Sony - Xperia 10 Plus with 64GB Memory Cell Phone (Unlocked) - Black

Overall, a very practical phone with lots of value in the mid-range category. It is a new design that most will be a little surprised by at first appearance but upon use will find it to be very practical and effective. As a Sony fanboy I both love this phone and find it a little lacking. Read on! Unboxing: The boxing is surprisingly minimal, most Sony phones in the past have felt high end with packaging and included options. This one is very bare bones. The Box is low quality materials and inside you will find the phone, a charger (more on that later), USB-c cable, and simple documentation. Nothing else. Design: The phone was rather shocking to hold upon first impression. This phone measures 6.5” diagonally with a 21:9 display. It is larger than most phones but is surprisingly easy to use even with one hand. The build quality is above average but with a few quarks. The body feels like it is a higher end poly-carbonate with some metal accents. It feels highly durable and after a few days of use is completely scuff and scratch free. The body does not gather fingerprints very easily. There is no wireless charging included but does support NFC near the top of the phone. The screen is Gorilla glass 5 and all the buttons are perfectly placed. Since the phone is very tall, the volume is on the lower half, finger print reader is on the middle of the right side in perfect thumb position and the power is just above that. I would have liked to see the power button combined with the fingerprint reader, but this is minor. What I was annoyed by wit the design is twofold. First, the buttons are almost flush with the body making using the volume rocker a little difficult since there is little haptic feedback. This button should stick out a little further to make it easier to use. Second, there is no waterproofing. You can see this when you pull out the SIM tray, in there you will be able to place a single SIM (on the I3223 model sold by best buy) and a micro SD card slot supporting 512 GB. In the tray there are zero rubber gaskets so you would not want to drop this in a toilet. It feels solid enough that there would be little issue with rain and splashes but do not submerge this thing (I am not going to test it). Wireless: Wireless is pretty good. I was thinking that in stepping down to a mid-range phone I might be sacrificing wireless performance, but I have had zero issues. My home Wi-Fi is FIOS and supports 200 Mbps up and down, I get at best 169 Mbps down and 126 Mbps up. Using T-Mobile in the Seattle area I get about 79 mbps down and 10 Mbps up. The snapdragon 636 processor is cat x12 supporting up to 600 Mbps which isn’t too bad but not as amazing as the latest flagship phones. There is no 600 MHz support but does support 700 MHz. I have had no Bluetooth issues as the phone supports Bluetooth 5.0 along with all the important codecs for audio (aac, aptx, aptx-HD, LDAC). NFC works well with google pay and for file transfers, no complaints here! Display: The display is average in overall quality. Black levels are pretty good for LCD (no AMOLED here) but colors just seem a little dull to me. You can change the level of saturation in the settings with three levels of but it just never seems to wow me. As the screen resolution is 21:9, the resolution should be 1080x2520. This is strange at first but once you try out multitasking with two apps such as twitter and a YouTube video, or turn it sideways to watch a movie, you will become a believer! Movies are shown in exactly the aspect ratio they were meant to be seen in. If your video is 4:3 or 16:9 you will side bars on the side but 21:9 is what most major movies are shot in. Multi-tasking is extremely efficient with a screen of this size and you will love being able to truly have two apps running side by side (in portrait or landscape) in what feels like two full sized phones. The screen feels durable with Gorilla glass 5 and should do will with time, I would still recommend a screen protector for scratches though (no issue after three days though) Camera: I want to get more out of the camera, but it is very hit or miss. I will upload a few sample photos in this review, one good one bad for examination and so you can see it’s limits. On the plus side, there are two lenses, one 12 MP main camera (27mm) and one 8 MP (53mm) 2 zoom camera. The main camera is not too bad but lacks HDR ability so check your lighting. Detail is good. Sony tends to not use a lot of noise reduction so you will see a lot of noise in your