Sony Mobile has announced the Xperia 5 V. Despite the somewhat baffling name, it follows the pattern of previous Sony launches, with a September announcement for the compact powerhouse. That's right, this is a flagship-grade phone, packed with power and performance, but in a more pocketable package.

But while Sony's design has been consistently similar over the past few years, the Xperia 5 V has made a change around the back. There's now a dual camera in a raised bump, rather than the customary triple lens arrangement that's been there since the first iteration of this phone. And in shock new photo fans, Sony has also ditched the telephoto lens.

That's right, the Xperia 5 V no longer offers a dedicated zoom. That might strike you as an odd move but you'll also notice that this phone is cheaper than the previous version, and by quite some margin. What's actually changed here is the configuration of the cameras. Previously, Sony used three 12-megapixel cameras, but in the Xperia 5 V, the main camera has a new sensor - the same as the Xperia 1 V.

This is a 52-megapixel sensor, but only 48-megapixels are used, and Sony here is using to both as a high-resolution sensor for the main camera (26mm) and as the cropped 48mm zoom. That's the equivalent of 2x magnification, which is slightly less than the 2.5x offered by the Xperia 5 IV. The big difference, however, is that you're getting that from the main camera sensor, with its f/1.9 lens, rather than from an f/2.4 lens as it was previously.

Sony Mobile

What does this mean? The wider aperture means that, in theory, more light can be let into the camera and with a higher quality sensor, you should be able to get those telephoto shots without feeling like you're missing out. For those wondering, there is no option to short at full resolution from the main camera, all photos are 12-megapixels.

So that's Sony doing a little dance around the cameras, shifting up the design a little and being able to drop the price - whether photographically it pays off, we'll have to wait and see.

Elsewhere the phone predictably sits on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, there's still a 5000mAh battery and mediocre updates with two OS versions and 3-years of security updates, but elsewhere there are a couple of interesting software tweaks.

The first of these is a new Video Creator app. This is designed to make video automatically so you don't have to both editing those holiday clips together, you can just select them and Sony will do the rest. There's a new bokeh mode, refreshed user interface for gaming mode and support for high frame rates in the Photo Pro app. These features will be rolling out to the Xperia 1 V as well, but it's nice to have something new.

Sony Mobile

The 21:9 display remains pretty unique and can be great for watching movies on the move, with great audio boosted by the 3.5mm headphone socket for those who want to hang on to a bit of old school connectivity. But with a new amplifier driving the front-facing speakers, there's also the promise of a great Dolby Atmos experience if you're just using the speakers on the phone too.

All in, while the Xperia 5 V is decidedly incremental, the lower price might be appealing - it's still more expensive than its closest rival the Zenfone 10 - but whether the camera will be able to perform we'll have to wait and see.

The Sony Xperia 5 V will be available from late September for £849 / €999.