Potential new Style/Play competitor?

[Cakefish]

Sony has just announced the Xperia M5 (it launches later this month):

Xperia™ M5 Specifications | 5” touchscreen - Sony Xperia (Global UK English)

Sony Xperia M5 - Full phone specifications

Looks to be competitive to the Style/Play in terms of specifications. The price is supposedly going to be similar to the Xperia M4 Aqua (which means it'll be directly competing with the Moto X Play).

Thoughts and opinions?

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[Clocks]

I always wanted to give Sony phones a chance, but no vzw :/ also they skin pretty heavily don't they?

 

[thejesse]

It would need a much larger battery to compare to the Play.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[srkmagnus]

I wouldn't say that the Xperia M5 is completing with the Moto Style/Play. They do have close specs, but the minute differences (screen and battery size, Moto Maker options, etc.) is what will be drawing people to the Moto Style/Play rather than the M5. Availability for the M5 will also be a factor, as the Style will be offered in an unlocked variant with universal banding.

Regardless, it's good to see two good phones in the same range for consumers to choose from.

 

[Cakefish]

The Xperia M5 is definitely a direct competitor to the Moto X Play/Style, at least, here in UK (I'm assuming it will be available in UK as the M4 Aqua is). The M4 Aqua was available for a cheaper price than the Play is due to be sold at (in UK). So if history repeats itself with the M5, then this will be a very competitive product from Sony.

As for why I believe it potentially competes with the Style in addition to the Play, well, it has 3GB RAM and a more powerful SOC than the Play does so the performance of the internals aligns more closely with the Style than the Play. Seeing as it'll likely be cheaper than the Style and doesn't present quite such a drop in processing power as the Play, I think it manages to be quite competitive.

Xperia M5 pros and cons vs Moto X Play:

+ higher PPI display (441 vs 401)
+ much more powerful SOC (Helio X10 w/ PowerVR G6200 vs Snapdragon 615 w/ Adreno 405)
+ more RAM (3GB vs 2GB)
+ supports larger microSD (200GB vs 128GB)
+ PDAF support in camera
+ 4K video recording
+ Bluetooth 4.1 & Apt-X
+ much higher resolution front-facing camera (13MP vs 5MP)
+ waterproof
- much smaller battery (2600mAh vs 3630mAh)
- much lower screen-to-body ratio/larger bezels (66% vs 74.4%)
- comes with the older version of Android at launch (5.0 vs 5.1.1)
- smaller aperture in rear camera (F2.2 vs F2.0)
- no Moto Maker equivalent

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[syspry]

I always wanted to give Sony phones a chance, but no vzw :/ also they skin pretty heavily don't they?

No, Sony has been one of the few brands that stay pretty close to stock ever since the first Xperia Z. Actually their lollipop build is even closer to stock than kitkat was. But for some reason this myth that they skin heavy keeps sticking around. I often see it in Sony tech article user comments

 

[syspry]

Sony has just announced the Xperia M5 (it launches later this month):

Xperia™ M5 Specifications | 5” touchscreen - Sony Xperia (Global UK English)

Sony Xperia M5 - Full phone specifications

Looks to be competitive to the Style/Play in terms of specifications. The price is supposedly going to be similar to the Xperia M4 Aqua (which means it'll be directly competing with the Moto X Play).

Thoughts and opinions?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I don't think it's a good competitor, Sony made quite a few more compromises to hit this price point than Moto did. It looks to me like Moto intended to get closer to other flagships for $400 whereas Sony is merely sticking to more traditional midrange / flagship separations in their lineup

 

[Cakefish]

I don't think it's a good competitor, Sony made quite a few more compromises to hit this price point than Moto did. It looks to me like Moto intended to get closer to other flagships for $400 whereas Sony is merely sticking to more traditional midrange / flagship separations in their lineup

Well yes I can agree, it's more of a direct competitor to the Play than the Style.

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