Sony Xperia 10 Plus Unboxing and First Impressions
Is 21:9 the new widescreen standard?
By Nicholas S	 Last updated Jul 17, 2019
Unboxing:
This unboxing will be brief and more of a device overview. Pictures of the device are below. The device has the power button, fingerprint sensor, and volume buttons all on the right side with the left side having the micro sd and sim card slot. The USB C port and a mono speaker on the bottom with a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top (trust me, it's a long way between the two sides). The front has a massive 6.5 inches 21:9 2520x1080p display as well as the earpiece and 8mp camera. The back has the dual 12mp wide-angle and 8mp 2x optical zoom camera on a fair-sized bump.'
Front of Xperia 10 Plus
Back of the Xperia 10 Plus
Left of the Xperia 10 Plus
Right Side of the Xperia 10 Plus
Bottom of the Xperia 10 Plus
Top of the Xperia 10 Plus
First Impressions:
This display is absolutely incredible. On the first boot I was shocked by how black the blacks were, and how clear the colors were. My first instinct was to turn on a video and just see if I could notice a huge difference. To my surprise, I looked at a video next to my Oneplus 6T and it looked better than the subpar OLED on the 6T. It's also very nice browsing the web and not having to scroll often. Now, I never said it was very comfortable, however, it's manageable with 2 hands. I'm excited to find a 21:9 movie to watch on this phone.
The build quality of this device is really nice. The polycarbonate shell isn't too light or too heavy and feels sturdy in your hand. The material is grippy, which helps with the hand gymnastics you'll probably have to do. The front is a beautiful, flat glass. You don't need to be made of metal or glass to feel premium and I feel this device pulls it off. I don't think you will need a case right away but please, always get a screen protector!
The specifications of this device are outdated, to say the least. It has a Snapdragon 636 and 4gb of ram. I understand the device was released in February of this year. In my opinion, the smaller version (the non-plus version) should have had the Snapdragon 636 and 4gb of ram and this model should have had the Snapdragon 660 and 6gb ram. To compare, the regular Xperia 10 has the Snapdragon 630 and 3gb of ram (which has a 6-inch display with the same resolution). That just isn't enough to be pushing the gorgeous display that's on this device.
The device also supports shooting in Cinema 4K (21:9 video), which the phone unfortunately stops and stutters through. I can only imagine the Snapdragon 660 with more ram may have helped a little. They should have worked to give this device more longevity on the specs front. 64gb of expandable storage is perfect for a device in this price range.
The camera on this device just doesn't work well. The interface is clunky, an example of this is you need to go into the pro mode to use HDR. This is 2019, HDR is on $50 devices, it's not a pro feature. Pictures also take 2-3 seconds to take and process after hitting the shutter button. The sad thing is, they don't look great. I really think that if Sony gives the camera app some TLC and optimizes it for the device it could be really great. Right now though, it's just not great. I will continue to take pictures with the camera, however, here are some samples and examples of the interface. Please let me know what you all think.
Under Exposed
Over Exposed
Good lighting indoors
1x zoom
No HDR
Manual Camera Interface
Intangibles:
To some people the 21:9 display may be too long, for others it may be comfortable. My daily driver is a large device so the display size really does not bother me. You may be someone with either smaller hands or is used to a smaller phone this may not be for you. The device is thin so I can nearly grip it all the way. How much you benefit from the tall aspect ratio is how you use the device.
The battery capacity worries me but that depends on how much you use the device. The capacity is 3000mah which is small for a device of this size and price range. I know they had to make it thinner so users could comfortably use the device, however, I think they could have done better than only 3000 mah. How you use the device will reflect on how much battery life you get.
How do I feel after 24 hours?:
My words may seem harsh, however, that's because I like it so much! I think this $429 device has a lot of potential. This device has the potential to be a fantastic mid-ranger and I look forward to it being my daily driver. I am trying to use everything as stock as possible. That means all photos will be taken with the stock camera app, and I am using the stock launcher. I cannot wait to see how the battery performs, take more pictures, and see if Sony sends over any quality of life updates. The device has the May security patch currently so it's due for an update.
Please let me know if there is anything you want to see in my full review. I will also be trying to compare the camera to a few other devices I have so you can look forward to that as well!
Onetechstop wanted to thank Sony for loaning us the Xperia 10 Plus. They are not paying for this article or any future articles about this device to be written. Opinions in this article are my own and they have had no prior viewing of this or any future articles before they are posted.
First ImpressionsSonyUnboxingXperia 10 Plus
Nicholas S 116 posts 0 comments
Senior Editor @OneTechStop
My journey with technology started when I was 9 years old building desktop computers with my dad in our basement. Fast forward 8 years my dad told my I couldn't buy a new smartphone until I fully researched why it was worth purchasing. I moved over from the Motorola Droid to the HTC Rezound and although it had better specifications on paper I couldn't understand why I liked the Galaxy Nexus more. After that I wanted to learn what made each piece of technology unique and fast forward to now I haven't stopped wanting to learn.
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