Xperia 5 restarting, no support.

[Dmitrijs_M]

I have bought the phone in the middle of April 2020 from the authorized dealer in Latvia. From the beginning it was restarting. The first time was during the language selection on the first boot. I have tried to return the phone to the shop. They have sent it to an authorized Sony service. Service has found nothing, so the shop has refused to replace the phone or refund. I've contacted Latvian Sony support. They have asked to perform a lot of stuff - resets, software repairs, tests in the safe mode - nothing helped. They have asked to send the phone to the service again. I had managed to film the problem. I've send the phone to service with detailed description, with videos and with the claim. They have found nothing again. No one have seen my videos, I've never received an answer to my claim. But the phone continued to restart 3-4 times a day. I even didn't need to do something with it. I was just trying to unlock it with the finger print, but couldn't, because you have to enter a password after a restart.

Approximately in the middle of June Sony support have told me, that the are starting an "investigation" of my case. I was waiting nearly for a month for an answer. The answer was to update the phone with the latest firmware update. I was waiting for another month for this update to be available in my region. The update has changed nothing. Sony support is telling me to send the phone to the service again. As if it will not be the same as it was 2 times before.

At this point about 4 months have passed, since I reached Sony support and asked for help. At this point with no results. The phone is still restarting on random occasions. I hope to find some answers here.

https://youtu.be/Fs1MxO0-TLo - the video, no one from Sony support have seen.

Can anyone help me?

P.S. It is not a problem with the SIM card. I've started to use the phone without SIM card, while I was waiting for a nanoSIM from my operator.

[Dmitrijs_M]

@Krinandez 

Thank you, man!

Could you write in a couple of weeks how is it going?

[Krinandez]

You are welcome. I feel your pain. I do. 
I am at two whole days and so far, so good. I will post updates about the progress. I feel that after two weeks it should be reliable if nothing continues to go wrong. We shall see.  But I must sincerely thank Warsaw Sony Center at Galeria Mlociny (Kuba), Warsaw. He has been outstanding with the service. 

[JohnW1981]

Mine seems to mainly do it when connected to Bluetooth earbuds but can happen when phone is idle.

Also just found this thread, seems to link the issue to ill fitting/damaged sim card

https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/xperia-5/xperia-5-rebooting-itself/m-p/3658550#M1180

[Krinandez]

My Xperia 5 has been Flawless after Sony Service replaced the motherboard. 100% gold. I'm very happy because the device is amazing. I hope that you can get yours working well!

I sympathize with your frustration. 

[Krinandez]

Hello again. 

So, replacing the motherboard was the cure for my Xperia 5. It has not rebooted once since I received it back from Sony Service. I have rebooted it but afterwards it continued to work. I've tried all the functions I can think of and all of them operate perfectly. I think this is what will help your device. I hope that you can get it sorted out. Please cite my case as an example and show them this feed. 

All the best. 

[Dmitrijs_M]

@Krinandez 

Thank you for feedback!

Will try to find the way to replace the MB.

[Dmitrijs_M]

Well, I have an update. It seems, that update to android 11 have cured my phone. No restarts for a week. Yes, there are some minor bugs, I can actually USE the phone! Will return with the update in ~2 weeks.

[Krinandez]

That is great news. I have to say that Android 10 was rather buggy and sucky, in my opinion. My Xperia 5 is still doing well after getting a new motherboard, but my Camera is slow to launch. When I launch the app (especially for the first time) there is a black screen for the first 2 seconds, then it displays images. And when shooting video (like 4K) there is a one second lag when the filming starts, but nothing is moving....then it suddenly begins to work. So when playing back a video, the first second has a hiccup in the frames.  I attribute this to the fact that when Sony first started repairs on my phone, they replaced the cameras and battery.  But, if I use a another camera app, like ProShot, the camera launches immediately and records immediately too. So there's something in the way the Camera app is communicating to the actual camera lenses.

I really hope that your device stays working! You deserve it.

[Dmitrijs_M]

New software update today and back to the old problem - restarts again.

[Krinandez]

Oh no......Uggg.  My only thought at this point is to SCREAM at customer service there and literally make threats.
It sounds like your phone shares the same problem as mine did. Warsaw service replaced the motherboard.
I suspect that another problem is that parts for the Xperia5 are now limited, as well as replacement phones.

Perhaps they can offer you a deal on an different one, or give you credit, or simply refund your money.
It's a pity, because it is a good device. I'm sorry.