photos, this is somewhat unprocessed looking, but some people might prefer this. The 2x zoom camera is lacking in my opinion. It has issues with focusing in all but the best of lighting and should not be used often if you ask me. Both lenses lack OIS which is a huge issue for me as this could have taken the cameras far. Bokeh is pretty good using both lenses to determine depth. The bokeh photos are using the telephoto lens so you will need to stand a little farther back to get a good one. Edge detection seems pretty good to me so far. The selfie camera is average. It is far superior to past Sony selfie cameras stepping up to a 8MP one this time. Again, there is no OIS and only one lens so bokeh can have a few edge issues from time to time. It is very poor in the dark but looks pretty good in the day. Detail isn’t too bad, but focus can sometimes be an issue. DO NOT take a photo with a bright light in the background in any of the cameras as you will have massive issues lighting. Video is average and uses electronic image stabilization. It works well in 1080 but is not as effective in 4k. 4k is very interesting on this phone as it supports 21:9 aspect ratio. If you plan on filming in this cinema ratio this could be of good use. The same HDR limitations apply to video as well. Audio: If you like high resolution audio this is a great phone for you! There is a headphone jack!!! Very rare these days. The phone supports 24-bit/192 kHz audio and also has LDAC for wireless streaming. With micro SD card support, this phone might be a great option for anyone with a library of HD audio FLAC files (also supports other lossless formats). On the downside of audio, there is only one speaker on the bottom. It is not the worst one I have heard but it isn’t the best either. It sounds kind of tiny but does have decent volume. There is little bass so if you are watching a movie, toss on some headphones. I am surprised they didn’t do stereo speakers or up the quality on the one speaker since video is a huge draw of this phone, a good speaker matched with 21:9 display would be amazing. Everyday use: I am overall happy with everyday use. First, battery life is not bad with a 3000 mAh battery, these is a good amount of optimization with the software that it will get you through the day just fine. I found games will drain the battery quick though. Performance is pretty good using the Snapdragon 636 processor. It is no beast and provides a stutter every so often but in normal usage, it is snappy. 4GB of ram helps a lot too. The device uses Android 9 Pie so it feels pretty efficient on this device as it is mostly stock interface. There is little bloatware other than the Xperia Lounge app and AVG pre-installed. You can delete these though. Gaming performance is pretty good. I mostly play C&C Rivals and Galaxy of Heroes and I have experienced no issues here. It might not be able to handle high end games like Asphalt 9 at max settings though. The device fits into male jean pockets easily but I would be concerned if your outfit has female sized pockets since it will easily stick out of said pocket. The form factor got a lot of questions on the street since most people have never seen a device of this form factor. One huge concern I had that can be mitigated is the included charger. Since there is no wireless charging, you will rely heavily on your included charger. The problem is that it is 5V / 1500mA. This comes out to 7.5 Watts of charging. This phone supports quick charge 3.0 and PD 2.0 (I believe) so why they included a non-quick charge charger is beyond me other than cost savings. Throw this charger away and use an old quick charge capable charger. It takes forever to charge with this charger! I tried it with a LG charger I had lying around with 16.3 and 9 watts options and it charges at normal quick charge speeds. I also tried it with my 45-watt PD laptop charger and again got much better results than the included charger. Benchmarks: Memory / storage performance is pretty good. Past Sony phones have had limits on how fast the data speed is on external memory (was capped at around 35 MB per second I believe). No limitations on this phone. I tried benchmarks on Androbench receiving 81.77 MB/s read and 34.67 MB/s write on a 200 GB UHS-1 card. The internal storage of 64 GB eMMC obtains 287 MB/s and 192 MB/s write. Not too shabby! Geekbench showed single core scores of 1348 and multi-core scores of 4818 Antutu scored 117279 Summary: Good overall phone, great for video, high-res audio and multitasking. Do not use if you rely on a phone camera and speed.

