Sony Xperia E5 review: Nice ’n easy

Display

Keeping it simple, Sony has equipped the Xperia E5 with a 5" IPS LCD display of 720p resolution. The resulting pixel density of 294ppi is reasonable for the class, but a growing number of phone makers manage to fit 1080p screens in that kind of budget nowadays.

Unlike the Xperia XA, the Xperia E5 is missing the Mobile Bravia Engine 2 technology. Nevertheless, the panel is quite bright at 540nits at its max setting. Contrast is decent too.

Colors are mostly accurate with an average deltaE of 6.3 (max 9.9). It may not sound that well, but you have got to remember that even the Xperia Z5 has a less accurate screen.

Display test	100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
Sony Xperia E5	0.43	540	1243
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)	0.42	403	953
Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)	0.00	338	∞
Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) outdoor mode	0.00	476	∞
Oppo F1	0.46	408	897
Xiaomi Redmi 3	0.42	520	1238
Lenovo Vibe K4 Note	0.47	442	940
Microsoft Lumia 650	0.00	333	∞
Apple iPhone 5c	0.47	589	1233

You can tweak the White balance from the settings menu. Sony has also provided an adaptive brightness toggle as well as a Smart backlight control, which keeps the screen lit when it needs to be.

The Xperia E5 fares alright in bright outdoor light. It's not as good as the more premium Xperia family members like the XA, M or X, but it's on par with the likes of the Moto G4.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439
OnePlus 3
4.424
Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376
HTC One A9
4.274
Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124
Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09
Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019
Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983
OnePlus X
3.983
Oppo R7s
3.964
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918
Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895
Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879
Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873
Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859
Apple iPhone 6
3.838
Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817
Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789
Apple iPhone 6s
3.783
Meizu Pro 5
3.781
Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756
Oppo F1 Plus
3.709
Vivo X5Pro
3.706
Apple iPhone SE
3.681
Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679
Meizu PRO 6
3.659
BlackBerry Priv
3.645
Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53
Acer Jade Primo
3.521
Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512
Oppo R7 Plus
3.499
Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422
Meizu MX5
3.416
Oppo R7
3.32
Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235
Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234
Motorola Moto X Play
3.222
Huawei P9
3.195
Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113
Motorola Moto X Force
3.105
LG Nexus 5X
3.092
Huawei Mate S
3.073
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023
Sony Xperia X
2.989
Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97
Huawei Mate 8
2.949
LG G5
2.905
HTC One S
2.901
Sony Xperia Z5
2.876
Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851
Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784
LG V10
2.744
Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735
Sony Xperia M5
2.69
Vivo V3Max
2.659
Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641
Sony Xperia XA
2.609
Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574
LeEco Le Max 2
2.567
Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563
Lenovo Moto G4
2.544
Oppo F1
2.528
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503
Motorola Moto G
2.477
Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473
Huawei G8
2.471
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Huawei Honor 7
2.406
Sony Xperia E5
2.386
ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382
HTC 10
2.378
Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
2.378
HTC One E9+
2.305
Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272
Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254
Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249
Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235
Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233
LG Nexus 5
2.228
Huawei P8
2.196
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166
OnePlus Two
2.165
HTC One X
2.158
LG Aka
2.145
Archos 50 Diamond
2.134
Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119
Xiaomi Mi 4S
2.095
Acer Liquid X2
2.084
Huawei P8lite
2.078
Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026
Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996
Sony Xperia E4g
1.972
OnePlus One
1.961
Meizu m3 note
1.923
Meizu m2 note
1.892
BlackBerry Leap
1.892
ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759
Sony Xperia U
1.758
Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675
ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659
Jolla Jolla
1.605
Motorola Moto E
1.545
Sony Xperia M
1.473
Xiaomi Redmi 2
1.311
Sony Xperia C
1.283
Meizu MX
1.221
Sony Xperia E
1.215

Connectivity

The Sony Xperia E5 comes in single and dual-SIM flavors. The phones can connect at up to 150Mbps speeds thanks to LTE Cat. 4 (50Mbps up) or Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (dual-band) if you prefer a local connection.

Bluetooth 4.1 with Low Energy and audio-focused aptX is on board as well. NFC is available too.

Wireless media connections include DLNA and Miracast. There's no wired TV out, but the USB port does support On The Go for hooking up external storage.

Battery

The Xperia E5 is powered by a 2,700mAh battery - adequate for a 5-incher, especially when the bar is set so low by the Xperia XA's 2,300mAh unit. The MediaTek chipset inside the Xperia E5 is built on the 28nm manufacturing process so it won't be as power efficient as some of the rivals boasting the 14nm build.

Happily, the Xperia E5 did a lot better than the XA and managed to put up a below average endurance rating of 47 hours. At least Sony isn't promising a two-day battery life here.

The biggest drain on the battery came from video playback. Here, the Xperia E5 managed just 6 hours and 45 minutes. We're not impressed either with the web browsing time of 7 hours and 38 minutes. At least, the talk time is as advertised at 30 minutes above 11 hours.

Good thing that Sony has baked in its Stamina Mode feature. It's an advanced battery saving mode, which not only restricts brightness and performance but also display rendering, vibration and background data to further enhance battery life.

Sony can improve the battery performance with future software updates - we used the latest firmware version available at the time of testing - 37.0.A.1.133.

Next Page » 4. User interface

3. Display, connectivity, battery

Reviews Sony Xperia E5 reviewPage 3