Sony Xperia Z5 Impressions: Design, Performance & Stability

Another year and another Sony Xperia handset, which to be completely honest, looks just like past Xperia devices. Yet, with plenty of struggles in its mobile division, Sony is looking to the Xperia Z5 – along with the Xperia Z5 Compact and the world’s first 4K smartphone, the Xperia Z5 Premium – to improve its fortunes.

With the Compact and Premium featuring almost identical specs (with regards to the processor, internals and the camera) to the Xperia Z5, do Sony’s latest handsets deliver? Will the Snapdragon 810 and its perceived overheating problems rear up again or have Qualcomm finally sorted out an issue that’s plagued most Snapdragon 810 devices? Let’s take a closer look.

Design

Since the launch of the Xperia Z1 just over two years ago, Sony’s smartphones have followed a particular design and the Xperia Z5 is no different, bringing with it the same rectangular design that has become synonymous with the Xperia range.

If you’ve used a previous Xperia smartphone, you’ll definitely find the Xperia Z5 comfortable to use but for me personally, the design is beginning to feel a little dated. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the handset design but in an era where companies are innovating with the design of their smartphones, the Xperia Z5 does feel like it belongs to an era past.

One of the biggest issues with the Xperia Z5 is the location of the keys on the right, as they feel a little cramped in actual use. As I covered in our live unboxing of the Xperia Z5, the switch to a fingerprint sensor in the power button (more on that below) and the position of this means the volume keys are quite low on the handset.

Almost all manufacturers position the volume key so that it’s towards the top of the handset and this makes it comfortable to use. With the Xperia Z5 power button being in the middle of the handset, Sony made the ultimately-strange decision to move the volume keys beneath it and as such, it’s very very uncomfortable when you attempt to use them. As someone with large hands, using the volume keys when the phone is in my hand is near impossible unless I grip the handset at the very bottom (which increases the risk of it slipping and becoming damaged).

Moving to the other side and Sony has (again) opted to combine its SIM and microSD card trays into one tray located under a flap, which feels like it’s destined to break. Taking the tray out is difficult unless you have a nail with which to grip it and it feels as flimsy as it did on the Xperia Z3Xperia Z3+. Putting the tray back into the handset also proves to be a challenge as, on more than one occasion, the SIM card fell out while trying to insert the card tray.

Aside from these gripes, the Xperia Z5 is quite comfortable to hold in the hand and the keys themselves provide ample tactile feedback. The display is an IPS panel, which while not being the best on the market, is better than previous displays used in Sony handsets. On the front, there is a front speaker which is much louder on previous devices, which is again a welcome improvement.

The front and the back of the Xperia Z5 are protected by Gorilla Glass, with the back a frosted glass panel that looks quite intriguing while the plastic adorning the sides is plain and somewhat boring. Sony’s design definitely works but does feel like it’s lost the same appeal that made it stand out in the first Xperia Z smartphone.

Performance

Under the hood, the Xperia Z5 is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor coupled with an Adreno 430 GPU, 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. Compared to other flagship Android smartphones, the specifications are certainly up there with the best (although some handsets do offer 4GB RAM) but does the performance live up to this?

In actual day-to-day usage, the Xperia Z5 is definitely snappy and even installing a lot of data (or recording an hour’s worth of 4K video) doesn’t have an effect on the handset’s performance. When switching between applications, there doesn’t seem to be a delay and for the most part, the processor and RAM combination certainly seems to work.

There is one area that the Xperia Z5 is a let down; the fingerprint sensor. The first Xperia to come with a sensor built in, the Z5’s power button houses the sensor and the position of this, where your thumb would naturally sit. is meant to make it quick and easy to use. The problem; you need to be quite precise with your thumb placement.

When you’re precise, it works pretty quick and is on par with most flagships (albeit not as fast as the fingerprint sensor on the Huawei Mate S). However, more often than not, you’ll find you have to lift your thumb and place it again and it can be quite frustrating when it doesn’t unlock.

Fingerprint fight: Galaxy Note 5 vs Mate S vs iPhone 6S

Quite likely due to accidental presses of the fingerprint sensor, I’ve often found that the Xperia Z5 also awakes itself when it’s in a pocket, resulting in several vibrations and the inevitable message to try entering your pin again. This is definitely not ideal and the handset also seems to wake itself in the pocket even without fingerprint security enabled. The power button is clearly rather sensitive and while this has its positives, it certainly also has negatives.

