Sony Xperia 5 V is official with a larger main camera sensor

Sony today unveiled its latest compact flagship: the Xperia 5 V. The phone offers a revamped camera system that loses the telephoto lens, but gains a much larger main sensor.

It’s still built around the same 6.1-inch FHD+ 120Hz 21:9 OLED and is flanked by front-firing stereo speakers.

Sony has packed the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside the Xperia 5 V and there’s 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, expandable via the microSD card slot.

The 3.5mm headphone jack also remained in place for another year – a real rarity these days.

Moving to the back, we see the first notable difference. Sony has ditched the triple camera setup in favor of a dual one, but it has a much more capable sensor than before. The Xperia 5 V has the same 1/1.35-inch 52MP main sensor as the Xperia 1 V. By default it will generate 24mm, 12MP shots. Thanks to the increased sensor size and bright optics, if you were to choose the 2x zoom option (effectively 48mm) you’d still have superior light collection than the Xperia 5 IV’s telephoto lens offers.

The second camera is a 1/2.5-inch 12MP ultrawide with a 16mm focal length, apparently the same camera found on last year’s Xperia 1 V and Xperia 5 IV. It is capable of dual-pixel autofocus.

At the front a 12MP 1/2.9-inch unit will take care of selfies for another year.

Thanks to the 6.1-inch screen diagonal and height, the Xperia 5 V has retained its compact dimensions. The phone has gained 11 grams and is a little thicker than before, but it is slightly shorter than its predecessor. Coming from an Xperia 1 V, the Xperia 5 V looks pleasantly tiny. It will land in a shrinking market of compact flagships and will go up against Samsung’s Galaxy S23 and Apple’s upcoming iPhone 15 and 15 Pro.

The battery is the same 5,000 mAh unit as before, but we expect the Xperia 5 V to last longer on a charge thanks to the updated Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. Sony says you’ll get 50% in 30 minutes with its 30W charger (sold separately).

The Sony Xperia 5 V will be available from the end of September, priced at €999/£849.