Sony α6x00 (Mid-range APS-C) Mirrorless Cameras (2018) vs Nikon D5500

While the Sony α6400 (2018) makes for a fairly good Mirrorless Camera for people with a $900 budget, we weren't able to find enough data on the Nikon D5500 to come to any reliable conclusions.

In either case, we suggest that you look at some other options at the $900 and $1,000 budget ranges before committing to one of these.

If you'd nonetheless like to learn more about the Sony α6400 (2018) and Nikon D5500, however, we wrote a summary of what we know about them:

Two highly trusted sources that perform well-thought-out in-depth testing consider the Sony α6400 (2018) to be a great product - it earned the "Best APS-C Sony for Photography" title from PCmag and "Best Mid-Range Camera For Product Photography" from Rtings in their respective Mirrorless Camera roundups, which is a good indication of it being a notable product.

As for the Nikon D5500, it was really well-received by reviewers at The Phoblographer, a reliable source that's known for conducting its own, high-quality, in-depth testing. It performed great in its "Ready to Upgrade from The Entry/Basic? Here Are Our Top Mid-level Camera Picks" roundup and was named its "Ranked 2 out of 8", which, on its own, makes it a product that warrants a closer look.

When we thoroughly analyzed their review scores, we learned that all of the sources that tested both Mirrorless Cameras, including PCmag and Digital Photography Review, preferred the Sony α6400 (2018) over the Nikon D5500.

We also took a look at which sources they managed to impress the most. The Sony α6400 (2018) was liked best by ePHOTOzine, which gave it a score of 9, while the Nikon D5500 got its highest, 8, score from CNET.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Mirrorless Cameras on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Mirrorless Cameras being 7.9 out of 10, whereas the Sony α6400 (2018) and Nikon D5500 managed averages of 8.2 and 8.0 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Sony α6400 (2018) vs. Nikon D5500 comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.