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[eBay Plus] Sony Xperia 1 II $888.25, Xperia 5 II $849.15 Delivered @ Sky Phonez eBay

1060
PLUSFL15

Xperia 1 ii Link
Xperia 5 ii Link

You want a beautiful smartphone to be built a certain way with little BS

You want a smartphone that actually gets updates

You want a quality built phone that people will ask "what is that" because they notice how inferior their palm pebbles are compared to this glass slab

You want a phone nobody will have but not because it's some Doge phone nobody will buy

This is your chance to get this rarely discounted phone at the all time lowest price. New model is out a few months but will likely be >$1600+, so half price for a still fast and relevant spec phone is a better buy IMO.

Both Xperia 1 ii and Xperia 5 ii are the same phone except key feature differences 4k vs 1080p screen, 60hz vs 120hz refresh rate, 6.5 vs 6.1 inch screen, Qi charging vs none.

Xperia 1 ii spec
Display: 6.5-inch 4K 21:9 OLED
Battery: 4,000mAh
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
Memory: 8GB RAM
Storage: 256GB
Cameras: Triple 12MP 16mm, 24mm, 70mm
Audio: Stereo front facing speakers
Features: Side finger print sensor, 3.5mm headphone jack, hybrid dual-active SIM or MicroSD
OS: Currently on Android 11 April Security.

Xperia 5 ii spec
Display: 6.1-inch 1080p 21:9 OLED 120hz
Battery: 4,000mAh
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
Memory: 8GB RAM
Storage: 256GB
Cameras: Triple 12MP 16mm, 24mm, 70mm
Audio: Stereo front facing speakers
Features: Side finger print sensor, 3.5mm headphone jack, hybrid dual-active SIM or MicroSD
OS: Currently on Android 11 April Security.

How to buy:

1 Apply eBay code for the 15% on check out
2 Add eBay gift card for a further stack of 2,5,10% off
3 Claim TRS if flying to New Zealand or Yolo'ing out of the bubble.

Original Coupon Deal

Related Stores

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closed Comments

  • +41

    Sony has to have THE worst naming convention.
    Of course the two phones have identical specs except for the following:

    Xperia 1 ii has a 6.5" display
    Xperia 5 ii has a 6.1" display

    This is beyond stupid! At the very least, switch the arbitrary names!

    • +6

      They're both flagship spec phones at flagship prices, so naturally they will have more in common than differences.

      I think the naming convention is different from usual. But it's less arbitrary when there is only one spec than say compared to Samsung which has S20, S20+, S20 FE 4G, S20 FE 5G, S20 Ultra, S20 Lite, S20 FE non-5G and add exclusive colours and memory variants to further the permutations.

      • +21

        What I'm pointing out is that the one with the 5 in the name has a 1 in the size of the display.
        The one with a 1 in the name has a 5 in the size of the display.

        If the names don't really mean anything, why but call the one with the 6.1" screen the 1 and the one with the 6.5" screen the 5?
        Still not great naming, but at least the naming then has SOME relevance.

    • +7

      Don't know why you're getting downvoted. They could've done a better job with naming.

      • I know right.

    • +2

      Yes naming is weird. 1 series is their flagship. 5 series is flagship but 'compact', with slight variation in features, 10 series is midrange. Has nothing to do with screen size.

    • +1

      If you don't understand already, the "Mark II" naming convention aligns with the Alpha camera lineup. But I agree, they had a chance to fix things from 2019 onwards following the hell of Z/X/XZ + unique names (which they still use, eg. Xperia Ace), but they went ahead and made it confusing to those unfamiliar. Although what makes sense is the Xperia 1 is the best available from Sony, deserving that title, while the 5 sounds better than "Xperia 2" or something.

      This is what they should've stuck with:
      - Xperia 1.2
      - Xperia 1.2 Compact
      - Xperia 10.2
      - Xperia L

    • Honestly I prefer LCD and I wish more phones would use it. Something about OLED is extra tiring on my eyes and I’m sure I saw some report on this. iPhone remains my favourite phone.

      • +1

        i have to agree with you. I had the xperia xz premium (4k lcd) and that was beautiful and easy on the eyes.

      • iPhone 11* I mean. And yes, the Premium looked great.

    • You forgot the bolded, size 24 font "/s" =P even if that was super obvious haha

    • +2

      You might want to give a reason along with your blanket statement. Makes you seem more credible instead of an elitist buffoon.

