best parts about the Z5 are the fingerprint sensor and the camera, but competitors including Apple and Samsung have equally good systems.

It’s difficult to stand out in the crowded high-end smartphone market, and not quite making two-days of battery is disappointing. The Z5 is good, it’s just not quite the best.

Pros: waterproof, good camera, microSD card slot, great fingerprint scanner Cons: doesn’t live up to battery expectations, no wireless charging, not the snappiest, weak camera flash, can get quite warm

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