Sony Xperia Z5 Compact

Sony doesn’t do a mini version of its flagship smartphone every time, but it has once again with the Xperia Z5 range, and we’re pleased to see a new smaller handset again following the Xperia Z3 Compact.

Design

We’ve always been a fan of Sony’s Compact phones, and although the new model doesn’t look massively different to previous offerings, it’s got some new design features to show off. Like its bigger brother (see page 36), the frosted glass rear cover looks good and the graded metal frame also adds to the style. It has a more premium finish this time around.

We’re not convinced by the flat sides though, which make the phone feel a little brick-like and chunky. The finish on the metal frame also means that’s it’s difficult to grip. Colour options include black, white, yellow and coral colour options.

As with the regular Z5, the Compact is thicker and heavier compared to its predecessor even though Sony says it has the same footprint – it’s now 8.9mm and 138g, compared to 8.6mm and 129g. That’s not a huge difference and it’s accentuated by the flat sides, but it’s not the right direction to be going in.

Another strange thing about the design, which we also found on the Z5, is that the metal frame doesn’t sit flush with the front and rear glass. This creates a slightly sharp edge, which can be uncomfortable. We did find it less of a problem on the Compact, but it’s nevertheless a loss of build quality compared to even the original Z1 Compact.

As we found with the larger Z5, the volume rocker on the Compact is too far toward the bottom of the phone to be comfortable – we’re not sure why Sony didn’t put it the other side of the power button.

You’ll notice that the power button looks different to the round offering of previous phones. This is because it now has a fingerprint scanner built in, which is quick and accurate. Plus, having it on the side makes more sense than any other implementation, as it’s where your thumb naturally sits on the phone.

Sony hasn’t decided to drop any key design features either, so the Z5 Compact is still waterproof IP68 – with only one flap for the card slots.

Hardware

The Z5 Compact has some new hardware, though it’s a shame to see the screen still at 4.6in and 720p – we would have liked to see an upgrade to Full HD. That’s not to say that the display isn’t good, but it’s not an area that will compel existing owners to upgrade for.

Sony has confirmed that some users may find issues with the touchscreen’s responsiveness, however, it told us that a software update will fix this issue.

There’s still 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, although our sample had 32GB (21GB available), plus there’s a microSD card slot, which can take up to 200GB.

The processor inside is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810. This is a nice upgrade from the Z3 Compact, which has a Snapdragon 801. Sony has to be applauded for once again making sure that many of the specifications remain the same as the regular model, instead of downgrading various specs.

With excellent performance, the Z5 Compact is snappy in more than just camera department. The benchmark numbers (shown opposite) are very impressive, but during our tests we found that not everything was instantaneous all of the time.

Inside the Xperia Z5 Compact is a 2700mAh battery (up from 2600mAh on the Z3 Compact) and Sony touts two days battery life. There’s no wireless charging, but you can use a QCH10 charger to get five-and-a-half hours usage from 10 minutes plugged in – although Sony doesn’t provide a charger in the box.

In our battery benchmark, the Z5 Compact lasted a middle-of-the-road four hours 57 minutes, with a score of 2970. That’s neither impressive