      • All the iPhones made since the iPhone 8 (excluding the iPhone XR + SE) utilize PWM, hence OP's statement needs some reasoning.

  • very tempting

    • +5

      Buy it if the design and specs tick the boxes for you.

      Looking at the original Xperia 1 128gb, the prices are stuck at the ~$700-800 level. So likely At ~$850ish for the 1 ii this is close to cost price and will not drop much more than here.

  • +2

    Note that Volte is lacking in AU in these. Might be possible to flash different firmware according to whirlpool forums but dyor.

    • +1

      and no 5G, was what stopped me pulling the trigger a few months back. Shame really as it's such a nice phone on paper otherwise, suppose it's due to Sony pulling their smartphone business out of Australia and telco's not supporting and developing firmware.

      • Sony's web site implies that you can use 5G if you only activate one SIM at a time: https://www.sony.com.au/electronics/support/articles/0024641…

        • +1

          It's not the device itself, it's the telco's that need to enable it for this device (which this device was never officially launched in Aus).

          • +1

            @mrderrickc: I bought this when ebay+ had $100. 5G is working with Telstra without any activation.

            • @apkoh18: Is it good phone? Camera and performance?

              • @Modesty: camera is good if you like using a "camera"- i had a 1+6, so it's much better than that. I bought because of form factor and headphone jack

            • +2

              @apkoh18: How? There are entire threads on whirlpool saying it doesn't have 5G & VoLTE?

              • @solomon2089: No Volte - not a requirement for me
                Getting LTE+, 370Mbps in Burwood VIC,36.3 up.

                • @apkoh18: LTE+ is good but it is not 5G. Having no VoLTE will become an issue once networks start shutting down 3G services. (Mid 2024 for Telstra)

  • +1

    Even if this phone has a warranty I wonder how long it will take to fix. Imagine how long a cracked screen would take to ship over 😂😂. Good luck.

    • +7

      This for me.

      I mean I honestly love Sony and their ways of building EXTREMELY reliable pieces of technology (maybe I am just lucky but I've never gone wrong with any of their consoles, headphones, cameras, etc)… But THEY ditched Australia for smartphones.

      And as much as I would take care of my grey import phone, there's always going to be that thought of "what if sh*t goes wrong with the components inside and I need to send this thing over and away, across the ocean?"

      That thought alone steers me clear from their phones. If replacement and warranty was easy as any of the other major brands here, a Sony phone would probably be my next one since spec wise, they don't screw around with headphone jacks and remove microssd compatibilities like all the other useless customer controlling brands.

      • +3

        My experience with Sony repairs in Hong Kong and getting my Xperia 1 ii from HK back to Sydney

        And as much as I would take care of my grey import phone, there's always going to be that thought of "what if sh*t goes wrong with the components inside and I need to send this thing over and away, across the ocean?"

        Skyphonez is located in Yagoona, it's a small little shop on the side of a major road.
        I wouldn't be too confident in their warranty handling process especially for a grey-import only phone

        The repair process in Sony HK is fast (I tried to reach out Sony Singapore at the time to arrange international shipping and return but they didn't have a service centre), however getting the phone back from HK to Australia is a painful bit.

        I absolutely love my Xperia 1 ii, it's a solid phone, and Sony's battery-care "feature" (if you want to call it that) where it fast charges until 80%~90% and then switches to slow charging for the last bit is actually very solid in practice, my previous Sony XZ2 (which failed water seals after 2.5 years, probably because I kept washing my phone non-stop.. warm water may have degraded the seals over two years) had very good battery life at its end.

        I've seen Samsung phones charge VERY rapidly from 0 to 100%. Sure, that's fast, but I guess it will also accelerate its battery degradation from normal use compared to a Sony phone

        • +6

          I kept washing my phone non-stop..

          You should consider cutting back on the porn

          • +2

            @shiznit:

            You should consider cutting back on the porn

            I'm just supporting good content creators
            Creating Jawbs and Growth!

        • I am just switching from an XA2 and I don't know why everyone doesn't have the battery care feature already, was thinking of seeing if there's any 3rd part apps that would do it. Unfortunately when the XA2 gets full, and with only 32Gb half of which is used out of the box it happens regularly, it starts to reset and becomes a pain to use.

          I also had a z5 prior (which felt like the same phone) and the first time I took it into the water at the beach I got a few photos in and it shat it (after having the phone for 2.5 years). It would have only just been submerged under the surfactle of the water. Only did so because part of the touch screen stopped working and it became useless as a phone. I think the seals just go on their own after a while.

