Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsDoes not work on T-Mobile
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2024
I liked this phone's features but the onboard radios just aren't compatible with U.S. networks. No 5G, no 3G, and spotty 4G at best. I would regularly encounter dead zones. I would walk 20 feet and it would switch from 4G to no service. I never saw the 5G symbol show up. Meanwhile, my $200 motorola phone worked perfectly with the same SIM card.
I did my best to make the phone work. T-Mobile customer service said the xperia 5 v was "not fully unlocked." I tried looking up procedures and codes for unlocking the xperia, but you cannot do it manually. A little research shows that this device just does not pick up the 3G, 4G, or 5G bands that U.S. carriers transmit and receive data on. There is no 3G radio at all.
The descriptions say that this will not work on Verizon. That's because it does not have a CDMA radio. CDMA was a 3G technology. The newer 4G networks do not require this. Still, it's a safe bet the phone won't work reliably with any U.S. carrier - ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile, or otherwise.
It might make sense to buy this phone if you were moving to a European country. That's where this was properly released.
It is a shame. The phone worked well on wi-fi and had a very nice camera and speakers. I liked the SD card slot and the headphone jack most of all. I just couldn't justify spending this much on something that would not be reliable for use other than wi-fi.