$429.99
- ProsSolid midrange performance. Decent cameras.
- Cons21:9 aspect ratio doesn't work well with some apps and most television shows. Short battery life. Lackluster build. Mediocre call quality
- Bottom LineThe Sony Xperia X10 Plus delivers solid performance for a midrange phone, but there are stronger options available that offer greater value.
After years of attempting to gain a foothold in the US market, Sony is making major updates to its line of Xperia smartphones. Besides a new naming convention, the phones are getting a makeover. The Xperia X10 Plus ($429.99) is an updated take on last year's Xperia XA2 Ultra. It features a taller display, a beefed-up processor, and a more refined aesthetic. But the X10 Plus makes it debut in a very crowded midrange market and simply can't compete with less expensive phones like the Motorola Moto G7 and the Nokia 7.1.
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Known for creating cutting-edge audio technology, Sony has sat at the forefront of innovation since its release of the Walkman in 1979. High-Resolution Audio Equipment. You hear every subtle detail when listening to any of the speakers, music players, Walkmans or amplifiers in the Sony line of hi-res audio equipment. The XO-D501 is a remote-controlled compact hi-fi stereo system manufactured by the Sony Corporation in approximately 1988. The HST-D501CDM is the main unit, which consists of the tuner, amplifier, and dual cassette tape deck, all in one enclosure. The XO series consisted of a group of similar looking Hi-Fi systems by the Sony Corporation.
Design and Display
At 6.57 by 2.87 by 0.33 inches (HWD), the Sony Xperia 10 Plus is a long phone. In fact, it's one of the longest phones we've seen in some time. It's taller than the iPhone XS Max and the Samsung Galaxy S10+ (both 6.20 inches). And while it's not so long it's unwieldy, it can easily slide out of a back pocket.
The extra length is thanks to the 6.5-inch display that dominates the front of the phone. It has a unique 21:9 aspect ratio that Sony says is for taking video and watching streaming media. There's a prominent forehead bezel that's home to the earpiece and selfie camera.
At first glance, the back of the phone looks very sleek, but when you pick it up, it feels hollow and cheap. That's because Sony went with a thin polycarbonate backplate on the phone compared with the toughened glass backs used on less expensive competitors like the Moto G7 and Nokia 7.1. In the US, the phone is available in black or silver, though other parts of the world also have gold and navy options.
At the top of the back panel is a horizontal camera array that juts out slightly from the shell. The back is also home to the LCD flash and prominent Sony and Xperia logos. On the left side you'll find the power button, fingerprint sensor, and volume rocker. The fingerprint sensor is accurate and well placed, but the volume rocker sits low and is so thin it's difficult to locate. The bottom of the phone is home to two speakers and a USB-C charging port, while a SIM and microSD slot sits on the left. The SIM/microSD can easily open without a SIM key, which is convenient. A headphone jack sits atop the phone.
The 6.5-inch LCD has 1,080 by 2,520 pixels (for a density of 442ppi) and a 21:9 aspect ratio. Peak brightness clocked in at 503 nits in testing. Our tests showed colors to be undersaturated in Standard and Super-Vivid modes, but you can easily tweak the white balance in the settings.
Sony says the elongated display is for cinema-quality video and multimedia streaming. The company claims other smartphones are unable to show video without cropping or black bars since many television shows and movies are filmed in a 21:9 aspect ratio. But we found the opposite to be true. During our tests, most TV shows and some movies had even larger black bars than you see on other smartphones, and if you stretch to zoom, the extended screen causes more cropping than what you see on a standard 16:9 or 18:9 display.
Some apps also render incorrectly on the Xperia 10 Plus, leaving a large black bar at the bottom of the screen. When we spoke to a Sony representative about the problem, she told us that most films will appear in 21:9 aspect ratio, but most television shows are still filmed in 16:9, meaning you'll either have to live with the large black bars or extreme cropping.
Network and Audio
The Sony Xperia 10 Plus ships unlocked and works on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. It supports LTE bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/25/28/29/66. The phone should perform well on all carriers, though band 71 is missing so rural T-Mobile users might have spotty coverage. Network performance in downtown Manhattan on T-Mobile's network was excellent, with 58Mbps down and 41Mbps up despite heavy network congestion.
![Sony Xo-d 10 Diagram Sony Xo-d 10 Diagram](http://img.manualscenter.com//manuals/html/B0/BF/B0BFCB48E3496D71CF6879535C9ADC554CB83D62/B0BFCB48E3496D71CF6879535C9ADC554CB83D62001.png)
Call quality is mediocre. There was minor clipping during our test calls.Noise cancellation worked well for the most part, but we did hear occasional bursts of wind. The earpiece is loud enough to carry out conversations in most conditions, though you may have a hard time hearing the other party on a busy street.
