Xperia 5 II - 6.1 Inch 21:9 CinemaWide™ FHD+ HDR OLED display 120Hz - Triple lens camera - 3.5 mm audio jack - Android 10 - SIM free - 8 GB RAM - 128 GB Storage - Dual SIM hybrid - 5G - Black

I am writing this review as a 15 years of DSLR photographer&videographer that bought this phone to use its cameras not to miss great moments that I don't want to miss while I am not carrying my Nikon DSLR cameras and lenses. First of all, I was a Samsung Note 9 user for about 2.5 years which is a good phone but its cameras are very disappointing. After using that kind of big phone, I wanted to switch something smaller but unfortunately all flagship spec phones are equal sized or bigger which I really didn't want. Sony Xperia 5 II is a great match with what I was looking for. Great battery life, very good Android experience without lots of bloatware, very good size which is about equal with Note 9 but much slimmer and its corners are not sharp like Note 9 which made my trousers damaged after carrying in my pocket for a long time. Its processor is very powerful, screen is great and also having 3.5mm input is a huge plus for me since I have a high quality wired headphone that I don't want to replace with a wireless one. Now I want to talk more about its photo and video capabilities. It has reasonably bigger sized sensors for its main 24mm and ultra wide cameras. I really love to have 24mm main camera instead of 28mm which most of the smartphones have. I always hate 28mm lenses which I really don't know the reason to be honest so 24mm wide angle lens is a much better companion for me. Ultra wide angle camera is also autofocus which most of the companies are lacking that is also another plus for me. I wanted at least 12mp cameras for the main and ultra-wide so Sony's decision is an exact match for me. Please don't fool yourself, having 108mp or other very high resolution cameras doesn't help anything about your photography and videography which is a totally marketing gimmick and there is no use in the real life. The most important thing is the sensor size, sensor and lens performance. Sony's basic camera is really crap. It even cannot autofocus on close distances where actually the lenses are being able to focus. So most of the times, I am using Camera Pro which is a really nice app that gives you a DSLR feeling to use. I am taking RAW + JPEG photos since I like to push photos on Photoshop where RAW is much more useful. RAW files are good to process, autofocus is very nice with Camera Pro. Cinema Pro app is also very nice, its stabilization is very smooth and helpful but I don't like the idea to create projects for every single time that I want to change some settings, it is like using Adobe Premiere on a camera which I believe can be a little more user friendly. Today I had a chance to push the camera with a sunset timelapse, you can watch the video that I added which is a very good performance from a smartphone and I also added the long exposure photo I done with that sequence. These 2 can be a guide for you that what you can do with this phone. I will try to update my review when I have a chance to shoot different scenes that I believe worth sharing. Update : I tried to upload a new video I shoot with my phone but it seems that I can only upload one video for a review. I attached another long exposure photo from the photos I shoot during my latest timelapse. I enjoy using its cameras. The main thing annoys me about the phone is the sound key, its main feature to increase or decrease the sound of medias instead of the ring tone. If you want to increase or decrease the ring tone level, you need to pop into a deeper menu which is time consuming for a simple feature.

I've been an iPhone user since 2014, and the new iphone 12s looked like more of the same to me, so I started looking at Android phones. I saw a few reviews on youtube and it basically came down to either this phone or the nokia 8.3 (which was about 200 bucks cheaper) but went with this one because of the black friday deal (£600 as opposed to £800+) and because of the screen (iphone x had an oled and the thought of going back to a lcd screen wasn't appealing) and it's been great. The phone's built really well, the blue colour is pretty nice, cameras need some getting used to (especially in pro mode) and the aspect ratio works suprisingly well. The high refresh rate is hands down one of the best features i've ever seen on a phone! And the battery is pretty good so far, and Sony have put in a load of power saving options too. Would have been nice to get headphones in the box, but it looks like they only included them in American models, but there's a headphone jack so that's cool. Make sure you get a screen protector and a case, the phone is light and the materials used to make it results in a very slippery phone and it will fall. But yeah, sick phone, and Android is pretty maleable to what I want in a phone too.

