Review: The Sony Xperia Z5 is a dual-SIM, future-ready smartphone

Sony's newest phones, the Xperia Z5 and the Xperia Z5 Premium were launched in India for the premium prices of ₹ 52,990 and ₹ 62,990 respectively. But are they worth it?

What is good

The phones come with the same design and look as the Xperia's Z series. Other than the dedicated camera button for the quick launch camera app, the addition seems to be the fingerprint scanner on the side. What is interesting is the positioning of the scanner: the power button doubles up as the scanner. No other phone has a scanner on the side.

The Z5 is also IP65 and IP68 certified which means it is dust proof and water proof. We held the phone over a stream of running water and it functioned properly even after the cold bath.

The phone's 5.2-inch screen has a good 427 pixel density and there were no problems with viewing angles. Watching videos and gaming is also a good experience, combined with the phone's awesome sound.

The Z5's 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, along with a 3GB RAM unit, can take most of the things thrown at it, including heavy games.

The smartphone's camera is the best of the features on the phone. The camera, in combination with several modes that are usually seen in all Z series phones, can take wide angle pictures. The rear 23-megapixel camera performs really well in any condition. The front five-megapixel can also take wider selfies and groupies.

The phone's 2,930 mAH battery is a fair performer as well keeping in mind that it comes with ultra stamina and stamina modes to preserve its charge.

Interestingly, in terms of connectivity, the phone supports dual 4G nano-SIM cards and also VolTE, which Reliance's Jio Infocomm will launch by the year-end. Also, the Z5 comes loaded in terms of storage. It has 32 GB internal memory that can be expanded to 200 GB.

Other features like NFC, Bluetooth module 4 and Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi direct are also available on the phone. The company also seems to be banking on integration of other Sony services like its television channels and Playstation to attract more users.

What is not

Be it customer dissatisfaction or lack in innovation, the Japanese major seems adamant on retaining the look and design of the Z series.

What seems to worry us is the sudden heating of the phone when the battery level reaches a certain level or exposure to heavy games for tad longer duration. The positive is you could cool it with a cold water bath. Also, the phone ranks a little lower (around 7,000 points) than other flagship rivals in An Tu Tu and Geekbench 3 scores.

The front camera should have come with a flash keeping in mind the price. A 4GB RAM would also have been fair.

Verdict: It is not new for us as well for Sony to be criticised for bringing overpriced phones to the market; so we will maintain a stoic silence. Keeping in mind the fans of the brand, the phone is definitely an improvement over the previous Z series as it comes future ready with a fingerprint scanner and VolTE support. Should you buy it? There might be other options to consider than zeroing in on the latest Z.

Full specifications:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor @1.96 Ghz with Adreno 430 graphics processing unit

3 GB RAM

5.2-inch FHD display

Android Lollipop

32 GB internal expandable to 200 GB

23-megapixel rear and five-megapixel camera units

2,930 mAH battery

water and dust proof

4G LTE and VolTE support

Bluetooth 4.1

NFC