[Sony Xperia 5 IV] innerbeing:
So, I have the Sony Xperia 5 IV and this phone has stressed me out pretty much ever since I got it, but I've been very stubborn and determined to keep this phone, as it's my only option for a portable phone with a headphone jack and micro SD card.

I was very tempted by the Zenfone 10 and I actually bought a Zenfone 8 after I returned my Sony Xperia 5 III, which died while being charged when on Zoom and while the Zenfone 8 was overall a good phone, it died, for no reason after about a year of using it. I had not had a phone die from usage since I had a Samsung Galaxy S4. The Zenfone's death was also literally days after the warranty expired and I've seen reports on Reddit of their Zenfone 9 dying, so I don't have a lot of hope that the Zenfone 10 is any better. The Sony Xperia 5 V would be tempting, but I'm in the U.S.A, so that is not an option for me.

Anyways, the first problem was that the data would turn off while I was on a phone call. I do not have Wi-Fi, so I rely completely on my data to surf the web. If I'm on hold, I can't use the Internet to pass the time and if I need to get information on the Internet while I'm speaking to someone, I cannot do that. This is a deal breaker, but I did not want to give up on this phone. I made countless threads trying to resolve this issue and people would give their various opinions. I tried several times to play around with the settings to try to fix this, but the resolutions were all temporary. There had been only one solution that I have found and that is flashing the phone with firmware from Europe. Someone was nice enough to show me how to do that.

However, flashing seems to taint the RAM management a bit and a consequence of flashing foreign firmware is you do not receive OTA updates, so the ideal solution is definitely to have my native American firmware AND be able to use data while on a call. If this is possible, I see no way to do such a thing. Would be very open and receptive to hearing any suggestions.

I have not been able to focus on this problem until today, however, because my phone stopped being able to read my SIM card. Contrary to some opinions on Reddit, this had nothing to do with the flashing, as I put the phone back in American firmware and the problem persisted. I would send the phone in to be repaired and it would only work temporarily, so I had to send it back. I have sent my phone in to be repaired at least five times. It appears that it's finally working now *knock on wood*.

When I got the phone back, I noticed that, in addition to the phone recognizing my SIM card, I was able to use data when I made a phone call. This was excellent and a good sign. I had hoped this was a result of a software update, but I knew from experience that using data while on a call with American firmware was only a temporary thing and history repeated itself.

I was about to go flash the European firmware, but something in me decided to restart the phone and I was able to use data while on a call. This was the case for several hours! This did not happen previously. Previously, restarting the phone got me to be able to use data while on a call for a few minutes.

So, if it is indeed the case that restarting the phone has the phone actually functioning for several hours, is it worth it to flash and the drawbacks that come with that?

I did not know, but I would love to hear you guys' input.