Sony Xperia 10 V stays skinny, lasts even longer
Lightweight battery champ sticks with what Sony does best
Sony is chasing film fans, casual camera snappers and music lovers on a modest budget with the new Xperia 10 V. The firm’s new £399 smartphone shares a few features with the top-tier Xperia 1 V, while also promising a trio of rear cameras and best-in-class battery – without relying on a cell so hefty it’ll drag your jeans down as soon as you pop the phone in your pocket.
The Xperia 10 V shaves 2g from the outgoing Xperia 10 IV, tipping the scales at a mere 159g. And yet there’s still a sizeable 6.1in display and dual forward-firing speakers up front, along with a 5000mAh battery underneath. It’s both IP65 and IP68 water resistant, with Gorilla Glass Victus keeping the screen safe from scrapes and scratches. A side-mounted fingerprint sensor handles security.
Apparently the OLED screen is 1.5x brighter than the old phone, with Triluminos display tech borrowed from Sony’s Bravia TV division. It has a Full HD+ resolution, film-friendly 21:9 aspect ratio, and should manage a whopping 34 hours of continuous video playback. Sounds perfect for serious box set binges. A 3.5mm headphone port returns for personal listening, while LDAC, DSEE Ultimate and 360 reality audio promise high quality, upscaled spatial sound (if you want it) over Bluetooth.
At the back there are three cameras, covering 16mm, 26mm 54mm focal lengths. The main snapper has been upgraded with optical image stabilisation, a 1.6x bigger sensor than the one found on the Xperia 10 IV to fare better in low light, and a much higher 48MP pixel count. The 8MP for the ultrawide and telephoto duo alongside it are essentially unchanged from last year. There’s also an 8MP selfie cam up front, built into the bezel so as not to distract you while watching videos on the screen.
Inside, power comes from a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 CPU, paired to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of on-board storage. There’s also microSD expansion for adding more space later. The Snapdragon 695 is a bit long in the tooth now, which might come as a disappointment to Sony fans. Similarly priced rivals like the newly-announced Google Pixel 7a and Samsung Galaxy A54 use much newer silicon. We’ll have to wait for a review to see how it stacks up.
The Xperia 10 V is set to go on sale in Europe from the middle of June, for £399. It’ll land in a choice of White, Black, Lavender and Sage Green colours to match Sony’s equally affordable WF-C700N wireless earphones.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