I’ve been a big fan of Sony products especially of their mobile division that used to go by Sony Ericsson back in the day. What differentiated Sony phones back then was on how stylish they were and their added media capabilities whether it was the 3.5mm jack or FM radio with MP3 support before the iPhone made it a norm. So how does the Xperia 10 Plus stand out from the strongly competitive mid-range market most of it has to do with the tall display. For my usage, I set it up exactly the same as my Note 9 except for some apps due to storage limits. I replaced the home launcher with Nova launcher and restored it with a backup from my Note 9. My apps placement and widgets are exactly as they were on my Note 9. I did this because I wanted to use the Xperia as I would using my Note 9. Let me tell you not once during my usage did I wanted to run back to my Note 9 even with some small performance hiccups. I’m not saying this will replace your flagship phone but it will feel like one for those looking for a device that won’t break the bank. Media consumption on mobile devices has been increasing and Sony knows how important a display can make or break a device. The resolution is an FHD+ 1080 x 2520 pixels 422 PPI density that is stunning for a mid-range device. It’s a bright color display that can hold his own against some of the top mid-range displays. The display almost takes up the entire phone except for the large chin on the top. Bezels below the chin are thin. Sony does provide 3 color gamut options from off (no image enhancement), Standard Mode (enhances images for photos and videos) to Super Vivid Mode that dials up the saturation and gives you those punchy colors you typically find on AMOLED displays. Since my previous phone was the Note 9 right away I went for Super Vivid Mode. It won’t beat the Note 9 display with those inky blacks. Even though it’s an LCD the blacks are still pretty good without that gray shade you typically find on LCD displays. The aspect ratio is 21:9 which most films are recorded. There are pros and cons to this Aspect ratio. Pros: You can comfortably use 2 apps at once without that cramped feeling. No black bars on most movies. Since the width is short you can somewhat use it 1 handed. Sony does offer a convenient way to shrink the display by double tapping the home bar. The extra screen space displays a lot more information especially on websites and Social Media apps. Cons: About 60% of the time you will be needing two hands to use the phone. Shrinking the display does help but I doubt it you will want to be doing that constantly trying to reach those top corners to close an app or access the menu. Media that is not recorded in the 21:9 ratio will have significant black bars or crop out a lot more to fill in the entire screen. Some apps outside of YouTube or Netflix don’t have a zoom in option which leaves you with black bars. Hopefully, Sony can release an update and give it a system-wide zoom in option like Samsung did when the S8 first came out. Just like media, some apps will show black borders and for now, I wasn’t able to find an option to full screen the app as I do on my other phone. For media consumption, you will want to plug in some headphones or use Bluetooth headphones. Even though there are 2 grill speakers located on the bottom is still a single speaker. Most devices that have a single bottom firing speaker aren’t that great but they sound much better compared to Xperia 10. The Xperia 10 Plus speakers sound tinny and could benefit from some more loudness. At max volumes, they start to crackle. Battery Life Battery life has been amazing even though the battery capacity is 3000mAh which is on the small side for a large device. I honestly expected the battery to be terrible since even on smaller devices with that capacity my experience has not been good.. Either way, unless you’re pushing this device hard like gaming or live streaming you should be happy with the results. My average screen on time was over 5 hrs with some days coming at 6.5 hrs. Typical day usage for me is in between light to heavy usage and consist of Social Media browsing from FaceBook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and Discord. I also have 3 email accounts sync to my Gmail app. With some music streaming from Spotify or Sirius XM app along with some Bluetooth headphones pair for most of the day. I would also video stream about 3-5 hrs from Netflix or YouTube. For gaming, my daughter likes to play Roblox on my phone which sometimes goes over an hour. Even on heavy days usage I still end up with over 5 hrs of on screen time. If you ever find yourself without access to a charger Sony has your back with 2 Stamina modes to help extend that battery life. Charging speeds are on par as my Note 9. Performance and Software Performance out the box it's good for the most part. For the first 2 days, I use the phone with the stock launcher but eventually switched