The Z5 is a pretty quick phone, even though the processor is slightly underclocked.
1. It’s pretty quick, and probably won’t catch fire
In our benchmarks the Xperia Z5 scored an AnTuTu score of 65,094, which is towards the top of Android phone performance. That’s down to the Snapdragon 810 processor that’s inside it. If you’re thinking “hang on, isn’t that the processor in the Z3+ that has all the overheating issues?” you’d be right, but Sony has solved the overheating problems with the Z5 so you needn’t fear it going on fire.
That’s why the Z5 isn’t quite as fast as a Galaxy S6: the processor has been underclocked because of those heat issues. It hasn’t been underclocked dramatically – the Z5 will still leave most of the competition in the dust – but it’s worth knowing nevertheless.
No, you dont need to dunk it to cool it down: Sony has fixed the heating issues that plagued the Z3+.
2. It plays nice with your PlayStation 4
As we noted in our review, Sonys Music, Album and Video apps are great for multimedia consumption, but the most exciting thing is the Z5s PlayStation connectivity.
You can remotely play games on your PS4 from your Z5, as well as purchase games on your phone to play immediately on your PS4. The PlayStation Network also offers music and video of its own and everything is synced automatically.
3. It sounds good and the headphones are good too
The speakers aren’t brilliant, but only a masochist listens to music on smartphone speakers. What counts is how it sounds with headphones, and as you might expect from the company that INVENTED THE BLOOMIN’ WALKMAN the Sony sounds very good indeed.
The supplied headphones are excellent quality – the range appears to be a rather low 8 Hz to a high of 16 KHz, so there’s plenty of bass – and there are plenty of tuning options to get the sound just-so. If you’re a big music fan that’s important.
The Z5 topped our Best Android Camera list, with good reason: the new Exmor RS sensor has a super fast auto-focus speed of just 0.03 seconds. Still images have a resolution of 5,520 x 4,140 pixels and you can record 2,160-pixel video at 30 frames per second (fps).
Slow motion video capture is 720p at 120 fps. The camera software is great, and while the default resolution is just 8 MP so you can use lossless zoom to crop without losing quality the sensor maxes out at a whopping 23 MP.
There’s image stabilization too, and that combined with the fast auto-focus means you’re almost guaranteed in-focus images no matter what you’re pointing your Z5 at.
5. It’s got great battery life
The battery might just be 2,900 mAh, which is small compared with some of the power packs in recent Android phones (and smaller than the 3,100 mAh battery in the Z3+), but Sony has optimized the Z5 until it squeaks and you won’t need to worry about the battery running out before the day is up unless you work it really, really hard.
6. It has a microSD card
That matters if you’re going to be shooting 23 MP photos: you’ll fill up the 32 GB of on-board storage in no time. Thank Sony, then, for including a microSD card so you can expand the storage further. Isn’t that a good idea, Samsung? Eh? Eh? EH?
Android smartphones don’t stay full price for long, for example, in the US T-Mobile is currently swiping US$100-200 off the prices of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge+, so don’t expect the Xperia Z5’s SRP of US$600 to stay undiscounted for long.
At full price the Xperia Z5 is a pretty good phone, but once the discounting kicks in it’s going to start to look even more attractive.
What do you think? Are you salivating over the Sony or would you rather stick with a Samsung or move to a Moto? Let us know in the comments below.
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact vs iPhone 6s: design and build quality
While the specs of the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact are fairly similar to its brother, the Xperia Z5, with this device youre dealing with a smaller body. Despite the difference in size, there arent many visual variations between Sonys pair of smartphones.
The Sony Xperia Z5 Compact seems like a step down in terms of build quality, however, and the square-looking shape of the handset may not please everybody in a world where most desirable mobiles are curvy. The Sony Xperia Z5 Compact fits snugly in the hand, although its a slight nuisance feeling the straight corners of the phone dig into your palm.
Place an iPhone 6 alongside an iPhone 6s and its impossible to tell the two apart. However, its a different story when you pick the gadgets up, as the iPhone 6s is very slightly heavier. Its a bulkier smartphone that shares the same design language as its predecessor, which could either be taken as a pro or a con. Were not too sure about the antenna lines on the back of the iPhone 6s, which in our minds ruin the sleek look of an otherwise gorgeous gadget. Well have to get over it.
The Sony Xperia Z5 Compact arrives with a 4.6-inch 720p display, rocking a pixel density of 323 ppi. The fact that youre browsing content on a smaller display means the picture ends up looking particularly crisp.
Sonys Xperia Z5 Compact screen is also built with the companys Dynamic Contrast Enhancer tech, which makes the bright parts of the screen brighter and the dark parts a truer, deeper black. The smartphone offers some impressive viewing angles even in bright sunlight, too.
Apples 4.7-inch Retina HD iPhone 6s display is a beauty, and while, specs-wise, it tells basically the same story as the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6s comes equipped with a pressure-sensing 3D Touch display. This headline-grabbing addition means that the iPhone can tell the difference between a tap, a press and a long press.
