[Sony Xperia C5 Ultra] YoGem:
Hello there,

Let's talk about the C5 Ultra with Innolux display, model E5506, Software version 29.0.A.1.55.

It sucks to know it's stuck to Android L 5.0 but it's good to know it will go directly to Android M 6.0, I can see how Sony care about the image of the C5 as it uses it in many advertisements, and also if you go in the official page about software upgrades you'll see that the White C5 is the one that show a marshmallow on screen.

One note about size, it's big. If your hand is not big enough, don't even think about it. It has a one hand mode but I don't use it, my hand is big enough - however, I bought a Nillkin case and I feel it's grip improved, the plastic/glass back make it slippy... really slippery.

After two weeks I learnt how to hate and love this device that promise to be a super mid-range one but that many times act like a flagship. I used as comparison my Xperia Z3C as comparison to draft a list of pro and cons and if I have to say the first thing that come up in my mind about the two is that the display show more saturated colors on the Z3C but of course it has a triluminos display. Other than that I am surprised how the C5 "at times" perform ways much better than the Z3C.

Google now, for example: the voice recognition is faster and smoother in the C5 rather than in the Z3C - Damn you Sony for leaving us with 5.0, Google now conflicts with Camera so I have to disable the voice recognition in all screens otherwise I won't record videos with audio.

Smooth menu navigation, apps open fast and in some cases faster than the Z3C. The C5 has a full HD display and the Z3C no, so you expect that the performance on the C5 should be a bit more laggy, well it's not. It's really smooth but seems that the Memory Leak occur in 5.0 and after few hours of normal usage the device lags, slow down and eventually I'll have to reboot the device to regain full performance.

The MTK True Octa-core inside the C5 doesn't warm like the Z3C Qualcomm QuadCore - The Z3C heat and when it does it, it does it really badly compared to the C5 that it heat too but not like the Z3C and camera won't crash although the camera welcome you at times with the message warning that if the device heat too much it may close the camera app... never happened to the C5, happened a lot to the Z3C.

Photos - Weird how the Z3C take great photos but the C5 take greater ones! It's not a matter of MPX, but a matter of sharpness: C5 take great sharp photos, Z3C take great smooth photos - Confused here but both wins.

Battery life - Tie: They do last an entire day in mixed usage scenarios - no games, I don't play games on phones but due my job there are moments when I really need to use the phone a lot especially if not at the office or in front of a computer. Both devices are connected to my Pebble Time and SWR10 SmartBand and there is little to no battery drain but if both connected to my car stereo I can see a significative battery drain, especially if listening music with Spotify thru the car stereo.

Battery Charger: They both sucks, but the stock one of the C5 sucks even more (0.8A ewww). Anyway in both cases I don't use the stock charger but an Anker Turbo Power adapter, 8A - Both charge in less of two hours... so, just beware: do not use the stock charger: I call them a black cheapy-little jokes.

Interface: Tie: Sony idea of interface it's not that bad, it's not 100% vanilla but almost, there are color icons, different colors here and there some specific functionalities added and it's 100% bearable/lovable.

NFC: Works better in the C5, in the Z3C (probably for the glass-back) is slower.. however I installed a Nillkin frosted back cover and now they are at the same level. Anyway they both works but without cover the C5 win.

Connectivity - WIFI: Eh... the Z3C claims to be dual-band - True, the C5 claims to be single band - True and the winner is C5. The wifi is faster on the C5, I don't know where is the issue with the Z3C but Miracast stutter a lot, it's slow to download, slow to connect, slow slow slow. The C5 is great to cast, fast to connect, fast to download, faster faster faster.

Connectivity - H+/LTE - Tie: Found same download speed in both device, fast and reliable - it may be related to my Carrier, not sure.

Connectivity - Signal Reception: Almost a Tie, one only issue is that the C5 tend to connect more to LTE and when it does the signal strength is slightly lower compared to when connected to H+ anyway I haven't lost signal at all and signal quality is good in both devices.

Connectivity - Bluetooth: Almost a Tie, but Z3C has stronger Bluetooth signal than the C5. Random disconnection of my smartwear if I am one room away, not happening with the Z3C. - Anyway, both are reliable.. just the C5's is less powerful.

Call Quality: Ladies and gentleman, the winner is the C5. While the Z3C has a great call quality, I can say that the C5 with with same call settings (Equalizer: normal, Speaker Voice Enh, and Noise suppression) sounds ways much better - I suspect that the size of the speaker is different hence the quality gain.

Speaker Quality: Tie and not - Damn Sony! Z3C: Stereo - C5: Stereo but Mono - Meaning that the front firing speakers are good in both devices but probably with this software version in the C5 we get just Mono Music reproduction with using just the bottom speaker!! Why???

So basically, after two weeks I think that the C5 is a super-mid range device that thinks to be a flagship device, and probably it is one. Sony never said it's a mid-range, they said the M5 was and left the C5 as an incognita. 2GB of ram are enough but not with android 5.0 in fact I think that the only issue of this phone is the installed Android Version, in fact if you excuse me I'll close this review with a "I need to reboot the device as it started to lag again" - I hope that Sony will rush the Marshmallow release and probably the C5 will become a great device and probably I'll say it's a real flagship device.