Sony Xperia 5 V vs Sony Xperia 1 V: To zoom or not to zoom?

Sony officially unveiled the Xperia 5 Mark V, the last of this year's trio of models, completing the 2023 lineup. Earlier this year, the Japanese company launched the Xperia 1 Mark V, the full-fledged big flagship, alongside the Xperia 10 Mark V, Sony's budget offering, and now the lineup is complete.

We already pitted the Xperia 5 V against its predecessor, and now it's time to compare this little powerhouse to its bigger brother, the Xperia 1 V. Sony has been trying different approaches to segregating the 1 and 5 lineups over the years, and this time the differences have shrunk even further. Let's see what they are.

Xperia 1 Mark V vs Xperia 5 Mark V in a nutshell:

• 6.5-inch 4K 120Hz OLED vs 6.1-inch FHD+ 120Hz OLED
• 6.50 x 2.80 x 0.33 inches vs 6.06 x 2.68 x 0.34 inches; 6.60 oz vs 6.46 oz
• The Xperia 1 V has a 12MP telephoto lens with a variable 85–125 mm zoom

Table of Contents:

• Design and Display
• Performance
• Camera
• Audio Quality
• Battery and Charging
• Specs
• Summary

Design and Display Quality

Size matters

The biggest difference between the Xperia 1 V and the Xperia 5 V comes from the display panel. The 1 uses a 6.5-inch 4K panel, while the smaller brother comes equipped with a 6.1-inch FHD+ screen. This leads to a difference in the size and weight of both phones, inevitably. As for the display panels, both are great, very bright and vivid, with great calibration out of the box. Granted, if you want the 4K experience, you need to get the Xperia 1 V, but at these sizes, we think it's overkill.

One thing worth mentioning is that both displays offer 120Hz refresh rate, but neither of them can switch between 60Hz and 120Hz dynamically or offer any in-between frequencies. The difference here boils down to sheer size; if you want a bigger screen, the Xperia 1 V is the right device for you. That being said, there are some design differences that can swing you in either direction, and we're going to explore them right now.

If you look at the Xperia 1 V and the Xperia 5 V from a distance, you'll be able to tell they belong to the same generation and brand. It's Sony's omnibalance, 21:9 ratio, square-ish design that the company has been using for ages. If you take a closer look, though, there are some differences.


The Xperia 1 V has a unique back made out of textured Gorilla Glass Victus 2, while the Xperia 5 V sports a more conventional matte finish of the same material. Both phones offer a very different feel in the hand, and the frame is also different. The Xperia 1 V uses a rigged frame that amplifies the DSLR grip experience you get from the textured back, while the Xperia 5 V again uses a more conventional flat (albeit slightly protruded) frame.

Display Measurements:


Both phones use the same side-mounted capacitive fingerprint scanner, and even though we like this technology and normally prefer it to under-display scanners, in Sony's case the fingerprint scanner is on the slow side when it comes to response times.

Performance and Software

Twin brothers

The Xperia 1 V and the Xperia 5 V sport the exact same chipset, namely the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Surprisingly, there's not much difference in synthetic benchmark scores. What's really interesting is that the bigger phone, the Xperia 1 V, has a bit better sustained performance, probably due to better cooling.

In real-life scenarios, both phones perform smoothly and flawlessly, even though they do tend to get hot when running demanding tasks. On the software side of things, it's mostly the same: a clean Android affair with a pinch of pro-grade creator-oriented software. One difference is that the Xperia 5 V has a new Video Creator app (complementing the Camera-Pro, Cinema-Pro, Video-Pro, and Music-Pro), but we're sure that the Xperia 1 V will get it with a software update soon.

Performance Benchmarks:

Camera

To zoom or not to zoom?

Sony has decided to simplify things in the camera department by going for the same system on both phones when it comes to main and ultrawide cameras. The exception here is the variable telephoto zoom lens, which remains exclusive to the Xperia 1 series.

In theory, samples from the main and ultrawide cameras should look identical on both phones, and the only difference should be found in zoom photos. Now, the Xperia 5 V uses 2x crops from the main sensor, while the Xperia 1 V has the variable 85–125 mm system, so it's not a fair comparison, but all in all, we find this approach reasonable and a good way to segregate the ultra-premium Xperia 1 and the compact Xperia 5 series.

Main Camera - Day

Main Camera - Low-light

Zoom Quality

Ultra-wide Camera

Selfies

The Xperia 5 V features a new amplifier for its front-facing stereo speakers, and it's a good one; the sound is loud and clear. The bigger Xperia 1 V also comes with a stereo speaker setup, and probably due to the size of the phone, the results are very similar, new amp or not.

Both phones feature a 3.5mm audio jack, so you can plug in your favorite audiophile headphones, which is just amazing. The haptics on the Xperia 1 V do feel a little bit stronger, but this might be subjective again due to the larger footprint of the phone compared to the Xperia 5 V.

Battery Life and Charging

Pixels draw battery

The Xperia 5 V comes with the same 5,000 mAh battery found on the bigger Xperia 1 V, a feat in and of itself. The 4K display on the Xperia 1 V draws a lot of power, though. These millions of pixels (8.3 to be exact) require energy, and it shows in the benchmark results.

Long story short, if you want better battery life, the Xperia 5 V is the clear winner here. Its FHD+ screen is much more energy efficient, not to mention it's also smaller. On the other hand, the charging situation is very similar. Both phones will require about 2 hours to fully charge via a 30W wired charger, and 30 minutes will give you around 40%.

PhoneArena Battery Test Results:

Specs Comparison

Here's a quick specs comparison between the two phones:

You can delve deeper and check out the full Xperia 1 V vs Xperia 5 IV specs comparison on our site.

It's time for the final verdict! It's an easy one. If you want a dedicated zoom camera and a 4K screen on your Xperia, you should get the Xperia 1 V. If you value battery life and prefer a more compact phone, then the Xperia 5 V is the right one for you.

Sony made the choice a bit easier this year, trimming the differences between the 1 and 5 modes down to the one additional camera on the Xperia 1 V and a bigger screen with higher resolution again on the bigger phone. Last but not least, the Xperia 1 V is 30% more expensive compared to the smaller brother in the family, so there's also that.