We haven’t heard much of anything about the Sony Xperia 5 IV yet, but despite that, the phone might be announced fairly soon, as we’re approaching a year from the announcement of the Sony Xperia 5 III.
Below we’ve gone into more detail about when we might see the Xperia 5 IV, along with what it might cost, and what specs and features it might have – since it’s likely to borrow from its predecessor and from the Sony Xperia 1 IV, which has been leaked, we can make a few good guesses.
Finally, we’ve come up with a list of the key things we want from the Sony Xperia 5 IV, to make it as good as possible. We’ll also be updating this article whenever we hear anything new about the phone, so check back soon.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The next compact Sony flagship
- When is it out? Might be announced in April and go on sale later
- How much will it cost? Expect a top-end price
Sony Xperia 5 IV release date and price
There’s no news on a release date for the Sony Xperia 5 IV, but it might at least be announced before too long, as the Sony Xperia 5 III was unveiled on April 14 of 2021, alongside the Sony Xperia 1 III.
That said, it didn’t actually ship until September in the UK and January 2022 in the US, so that’s a seriously long wait and means that even if the Xperia 5 IV is announced soon, you probably won’t be able to buy it for ages yet.
It’s also therefore possible that Sony won’t announce the phone for a while, and will then start selling it soon after the announcement. It did that with the Sony Xperia 5 II, by announcing it in September 2020 and selling it the following month.
We don’t know what the Sony Xperia 5 IV will cost, but for reference the Sony Xperia 5 III launched with a starting price of $949 / £899 (roughly AU$1,300), so we might see a similar price for the newer model.
News and leaks
There aren’t any rumors about the Sony Xperia 5 IV yet, but we have heard a few things about the Sony Xperia 1 IV, and a lot of its specs and features are likely to be similar.
That bigger mobile might have the same 50MP main camera as the Google Pixel 6 (up from a 12MP one on the Xperia 1 III and 5 III).
It might also have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset (something which seems very likely for both phones, since that’s the successor to the Snapdragon 888 used in the current models).
A 5,000mAh battery with 45W charging is also mentioned, both of which would be upgrades, and there could be improvements to the telephoto camera as well.
Other Xperia 1 IV specs have also been leaked, but these are things like RAM and storage, which aren’t as likely to be mirrored by the Sony Xperia 5 IV, going by past form.
What we want to see
There are a few things that we really want the Sony Xperia 5 IV to offer. They are as follows.
1. Wireless charging
Wireless charging is now a standard feature of high-end handsets, and yet the Sony Xperia 5 III doesn’t offer it. This, of course, isn’t good enough, so we’ll be extremely disappointed if Sony doesn’t include it with the Sony Xperia 5 IV.
2. A better design and build
The Sony Xperia 5 III doesn’t look bad, but it does look remarkably similar to its predecessor, and it lacks some of the polish found on the Sony Xperia 1 III. That includes a tougher Gorilla Glass Victus screen, a stylish matte finish, and a textured shutter button.
We don’t need those exact flourishes on the new phone, but we want it to look and feel expensive – and be a bit different to what’s come before.
3. More varied telephoto options
The Sony Xperia 5 III’s telephoto camera stands out from the crowd by having two different focal lengths, offering 2.9x and 4.4x optical zoom, but those ultimately aren’t that different.
For the Sony Xperia 5 IV then we’d like to see Sony take a leaf out of Samsung’s book and offer something more like 3x and 10x. That’s a combination that makes for a much more versatile telephoto camera.
4. A small, 21:9 screen
The Sony Xperia 5 III has a 6.1-inch 21:9 screen, and we want the next model to stick with that, or with something very similar.
There are enough large phones, and part of the point of the Sony Xperia 5 range is to be smaller than the Xperia 1 range. As for the aspect ratio, while certainly divisive, this ultra-wide appearance helps these Xperia handsets stand out.
5. A lower price
The Sony Xperia 5 III launched for a price of $949 / £899 (roughly AU$1,300), which puts it in the same sort of bracket as the iPhone 13 Pro and the OnePlus 9 Pro. Yet it’s not even Sony’s top flagship, so the price seems a bit steep, especially given it lacks key features like wireless charging.
In the UK, that price also made it substantially more expensive than its predecessor, which was disappointing to see. So for the Sony Xperia 5 IV to be truly competitive, we want to see Sony push the price down to a lower level.
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