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I’m writing this to track my experience with this phone, it will be the first time I buy a phone brand new, and I’m starting off with a bang. Warning, lots of rambling. I will separate any useful guide type information to a separate post. 

Background - I want a new phone.

I’ve longed for a new phone for a very long time. No updates, can’t play new games, poor battery life, slow performance, overheating, low quality photos. These are just some of the things I have just been putting up with. During this time, I was on the lookout for something to buy new, and with the changing market and my specific demands, I landed on the modern Xperia line. I’ve used Sony mobiles before, the first being my trusty Sony Ericsson W800i, then moving to the Vivaz and ending with the Xperia Go. After that I had used various Android devices. Over this time, my requirements for a “smartphone” become more refined, and eventually niche. 

• It needs to run Android. I can’t stand iOS and the locked down ecosystem. When I used an iPhone 6s it was horrible and my jailbroken 6+ is too old to run anything.
• It needs to have superb battery life. I don’t like carrying portable batteries.
• The camera needs to be high quality. I take pictures of documents often, and clarity is of utmost importance. Also, low light performance is welcome.
• Expandable storage (microSD). Yes, the convenience and future proofing is something I like.
• Headphone jack. I don’t have a pair of wireless earbuds, and I don’t plan on purchasing any, plus I’ll be able to plug in an aux cord anywhere.
• It looks good, and has a premium feeling. This is more of a personal thing, and up to a point I thought every phone looked good. That is until camera getups became abhorrent masses stuck to the back. My benchmark for this would be my old S7 edge.
• Absolutely no notches, holepuches or any display obstructions of any kind. I refuse.
• It would be nice if there was some community support for it. If I’m buying an expensive phone, I’m planning to use it till the end. So being able to flash a custom ROM is wanted.

Well, I’m really picky about this sort of stuff. And for good reason, since I’ve been putting up with the low end for a very long time now.

The modern Xperia lineup - I found the phone for me.

The modern Xperia lineup ticks these boxes very well, no doubt because I’ve formed this list from comparing it to other modern phones. Moreover, the Xperia has a few features that make it stand out from the competition.

• It is a “compact” phone. I doubt it’s smaller than my J5 Prime but I really struggle putting my 6+ in my pocket. So something in between will be good.
• It still has a notification light. It’s great to be able to see things at a glance, AODs are cool but use power and most of the time my phone is in my pocket.
• It looks F***ing cool. It’s so sleek, and the frosted glass back goes great with the Sony logo. The cameras aren’t ugly either. I don’t like white phones but the Ecru White just looks amazing.
• It has a physical camera button, which can launch the camera app from sleep. It has two steps, just like an actual camera. No more fighting with the auto focus using the touchscreen, and blurry pictures from pressing the touchscreen won’t be a problem.

The perfect model for me then seems to be the Xperia 5. Having followed the new lineup since the initial announcement, I became a fanboy more interested after the Mk2 announcement, thinking that maybe Sony was serious about re-entering the smartphone business, and that maybe they would sell in Australia again. Fast forward to 2023, I’m ready to buy a new phone and the Xperia 5 V comes out. Still not selling in Australia, and it has some changes from the 5 IV, such as dropping the 3rd camera (telephoto) and replacing it with some fancy AI technology. No way. Well, I’ll just buy last year’s model, it’s cheaper anyway.

Sourcing - How do I buy it?

First problem, where to buy the Xperia 5 IV in Australia? The saints over at Whirlpool forums seemed to buy from shady vendor #1 which imports Hong Kong models. Saw some negative reviews. Then, no mention of them came up again, because they decided to buy from not-as-shady vendor #2 for the MkV models. But that vendor doesn’t show the 5 IV in stock online anymore (the page is indexed in Google, but the page has no products), and they haven’t replied to my email asking about it. Granted, I sent it during the Christmas holidays so maybe I should give them more time. Also, the thought of dropping $1k on a new phone through a shady seller is quite scary, especially to someone who hasn’t bought a phone before and isn’t exactly rich. Buying from Amazon US is safe, but rather expensive. I’d have to pay import duties and the US version of the MkIV hasn’t been price cut yet, even with the release of the MkV. It is cheaper buying from Amazon JP however. I’ve bought from Japanese auction sites before. Many times. I’m not proud, I could’ve saved up my money to buy something else, but instead I absorbed myself into Japanese Anime and Manga culture. Ok, but at least now I have a way to purchase an Xperia from Japan. Looking at the prices, it seems I can get an Xperia 5 IV for ~$900 AUD from Amazon JP. Expensive…

The technicalities - I’m ready to buy the Xperia. (30th Dec 2023)

Nothing like some late night scrolling. How is this so cheap? Y!Auctions has some for as low as $600 AUD, brand new in box. I’m not sure, but hey, it works out for me. Time for some research. 

A good wealth of information is available here. The site is in Japanese but with Google Translate it's fine. Notice how there’s many variants of the Japanese version of the 5 IV? That’s because each carrier carries their own customised version. However, with recent Japanese laws, there are no more carrier-locked devices sold anymore, so it's OK to use your own SIM card, even if you buy the different carrier variant.