over to Nova launcher which I prefer due to the customizations options it provides. It’s not the fastest device when it comes to opening apps I still noticed a 1-2 second delay on some of the core apps like Gmail or Android messaging app for texting. There’s room for improvement and something that can be fixed via an update. For an almost stock Android build those hiccups should only be present when opening big games likes PUBG or Fortnite. The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 636 pair with 4gb of Ram. Even though it’s not as powerful as the 855 it still has plenty of power for a smooth experience that for now seems to be more of a software optimization issue. Overall it’s just minor issues that are not a deal breaker since for the most part it’s been a positive experience that can only get better. I believe most of the bad feedback was due to the software the phone shipped with before the latest update which is 53.0.A.4.79 as of this review. Sony did a good job of releasing a quick update to address those performance issues. I have not had any major issues like system lockups or apps crashing. Overall it’s almost a complete android stock with some slight adjustments for specific Sony features. Some of those features are the display shrinking and the side sense feature. The side sense is a bar on the side of the screen that predicts your most used apps similar to the edge feature on Galaxy Phones for quick access to those apps. For navigation buttons, you have access to Android Pie Gestures or the 3 button setup home, back, and overview. There is a slight learning curve to the Gesture set up. Tap to go the home screen, Long Press to summon Google Assistant, Swipe up to enter the overview screen, Long swipe up pulls up your app drawer, flick right to switch to the last app used, swipe right to browse opened apps, and back button to return to the previous screen. For bloatware, there’s not much that comes with the phone besides some Sony-specific apps that you have the option not to install during the set-up process. As for security features, you don’t get a fancy face ID scanner or ultrasound fingerprint scanner under the screen. What you do get is a good old fast reliable fingerprint scanner located on the right side in between the power button and volume button. It’s a good size even with a case I have not had any issues with recognizing my prints. I would like to see some extra features like being able to bring down the notification area with a swipe as other phones do with their fingerprint scanner. Build quality is excellent even though the back is made out of plastic. It’s a matte black that looks more like the iPhone 7 back finish. Unfortunately, there is no wireless charging. Overall I like the look of the phone. It’s like a holding a Hershey’s chocolate bar that is slightly taller than a Note 9. It has that Sony candy bar style that's been a trademark of their devices for the last couple of years. Cameras On the back, you have a 12 MP + 8 MP dual camera and 2x optical zoom with an 8mp front face camera. The couple of pictures I took came out looking pretty good. You can also take a wide picture with the 21.9 aspect ratio and record too. You can also record with 4K resolution with both Aspect Ratios 16:9 or 21:9 along with FHD at 60fps. The front facing camera pictures came out looking good too. For video recording, the max resolution is FHD along with the option to record in 21:9. For nighttime photos, they came out ok with some noise on them. Sony also a mode called AR that allows you to take pictures or record video, with moving on-screen objects from different scenes like a dinosaur island or space. My kids had a blast going through all the different scenes available on the AR mode. Most of them are free with some costing around $2.99. Overall is a good camera with the weakness being nighttime pictures. Call Quality and Data/Wifi Signal Call quality has been good no issues with dropped calls on the T Mobile network. The phone does a good job of holding on to an LTE signal. Areas of poor coverage were normally my signal drops to 1 bar with the Xperia 10 drops down to 2-3 bars instead just enough to be able to still browse the internet. WiFi signal is good with speeds reaching around 200mb. My final thoughts on the Xperia 10 Plus has been mainly a good experience. It’s slim to hold but too tall to operate with a single hand. The only cons were some minor performance issues with core apps and the below average speaker. My favorite feature of the phone is the display especially when consuming media that is recorded in 21:9. If you’re like me and consume most of your media on your phone this should be a top pick. Battery life has been impressive and that’s only with a 3000mAh just imagine how much better it would have been if Sony would have included a bigger battery. The Xperia 10 Plus it’s an excellent daily driver device that is also stylish.