First off this phone is so light and comfortable to use you sometimes forget what a powerful device it is. The 6.1 Inch 21:9 CinemaWide™ FHD+ HDR OLED display is a joy to behold and the 120Hz refresh rate is super fast. The only thing I wish it was a bit brighter when using outdoors on those rare sunny days. The battery life is great for me. I am not a power user and often get 2 days between charges which is great especially since there is no wireless charging and standard cable charging is slow. Gaming on this little device is surprisingly capable and I love how I can use it to play PS4 games with a Dualshock controller when the wife and kids have commandeered the TV. I bought this phone because I love photography and have owned several Sony cameras. I was intrigued by it's specs and manual photography capabilities in a world where HDR and computational photography seem to have taken over. I like how Sony approached this. From a photographers point of view the Pro photo App is very appealing, likewise the Cinema Pro app. The level of control is great up to a point. The regular photo app is very basic and could do with a refresh. Even a basic Night Mode would be great. On bright days this tri camera set up is great and takes some beautiful natural looking photos. Especially the Main and Wide lenses. I have found the Tele lens to be quite poor and have had a lot of issues focussing with this lens backfocussing ever though the focus indicator suggests the subject is in focus. This to me is a major problem and I cannot rely on this lens to be in focus. I wonder if the Xperia 1 II fares better with its distance sensor. Also the selfie camera is from 5 years ago. There is a lot to love about this phone and I feel Sony is going in the right direction, but if the want to party with the big boys the need to incorporate night mode, a better selfie camera, a distance sensor for photography and a brighter screen. Oh and keep the aspect ratio and headphone jack.

This was purchased with my own money. What is not to like about this phone. Okay the only thing that's not great is the 8mp front camera. That's the only bad thing about this phone. So with that out of the way. I've been using this phone for about a week now and it's such a great driver. Having upgraded from Apple. Emphasis on upgraded. Oh Android how have I missed you. So I had to make a big decision whether to purchase the brand new iPhone 12 pro max or tjis Xperia 5 ii. I'm so happy I chose the latter. Also the front camera may disappoint, the rear camera works like a gem. Not to mention the pro app for camera and videography which give you full control. Your phone screen is probably the most screen time you use a day. You will not be disappointed, 120hz refresh rate. Just wow, wow wow. The sceen is beautiful, it really makes it immersive when it comes to watching Netflix and YouTube. The sound is wonderful it has this vibration feature to vibrate the screen which is alright, but the front facing speaking is more than enough. I pair it with the best wireless headphones out (sony) and the sound is great. Btw it still has a headphone jack. Cough cough. Honestly it took me 3 weeks of YouTube videos and reviews to make the decision and it's an amazing phone. So do not regret and purchase this phone. It is one of the best Android phones available.

Bought the Sony Xperia 5 II after owning XZ 2 Compact for 2 half years. This is a fantastic phone, very premium glass feel, stunning 6.1inch OLED screen, can play back 1440/2140 on YT, colours are rich and vibrant, brightness is good but could be little better, fingerprint reader also good but takes a little getting use to. Phone is slippery so added phone case is a must, but the glass premium feel is really nice. Latest Android 11, camera is fantastic with 2 dedicated pro camera apps, takes stunning pictures and 4k video, battery life is very good - can do 2 full days with moderate to semi heavy use and it has dedicated battery life care app. All in all I love this device, I've always used Sony phones and I will continue to do so. If you've been looking to buy this phone for a while, just do it - you won't be disappointed.

Best phone I have owned. After two months using this phone I can safely tell you it's the right size, which is an issue to most users, very fast, well built and really slick. Rear cameras are top notch, the front one is just fine unless you are a person that wants the phone for selfies ( in that case there are better options out there). Overall I find the pros to be significantly more important than a weak front facing camera, which is meant to satisfy only those that spend their time taking pictures of themselves. Also own the sony xperia 1ii which is a bigger version of this phone. Both phones simply amazing. Moved from a samsung s20 which is also a really good phone, but not as comfy to use as this one.

In many respects this is a fantastic phone - superb battery life, top-notch build quality, excellent screen, slick responsiveness. However, I've come from an iPhone SE, and the camera is simply nowhere near as good. Yes you get different lenses, but sharpness and exposure are poor, and autofocus was slow and often missed entirely. Not at all what I was expecting.

Waited a month to receive this item and once I got around to setting it up find out the microphone isn't working on the phone..... I suspect I will be expected to chase this problem with Sony.