Sony Xperia 10 Plus Dual Sim

TechRadar Verdict

The Sony Xperia ten is a mid-range telephone that brings Sony'due south flagship fashion and unique 21:nine aspect ratio to a phone that'due south a tertiary of the price of its upcoming Xperia 1. It'southward not the all-time phone you can purchase for this toll by any means, but if you like to watch movies and Television set shows on your commute it may be perfect for you.

Pros

+
Bright and clear display
+
Potent build quality
+
Extra screen space sometimes useful

Cons

-
21:9 screen can prove frustrating
-
No wireless charging
-
Disappointing battery life

Sony has never really excelled at making mid-range smartphones in the manner competitors like HTC and Samsung have, merely the visitor is aiming to change that with the new Xperia ten and Xperia 10 Plus.

If yous regularly watch films and videos on your phone, Sony thinks this is the handset for yous. While its upcoming Xperia ane may have the best screen on a smartphone ever, with 4K HDR OLED technology, this is a Total Hard disk drive display, simply comes in the same 21:nine aspect ratio.

This is unmistakably a mid-range telephone though. Information technology may sport that unique screen attribute ratio, simply information technology also features a low-end chipset and some middling specs – so how does the overall package shape upwards?

Sony Xperia 10 release engagement and cost

Image Credit: Sony — Paradigm Credit: Sony

If you live in the UK you lot can purchase the Xperia 10 at present, while those in the United states will be able to purchase it from March eighteen. We don't currently have a release appointment for Australia, but we'd await the phone to land there in the well-nigh future.

The phone costs £299 or $349.99 (about AU$550 – Australia pricing is also TBC) SIM-free, which is a touch cheaper than the larger and slightly more than spec-heavy Sony Xperia 10 Plus. In the United kingdom we've seen free-upfront contracts with 1GB of data starting at effectually £xix a month.

If your budget can stretch a scrap further, the Xperia 10 Plus costs £349 / $429.99 (roughly AU$650). Then at that place's the Xperia 1, which is set to cost £849 (around $1,110 or AU$1,550) when it launches later this year.

Brandish

The screen on the Xperia ten isn't every bit impressive as the 1 on the Xperia 1, but that's because this is a far more affordable phone. That said, information technology's nevertheless something that takes you by surprise when you first see the Xperia 10 – and in a good way.

It's a Full Hd+ half-dozen-inch screen at a 21:9 attribute ratio. That means the display is taller than on your existing smartphone, and the thought hither is that when you flip it to landscape it'll offer the optimally-sized display for watching video, viewing photos or playing games.

If you're watching movies from specific streaming services this makes a lot of sense, as it can fit perfectly into the brandish, with no distracting black bars on either side.

Sony says about seventy% of the films on Netflix are made specifically for the 21:9 aspect ratio, while 21:9 content is also available from other streaming services such equally Amazon, and Sony's own movie shop.

Don't expect all films and TV shows you're watching to appear perfectly in this format though. Nearly Boob tube shows are filmed in sixteen:9, then when we watched episodes of The Office they appeared with thick black bars downwards each side of the display.

That's to exist expected, but there'southward another frustrating element to the unusual aspect ratio: the black bars mean the content on-screen isn't in the center. In that location's a thick bezel along the acme of the phone, which means when video is playing information technology's slightly off-eye. Yous can run across in the prototype below exactly what we mean:

Finding 21:9 content isn't particularly easy either. We looked up the movie Hereditary on Amazon Prime number Video – a relatively recent upload to the service when nosotros wrote this review – but it wasn't bachelor in 21:nine.

We watched Venom on the phone, and when you lot're watching in 21:9 on the Xperia 10 information technology's a fantastic experience – it really does experience closer to what the film looks like on the large screen, and then it's a shame that it's and so difficult to find 21:9 content.

If you're using the phone upright it's not as like shooting fish in a barrel to get your head around the attribute ratio, and this is something we struggled to become used to during our time using the phone. Information technology'southward something that does grow on y'all, merely there are some core problems with the design.

We establish the display quality to be swell with strong colors and an incredible 457 pixels per inch.

If you lot're using the telephone for dissever-screen apps, the extra screen real estate at the top and bottom of the display will add to the experience. Looking at photos in a 21:ix aspect ratio is an enjoyable feel here too, while some games are designed for the aspect ratio, with Sony promising more will be supported presently also.

At the time of writing, four games are designed for 21:9 aspect ratio phones: Asphalt 9, Arena of Valor, Fortnite and Marvel Strike Forcefulness. Merely Marvel Strike Force (which you can encounter running beneath) and Arena of Valor are currently available on the Xperia 10.

When you lot find a game in the 21:nine aspect ratio, the experience is nifty equally you lot've got extra space for the controls and information technology feels like a natural way to play. As with movies though, the stretched screen isn't that useful correct now when and then few games support the aspect ratio.

Another frustration we found with 21:9 is its issue on other apps nosotros were using. One specific instance is how it cuts off sure content when we're using Instagram Stories.

Because the aspect ratio was thinner, the image isn't fully displayed. This is particularly noticeable when someone has put text on an Instagram story and information technology's cutting off. Nosotros couldn't find a mode to view the whole story, and while information technology'south a pocket-size thing information technology did show frustrating on a number of occasions.

Overall, we found 21:9 to be useful in some very specific scenarios, but it's upward to you to decide whether that'southward worth sacrificing some of the functionality of other parts of the phone.

Pattern

The Sony Xperia x feels high-stop considering its price, with a glass front with a metallic rear that feel premium to the affect – if you're looking for an affordable device that's besides easy on the eye this could exist a great option.

Every bit nosotros've mentioned, this is a alpine handset, and with dimensions of 156 x 68 x 8.4mm it feels slim in the hand; information technology's too relatively lightweight at 162g.

We imagine that if y'all're got smaller hands, you'll struggle to reaching the top of the brandish when using the phone ane-handed. That'southward why Sony has brought its Side Sense features to the telephone, which you can read about in the Software department below.

At that place'due south a fingerprint scanner congenital into the correct-mitt side of the telephone that's in a expert position for your pollex to tap if you're right-handed – if you're left-handed you may observe this a bit tougher to accomplish.

An interesting affair here is that the scanner isn't congenital into the power button, equally it has been on previous Sony phones. Instead the company has put that button in a higher place information technology, and we weren't given a clear answer on why that was.

Good news here is that those in the Us will too get a fingerprint scanner, which is something that's been missing from some previous Sony phones launched there.

The camera protrudes a little from the rear of the phone, but it's not anything that's likely to annoy you.

It may not have the almost premium design, but considering how much you'll be spending on the Xperia 10 we're impressed with how the phone feels in the hand.

There are lots of color choices besides, including some assuming options – there's Sony's default colors of black and silver, but you'll besides exist able to get information technology in navy or pink.

Paradigm Credit: TechRadar

Current page: Introduction, cost, blueprint and brandish

Next Page Battery life and photographic camera

James is Managing Editor for Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you lot news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is frequently testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once savage over.