Like most midrange phones, the 10 Plus supports Wi-Fi on the 2.5GHz and 5Ghz bands. Bluetooth 5.0 is included for wearable and audio connectivity, as is NFC for mobile payments.
The bottom-firing speakers on the Xperia 10 Plus are a letdown. Peak volume comes in at 84dB, which is loud enough to fill a room, but at full volume the sound has so much static it's unbearable. Fortunately, there's a headphone jack and Qualcomm aptX HD Audio for high-definition sound on Bluetooth headphones.
Hardware and Battery
A midrange Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor powers the Sony Xperia X10 Plus, along with 4GB of RAM. There's 64GB of internal storage, of which 48GB is available out of the box. Luckily you can add up to 512GB of external storage via the microSD slot.
Performance is solid. We noticed a slight lag when opening and switching between apps, but it didn't hurt the overall user experience. Multitasking works well. We opened over a dozen apps on the phone and didn't experience significant slowdown. We even played Asphalt 8 for nearly an hour with no skipped frames or lag.
See How We Test Phones
The 10 Plus scored 6,083 on PCMark 2.0, a suite of benchmark tests that emulate everyday smartphone use. That's slightly lower than the less expensive Moto G7 (6,181). That said, benchmark scores are not indicative of how a phone will perform on a day-to-day basis, they're simply an objective measure we use to compare similarly equipped handsets.
Battery life is poor. During our battery test, which streams video at full brightness over Wi-Fi, the Xperia 10 Plus' 3,000mAh battery died after 5 hours and 46 minutes. The Moto G7 managed 9 hours and 58 minutes under the same conditions. Luckily Sony offers Stamina, Smart Stamina, and Ultra Stamina modes to extend battery life. The Xperia 10 Plus also supports fast charging with the included power adapter, though it doesn't have wireless charging.
Cameras
A dual camera array adorns the back of the Xperia 10 Plus. There's a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.75 aperture and an 8MP secondary sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. The front-facing camera clocks in at 8MP and has an f/2.0 aperture.
Sony's camera software deviates from stock Android. You'll find several modes like Portrait Selfie Effects, Creative Effect, a beauty filter, and a skin-softening feature that's hidden in the settings. You also have the option of taking photos and video at a 21:9 aspect ratio.
In our tests we found the rear-facing cameras to perform well in bright light. At full size, there's some minor loss in background detail, but the dynamic range is excellent, and colors are accurate. Low-light photos are acceptable. We observed some noise and blurring in the foreground, but overall images are perfectly fine for social media sharing.
The front-facing camera also performs well in daylight. Our test shots show good color accuracy, though some fine details are lost in the background. Low-light photos, however, are disappointing, filled with blur and background noise.
For the most part, the special camera features on the Xperia 10 Plus work well. Skin softening on selfies looks natural. The beauty filter also performs admirably and has several sliders to let you choose how drastic a change you'd like. Portrait mode also works, though it blurs the edges of hair.
Software
The Xperia 10 Plus ships with Android 9.0 Pie and Sony's custom UI that adds a few useful features and a handful of not-so-useful apps. Side Sense is one of the better additions that allows you to double tap on an icon on the side of the screen to pull up frequently used apps and settings. Sony's UI also adds an easy way to access the screen with one hand by double tapping on the home bar. You'll also find a custom music app and gallery app, though they seem extraneous since Google versions of these apps are already baked into Android.
While the 10 Plus ships with the latest version of Android, there's no confirmation it will receive Android Q later this year. Sony's record for security and UI updates is good, however. Last year Sony offered guidance on its mobile upgrade policy, but it offers no update guarantees for midrange phones like the Xperia 10 Plus. If you want a guarantee your phone will get the Android Q update, you'll want to check out the Nokia 7.1, which is part of the Android One program.
Conclusions
While the Sony Xperia 10 Plus offers solid performance and a good camera for a midrange phone, its build quality is lacking and its battery life is poor. That said, its more powerful specs make it a better choice than the standard Xperia 10. There are stronger midrange options that offer similar or better performance and greater value than either Xperia, however. The Motorola Moto G7 is a solid alternative that performs and looks better for $130 less than the 10 Plus. And while we're still in the process of reviewing it, the $349 Nokia 7.1's gorgeous build and superior performance also make it a stellar option.
Sony Xperia 10 Plus
Bottom Line: The Sony Xperia X10 Plus delivers solid performance for a midrange phone, but there are stronger options available that offer greater value.
