Sony has prioritized quality above quantity since revamping and simplifying its smartphone offering two years ago. Except for the Japan-exclusive Xperia 10 III Lite, Sony has only released three new phones in 2021.
The normal Xperia 10 III is the lowest of the three, but it will not be available in the United States. There was also a large delay from announcement and sale, though not as long as the pricier Xperia 1 III & Xperia 5 III.
Sony Xperia 10 III will take a little more time used to unless you’re used to Sony phones. You’ve seen its tall, compact design and 21:9 aspect ratio on Xperia handsets for one time, but few of Sony’s competitors have followed suit.
It may seem impractical at times – one-handed use is nearly impossible on this 6 a smartphone – but the Xperia 10 III can easily pass for one phone twice its price. Its Gorilla Glass 6 on both the front & back of the phone adds to the quality look and feel. It also makes it phone far more durable than you expected; you were able to use the Xperia 10 III without a case for most of my testing time.
Its triple rear camera module sits practically flat with the back of the phone, reducing the chance of injury. The Xperia 10 III is extremely resistant to fingerprint smudges, even though the black variant is very reflective.
When it comes to fingerprints, the phone’s plastic-covered side is where you may use yours to unlock it. It’s incorporated inside the power switch and therefore is incredibly dependable, though not the fastest. At this price point, in-display fingerprint sensors still are hit-or-miss, so opting for one physical is a prudent decision.
Its lack of face unlock is a far more difficult decision to comprehend. The Xperia 10 III sports an excellent 8-megapixel selfie camera that is conveniently located directly above the display. It means that the only options for replacing the fingerprint scanner are a conventional screen lock or a smart lock,’ which opens the phone when it’s near a specified device, in a specific place, or on your body.
The gadget has a pleasing symmetry thanks to a similar-sized bezel below the screen, and the 80.3 percent screen-to-body ratio will appeal to most users. It also means there’s enough capacity for front-facing speakers, thanks to a big grille so at bottom of the phone that works in tandem with the earpiece to create a powerful stereo arrangement.
The USB-C charging connector is located at the bottom of the phone, however, two other design characteristics are much more uncommon.
The SIM card tray is first up; not only does it accept microSD card expansion, but it also has a little flap that eliminates the need for a laborious ejection tool. It’s a minor adjustment, but it makes a major difference if you (like me) frequently switch SIM cards between phones.
A 3.5mm headphone jack is also there, which is becoming increasingly rare on current smartphones. Although wireless earphones are practically universal these days, many people still prefer connected audio.
All of those design aspects are significant, but they’re sideshows to the main attraction — the display. There’s no use in buying a phone if that isn’t up to par.
With Xperia 10 III’s display, Sony has taken it easy. The 6in, 1080×2560 panel is the same as last year, but it now enables HDR for improved clarity and detail. Most people may need some time to adjust to the continuous usage of a 21:9 aspect ratio, but watching movies and other widescreen material without black bars on each side is a joy. This, combined with the superb audio system, provides an intense viewing experience that few other phones can match.
This is, however, something you’ve seen on Sony phones for a long time. There are very few notable improvements to the display, implying that the Xperia 10 III will continue to lack a fast refresh rate. The 120Hz panels on the more costly Xperia 1 III & Xperia 5 III are more startling than the 60Hz panel on this phone. It won’t be a deal-breaker for everyone, but with so many devices at this price bracket offering at least 90Hz, it’s harder to overlook.
You wish Sony had raised the resolution of the Xperia 10 III’s display instead of introducing a high refresh rate if it wasn’t going to do so. The 1080p OLED panel is adequate, but a resolution of 1440p or higher would entice me to watch videos here on phone regularly.
A peak brightness of 386 nits observe. Although this is about average for one modern smartphone, seeing in direct sunshine was still a challenge.
One of Xperia 10 III’s significant enhancements may be found under the hood. It now has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 690 chipset, which is an upgrade from last year’s Snapdragon 665. It’s only a minor boost in processing power, but it does mean that the device now enables 5G. This puts it on par with most other mid-range phones, however, you couldn’t test it because you didn’t have a 5G-enabled SIM.
The Snapdragon 690 comes with a built-in Adreno 619 GPU & 6GB of RAM. As a result, the Xperia 10 III’s everyday performance is solid — it handles email, online browsing, multitasking, as well as some light gaming with relative ease.
Demanding games and multitasking are more difficult to handle, but the gadget handles them admirably. It can’t compete with dedicated gaming handsets, and the experience is a little clumsy compared to flagships, but a quick round of Call of Duty: Mobile or a race in Asphalt 9 is well within reach.
