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Along with the Xperia 1, Sony has also unveiled the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus. These smartphones actually share a lot more with the Xperia 1 than you might think. These two still sport 21:9 aspect ratios, with the Xperia 10 being a bit smaller at 6-inches, and the Xperia 10 Plus at 6.5-inches. If you were looking for a “compact” model this year, the Xperia 10 is going to be the one to get.
The smaller Xperia 10 runs on the Snapdragon 630 with 3GB of RAM and the Xperia 10 Plus gets an upgrade to the Snapdragon 636 and 4GB of RAM. Both of which are somewhat older chipsets, but they can still pull their weight. These two chipsets are going to offer better battery life than some of the others out there, since they are Snapdragon 600-series. And no one will argue with getting better battery life.
With a 21:9 aspect ratio display, it does make multi-tasking pretty easy to do, and definitely lots of fun. The Xperia 10 and 10 Plus are some great looking phones. Even though these are Full HD+ LCD panels and not 4K HDR OLED panels. These still offer a great looking display.
Multi-tasking on the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus is also a pretty fun thing to do. Similar to the Xperia 1, you can have two apps open at the same time, and they are actually usable, in both landscape and portrait. Gaming is also pretty spectacular on these phones. Since games already are made for 21:9 aspect ratios – especially in the PC gaming world – it feels right at home on the Xperia 10 series.
The cameras aren’t quite as good on the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus as it is on the Xperia 1, as you don’t get all the expertise of the Alpha family in those smartphones. But they do have dual-camera setups: 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel or 12-megapixel and 8-megapixel respectively. These will still offer some great shots as well as great Bokeh for those portrait mode shots.
One of the main differences with the Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus compared to the Xperia 1, is the fact that these are coming with a polycarbonate build instead of glass. The advantage to having polycarbonate is that it is cheaper, but it also still looks like metal, without having those antenna lines on the back of the phone. Giving it a much cleaner look. And in the navy blue and silver colors we saw today, they look pretty slick.
On the software front, these both are running Android 9 Pie, and Sony is still working with a pretty light version of its skin over-top Android. This makes it easier for Sony to update, and makes these updates faster as well. In fact, there are virtually no apps pre-installed on these phones, except maybe Facebook. In the pictures below, you’ll notice Asphalt 9 and Netflix are on-board, but those were for demo purposes, so they may not be pre-installed.
The Sony Xperia 10 and 10 Plus may be some of the best mid-range smartphones on the market. They will definitely be some of the more interesting with these 21:9 aspect ratio displays though. The Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus are going on sale pretty quickly however, launching on March 18. These both will work on AT&T and T-Mobile and will also be Verizon Certified. So you can pop your Verizon SIM card inside and be good to go.