Top Comparisons
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.blog comments powered by DisqusSony’s trying to reboot its smartphone business with a simplified approach at the premium end of the market. The company’s one true flagship, the Xperia 1, is flanked by a couple of cheaper devices that sit somewhere at the upper end of budget or the lower end of midrange. The smallest and cheapest is the Xperia 10, which costs $350, exactly the same as our current favorite budget phone, the Nokia 7.1, and $50 more than the attractive Moto G7. The question is: Can Sony make a compelling budget phone?
Tall, dark, and handsome
Smartphones have become increasingly homogenous, but Sony’s smartphones have always stood out a little, and not always in a good way. The Sony Xperia 10 is immediately recognizable as a Sony phone; it has an angular shape and it’s taller than other phones.
Over the last couple of years, big bezels surrounding the screen have been responsible for that extra height, but in Sony’s latest phones, the screen extends almost to the edges on the sides and bottom. The top has a chunkier bezel for the front-facing camera, other sensors, and an earpiece. In finally slashing those bezels down, Sony decided to expand the screen instead of shrinking the body, so you get an unusual 21:9 aspect ratio.
The result is a tall, but narrow phone. It looks attractive and proves very comfortable to handle. If you’re a fan of Sony’s design language, then you’re going to like the look of the Xperia 10.
There’s a USB-C port flanked by speakers on the bottom, a 3.5mm audio jack up top, and a power button, fingerprint sensor, and volume rocker on the right side. Lest you forget this is a budget phone, the back and sides are a single piece of polycarbonate with a metallic sheen. There’s a horizontal dual-lens camera suite at the top with the flash above.
My review unit is navy, but you can also get this phone in classic black, pink, or silver.
Switching from the Moto G7, I found the Sony Xperia 10 much more comfortable to use one-handed. Put them side by side and they look like Laurel and Hardy.
You get a 6-inch IPS LCD screen with the Xperia 10 and, because of that 21:9 aspect ratio, it has a resolution of 2,520 x 1,080 pixels. It’s slightly sharper than both the Nokia 7.1 and the Moto G7. That aspect ratio coupled with Sony’s video processing know-how makes it ideal for watching movies, which are generally filmed at 21:9. Though it’s worth noting that TV shows and some other content will have black bars at the sides.
The screen is one of the highlights of this phone and I found that the aspect ratio worked well for reading on the web, as well as for movies and gaming. The contrast is good, and it’s plenty bright for outdoors legibility. There’s a Super-vivid mode in the display settings if you prefer a saturated look, but the colors are vibrant enough out of the box. Until OLED screens start coming to budget phones, this is as about as good a screen as you’ll find in this price category.
Before moving on from the design section, a quick word on the vibration motor. It seems like an odd thing to highlight, but the vibrate function in the Xperia 10 is terrible. When I first turned the phone on, I was concerned it had been damaged in transit because of the asthmatic vibrate on start up. It’s obviously an area where Sony economized.
Lacking in horsepower
The Sony Xperia 10 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor inside with 3GB of RAM. This processor is getting a bit long in the tooth and it shows. While swiping around feels slick, there are noticeably long pauses when loading games and switching between apps. The camera app also froze on me a couple of times.
I played Plants vs. Zombies: Heroes and it ran without issues. PUBG:Mobile took forever to load, but it ran without a problem, albeit on the lowest quality graphical setting. If you want to play demanding games, then the Xperia 10 is not for you.
Both the major competitors for the Xperia 10 — the Nokia 7.1 and Moto G7 — have slightly newer, more powerful processors, and an extra 1GB of RAM, and you can feel the difference it makes. Here are some benchmark results:
- AnTuTu 3D Bench: 89,245
- Geekbench CPU: 892 single-core; 4,148 multi-core
- 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 828 (Vulkan)
It’s clear to see that the Sony Xperia 10 is lagging a bit here, apart from the 3DMark benchmark where it did quite well. Regardless, Sony should have beefed up the hardware here just a bit.
But if you don’t use demanding apps or play a lot of games, this might not be a major concern. For general web browsing, messaging, movie watching and a spot of casual gaming, the Sony Xperia 10 will serve you well.
There’s an ample 64GB of storage available and you can always insert a MicroSD card into the phone to expand that capacity.
Slick Sony software is sometimes superfluous
The Xperia 10 runs Android 9 Pie with Sony’s user interface on top and a handful of preinstalled apps. My review unit came with stalwarts like Netflix and Facebook, alongside Sony apps like Xperia Lounge, but the apps you’ll find on yours depends on where you live and where you buy your phone from.
It feels a lot like stock Android in terms of basic navigation; there are a few extra settings in the menus, but it’s easy to get to grips with. I can’t help feeling things like the Gallery app are redundant when you have Google Photos, but I didn’t encounter too much bloatware here.
While the Xperia 10 feels pretty slick in the software department — and Sony has a decent record for updating its phones — I would prefer to see the company adopt Android One like Nokia does with its budget devices. Android One phones are guaranteed to get at least two years of Android version updates and three years of security updates, and that’s a big benefit in a budget phone.
