Sony Xperia 5 II 5G is official: price, release date, specs, all you need to know

The capacitive fingerprint scanner resides just below the volume rocker on the right side of the phone and looking further down we find two separate buttons - one is a camera shutter, while the other is a dedicated Google Assistant button. The 3.5 mm audio jack is still present, adding flexibility to the audio experience.

The Sony Xperia 5 II features a 6.1-inch FHD+ HDR OLED display that supports a 120Hz refresh rate. The latter, coupled with the 240Hz touch scanning rate, promises a great gaming experience. The 21:9 CinemaWide display of the Xperia 5 II also features X1 Bravia mobile HDR technology and Creator mode powered by CineAlta. This Hollywood-conceived package ensures that when you watch a movie you’ll get the best cinematic viewing experience. When you factor in the front-facing stereo speakers with DolbyAtmos, the result is a beast of an entertainment platform.

Sony Xperia 5 II specs

Moving to the internals, the Xperia 5 II is built around the Snapdragon 865 5G platform. The phone features 8GB of RAM and either 128 or 256GB of internal storage. It’s a step up from the previous model, offering a 25% bump in performance.

The Xperia 5 II is more than capable of handling intensive gaming, and Sony has added some bonus features to emphasize that. There’s a 240Hz simulated blur-reduction that you can add on top of that 120Hz screen refresh rate to further enhance the gaming experience.

Game Enhancer is a software tool that offers quick and easy access to all game-related features and lets you control the refresh rate, record your screen, access various audio settings, customize the screen touch area, and more. The full DualShock 4 support is back, rounding up the gaming aspect of this phone.

The Sony Xperia 5 II features a 4,000 mAh battery, a significant increase in capacity compared to the 3140 mAh battery of the Xperia 5. This is achieved with the help of a custom split-board design, allowing for a bigger physical size of the battery.

There’s adaptive fast charging on-board with an 18W charger included in the retail box. Sony has also introduced something called Heat Suppression Power Control. It allows you to bypass the battery and power the Xperia 5 II directly from the charger, reducing heat and prolonging the life of the battery. Finally, the phone retains the IP65/68 level of dust and water protection seen on Xperia 5.

Sony Xperia 5 II camera features

There’s a triple camera system on the back of the Xperia 5 II, with three focal lengths (16mm, 24mm, and 70mm) that should cover all the possible shooting scenarios, according to Sony. All three cameras feature 12MP sensors with ZEISS optics on top. There’s a big 1/1.7-inch Dual PD sensor under the 24mm lens that should help with light gathering in low-light conditions.

The Xperia 5 II continues to borrow camera technology from Sony’s Alpha camera lineup, namely the Real-time Eye-AF that allows autofocus calculations at up to 60 times per second. This result is up to 20fps autofocus tracking burst shots. There’s no dedicated Night Mode on this phone but clever AI algorithms work behind the scenes to ensure good results when shooting on gloomy days or starry nights.

There’s a new camera interface for the photo enthusiasts out there, called Photo Pro, offering a deep dive into camera settings, and allowing pictures to be saved in RAW format. Cinema Pro, on the other hand, takes video recording duties and can record slow-motion 4K HDR clips at 120fps, which Sony labels as “world’s first”. The interface features various Hollywood-inspired filters, as well as an Intelligent wind filter to help in challenging conditions.

Sony Xperia 5 II price, colors, and release date

The Xperia 5 II will be available in Black, Blue, and Grey in the US with pre-sales starting on 29 September. The Xperia 5 II will be approximately $950.00 in the US.