This is a long review, the longest I have ever posted, because this phone may be the answer to a lot of people’s prayers, but because this is a new design, there is the potential for some regretful buying decisions. If you are considering this phone, or any of the new Sony Xperia phones (10, 10+, Flagship Xperia 1) – read the reviews, ask questions, watch the unboxing and review videos on Y**Tube, get your hands on one if you can, and then make an informed decision based on whether this phone meets your particular needs, or not. There are certain features of this phone that I really appreciate, and after a few days of learning the best ways to deal with the “tall and skinny” screen of the phone, it has become a pleasure to use, not the least for the sake of having something new and different. Start comparing mid-range phones and there are ‘good’ and ‘not so good’ specs in different areas for all of them – figure out what you want and understand that mid-range phones have differences. Be aware that the specifications aren’t the whole story for how a phone performs in YOUR hands. To get started, IF you like the following features, keep reading: 1 – view movies in wide screen 21:9 aspect ratio with no bars on the top and bottom. 2 – view more “scrollable” information on the screen when browsing 3 – use 2 apps at the same time (split screen) and really have a complete view of both apps with plenty of room Like these features? Then the Xperia 10 Plus may be just what you are looking for, and there is no other phone like it on the market. The Sony Xperia line (10, 10+, and flagship Xperia 1) all have the 21:9 aspect ratio and are perfect for viewing wide-screen movies and some of the more current TV shows. Video from streaming services and ‘regular’ TV and older movies will have black bars on both sides. You can “zoom” these to fill the screen, but that inevitably chops off the top and bottom with predictable results. The tall screen makes it easy to go “split screen” with enough room to actually and usefully have two apps going at the same time. For example, I can have a Y**Tube video going on top of the screen and while watching that can be checking email or going through a web site on the bottom. Once you see how well that works with this tall screen, you may experience the “where have you been all my life” syndrome and start figuring out all the neat ways you can make use of this new experience. The tall screen does NOT create much of a problem with reaching up up up to the top to get the full functionality of the phone. Sony has added an overlay “SideScreen” function that allows you to “tap tap” a small and unobtrusive sidebar that quickly pops out your favorite apps and most-used drawer items right by your thumb and very easy to reach. There is also a “One Handed” mode where you “tap tap” the home button and the entire screen shrinks down to a smaller size to put the whole screen within easy thumb reach, and then you can quickly “tap” to restore the full size of the screen. You can adjust the size of the reduced screen to your personal preference, and you get full access to all screens on the phone – just think of it as a perfectly functioning mini-phone-screen to help you get around to what you are after. This took longer to explain than to use it, and it is EXTREMELY quick and easy and honestly makes moving around the screen easier than the “just like everyone else” sized screens. OK the other stuff on the phone – real quick: SCREEN QUALITY – great. As good or better than anything I have seen from mid-range phones. I guess the specs on pixel density and whatnot matter but as I look at it - the colors are crisp, the images are smooth, the small print is perfectly legible – looks great to me. Movies look fabulous! AUDIO – mono speaker on the bottom. Would be great to have stereo for videos and games but this is a mid-range phone, so can’t have it all for this price. Speaker jack if you like, and Bluetooth buds, phones, and external speakers all connect and work fine. Sony has put some very nice audio software (Sony, right?) in the phone so you can tweak it until you get it the way you like it. CAMERA – some mid-range phones have a better camera, some do not. Two lenses on the back and a decent selfie lens on the front. Photos and videos can be shot in the 21:9 ratio, although viewing them on another phone with different ratio will give black bars or cut some off. If that’s a big problem for you, then don’t shoot photos or videos in 21:9 and just set the phone to the ratio you want to use. Half the reviewers seem to think the camera is great, half the reviewers think no so great. If you are buying a phone for the camera, then you aren’t buying this one anyway. BLUETOOTH – connects fine, works well, nothing special – about the same as everyone else. PHONE