An official marketing video for SonyRecently, Sony’s Xperia 5 V has emerged and the prognosis is not good as the upcoming smartphone might face a significant downgrade.
The video was originally posted by user JB2unique previously on the r/SonyXperia subreddit is uploaded to YouTube. The clip is your standard marketing fair: multiple mockups show the Xperia 5 V from different angles to wow customers. What is most annoying is the fact that there are only two cameras on the back of the device. Presumably that’s a wide-angle lens that sits on top of the ultra-wide-angle option. There doesn’t appear to be a third camera for the telephoto lens, which is a very odd omission considering previous models like this Xperia 5 IVhave the three.
Sony Xperia 5 V (full promotional video) – With audio *leaked* pic.twitter.com/C38GqgtAlDJuly 24, 2023
reduce costs
It is not known why Sony is going down this route. A user in the original Reddit thread suspects that the company may have somehow figured out a way to integrate the telephoto lens into the main lens to create a dual-lens smartphone camera. Or maybe Sony is removing it entirely to either keep the Xperia 5 V at the same price as the Xperia 5 IV (it usually costs $999 / £949 / AU$1,399); possibly even lower. The latter seems to be the prevailing theory online.
It’s certainly a bold move by Sony to remove the telephoto option from its next flagship mobile device. Xperia phones like that Pro-Iare known for their photographic skills.
Although, maybe the signs were already there. One of the things we complained about in our Xperia 5 IV review was the camera. It features “the weakest zoom range of any flagship Xperia phone since the original Xperia 1 and 5”. Sony might have seen the telephoto lens removal as a logical next step for the series.
Returning technique
In addition to the camera array, the video reveals some interesting little things. The front of the phone, as others have pointed out, resembles that Xperia 1 IV, complete with a selfie lens housed in the top bezel. On top there will be a 3.5 audio jack – a surprisingly rare feature to find on smartphones these days. Around one of the cameras is a Zeiss T* logo suggesting that the anti-reflective coating is coming back. It can also be available in three different colors: black, white and light blue.
Xperia 5 New Version pic.twitter.com/zd0JaesqmcJuly 24, 2023
Not much more can be gleaned from the video, but the leaks don’t stop there.
Already in February 2023, a The listing appeared on Geekbench It shows the Xperia 5 V running on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC (System on a Chip) plus 16GB of RAM. Another leak from April states that the same device will be available 33W fast charge capability. Both hardware specs are direct upgrades from the Xperia 5 IV’s features, so the theory that Sony is trying to keep the retail price of its upcoming smartphone low might not be that far-fetched.
Of course, as with any leak, all of this information should be taken with a pinch of salt. Things could change at the last minute.
Be sure to check out TechRadar’s List of Best Mobile Devices for Photography in 2023.