I’m glad to report that the Sony Xperia 10 does come with NFC support, so you can share via Android Beam and make wireless payments with Google Pay if needed.
Classy camera
The Sony Xperia 10 has a dual-lens camera, pairing a 13-megapixel sensor with an f/2.0 aperture and a secondary 5-megapixel depth sensor. The camera app itself is a little slow, along with a slow shutter speed, and slow image processing, but you can snap some lovely shots.
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When the sun is out, you’ll have no trouble capturing good photos with the Xperia 10. The colors are vibrant without straying too far from how the scene really looked, and it captures plenty of detail. You can definitely get better results if you go into manual mode and tweak the settings, but all the photos in this review were taken with the automatic settings.
- 1. Sony Xperia 10
- 2. Moto G7
- 3. Sony Xperia 10
- 4. Moto G7
Like the Moto G7, I found the Xperia 10 camera struggles with contrast sometimes and overexposes light areas, but it doesn’t seem to be quite as bad. Low light is a major weakness for both phones, and you’ll see a lot of noise creep in as soon as the light begins to fade.
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One area where the Moto G7 camera beats the Xperia 10 is portraits of people with that coveted bokeh effect that blurs the background. Sony has a bokeh mode option in the camera app, but I really didn’t get on well with it. Repeated instructions to move further away from the subject or move closer for that elusive sweet spot became tiring. Occasionally the results were good, but I preferred the photos of people I took with the standard photo mode.
There is a risk of blurry photos because, like every other budget phone camera, it lacks optical image stabilization (OIS). If you don’t have a steady hand or a steady subject, then photos are not going to come out well.
There is also a selfie portrait mode which employs the 8-megapixel front-facing camera and it’s actually much easier to use than the bokeh mode on the rear camera.
The Xperia 10 can also capture 4K videos at 30 frames per second in the 21:9 aspect ratio if you fancy developing a cinematic look for your home movies. It will also shoot Full HD at 60 frames per second, but I recommend going with the default Full HD at 30 fps, because it enables object tracking and SteadyShot image stabilization.
Lacking in stamina
Although it has a sizable 2,870mAh battery inside, stamina is a definite weakness for the Xperia 10. On an average day the phone struggled to make it to bedtime with anything left in the tank. A single game of PUBG: Mobile chewed through 11 percent of the battery. If you want to watch video, play games, and take a lot of photos with this phone, then you’ll need to carry a portable battery charger with you.
In our battery test, streaming a Full HD video from YouTube, the Xperia 10 lasted just 4 hours and 54 minutes. That’s far from impressive, and a lot less than cheaper budget phones like the Moto G7 and even the Nokia 3.1 Plus.
Wired charging via the USB-C port is fast; I was able to take the battery from zero to 88 percent in an hour. The Xperia 10 supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 standard and USB Power Delivery, which is rare in budget phones. That’s a good thing, because based on my experience, you’re going to be plugging in a lot. There’s no support for wireless charging here.
Price, availability, and warranty information
The Sony Xperia 10 costs $350. You can order it unlocked from Amazon, Best Buy, or B&H and it ships starting March 18. Although you won’t find it at carrier stores, the Xperia 10 will work with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon in the U.S.
It comes with a standard one-year limited warranty which covers defects in design, materials, or workmanship.
Our TakeThe Sony Xperia 10 is a good phone that mostly justifies the $350 price. The display is pleasing, the camera is capable, and I like the design. The trouble is that Sony has compromised in two vital areas: Performance and battery life, and that’s enough to sink any recommendation.
Is there a better alternative?
Yes, you can buy the Nokia 7.1 for exactly the same price and it matches or bests the Xperia 10 in every area.
You could also save yourself $50 and go for the Moto G7. There isn’t a big gap between them, and there are things I prefer about the Xperia 10, but at $50 less the Moto G7 is better value for sure.
The other phone you might look at is the Xperia 10 Plus, which costs a fair bit more at $430, but stretches the screen up to 6.5 inches and packs a superior processor and an extra 1GB of RAM.
How long will it last?
You should get two years out of the Sony Xperia 10, and we’re hopeful that Sony will update the software as it does have a decent update record. However, you might tire of the slow processor before then.
Since its plastic, it’s likely more durable than a glass phone, but there’s no IP rating for water resistance. It might be worth grabbing a case to protect it.
Should you buy it?
No. Most people will be better off buying the Nokia 7.1 or the Moto G7. But if you’re a big Sony fan and the flagship Xperia 1 is too rich for your blood, or if movie watching is a big priority for you in a phone, then you’ll enjoy the Xperia 10.