Sony Xperia E5 Review

Introduction

Perhaps the bravest of them all, the Sony Xperia E series has a challenging task set upon it: to convince buyers within the ruthlessly competitive low-end market to pick it over increasingly strong alternatives. This has been a tough ask for a long while, specifically given the rather uncompetitive pricing that Sony management has traditionally agreed upon.

But the Xperia E5 seems stronger than ever, with significantly better hardware compared to its predecessor in essentially every area: design, display, power-crunching, and even imaging. On paper, it's a worthy successor, but sold for the equivalent of about $210 (€199) in Europe, is that enough to make it a success?

We take a look.

Design

Attractive, sturdy design that is sure to tempt buyers on a budget.

If there's one thing the Xperia E5 has going for it, it's design. Unlike previous E-line devices—which looked decidedly low end—one would have a hard time calling this anything but reasonably attractive. More so at this price point, and especially compared to the rather mundane-looking competitors.



In typical Sony style, the E5's form factor is that of a pleasantly rounded rectangle with evenly sized top and bottom bezel—a welcome change from previous Sony designs. There are no seemingly precious materials adorning the phone, which is entirely made out of polycarbonate, but it honestly feels solid and well-constructed. The back plate has a matte finish, which despite everything, actually makes this a far more ergonomically sound phone than the likes of even the Xperia Z5.

Sony aficionados, however, will be quick to notice the missing—and kind of signature—dedicated physical shutter key. While we're fine with this particular omission, we felt the volume rocker, located on the upper side of the frame, is a bit too far for comfortable use, even with larger-than-average hands. That said, the power key is well in reach, and both buttons offer a satisfying click when pressed. .

Display

Surprisingly good!

At a time when we're still witnesses of poorly calibrated panels even at the higher end, the Xperia E5 is a welcome change—especially at the lower end. Upgrading upon the resolution of its predecessor, the E5 features a 5-inch, 720 x 1280 pixel display of the LCD type, ensuring an adequate viewing experience—though some graininess is definitely noticeable.

In terms of screen properties, as mentioned earlier, the E5 doesn't disappoint and brings peak brightness of over 500 nits, so you won't have to strain your eyes too much under direct sunlight. At 4 nits, minimum brightness is also sufficiently low for the night owls among us to enjoy the E5 before bed when the lights are out.

Finally, color accuracy is pretty decent for a device of this caliber. We've got an excellent color temperature, decently accurate gamma across the brightness spectrum, and relatively lifelike colors for the most part.

Interface and functionality

No-nonsense user experience, Sony style.

This being a recent model and all, Sony would have had quite some explaining to do were we treated to anything less than the company's latest software. Thankfully, that's not the case.

Based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the Xperia E5 comes with Sony's proprietary skin on top, which has seen some meaningful—but not major—updates in terms of visuals. The user interface is more colorful than before, with a set of striking wallpapers, but is still a traditionally contained and self-respecting Sony implementation. So if you're looking for features galore, this one is probably a skip.

In terms of functionality, there are a few neat extras, such as support for themes. Beyond that, however, you're looking at a very true-to-stock Android experience. Finally, despite fingerprint scanners having started making their way into the lower end, the Xperia E5 makes do without one.

Processor and memory

Consistently good performance, but forget graphically demanding games—the GPU isn't up to the task.

Like its predecessors, the Xperia E5's number-crunching prowess is the work of a MediaTek processor. More specifically, we're treated to a MT6735 chipset with four 1.3GHz cores and a dual-core Mali-T720 graphics processor. RAM sits at 1.5GB.

In our experience, this combination will serve any but the most discerning and demanding users greatly. General interface navigation is fluid and response times are fast enough as to be tolerable. For those of us looking to do some casual gaming every now and then, be sure that the Xperia E5 is perfectly up to the task, managing even somewhat heavier titles without too much trouble. Triple AAA titles heavy on visuals, however, tend to be too much on the GPU and frame rate suffers noticeably.

As for storage, you're limited to 16GB, of which about 10GB are available to you to store files. If that's insufficient (likely), you can expand through a microSD card.

Internet and connectivity

This being a European model, US LTE support is sporadic at best.

Unlike the likes of Samsung, Sony relegates browsing activities to Google's Chrome client, ensuring consistent experience and built-in synchronization with its desktop equivalent—a neat, but often under-appreciated extra. You can expect adequate navigational fluidity when surfing around the web, though occasional frame drops with heavier sites are there.

