Sony Xperia X vs Sony Xperia Z5


Introduction
Not even a day has gone by this past year without someone, somewhere, pondering over the unfortunate fate of esteemed manufacturers of old. Nokia, BlackBerry, even HTC, all are having trouble staying relevant in an increasingly murderous smartphone market. Worse yet, Sony has also been having quite some trouble as of late.
Design
There's no denying, we're fond of Sony design, at least as far as aesthetics go. Even more so lately, with phone makers the world over adopting round form factors when designing their gadgets. Elegantly rounded, the Xperia X and Xperia Z5 are among the few standing rectangular phones of the day, and that means something if you value differentiation.
Of the two, it's hard to pick a favorite, for both have their advantages and downsides. The newer X is decidedly more minimalist, with four counts of branding insignia forgone, and with a cleaner frame. It also features a curved glass for the display that seeps into said frame, unlike the Z5 which looks a bit more ordinary from the front.
The frame of the Z5 sticks out ever so slightly at the back, cutting into our hand when operating the phone—an issue taken care of with the X. Unfortunately, both remain very slippery devices in general, though this is compounded by the aforementioned issue with the Z5.
The Xperia Z5 is also a just a bit wider and taller than the X due to its larger screen, though it is slightly thinner overall. Not too bad considering the screen gains and the fact that the former is dust-proof and water-resistant, while the X isn't.
To see the phones in real size or compare them with other models, visit our Visual Phone Size Comparison page
Display
We ought to start with a simple fact: the 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution displays on the two phones are very different from each other. And not just in terms of size, with the Xperia Z5's 5.2-incher to the Xperia X's 5-incher, but also in terms of display properties.

Starting with color temperature, both the Xperia X and Z5 have rather bluish screens, with the X's deviation from the reference colors being more extreme. The Z5 does win out on overall color accuracy, with a better—but not much better—representation. The Z5's 5.2-inch panel also offers higher brightness, so it's better suited for the upcoming summer months.
Going back to color, it's worth noting that both devices let you manually tweak (apart from choosing between two pre-made profiles) color temperature. If you know what you're doing, you can set these so that you get a more realistic image. Most people won't.
Display measurements and quality
Maximum brightness Higher is better | Minimum brightness (nits) Lower is better | Contrast Higher is better | Color temperature (Kelvins) | Gamma | Delta E rgbcmy Lower is better | Delta E grayscale Lower is better | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sony Xperia X |
536 (Excellent) |
4 (Excellent) |
1:1261 (Excellent) |
8208 (Poor) |
2.18 |
5.42 (Average) |
6.37 (Average) |
Sony Xperia Z5 |
672 (Excellent) |
4 (Excellent) |
1:1256 (Excellent) |
7688 (Average) |
2.62 |
3.79 (Good) |
6.19 (Average) |
The numbers below represent the amount of deviation in the respective property, observed when a display is viewed from a 45-degree angle as opposed to direct viewing.
Maximum brightness Lower is better | Minimum brightness Lower is better | Contrast Lower is better | Color temperature Lower is better | Gamma Lower is better | Delta E rgbcmy Lower is better | Delta E grayscale Lower is better | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sony Xperia X |
78.7% |
75% |
83.1% |
8.2% |
9.2% |
12.2% |
23.1% |
Sony Xperia Z5 |
83.9% |
75% |
82.1% |
17.7% |
1.1% |
2.6% |
28.4% |
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set (area) of colors that a display can reproduce, with the sRGB colorspace (the highlighted triangle) serving as reference. The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x: CIE31' and 'y: CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
These measurements are made using Portrait Displays' CalMAN calibration software.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
These measurements are made using Portrait Displays' CalMAN calibration software.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance (balance between red, green and blue) across different levels of grey (from dark to bright). The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones, the better.
These measurements are made using Portrait Displays' CalMAN calibration software.
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