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Sony's new Xperia 10 VI budget phone is old-school, in both good and bad ways
- Sony has just announced the Xperia 10 VI smartphone.
- The mid-range device brings a 3.5mm port, microSD card support, and an upgraded processor.
- The device still sticks with a 60Hz OLED screen and drops last year’s telephoto camera, though.
Sony’s Xperia 10 range of mid-range phones aren’t amazing devices, but they usually bring a couple of unique features to the table. Now, the company has announced the Xperia 10 VI.
The new mid-range phone follows in the footsteps of its predecessor when it comes to the overall design. Expect a light weight (164 grams), a 6.1-inch 21:9 OLED display with Gorilla Glass Victus, and an IP68 rating.
The Xperia 10 VI also picks up a few other welcome features from the older phone, namely a 5,000mAh battery, dual front-facing speakers, a 3.5mm port, and microSD card support. Other basic features include a lower mid-range Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset (still an upgrade over the aging Snapdragon 695), 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage.
What sacrifices does the Xperia 10 VI make?
Sony’s phone still lags behind rival devices in some areas, though. There’s no wireless charging support here, although this is a common and understandable omission in this segment. But the most egregious cutback is the lack of a high refresh rate screen, topping out at 60Hz. That’s particularly disappointing when even sub-$300 phones offer 120Hz or 90Hz OLED screens.
Expect a downgraded rear camera system on paper too, as the 8MP 2x telephoto camera on last year’s phone is dropped. Sony is using the 48MP main camera for 2x cropped zoom instead. That decision makes some sense as this is a low-resolution 2x shooter, after all. But a higher resolution 2x or 3x telephoto camera would’ve been great. That 48MP rear sensor is joined by an 8MP ultrawide lens (15mm), while an 8MP selfie camera is available on the front. There’s also a redesigned camera app aboard this time, albeit without a pro mode.
Sony is promising three major OS updates and four years of security patches. That’s not quite as good as Samsung’s mid-range wares, but it’s still a major improvement over the Xperia 10 V’s disappointing 2+3 update policy.
Fancy the Xperia 10 VI? Then you’ll need to pay £349 (~$439) in the UK and €399 (~$432) in Europe when it eventually launches in mid-June, with pre-orders from May 15. This price puts it in the same territory as the likes of the Samsung Galaxy A35 5G.