On the connectivity front, expect the usual—nano SIM with access to LTE networks, Bluetooth 4.1, dual-band (5GHz) Wi-Fi, as well as NFC. This being a European model, you get full LTE coverage with local carriers, but US support is rather lacking. Band 2 (and Band 2) is available, meaning you'll get some reception with everyone but Sprint.

Camera

We were actually surprised!

Moving away from the measly, 5-megapixel cameras that have adorned previous Xperia E series devices, Sony has instead opted for a much better-sounding, 13-megapixel unit with wide, f/2.0 lens and an LED flash. Up front, we're also treated to a noticeable upgrade in the form of 5-megapixel selfie snapper, capable of 1080p video for those video conference chats.

Software-wise, as elsewhere, we're treated to the latest iteration of Sony's camera interface. This means a clean interface, with the various modes available by swiping up and down on the screen. Of those, however, just three are available: Auto, Manual, and Video. With manual, you only get access to a white balance slider and scene selection.


Outdoors during the day, the camera proved surprisingly capable. Detail is preserved to a very high level, even if on the rather soft side. Still, white balance is set correctly, color is captured fairly accurately, and dynamic range was, again, surprisingly good. In darker scenarios during the day, however, the camera tends to favor fast shutter speeds a little toо much, at the cost of enough light hitting the sensor. In result, some snaps are decidedly darker than in real life.

It's when we step inside that we're suddenly shocked to see the Xperia E5 take a huge step back. Scenes are once again less bright than desirable, but even more detrimental is the wildly inaccurate white balance at times. Whether it's a blue or a green overcast we're talking about, in combination with the murky overall representation of a scene, we were disappointed. If sufficiently lit, however, shots when inside can also be pretty decent—just as long as the software gets the white balance right.



In terms of video, we've got 1920x1080 px resolution capture with no optical stabilization or other neat extras in sight—unsurprising at this price point. Footage is once again kind of murky-looking, though overcast days are tough for most smartphones. Worse yet, however, continuous auto focus we found lacking, as you can see from the sample below.

Multimedia

Strictly average with both video and audio playback.

5 inches of screen real estate and a 720p resolution don't exactly spell excellence when video playback is concerned, but you can rest assured that you'll be getting a very adequate viewing experience without serious errors in color reproduction. Most of the popular video encoding codecs are supported by the MediaTek processor.

Onto audio, the loudspeaker leaves something to be desired in terms of fidelity, though there's nothing out of the ordinary worth talking about. It's a budget smartphone. Thankfully, the unit can be decently loud if you so desire, ranking towards the upper quartile in our testing database.

Call quality

We keep blocking the darn earpiece!

Sporting a thin slit for an earpiece, and while the thing is nevertheless rather wide, it makes it hard to hear what's being said as the phone constantly changes position relative to your ear. We found this to be rather annoying, and not the first time we're faced with this issue when it comes to a Sony device.

As for call quality, that same earpiece again disappoints. You can easily tell who's calling, and there aren't any pronounced artifacts, it's just that things don't sound particularly clear. We found that we got used to this, though.

The microphone, on the other hand, does much better, delivering high fidelity tonal information.

Battery life

Daily charging required

While the Xperia E4g managed an impressive battery score in our testing, our custom script drained the Xperia E5 after only 6 hours and 10 minutes, which is a strictly average score relative to our entire database, and kind of poor compared to some competing solutions out there. This is doubly true considering the largish, 2,700 mAh cell and rather frugal (in theory) 720p display.

Specs sheets and synthetic tests aside, our own experience with the Xperia E5 largely corroborates our results, perhaps missing the mark by just the bit. We were secure in our knowledge that the E5 will make it through the day, but then again, that was with relatively light usage. Prolonged game sessions or binge watching sessions will murder the battery fast.

Once you're out, you'll need a little over an hour and a half to charge back to full using the included charger.

Conclusion

It's not often we get to say this, but it's probably best that, for the time being, you stay put and steer clear of the Xperia E5. That's not because it's a problematic device—the very opposite in fact! As a whole, we were pleasantly surprised by Sony's work with this affordable, €199 (~$210) smartphone, which performed well across the board. A very welcome surprise!

So why wait? Put simply, with the market being what it is, we'd rather wait it out and see how the Moto G4 Play (<$199 expected), and even the slightly more expensive Asus Zenfone 3 ($249), translate in the real world, as both have the potential to be the better buy. Better yet, both of them ought to hit markets worldwide in the next month or two, and both are expected to be available in the States—unlike the Xperia E5, it seems.

Of course, if you absolutely must go for it now, the Xperia E5 in the current climate is worth the buy.