Hot on the heels of the announcement yesterday of the Xperia C5 Ultra, Sony’s announcing another release for the Australian market today — this time, it’s the Xperia M5. This time, the phone is a carrier exclusive, with the Xperia M5 available through Vodafone on the $40 plan for just $5 per month over 24 months.
Sony’s John Featherstone has highlighted the camera technology in the Xperia M5, recognising the importance of a high quality camera for mobile users. The Xperia M5 features a 21.5MP rear camera and 5x Clear Image Zoom to allow higher quality photos without the loss of quality usually associated with a digital zoom. The rear facing camera isn’t the only one with special tricks; the front facing camera is 13MP with auto-focus and Full-HD video recording, perfect for those who travel and do self-facing video footage.
With a design reminiscent of last year’s Xperia Z3, the Xperia M5 also incorporates some of this year’s Xperia Z5 design elements, including steel corners and a glass finish on front and back. The waterproofing is here too, with a cap-less USB port for ease of use. The battery at 2,600mAh is quoted at two days of battery life, but as with most Sony handsets, your mileage may vary.
The Xperia M5 is powered by a MediaTek Helio X10 processor, a octa-core 2.0 GHz processor with 3GB of RAM, giving it flagship-like specs, without the flagship-like price.
Update: Sony does have the Xperia M5 listed on their website for an RRP of $599, which indicates the phone may be available in retail. We’ve asked Sony the question and we’ll come back to you soon.
We’ll bring you a full review in due course!
Vodafone are saying it is only single sim, looks like just like the Motorola x play Vodafone have decided to remove a useful feature but still charge full price
Yeah I just saw that in their forums. As the guy there said why do they gimp the handsets. First the Motorola X Play and now the M5. Anyone know if the stock from Sony or VideoPro etc will be single sim too?
Is the vodafone model dual sim? I hadnt heard of a single sim variant of the M5 but the vodafone site makes no mention of dual sim?
Mind you a glass back; that’s got to be the dumbest decision since the Nexus 4.
no, it’s designed so that when you crack the front screen, you can turn it over and crack the back, so the phone looks uniform and normal. Seriously though if sony just made their new phones with a normal back and USB-C type they would of had me this year.
How does this phone stack up against the Nexus 5X? Seems a little cheaper and better spec.ed to me…
VideoPro have them listed at $549 but only white and Black, no gold, and are saying mid november for stock
iwaveit have it in Gold Dual SIM – they are similar to Yatango, member pricing at $35.94 per month 24 months, unlocked. I ordered from them. Unlike the 5X it can be upgraded so no problem with storage.
The carrier exclusive thing is really disappointing if true. I was looking at buying this one outright but will now be considering something else.
You can buy it outright for $599 from Sony’s website.
Sick of these Vodafone exclusive handsets
Is the MediaTek processor genuinely flagship spec though? I know they’re improving but generally speaking we haven’t been able to call any MediaTek chip a ‘top end’ piece of silicon.
Also, just a little whinge (or constructive criticism?), where you say “available through Vodafone on the $40 plan for just $5 per month”, the “just” makes it sound like a sales pitch.
The M series has always been mid-range, it just happens to be upper mid range compared to the still current M4. I just hope by switching to mediatek they addressed the overheating issues the snapdragon gave for the M4 for some people.