Newsletter
Sony has opened pre-orders for its newest mid-rangers, in the US. The Sony Xperia 10 is priced at $349 and the Xperia 10 Plus is priced at $429. Both of these will be launching on March 18, which is a pretty fast turnaround time for Sony to launch new phones in the US.
These are both GSM unlocked, so they will work on AT&T and T-Mobile. In addition to that, they have been certified to work on Verizon’s network. Meaning that they will work everywhere except for Sprint.
The Sony Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus both sport 21:9 aspect ratios, and do have differing spec sheets, surprisingly. The Xperia 10 has a 6-inch full HD+ resolution, 21:9 aspect ratio display. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chipset along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. There is also a dual-camera setup with a 13-megapixel sensor and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. This is all powered by a 2870mAh capacity battery.
Meanwhile the Xperia 10 Plus has a taller 6.5-inch full HD+ 21:9 aspect ratio display. That is powered by the Snapdragon 636 chipset, with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. There is also a dual-camera setup here, with a 12-megapixel sensor and a 8-megapixel secondary sensor. Both of which feature phase-detection autofocus. It is all powered by a 3000mAh capacity battery.
These are both very capable smartphones from Sony, and with the Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 636 chipsets inside, the battery life should be pretty decent on these two. Sony is also offering plenty of storage, which is always something that is usually an after-thought on smartphones in this price range.
With Sony going with 21:9 aspect ratio displays, even on its mid-rangers, it may put some people off. But Sony went taller because that’s where the industry is headed, but it also makes for better multi-window and better media consumption. This is because movies are all shot in 21:9 anyways, and then downscaled for streaming services. Sony is working with these streaming services to offer content in 21:9 in addition to the 16:9 as well.
Sony is typically well-known for offering their smartphones at a premium price, even their low-end and mid-range models. So it’s a bit surprising that these are just $349 and $429 respectively, but a welcome surprise. The Sony Mobile unit is heading in a new direction, under new leadership, and it appears to be heading into a good direction. Sony’s mobile unit has been losing money for far too long, and been behind the competition for quite some time. Which is a bit surprising, seeing as Sony does make all of the camera sensors found in every smartphone, yet it had some of the worst-performing cameras. That appears to be a thing of the past now.
The Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus, as mentioned before, are being sold unlocked only. It will work on both AT&T and T-Mobile and also is certified for Verizon. Sony is not selling its smartphones in stores. By doing it unlocked, they are able to bypass carriers when its time to send out updates, making things easier for everyone.
You can pre-order the Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus from Amazon, using the links below.
Sony Xperia 10 - Amazon - $349 Sony Xperia 10 Plus - Amazon - $429