DoCoMo version (ドコモ版) [SO-54C] BANDS(open the 対応周波数詳細 box)

It has the DoCoMo logo on the back. I’ve also read that it doesn’t work with Google Pay NFC overseas very well, and it has its own set of NTT emojis, that are questionable. Naturally, much bloatware.

Rakuten mobile version (楽天モバイル版) [XQ-CQ44] BANDS(open the 対応周波数 box)

Has the same band support as the Sony JP version. Seems to be the same as the Sony JP version, just with customised software, note it has the same model number but different software. Yet, 128GB storage instead of 256GB.

SoftBank version (ソフトバンク版) [A204SO] BANDS

Has no marking hinting at SoftBank version. Has the NFC logo like the global version rather than the Sony FeliCa logo, so I suppose it works with Google Pay overseas. Bloatware.

There's more, you can read about them on that page I linked earlier. 

Checking the above band support tables reveals that pretty much all 4G bands running in Australia are supported, with only around 3 nXX 5G bands supported. Not an issue for me, I didn’t plan on using 5G (my SIM isn’t even 5G).

Other versions:

• Hong Kong variant, the one most grey imported to Australia. Physical dual SIM! Supports some extra 5G bands of mainland China
• Taiwan variant. Physical dual SIM! Almost same as HK variant just software difference I think
• European variant. I read online it has a different set of band support.
• American variant. Hell no. Band support is most likely the complete opposite of Australian bands and can’t use data while on call, or so I heard.

In conclusion: For band support, any Asian version is good. European comes 2nd. If I want physical dual SIM, I’d have to go with the HK/TW variant (I do, but I’m willing to give this up. Maybe I should give eSIM a try.). However, sourcing these models is very expensive and I don’t have a sure way to purchase these variants. Actually I don’t even have a way to buy the European (so called International) variant.

So far, the SoftBank version wins as it's the cheapest, ¥60280 inclu 10% Japanese VAT (that’s ¥26320 less!). 

Japanese firmware - It starts to fall apart here.

Camera shutter sound. If you know, you know. It’s forced to play every time you take a picture (and on some phones plays even on screenshots!). Massive dealbreaker. Obviously, I’m not a criminal and I’m not planning to take pictures in a criminal way, just a poor guy trying to get the phone I like. Now, I don’t know how loud or obnoxious it is, but I don’t want to drop $1k to find out. Japanese Internet says it can be disabled on the Sony JP version by using a non-JP SIM, or no SIM at all, which would enable the toggle option in the settings, which retains its value even if you reinsert a JP SIM. Sadly, not possible on the carrier versions. Might have to go with the Sony JP version, a lot more expensive. Other than the camera shutter sound, I don’t really care as the experience will be the same for me, band support is good, it would be like the phone is roaming. Bloatware can be removed with ADB and by using a Japanese VPN you can get software updates.

Flashing another firmware - There is some hope. (31st Dec 2023)

It seems it’s possible to flash the global firmware to the SoftBank variant. This way, you can disable the camera shutter sound, but you lose OTA updates and SafetyNet will probably come to your house and murder you in broad daylight. I’ll do it. It’s either the $600AUD SoftBank from Y!Auctions or the $1k Sony JP version off Amazon JP. But I’m not entirely sure and it seems to be harder to flash SoftBank variants? I asked someone about it…

They replied. It’s OK. I did some more research and it is possible to “cross-flash” these devices without a bootloader unlock. Which is good because the carrier variants can’t be unlocked for free, according to the internet. I’ll check this if I buy the phone. In any case, looking at XperiFirm, I can create a franken-firmware, with the OEM files of the Sony JP variant’s “Customized JP” but the modem files of the SoftBank version, then flash this. This way, I’ll have the SoftBank working on its firmware plus the option to disable the camera shutter sound. See here and here. Now I'm a lot more sure I want to go this route. 

Even more research has been done. It seems this procedure is not uncommon in Japan, where people buy the HK/TW variant and end up with no calls. Sounds like VoLTE not working right? The solution is to flash the modem files of another variant. I’m hearing some worrying information about the modem not working even with cross-flashing but I might just need to stumble across the correct combination of files. Fingers crossed that’s just a MkIII problem that won’t be an issue on MkIV due to the new SIM-Free business. I’ll buy it and find out, worst case scenario I have a camera shutter sound that won’t actually sound in silent mode (?). 

Goodbye AU$750, Hello Xperia - I bought the phone. (1st Jan 2024)

(2PM AEDT) Yes, I just dropped $750 on a new phone. Bought the DoCoMo clear case and a screen protector. Might spend some more to get the official Disney themed cases too. Just waiting for it to be formally purchased, then have it shipped over to me. ETA probably mid-February. 

(3PM AEDT) I got a Kingdom Hearts “emblem” case, looks nice. Made that total $800 now.

Waiting game ensues - 4th Jan 2024 (12am lol)

I’ll be waiting for this phone for a while, so I’ll put this post as-is up for now.