As time goes on, more and more of the most popular apps in the App Store are updating to take full advantage of the feature. Interestingly, the iPhone 6 has a higher screen brightness than the iPhone 6s, which affects outdoor use very slightly.
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact vs iPhone 6s: processor and storage
Sonys Xperia Z5 Compact arrives with a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor tucked inside, providing 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. In comparison, the Xperia Z5 holds 3GB of RAM. Its possible to expand the storage of the Z5 Compact to 128 GB with a microSD card.
Apple uses its own processor which makes comparing it with the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact a difficult job, but we can say that the iPhone 6s is very nippy, and that it copes extremely well with intense gaming sessions and multitasking.
Theres no room for expandable storage, but the smartphone arrives in 16 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB variants. Nowadays, not too many buyers are going to be satisfied with 16 GB of storage, so Sony gets a thumbs up for offering double that with the Xperia Z5 Compact.
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact vs iPhone 6s: camera
Both the cameras found in the Xperia Z5 Compact and iPhone 6s are impressive, but well start with Sonys. The Xperia Z5 Compact features one of Sonys best smartphone cameras ever, with plenty of modes and manual settings for photography fanatics to play around with.
The shooter on the back of the mobile can capture 4K video, also featuring a 23 megapixel Exmor RS Sensor and super-fast autofocus of 0.03 seconds. Dynamic range is glorious, and image detail is very strong. The 5.1 MP front-facing snapper is also solid, featuring the same Exmor sensor as the back.
On the other side of the fence, Apples iPhone 6s features a 12 MP camera on the back and a 5 MP front-facing camera. Although the megapixel count is lower, the smartphone still take gorgeous pictures and videos. While the camera app found on the iPhone 6s is similar to those before it, this build adds Live Photos to its box of tricks, which takes a 1.5-second picture before and after you hit the capture button.
The result is a unique video memory that gives your favourite pictures some colourful context. Its hard to tell between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s when it comes to image quality; despite the increase in megapixels, results are still similar.
The Sony Xperia Z5 Compact arrived on the scene with Android 5.1 Lollipop, but recent rumours suggest that the smartphone will be receiving the Marshmallow upgrade in the very near future.
Despite whispers of an update, Android 5.1 Lollipop performs well on Sonys smartphone, although the group has put its own mark on the UI by adding apps such as Xperia Lounge, Twitter, PS4 Remote Play, the Sony Entertainment Network and more.
Apples iPhone 6s drops with iOS 9, which brings some major enhancements such as an improved, smarter Siri, added iCloud functionality, a revamped app switcher and more. While the update cant be considered a complete overhaul, it certainly adds enough to make iOS faster and easier to use.
This is the best build of iOS ever and perhaps the biggest reason why the iPhone 6s has been received as well as it has.
OnePlus X vs Xperia Z5 Compact comparison: small change
We wrote about the Sony Xperia Z5 Compacts impressive 2,700 mAh battery in our full review, in which we confirmed that the smartphone definitely has enough power to keep it charged up all day, even during heavy use.
Quick Charge is a nice bonus, which prepares the Xperia Z5 Compact for a good couple of hours of use in less than 15 minutes. Its a godsend for smartphone users that need a quick burst of juice before hitting the road.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 6s is home to a 1,715 mAh battery – even smaller than the 1,800 mAh offering inside the iPhone 6. Improved battery monitoring goes some way to keeping you up and running, but youll probably still end up charging the smartphone every evening.
For a full comparison between the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact and Apple iPhone 6s, check out the table below:
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
Apple iPhone 6s
SCREEN
4.6 in
4.7 in
RESOLUTION
720 x 1,280 pixels
750 x 1,334 pixels
RAM MEMORY
2 GB
2 GB
PROCESSOR
Snapdragon 810
Apple A9
STORAGE
32 GB
16 GB / 64 GB / 128 GB
MAIN CAMERA
23 MP
12 MP
FRONTAL CAMERA
5.1 MP
5 MP
BATTERY
2,700 mAh
1,715 mAh
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact vs iPhone 6s: verdict
Theres some drastic design differences between the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact and iPhone 6s, but both smartphones share some common strengths.
Sonys Xperia Z5 Compact manages to handle plenty of tough tasks despite its smaller size, while using iOS 9 on the iPhone 6s is as smooth as youd like.
There are too many slight annoyances associated with the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact for it to be crowned an iPhone-beater. The build quality is somewhat lacking, the UI isnt as polished and its not as sleek-looking as the iPhone. Even so, the Android-powered gadget brings great battery life to the table, along with a camera that takes some truly top-notch pictures. Its a very good phone, theres no denying that.
If youre looking for flagship-esque performance inside a smaller smartphone, youll love the Xperia Z5 Compact. Ultimately, these are both cracking phones, with both the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact and Apple iPhone 6 providing enough functionality to keep you happy for a long time.
Which smartphone do you think is the better all-round performer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
