Sony Xperia 10 VI review: incredible battery life

The Sony Xperia 10 VI scores points with its practical accessories, such as a headphone jack and microSD card slot. However, the Xperia 10 VI doesn’t come close to the amazing camera in the Sony Xperia 1 VI, a current high-end model. What’s more, Sony has removed its telephoto camera.

Design and display: lightweight in film format

The Sony Xperia 10 VI is slightly narrower than most smartphones due to its 21:9 format. Personally, I like this, especially for films. And the format is finally cinema-inspired, so I can also operate the smartphone with one hand.

At 16 × 7 × 0.8 cm and just 164 g, the Xperia 10 VI is a handy lightweight. Apart from the fact the frosted back is susceptible to fingerprints, I really like the design.

The OLED display features a 2,520 × 1,080 resolution. While not outstanding, the screen provides a sharp image and good contrast values. At 60 Hz, the refresh rate is set too low, as smartphones in the same segment already offer 90 or even 120 Hz. As a result, scrolling feels less fluid.

Hardware: older chip but long battery

Sony uses a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 for the centrepiece in the Xperia 10 VI. Although the chip was already used in smartphones in 2023, it’s still up-to-date. And with the help of Geekbench 6, I measure its performance. I compare the results with the Exynos 1480 from the Samsung Galaxy A55 and the Mediatek Dimensity 7200 Pro from the Nothing Phone (2a). These two smartphones are similar value for money.

With the single-core, the Sony Xperia 10 VI still lags behind, but in multi-core, it catches up to take on the middle position. When it comes to everyday tasks, the smartphone works a bit slower in theory, but in practice I don’t feel like there’s anything holding me back. More on that later.

The Sony Xperia 10 VI comes with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory, which can be expanded with a microSD card. You don’t even need tools to open the slot. As well as space for the memory card, there’s also a section for a nanoSIM. What’s more, the Xperia 10 VI is compatible with eSIM. And it comes with a jack plug for wired headphones. In spite of all these connections, the smartphone is IP68-certified. In other words, if it ended up 1.5 m deep in freshwater, that shouldn’t harm the device.

The Sony Xperia 10 VI isn’t as well-equipped when it comes to USB-C ports, with the device only providing USB 2.0 rather than 3.0. As a result, you need up to ten times longer for data transmission via cable.

However, refresh rate losses and weaker chips also have their advantages. Notably that the Xperia 10 VI requires significantly less power. The 5,000 mAh battery lasts over 20 hours when tested using PC-Mark, which is excellent. To put this into context, the Samsung Galaxy A55 manages 12.5 hours, and the Nothing Phone (2a) achieves just shy of 11. In terms of charging, there’s no cable or power supply included, which is disappointing. Using my own 45-W power supply, the charging time is about 1.5 hours – still within scope.

The cameras come into their own in good weather

The camera module on the back holds a main camera with 48 mp (f/1.8) and a wide angle with 8 mp (f/2.2). There’s no zoom lens as there was in the previous model. Instead, you can now achieve 2× digital zoom. For selfies, you get another 8 mp (f/2.0) at the front. The Sony Xperia 10 VI takes good photos in the sun, but as soon as dusk falls or there are too many clouds, the camera shows its weaknesses. The pictures become grainy and structures disappear.

The digitally generated bokeh is nice but has its foibles. You end up with pictures such as the one below where the lower part of the tree is blurred but the upper isn’t.

Sony has done away with a telephoto camera and instead opted to create zoom digitally. It’s fine, but in practice I prefer to get closer to an object. Even without a macro function, I can create beautiful close-ups on the Sony Xperia 10 VI.

And lest we forget: the tried-and-tested selfie. I’m happy with the outcome. While the eight-megapixel quality isn’t outstanding, it’s still more than sufficient.

As for videos, I record in a maximum of 4K at 30 fps. The results are solid and comparable to the photos. Here’s an example, cut with the Video Creator app, which Sony included on the device. It makes it quick and easy to make a video from a few clips. The only drawback is the highest resolution for exporting your files is HD.

I’m positively surprised that I can also film for 30 minutes without my device overheating. Last year’s flagship, the Sony Xperia 1 V, was already too hot to continue filming after 15 minutes.

Software: update period too short

The Sony Xperia 10 VI runs the current Android 14. You’ll get updates for three years and security patches are for an extra year. But that’s at the lower end of the scale, with Google and Samsung having already promised up to seven years. At least five years will even be mandatory in the EU from 2025.

In terms of files, they’re quick to open. For a 15-MB PDF, it takes just under a second, i.e. the same as on my Google Pixel 8. However, scrolling feels less fluid due to the 60 Hz restriction.

I like to watch films on this device for a number of reasons. For one, the image format fits perfectly. There’s also the fact the speakers on the front left and right boast amazingly good sound for a smartphone at medium volume.

You can still play basic games pretty well on the Sony Xperia 10 VI, such as Solitary and Tetris. But I don’t recommend it for more graphics-intensive games of the likes of Genshin Impact or Asphalt 9. The reason being that the smartphone has to greatly reduce the graphics for these games to run smoothly.