          • +3

            @Jackson: My ancient xperia Z2 is still one of my favourite phones. It was an incredibly premium feeling phone and it had some of those battery care features way back then. It did have massive bezels though.

          • @Jackson: No phone is built to withstand salt water - the seals can't handle the acidity. Companies say if it happens accidentally to immediately wash the phone off with fresh water. The advertising for other phones always specifies "resistant to tap water only", or something to that effect. No surprise there that it shat itself.

        • Sony's battery-care "feature" (if you want to call it that) where it fast charges until 80%~90% and then switches to slow charging for the last bit

          You got it wrong. It slow charges overnight to 80-90% (because fast charging obviously is not helpful), and before it knows you will unplug the phone, charges up to 100%. This prevents overcharging.

          • @Techie4066:

            You got it wrong. It slow charges overnight to 80-90% (because fast charging obviously is not helpful), and before it knows you will unplug the phone, charges up to 100%. This prevents overcharging.

            Even charging through day time it slows down when it's near full

            I have a charging cable that has a light that switches between red, green, blue depending on charging speed.

            My phone switches to green at around 70% indicating QC 2 speeds then red around 90%, which is slow charging.

            Friends Samsung S10 is blue light on the USB cable from 0 all the way to 100%

      • +2

        Same, I really really wish Sony came back to Australia in some ways, even just online only. For the last two years, I always look at Xperia 1 and 5 series, and want to have my hands on it. But then I remember the horror of dealing with grey-import warranties, and possibility of having no phone for few weeks (as I sold all my old phones these days).

      • My I left my Xperia XZ Premium in a hot car for an hour and it cooked it. Was never the same after that, could only make calls using bluetooth or the speaker. Not sure if people count that as me abusing the phone or poor quality though.

        • +1

          No phone is guaranteed to withstand a hot car because it makes the battery expand and potentially catch fire. In fact, often companies state that you shouldn't do it. Don't do that again!

    • +1

      I used to own Sony phones. Never had one with cracked screen before despite dropping them a lot

  • Sony phones are great in design but poor in sales for a reason. i will pass on these and rather get a Samsung phone even it's a worse design.

    • Whats the reason for no sales (apart from lack of marketing) ?

      • +2

        Sony refused to sign up to telco deals in key markets which meant they didn't build enough mainstream loyalty by the time Chinese phones started dabbling in flagship specs at lower prices. Telco deals are important because of the perceived discounts and no down payment that the mainstream buyers love. All of these mean it is now too late to regain ground in all the major markets and have since pulled out.

        To a minor degree many tech enthusiasts left the brand because Sony was late/refused to adopt many design standards such as thin screen bezels. Sony has since caught up many areas but left building a niche for itself.

        • Among tens of other reasons you'd be accustomed to after using an Xperia, and browsing through the Sony Community or r/SonyXperia. Very few people wanted to walk into a retailer and walk out with an Xperia. The atrocious camera and plain stupid pricing were two major reasons. Excellent otherwise.

    • +5

      Sony Phones are actually really good, at least for people who loves taking photos. I am tempting to get one for my mum since she loves photo so much…

      • -8

        but ease of use , design and price are not that good. which is what make Apple/Samsung better

      • +1

        Sony phones take bad photos compared to the competition though. Even a 3 year old iPhone and Pixel and Galaxy take better photos than the latest Xperias. You can do lots with the pro camera apps on the new ones, but it's still just putting lipstick on a pig. Their image processing is just bad.

        • You're absolutely right. Try saying that in the subreddit. Xperia phones aren't for people seeking a normal camera experience (most people). Lacking HDR, colours are still wacky indoors, ATROCIOUS chromatic abberation, confusing camera UI, fragmented camera apps. In a few ways, it's not decent enough for "professionals" with that chromatic abberation, weird artefacts and other weird lens effects, and no 4K@60fps video. Plus they removed the awesome 1080p@960fps slow motion. What the shat Sony? Don't want to jeapordise SLR sales huh?