CALLS – 4G LTE works fine – about the same as everyone else. OS – just about vanilla Android 9 Pie, with some Sony overlays to help with screen navigation, and that’s about it. No bloatware. SPEED – Snapdragon 636 – better than many mid-range phones, not a powerful gaming phone. Respectable chipset with 4GB RAM and works smoothly for everything I have tried including some light gaming. Apps open instantly for the most part and running couple apps on split-screen is smooth. To me is it buttery smooth. If you are wanting a flagship with an 800 series Snapdragon, why are you looking at this phone anyway? BATTERY – lots of chatter from the reviewers about the 3,000 mAh battery – “too small” and “should be bigger” and whatnot. OK other phones have the same battery and some have larger in the mid-range models. My phone gets unplugged at 5:45 AM to start the day. I came from a 3,000 mAh “old” phone that was usually out of juice by 3:00 – 4:00 PM, if I was lucky enough to last that long. Bought an extra charger to keep at work to top it off around lunch to make it through the day, and that was with light use. The Xperia 10 Plus is in my hand as I write this review and it has 50% at 7:00 PM and I have been fiddling around with it all day getting used to it and watching video during lunch and trying out some games when I get the chance… much more use than ‘normal’ and also I like a bright screen. Whatever is going on with the processor and Sony’s adjustments to the OS or whatever they do to get the battery to last longer – it works just fine! I do not see having battery problems getting through the day and will be happy to re-charge every night. If you want a phone that goes 2 days without a charge and use it constantly – this ain’t it. INTERNAL MEMORY – 64GB about the same or better as everyone else. Put in a microSD if you need more storage. WIRELESS/STREAMING – tell the Xperia what wireless networks you prefer, and it will connect without problems. Good connection to our home PLEX server and the Xperia plays high quality streaming video seamlessly. FINGERPRINT READER – on the side, where your fingers are. I’m right-handed on the phone so perfect spot for my thumb and have added a few other fingers for the occasional pick-up-the-phone differently occasions. Multiple fingerprints available, all of them work, all of them open the phone without hesitation. BUILD QUALITY – the Xperia feels solid without being overly hefty – meaning it has a comfortable weight. The back of the phone seems to be a matte finish plastic stuff, and the front of the phone is Go-rilla glass. Half the world wants a glass-wrapped phone that is bright and shiny and shows every flipping fingerprint, half the world wants a matte finish. Actually, I don’t really care because the first thing I do is put a case on a new phone and a high-impact screen protector on the front because I go years before replacing or upgrading, and don’t want to break a perfectly good phone before I am done with it. I don’t care about the finish – the phone is in a CASE for gosh sakes. BOTTOM LINE – for me – maybe for you – maybe not… I really like this phone. It is different, unique, and stands out (literally) in a huge crowd of “pretty much the same thing and they all look pretty much alike” mid-range phones that currently flood the market. I like the tall screen and having more vertical room for surfing and room to spare for a truly useable “split screen” – all that without having a monster-wide hand grenade to fumble around with - and I can get that with the Xperia 10 Plus and no other mid-range phone on the market can meet those needs. Really, with all the chatter about “how tall” the Xperia is, it isn’t even an ½ inch longer than my old phone, although it is narrower and easier to wrap my hand around and thumb the screen. I think Sony is on to something here, and really believe that as time passes more and more video content will be 21:9, but today a majority of video content is still geared to the screens on every other manufacturer’s phones. I love to “unwind” by settling down and watching videos on my phone (wife gets the TV so go figure) and this is perfect for me. Get a “regular sized” phone screen like I have been using up until now, and movies have bars on the top and bottom and TV shows fit just fine. Get the Xperia 10 Plus like I have now, and movies and new TV shows fit perfectly, and other videos have black bars on the right and left sides. Either way you get black bars, so decide what works best for you and there’s your answer. I am starting to get real comfortable with the “tall and skinny” Xperia that looks and plays like nothing else on the “my phone looks just like the other ones” market. For me, getting a new phone is an “every 3 or 4 years” decision, and I think I’m going to be OK with this one.