However, this isn’t always reflected as in the benchmarks below, particularly when it comes to graphical performance. The Xperia 10 III is an improvement over its predecessor, however, it still falls short of some of the greatest mid-range phones available.
The Xperia 10 III ships with Android 11 out the box, although an update to Android 12 is likely at some point. Beyond that, though, the situation is uncertain. Sony’s flagship phones, like the Xperia 1 III, will receive 2 years of Android upgrades, but it’s unclear whether this would also apply to the company’s more cheap devices.
For the time being, the Xperia 10 III’s software experience is one of its highlights. With a basic user interface & limited bloatware, it’s remarkably similar to the so-called stock Android found on Pixel phones. The most noticeable difference is a quick access menu called ‘Side sense,’ which you found to be more annoying than beneficial.
Its cameras on the Xperia 10 III have only modest tweaks, ensuring it has the same triple rear arrangement as its predecessor. A 12-megapixel main lens is accompanied by an 8-megapixel telephoto and an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens. Delight Sony didn’t go with separate macro or depth sensors, since usually contribute nothing to the entire experience.
Stills from the Xperia 10 III have amazing detail and offer a good dynamic range in ideal lighting circumstances. But they have a tendency to look a little washed out. You could argue that this is closer to how the scene appears in real life than the saturated image that many phones produce, but it’s not nearly as appealing.
When you need to focus on a subject and scene that is further away, a telephoto lens provides 2x optical zoom, which makes a great impact. The ultrawide sensor, with either a 120° field of view, provides more freedom while capturing landscape images. Despite the lower megapixel count, neither one of these sensors produces a perceptible quality reduction.
When there is less light inside the scene, though, all three lenses suffer. As a result, the Xperia 10 III likes to overexpose, and you lose a lot of the background details. A software-based night mode can help with this. But you won’t want to use it every time your snap images in low-light situations.
On the Xperia 10 III, the software can also use for macro & portrait-style photographs. Both are quite excellent, though the latter occasionally struggles with edge recognition.
The portrait mode extends to the front-facing camera. That has an 8-megapixel sensor and the ability to blur the background in selfies. Even though an artificial beauty option turns on by default. The outcomes pleasantly surprise you.
On the video front, the Xperia 10 III can capture in 4K at 30fps. But most consumers will stick with 1080p at 60fps. It’s great for the occasional home video. However, the lack of OIS means that even minor motions cause the footage to shake a lot.
Sony has prioritized battery life with the Xperia 10 III. The phone has a 4,500mAh battery, up from 3,600mAh here on 10 II last year. This puts it on par with other mid-range phones. Yet despite the lack of a high-resolution display or a fast refresh rate, the battery life is outstanding.
That’s on par with some of the greatest phones available, however, it may not be representative of real-world usage.
The Xperia 10 III functioned wonderfully, especially at a higher brightness of 200 nits. You won’t get the entire 13 hours & 35 minutes of use before needing to recharge. So you’ll get through a full day with enough energy gone over. This can potentially prolong to two days if used sparingly.
Sony Xperia 10 III also offers 30W fast charging, although the want adaptor must buy separately. A meager 7.5W plug is there in the box. One of the least powerful you’ve seen bundled with a phone in 2021. Because of the larger battery, it charges much slower than Xperia 10 III. You only got 21% after 30 minutes of use. Wireless charging is also still unavailable.
Whenever it came to Xperia 10 III variants, Sony keeps things simple. In most regions, there is only one model available: £399 for 6GB of RAM & 128GB of storage. Although it is not officially available in the United States, the international edition is available for $388.14 on Amazon.
Many of the top mid-range phones, like the Pixel 5a, Poco F3, and the current champ, OnePlus’ Nord 2, operate all around this price bracket. In the UK, they usually cost the same as the former. But it checks a lot more boxes than most individuals.
Sony hasn’t announced a budget phone for 2021, however, the mid-range Xperia 10 III appears to be substantially less expensive.
While most phones switch to 90Hz or even 120Hz, it remains with a 60Hz display. There are some rather prominent bezels left as well, which aren’t to everyone’s liking. The cameras are also quite spotty, with charging speeds that are excruciatingly slow right out of the box.
That’s not to suggest the Xperia 10 III isn’t capable of excellent performance. The performance is adequate and extends to mobile gaming, and the battery life is among the best available. It still looks and feels like a high-end phone, and the simple software is delightful to use.
However, the Xperia 10 III required to nail the fundamentals due to Sony’s cautious spec sheet & fairly expensive price tag. It just does not do so, making it difficult to suggest the phone.
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