The smartphone that made us go Meh

Photo credit: Our phone model is Anne Dolinschek. You can find over at Anneversation. She’s wearing Heart & Heritage. Accessories from TUMI.

Damage:

R11 010 at Cellucity

What you need to know:

Comes in Black, White, Gold and Green
Operates on Android Lollipop – will upgrade to Marshmallow
5’2″ screen
23MP Camera and a 5MP Selfie camera
Nano SIM
32GB memory or option for a Micro SD card
Dust and water proof up to 1.5m and 30 minutes

What we think you should know:

I was the Sony Xperia Z3’s biggest advocate. I get a lot of mails from people asking me what smartphone they should get and I always deferred to the Z3. I got 4 people to buy that phone. Unfortunately all 4 of them ended up sending me emails complaining. Three had software and screen issues that were ultimately unfixable (be warned, Sony’s after sales support locally is dismissal if these guys and their experiences are anything to go by) while one lost all the slot covers in the first few weeks and then dropped her phone in the loo. Needless to say I’ve learnt the hard way that advocating a brand or smartphone doesn’t always go very well.

I was hoping the Sony Xperia z5 would redeem me. I was sent a gold phone to review. From an appearance point of view I liked how the back was now frosted and didn’t pick up smudgy fingerprints. The screen is apparently smudge resistant (thought I still found my streaky fingers translated). The power button has been moved and now includes a finger print sensor. This is a feature we’re seeing on nearly every smartphone that is released. It’s cool but I still don’t use the feature (yet). I’ll be interested to see how it develops.

So other than the finger print sensor, what’s new?

Well, not a lot. The camera on the Xperia Z5 is being touted as the best on a smartphone. It’s 23MP and can autofocus in 0.03 seconds. This makes it awesome for snapping pictures when you’re out and about. If, like me, you tend to snap fast and not have time to frame a shot this is the camera for you. It delivers crystal clear imagery that you’ll love. It also records 4K video with full HD filming. Which is pretty rad.

So yes, fancy schmancy recording qualities.

The full HD screen is still bright in sunlight which I loved. The phone heats a little bit but nothing compared to my HTC One m9. I wasn’t overly impressed with the battery life. Better than most but still not what I loved about the Z3. The design of the phone is pretty Meh and, in general, so is the phone.

Yes, it is water and dust resistant. They’ve limited those annoying flaps found on previous Xperia models to just the SD card slot so you won’t need to fiddle with another when charging – which is pretty rad.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a beautiful smartphone that does everything it is supposed to and the camera is truly glorious. But, there is nothing that jumped out at me and screamed “look how cool this is.” It’s a good smartphone. It does what it says it does. But I won’t remember it in a few months and that worries me.