The price of smartphones these days has seemed to outpace innovation.  My Samsung Galaxy Note 8 cost over $1,000 and nearly two years later (before I had paid it off) I began receiving texts & emails offering me the latest version of the phone.  The frustration is that Samsung wants me to drop another $1,000 for a phone that is nearly identical to the one I already had.  There just aren’t enough new features to justify continuing to spend so much money on the newest flagship smartphones.  And so, I have begun to explore more affordable smartphone options. The Sony Xperia 10 Plus is truly an impressive smartphone that is unlocked and actually affordable (costing less than half of Apple, or Samsung’s flagship phones).  While the form factor blends in with nearly all smartphones these days, it boasts a noticeably larger screen that is actually useful (and does not have any annoying camera notch).  The resolution is 1080p which is more than suitable for its size (and probably saves money when compared to 4K screens that are not truly useful in a handheld size).  The screen is actually larger than the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (by 0.10”) allowing convenient multi-tasking most of the time.  Though the tall screen and the multi-tasking are the most bragged about feature, not all apps can be split and the feature is not always intuitive on the fly.  But, watching HD video with a 21:9 ratio is surprisingly immersive. The phone is incredibly easy to set up (from either Android or iOS) and is both quick and responsive.  My favorite feature is the fingerprint sensor which is located perfectly within reach on the right edge of the phone.  It is in a natural location and it works lighting quick to unlock the phone.  The power & volume buttons are located on the right side and are almost overly streamlined with the edge of the phone – making them difficult to find by feeling alone.  Having all of the physical buttons on the right side might also be a slight annoyance to those who are left handed.  And while it can be difficult to reach across the large screen, but luckily there is a shortcut menu that pops out from the side of the screen giving easy access to settings and commonly used apps. Overall, I am truly impressed with this phone.  It is an incredible balance of impressive features and low price.  As it comes with the most recent version of Android (9 pie), it truly does not feel as though you are sacrificing much to get the lower price.  Sony has done an excellent job producing an affordable phone that is feature rich and that can last for years.  It is well worth the price. PROS: + Phone is sold unlocked + Fingerprint sensor is easy to reach and works instantly + Has a 3.5 mm headphone jack (but also has Bluetooth option) + The back of the phone is NOT glass (reduces weight and is less that may break) + Ultra Widescreen:  21:9 aspect ratio + Record HD video in 21:9 + Shortcut menu pops out from either side of the screen making commonly used apps easy to reach + Record audio in stereo + FM Radio + Pedometer built in + 64 gigs of memory built in + Has the ability to have memory added with a MicroSD card + 12 MP rear camera with 8 MP front selfie camera + Light weight for size: 6.35 ounces + NFC options built in + USB C data/charging connection + Great price for an unlocked smartphone CONS: - Tall size can take some time to get used to and can definitely feel oversized when in your pocket - While screen is 1080p it seems to display a warmer image (less color accurate) than higher end phones - Using split screen (or entering this mode) does not work with all apps and is not very intuitive. - You have to double tap to open the shortcut menu (instead of swiping out from the edge which would be more intuitive) - Does not have many case or accessory options available online - Does NOT have wireless charging - Two speakers appear to only play in mono - Bokeh photo effect (portrait with slightly blurred background) is not particularly easy to use

I've been using this phone exclusively for the past 48 hours and I've concluded that Sony is on to something special with these Tall / Ultra wide screen phones. Initially, the first words that came out of my mind were... WHOA, This phone is TALL. But it's not much taller than most phones now a days. Its candy bar form factor actually make it comfortable to hold and use with one hand. The side fingerprint sensor is located where my thumb naturally rests when pulling it out of my pocket and the power button sits just above that. Pressing your thumb against the sensor will unlock and power on the screen. Things I liked most about the phone are that the OS looks and feels exactly like stock android.It is clean and light, the snapdragon 636 and 4gb of RAM power it nicely and it feels snappy. There is a "Side Sense" mode that allows you to double tap on the side edge of the screen with your thumb to make one handed use even easier. It opens up a menu that has a list of apps and actions for you to use and select with your thumb. Navigating that menu is easy and helpful. The screen looks like an IPS panel and has very nice colors and viewing angles, its 21:9 Ultra Wide ratio makes it great for multi tasking If you're into having two apps open at the same time. I found it to be amazing for watching videos and playing games. It is quite immersive even tho you are holding it in your hands.Movies and Games that take advantage of the full screen make for a great experience. There is an option in the settings to toggle on a "vivid" mode for brighter and more vibrant colors. It comes with a standard headphone jack (thank you Sony) and USB-C port for charging