Does it overheat?

Now to the question that many people have about any Snapdragon 810 powered smartphone; does it overheat. This is a rather subjective topic but based on some informal testing, it’s safe to say that it does overheat.

During every day tasks, the handset temperature doesn’t rise by much and certainly doesn’t feel like its overheating but power up the 4K video recording and the temperature starts to increase. Just like the Xperia Z3+, when you power up the camera, you’re greeted with the following warning:

And sure enough, it does overheat. After 14 minutes and 30 seconds of recording a 4K video, the handset overheated to the point that it shut the camera down. Personally, I found that when the handset did overheat due to the camera, it became quite hot and in a cold climate like London during the fall season, it’s definitely warm enough to add to your own body heat. For those wondering, a 15 minute 4k video takes up 5.8GB which means the 32GB internal storage should be good enough for around 1 hour’s worth of 4k video.

To test the overheating a step further, our very own Gary did some testing of the Z5 Compact camera for the review and found the temperature raised by 20 degrees Celsius when recording 4K video. Yes, the Xperia Z5 does overheat but it’s worth keeping in mind that some others handsets do overheat as well, and the updated Snapdragon 810 v2.1 definitely improves the experience compared to the Xperia Z3+, where the handset would shut down almost immediately.

It’s safe to say that Sony and Qualcomm have definitely improved the experience and no doubt, this is due to Sony’s decision to use dual heating pipes to dissipate heat away from the processor. Without doubt, this definitely serves its purposes and aside from when using the camera, the Xperia Z5 doesn’t seem to overheat more than any other handset.

Battery Life

Under the unibody build, the Xperia Z5 has a 2900mAh non-removable battery and during the past couple of weeks, the handset has delivered interesting battery life. The battery size is on par with most current flagships and the handset will last a day under most conditions. We say most, as there are certain tasks that will hamper the battery life massively.

One of these is a big issue for me, as I use my phone as a navigation device and when using the Xperia Z5 and Google Maps, the battery drained by 20 percent with just under an hour’s screen on time. Extrapolating this further, a three-and-a-half-hour journey resulted in a 65 percent drain in the battery and while some of this was due to the screen, the navigation does seem to drain the battery more than on other devices that I’ve used.

Aside from this, battery life is mostly average, with the Xperia Z5 lasting about 18 to 22 hours on a single charge with around 3 hours’ screen on time. Where the Xperia Z5 does do well however, is its standby time with the handset lasting two days without Sony’s stamina mode. Turn on STAMINA and this can push the standby time past four days and this is definitely impressive as it means you can take the handset away for a weekend, safe in the knowledge it won’t run flat halfway through your trip.

Camera

One of the big changes in the Xperia Z5 is the camera, with Sony’s latest flagship featuring the first major upgrade to the Xperia camera since the original Xperia Z1. The latest camera brings a 23MP Exmor-RS lens with effective image stabilisation and a hybrid phase detection autofocus system that Sony claims is the fastest on the market.

In actual use, the focus time doesn’t fail to disappoint, with the handset quick to focus even in low light conditions. Unfortunately, this doesn’t quite make up for the less than stellar camera performance in low light. In good light, images are crisp, clear and detailed but as the light reduces, so does the camera quality and quite drastically.

We’ve already put the Xperia Z5 camera up in a shootout against the Galaxy Note 5, iPhone 6S and LG G4 to test just how good Sony’s latest imaging sensor is and you can see this shootout here. We’ll be revealing which device took each image and talking through the cameras in more detail early next week and we’ll go more in-depth on the camera in the full Xperia Z5 review!

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Wrap Up

There you have it – my impressions of the Xperia Z5 having spent a couple of weeks with Sony’s latest smartphone. The handset certainly isn’t perfect but with features like IP68 water and dust resistance, it definitely has a few unique points that set it apart from the competition.

That being said, some of Sony’s improvements definitely don’t seem to stand up to as close scrutiny as you might have hoped and with the camera especially, I think there’s still further testing to do to see whether it lives up to Sony’s claims that it is the best smartphone camera on the market.