      • +2

        Unless your mum knows her way around a Sony DSLR user interface and is a very good photographer that knows all about all the settings, don't. In auto mode it's nowhere near top tier. In Pro Mode you can get some great shots artistically and stylistically, but the actual image quality will still be noticeably worse than the competition. Go look at any camera shootout from any site, the Sony is just worse:

        https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-galaxy-s20-plus-vs-…

        https://www.androidauthority.com/sony-xperia-1-ii-vs-huawei-…

        https://www.gsmarena.com/flagship_camera_comparison_fall_202…

        https://phandroid.com/2020/12/12/pixel-5-versus-sony-xperia-…

        It's not even debatable at this point. Pro mode gives you great control and options, many of which you just can't do on the other phones, but the actual quality of the photos that the Xperia's take is not up to scratch. HDR especially is bad, leading to blowouts all over the place.

        • +2

          Yep, Sony's camera software is the biggest letdown of all their phones (disregarding pro mode).
          I don't want to use my phone camera in pro mode, I want to be able to take photos on the fly and not worry about post processing.
          It's a shame because everything else about Sony's mobiles are awesome.

          They supply the camera hardware to other manufacturers, yet they severely lack in the software department

          • @SuiCid3: BuT xPeRiA iS fOr PrOfEsSiOnAlS oNlY - as the narrative goes in every Xperia echo chamber. Does something sound common between LG, HTC, Nokia, Microsoft, Ericsson, BlackBerry and RED?

        • That is why I trailed off at the end. This phone is simply not for the average person, and that also includes me since I lack the patience to get that "pro" shot. I guess this is just one of the many reasons why Sony is so bad at the phone market.

  • How good is the camera to make it worth it exactly? Looks like it is lower than Pixel 4 or Galaxy S20 according to dxomark

    • +11

      Dxomark should not be trusted with smartphone reviews, the section has become their advertisement revenue stream and is compromised because they are not making as much from selling software/hardware as they used to. They are a shell of the level of professionalism they used to be when they were Camera/lens experts.

      On the surface the JPEG auto output is 'worse' if you consider the flavour is not as processed as what most people expect. However what you pay for is the ability to go full manual with RAW output and your composition will always be better than anything else. But in the whole you are arguing the differences of extremely minor improvements to small camera sensors, these aren't tangible enough to worry about or to challenge full size cameras. The cameras are excellent for something in your pocket.

      • +3

        TDLR: it can take better photos if you know what you are doing but if you just an average joe who point and clicks might as well just get a pixel, iPhone or Galaxy imo though I appreciate the enthusiast tech its not for everyone…

        • +1

          It can take different photos, but still not better in detail, HDR, etc. Apple and Google and Samsung all let you take RAW photos too, not just Sony. Apple gives you RAW + their amazing computational photography in ProRAW mode.

    • -1

      FWIW, Sony makes the cameras for Pixel, iPhone and other high-end phones.

      • Does not mean sh*t when you don't know how to use it. Sony Mobile themselves didn't for a good part of a decade until forced to merge into an Electronics division in late 2018/early 2019, following years of bleeding cash, stagnating, pursuing unpopular side-projects such as the Xperia Touch & Xperia Ear Duo, and making design errors with the XZ2/XZ3. The photos from the 21MP or 19MP sensors looked like they were produced by potatoes. Physically, Sony Mobile moved out of their own premises at the Shinagawa Seaside Tower to Sony HQ in Tokyo, which makes a lot more sense.

        Now that Alpha isn't competing with Mobile, and the head of Mobile is actually the head of Alpha, some good synergies are happening. But nothing suited to the camera use cases of the general consumer.

  • +4

    good thing is about this phone is, its the only phone that can play COD mobile at 120fps..

  • +10

    3.5mm jack is a feature now a days.

  • +3

    Tempted - loved my Xperia Z1 and Z2 back in the day. No wireless charging is annoying for a 2020 phone, have just started using a works charging cradle in my car which might now be useless.

    Do these actually get security and software updates on the regular? That wasn't my experience years ago so hopefully it's changed.

    Lastly thanks for the detailed description OP as the naming convention confused me to be honest.

    • +3

      1ii has wireless charging not the 5ii though

    • Used an XZ1 Compact until October and been stalking the Xperia subreddit. Security update timeliness is very poor for Hong Kong phones.

    • indeed had Z2 back in the day, was a great phone and Sony software was quite decent actually as well

  • +1

    I'm very close to buying this but the weird aspect ratio is throwing me off, does anyone have experience with this? Is it too narrow?

    • +3

      I have this, the aspect ratio is fine, it's just unusually long/"tall"
      Very usable

      Please buy a case as the Xperia 1 ii is extremely slippery

      • +1

        I like the Xperia 1 ii but it doesn't come in the colour I want and the 5 ii seems too small. Maybe I should just get the 1 ii :/ Thanks for the info!

