Sony goes large with 6in Xperia C5 Ultra and Xperia M5
Sony's latest mid-range smartphones combine fast performance with great photography, as both have 13-megapixel front facing cameras
Sony has announced two new smartphones this morning, the massive 6in Xperia C5 Ultra and 5in Xperia M5. Starting with the huge Xperia C5 Ultra, this 6in giant is essentially Sony’s answer to the HTC Desire Eye, as it has two 13-megapixel cameras. Both use Sony’s Exmor RS sensor and have built-in HDR, but the 22mm front facing camera also has Sony’s enhanced selfie flash to help brighten up your group photos in low lighting conditions.
Cameras aside, the C5 Ultra’s most interesting feature is its huge 6in Full HD display. Its IPS panel has such thin bezels that Sony’s calling it a “near borderless display”. How practical this will be in day-to-day use remains to the seen, but at least Sony’s one-handed operation mode (with both right and left-handed options) should make some concessions for easy handling.
Powered by a 1.7GHz octa-core processor (most likely a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615) and 2GB of RAM, the C5 Ultra should have plenty of speed to compete with most mid-range smartphones – including Sony’s own Xperia M4 Aqua. However, that large display is likely to consume vast amounts of power, and even Sony has admitted that it will only be able to last for 7h 47m of video playback. That doesn’t sound particularly promising to us, but no doubt Sony’s various energy saving profiles will be able to eke out a bit more power to help edge it closer to Sony’s claimed figure of a “reliable two day battery life.”
The Xperia M5, on the other hand, has a smaller 5in Full HD display, so its 2,600mAh battery should be able to last a lot longer than its 6in cousin. Again, Sony’s claiming two days for the M5’s battery life, although hasn’t provided any figures for video playback for easy comparison.
The Xperia M5 looks as though it might be a touch faster than the C5 Ultra, though, as Sony’s chosen a 64-bit 2.0GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor for the M5 along with 3GB of RAM. Like the M4 Aqua, it’s also dust-tight and waterproof, so it will be able to survive a quick drop down the loo or a dunk in the bath without taking damage.
It also has a huge 21.5-megapixel rear camera along with a 13-megapixel front camera. Coupled with the ability to take 4K video with the rear camera and Full HD video from the front, the Xperia M5 is arguably a much more attractive package for ardent smartphone photographers than the C5 Ultra.
Either way, both phones will be available mid-August in both single and dual SIM varieties, and we’ll bring you our full verdict on each phone as soon as we can get our hands on review samples.
