Sony Xperia 5 V is official with larger main camera sensor

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

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

Sony put the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside the Xperia 5 V and there are 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which is expandable via the microSD card slot.

The 3.5mm headphone jack has also kept its place for another year - a real rarity these days.

Moving to the back and we see the first notable difference. Sony dropped the triple camera setup in favor of a dual one but it has a far more capable sensor than before. The Xperia 5 V has the same 1/1.35-inch 52MP main sensor as the Xperia 1 V. It will output 24mm 12MP snaps by default. Thanks to the increase in sensor size and bright optics if you chose the 2x zoom option (effectively 48mm) you'd still have superior light gathering than what the Xperia 5 IV's telephoto camera offered.

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

At the front a 12MP 1/2.9-inch unit is in charge of selfies for another year.

Thanks to the 6.1-inch screen diagonal and tall aspect, the Xperia 5 V has retained its compact size. The phone has gained 11 grams and is a bit thicker than before, but it's ever so slightly shorter than its predecessor. Coming from an Xperia 1 V, the Xperia 5 V feels nicely diminutive. It lands in a shrinking market of compact flagships and will lock horns with Samsung's Galaxy S23 and Apple's upcoming iPhone 15 and 15 Pro.

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

The Sony Xperia 5 V will be available from late September, priced €999/£849.