Naturally, we’ll have a full in-depth review of the Xperia Z5 coming up shortly, with this piece focusing more on the design, performance and stability of Sony’s latest smartphone. Unlike previous years, the handset is certainly interesting and with the Z5 Premium and the Z5 Compact also on the market, Sony might yet gain more traction than it has done in previous years.

What do you think of the Xperia Z5? Is there anything you’d like us to test in the full review? Let us know your views in the comments below guys!

Sony’s RX1R II full-frame camera stuffs 42MP into a small body

As far as compact cameras go, Sony is undeniably the best at making them. But in case that RX100 IV point-and-shoot wasn’t good enough for you, the company is now introducing the RX1R II, a full-frame pocket-sized shooter with a 42.4-megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor. If you’re keeping tabs at home, then you’d know that’s similar to the one featured in the recently announced A7R II mirrorless camera. Another highlight of the second-gen RX1R is its retractable, 2.4-million-dot XGA OLED viewfinder, as well as what Sony’s calling the “world’s first” optical variable low-pass filter — which you can turn on or off based on the sharpness strength you want on certain images. The fixed lens, meanwhile, is a 35mm (f2.0) ZEISS Sonnar T*. What you won’t find here is 4K video recording. Instead, you have the option to shoot up to 1080p at 24, 30 and 60 fps, while the ISO is set at a maximum of 102,400 when expanded. Like what you see? Then be ready to have your jaw drop, as the RX1R II will cost a wallet-clinching $3,300 when it hits stores in November.

Source: Sony

Shooting in the dark with Sony’s A7S II full-frame camera

Sony’s marketing team may be reaching with its claims that the A7S II can turn night into day. But it isn’t far off. The company’s new full-frame mirrorless camera, announced last month, boasts an insane 409,600 ISO range — making it the perfect companion for shooting your darkest moments. Compared to the original model, which also came with those night-friendly features, the A7S II sports the same 12.2-megapixel, full-frame CMOS sensor and Bionz X processor as its predecessor. Now, here’s where things get interesting: Sony has added in-camera 5-axis image stabilization and internal 4K UHD recording at 24 and 30 fps. In addition to this, it also supports uncompressed 14-bit RAW files, up to 5 fps continuous shooting and photo-sharing via WiFi or NFC. The best part about it is that these high-end specs are all crammed inside a palm-sized body.Slideshow-329322

I had the chance to test it out for a couple of hours and put it this way: Parting ways with the unit was hard when it had to be returned to Sony. That said, I’m not surprised by the fine quality of the camera, inside and out, particularly because the first-generation A7S is already phenomenal in its own way. As you’d expect, the A7S II takes wonderful, sharp, vivid shots in low-light atmospheres, and finally being able to record 4K (3,840 x 2,160) footage directly into the camera is a huge benefit — especially for pro videographers. Browsing through the menus is a breeze, too; settings are easy to find and customize, while the S-Log3 Gamma and Display Assist Function modes will be appreciated by power users — who are ultimately the target audience for Sony’s new shooter.

We’ll have more on the $3,000 A7S II soon. For now, check out some sample images we took last night.Slideshow-329321

To view sample images shot with the Sony A7S II click here.

Watch our Xperia Z5 Compact unboxing from Periscope

Just last week we brought you a live unboxing of the Sony Xperia Z5 on Periscope, and we’re back again with yet another live video, this time from our own Gary Sims.

This week Gary unboxed the little brother of the Xperia Z5, the Z5 Compact. With its 4.6-inch display, Snapdragon 810 processor, 32GB of on-board storage, and 23MP rear-facing camera, the Xperia Z5 Compact is certainly a powerhouse of a device in a small package. Although the overall design of the Compact may not stray away from Sony’s all-too-familiar design language, we’re sure many folks looking for a smaller handset will be perfectly happy with this new device.

Related: Sony Xperia Z5 Compact hands-on and first look28

We’ll of course bring you a full review of the Z5 Compact in the near future. For now, though, you don’t want to miss Gary’s unboxing and first impressions video. Are you on Periscope? Follow Android Authority for more off the cuff videos of your favorite devices. We’ll make sure to let you know in advance about upcoming live streams, so you don’t miss out on the fun!

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What do you think of the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact? How do you feel about the idea of Periscope-based unboxings, and do you have any suggestions to further improve them? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.