Nearly six months after its first rumors surfaced, Sony officially unveiled the Xperia 5 IV earlier this week. Sony, as we all know, isn't what it used to be back in the 2010s — the brand now sells fewer smartphones compared to Apple and Samsung, but it is still holding onto making at least one smartphone a year. The company's new Xperia 5 IV isn't as premium as its Xperia 1 IV — it's a step down in terms of size, price, and features — it's still a very interesting smartphone (especially its camera). Let's see if it's worth the $999 price.

On the first look, you'll find quite a few similarities to the last generation, and that's because the Xperia 5 IV is almost the same in terms of physical size as the Xperia 5 III. It features a 120Hz 6.1-inch OLED display that is 50% brighter than the panel used in the previous gen. Powering the device is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (not the latest 8 Plus Gen 1), which is coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Thankfully, Sony has included a microSD card slot for the users who want more storage on their phone.

In addition to the microSD card slot, the Xperia 5 IV also includes a 3.5 mm headphone jack — something that's rare to find these days. Other features of the Sony Xperia 5 IV include a 5,000mAh battery that now supports both fast and wireless charging and IP65/68 rating. In other words, everything you expect from a flagship device, it's there. But what about the cameras?

Well, things start to get interesting when we turn our attention to the cameras. Sony, even though it provides 50MP camera sensors to other smartphone makers, has opted to use a 12MP triple camera setup on the Xperia 5 IV. This is a surprising move considering most modern Android smartphones, including the Pixel 6 and Samsung Galaxy S22, and even the upcoming iPhone 14 (is rumored to) feature high-megapixel cameras. However, Sony says it is an intentional move to make high readout speeds possible on all of its cameras and to maximize low light sensitivity with bigger pixels.

Coming to the actual specifications, the 12MP triple setup includes a 16mm 1/2.5-inch ultra-wide, a 24mm 1/1.7-inch wide with 1.8um pixels, and a 60mm 1/3.5-inch telephoto sensor. All three cameras feature Real-time Eye Auto Focus and Real-time tracking for better portraits. And, as mentioned before, all three sensors are capable of super-fast burst shooting speeds even with HDR enabled.

On the whole, the Sony Xperia 5 IV seems like a solid flagship smartphone. But hardware and specs have never been the main issues with Sony smartphones — it's the updates, overall experience, and the cost that holds its smartphones back. And if history tells us anything, chances are that its latest smartphone may also not live up to the hype, even though it seems like a great device on paper.

Nonetheless, we are not going to make our judgment solely based on price and specs. We will be back to take a closer look at Sony's offering when it's available next month, so make sure you stay tuned to Pocketnow! In the meantime, tell us about your thoughts on the new Sony Xperia 5 IV. Do drop a comment down below and let us know!