        • An Xperia 1 II in "Mirror Lake Green" exists too (special edition for Taiwan with some extras) however it's pricey.

      • +1

        link to your recommended case?

    • +1

      I've used this for a few days its nice to have a narrow phone for a change as you can reach to the toher side easily

    • -1

      They're not really any narrower than other phones:

      https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Sony-Xperia-1-II,Sams…

      They're just much taller thanks to that aspect ratio, which makes the phone harder to use.

      • That's not right. The Xperia 1 ii is a competitor to the S20+. The S20 is to the Xperia 5 ii.

        It's narrower.

  • +4

    Sony Xperia will be my next phone. I got a new Samsung S21 from work but the no micro SD card is so annoying.

    • Just don't break it or you'll be out of luck.

  • +3

    Upvoting because you bolded the headphone jack.
    I left Sony since they removed it, and am glad to see it's back.
    Now I'm ready to impulsively pull the trigger on this and sell my (perfectly fine) LG Velvet!

    Just to clarify:
    - the smaller phone is the one with 120hz correct?
    - and which one has wireless charging?

    • +3

      The smaller phone (5) has 120hz. Bigger one has wireless charging.

      • +3

        Thanks. It's always like this for me, never a perfect product.

        • I have a 120hz screen on my Samsung S21. I turn it off, as well as dropping the resolution slightly. Doing so I get insane battery life (more than 50% after a full day) with no noticeable difference to my every day use.

        • Wait for the Xperia 1 III to start selling in the last quarter of the year, and you'll get 4K 120Hz and wireless charging, plus a bunch of new features such as a variable telephoto lens.

    • Xperia 5II (smaller):
      - 120 Hz screen
      - No wireless charging

      Xperia 1 II (larger):
      - No 120 Hz
      - Has wireless charging

  • +1

    Was thinking of getting the 5 iii when it comes out but at this price I might get this instead! Cheers OP

  • +2

    What I hated about Sony phones was always that as soon as there was a hairline crack in the digitiser, it would stop responding to touch. All other smartphones don't seem to have that issue.

  • -6

    Almost same design for years

    • +9

      Can't improve on perfection ;)

      • +1

        Wouldn't call it perfection but definitely different to the boring slabs we get these days

        • -2

          It's literally a boring glass slab too though? It just has big bezels as well……yay?

          • +1

            @MrFunSocks: Big bezels? Do you realise it has some of the most powerful stereo speakers available, and they both face towards you? That means they sound better, don't get blocked and there's an actual place to hold the phone well when watching videos. I'd say they're slim anyway, and at least they don't obstruct the screen at all like every other flagship does.

            • -2

              @Techie4066:

              Big bezels? Do you realise it has some of the most powerful stereo speakers available, and they both face towards you?

              I do, I just don't care. I haven't heard a peep from my phone in probably 5 years apart from my alarms. I've got wireless headphones for when I'm at work, I have no use for Stereo Speakers on a phone. If stereo front facing speakers were that important everyone would have them. They don't. Who does? Sony, the next most likely OEM to pull out of the phone market lol.

    • +3

      Make that comment in an iphone thread and get downvoted to oblivion.

      What's wrong with it? It has a headphone jack and physical camera button.

      • +1

        I guess people like them are why we have change for the sake of change.

        • You don't understand, they need courage!

    • +1

      Yes but also the iPhone series has been recycling the same shit over and over again. Though I don't really see the appeal of Sony devices these days when you can get some many better options for the average Joe..

      • +1

        Sony hits the mark in every important area from 2020 onwards whereas there are critical compromises with other phones.

        iPhone: iOS is a walled garden, poor battery life after a couple years.
        Galaxy: defects, fake photo/video colours, battery life, bloatware - who needs 2 galleries, app stores etc.
        OnePlus: UI, enthusiast company now recycling Oppo designs. Deceptive repair centres.
        HMD Nokia: USB-C port failure, mediocre cameras, disappointing update timeliness.
        Asus: durability, update timeliness.
        Pixel: bugs, luck-of-the-draw quality control & defects.
        Motorola: average cameras, no flagships.

        I personally don't go anywhere near mainland Chinese brands.

        • Sony hits the mark in every important area from 2020 onwards

          Apart from price, camera quality, full screen design, and OS features - arguably all of the biggest and most important areas for phones in 2020.

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