Editor Rating:4.1
User Rating: (No reviews) ?

Sony Xperia Z5 Review

The Good: The Xperia Z5 looks stunning, has a lot of power, and its camera is capable of taking some really amazing snaps.

The Bad: It doesn't offer a lot of big updates compared to Xperia Z3, and offers nothing special compared to its rivals. It is waterproof, but no longer can you submerge the phone under water and take photos like you could with Z3 or Z2, for example.

The Verdict: The Sony Xperia Z5 is a high-end phone with great specs, but it doesn't offer anything really exciting compared to its rivals.

  • Full Review

Design and Build Quality

The Z5 is definitely a head turner. It features the glass front and back, with metal edges. The back panel is no longer gloss, but frosted. The phone's power button is located on the side, and it doubles as a fingerprint reader. Its side position is very comfortable to use, and makes it easy to unlock your phone. If you are a left-handed, however, you may find it less convenient. It's also important to note that the Xperia Z5 is waterproof, but it should not be submerged under water.

Software and User Experience

The smartphone comes with Android 5.1 Lollipop on board, but Sony heavily customized the whole interface. This is not a bad thing either, as they did a pretty good job and the skin looks neat and easy to learn. The Z5 comes with a bunch of pre-loaded apps which clutter things up a bit, but you can uninstall most of them.

Camera

The Z5 camera features a whopping 23-megapixel resolution. Thanks to this, you have the flexibility to zoom into a scene or crop into an image after you've taken the shot, without loosing too much detail. Pretty useful! As you'd expect, the camera can take some really gorgeous shots. The colors are generally rich and vibrant. There's some noise in low-light situations, but this is to be expected.

Technical Specifications:

  • Display: 5.2 inches (1920x1080 pixels)
  • Processor: 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 and 2.0 GHz quad-core Cortex-A57
  • Memory: 3GB
  • Storage: 32GB (expandable via microSD)
  • Camera: 23MP + 4K video recording
  • Battery: 2,900mAh
  • OS:    Android OS, 5.1.1 (Lollipop)
  • Dimensions: 146 x 72 x 7.3 mm (5.75 x 2.83 x 0.29 in)

Conclusion

The Xperia Z5 is a great phone, but it simply doesn't stand out like Z3 used to do. It can no longer be submerged under water, which means it lost one of the major features that set it apart from its rivals. The Z5 is a speedy phone, and we're definitely fans of the design. Finally, the 23MP camera takes great shots in almost all conditions, which is important to a lot of people.

Want to know more about Sony Xperia Z5?
Sony Xperia Z5