and data transfer. The sim card tray is easily accessible and does not require a tool to open. The same cover allows access to the micro sd card slot. The phone does not say if it is fast charging when you charge it with a fast charging power supply, but I was able to charge it from about 40% to Full in just a little over an hour. It has excellent battery life and it made it through a full day with moderate use. My biggest complaint about this phone is the camera. Which now a days is a deal breaker for many people. This camera needs a lot of light to perform well. In my tests, the camera struggles in low light and most photos and videos that I took looked pretty bad for this day and age. I expected better from this phone since Sony is the leader in image sensor technology. Outdoors on a sunny day, the camera performs well. I wouldn't recommend this phone to a person who expects great photos and videos from their mobile phone and rely on their phone as their only camera. With "flagship phones" pressing past the $1,000 price mark, this phone is a very good option for someone who loves big screen phones and doesn't want a to spend a fortune. Pros - Ultra Wide aspect ratio is awesome for watching videos , browsing the web and playing games. -Headphone Jack -USB C -Stock Android Experience -Unlocked and Compatible with many carriers -Excellent Battery Life Cons: - Bad Camera -Volume Buttons are very flush and hard to press sometimes -Not compatible with CDMA

I thought another phone of mine had an odd form factor, but this Sony Xperia 10 Plus with it’s 21:9 ratio hits the new odd shape for me. However, that is not necessarily bad, just different. It is slim and tall, which gives any media that you have to scroll through a bit more space on the screen. However, it is narrow, so it creates more line breaks in dynamic text, filling up that space. In landscape mode it is perfect for cinema movies, but large bars or cropped top and bottom for any other format. The good thing about it being narrow, it it is real easy to hold onto with smaller hands compared to other Plus model phones. Being so tall it is hard to manage the full screen with one hand, but with a double tap of the menu button, it will put the whole screen in the selected corner for you so that it can be easily managed with one hand. I personally have not had a phone in this price range in some time, so it is hard for me to find an equal comparison, but it is in no means a fair compare to a Samsung Galaxy or iPhone that is two to threes times it’s price. For instance, the camera isn’t bad, as I have seen worse on cheaper phones, but it is not top end either. It does have two cameras on the back for a 2x photo zoom. However, the camera sticks out a fair bit on the back, so I would highly recommend getting a case for it, preferably one that can help with added protection as theres no IP rating either. A slightly different feature compared to some other phones I have had is the fingerprint scanner on the side. It is in an easy position for the thumb of the right hand and the index finger of the left hand, with just a natural grip. However, the power button above it and the volume below it do seem a bit awkward to use at times. The volume button in particular is so shallow that it is hard to differentiate up and down. As for volume, the audio from the speaker sounds very metallic and hallow. Although the bottom of the phone is symmetric and gives the appearance it has stereo speakers, only one is a speaker. For everyday use, it has lasted me throughout the day without concern. As with any device though, watching videos will burn it up fairly quickly. However, with it just sitting around it has been over a week without charge and seems to have barely moved. And this is with it still getting regular notifications from various applications. The version I have is unlocked and was a simple as taking my AT&T sim out of my old phone and putting it into this one. The sim tray is easier to take out than some other phones and the micro sd slot is under the tray cover. Default applications on the phone are fairly minimalistic based around Sony applications. There is also a built in FM tuner that requires wired headphones for the antenna. Something you don’t even see on high end phones. Overall, it’s a decent phone that has some high end capabilities that cuts a few corners to keep it within the price range. It is different in some aspects, but nothing that would make me dislike it. I would give it a 4.5 rating if I could, but I just can’t consider it a 5.

Finally, a Sony phone I don’t have to remember if the X or the Z comes first. Sony’s history with ridiculous product names notwithstanding, their smartphones have always resonated with me in a special way. I pointed this out in my review last year of the Sony Xperia ZX2 Compact, a delightfully small phone that, in spite of its relatively aged look, was an interesting contender for popular 2018 smartphones. “There’s just something about it,” I said. With the ZX2 Compact, it broke the standard enormous screen we see on most smartphones in favor of a 5-inch screen, something we don’t see too much of from phone manufacturers anymore. Aside from the odd screen size and weirdly chunky body, and a massive chin and forehead, its specs otherwise delivered on a great experience if you’re into smaller phones, for around $600. What drew me to the phone, though, was its screen: 5 inches and HD+ resolution, but in the then standard 2:1 aspect ratio that we had seen in so many smart phones in 2018. But that was so 2018. New year, new phones, and new phone standards around for Sony to break. The candidate this time for “weird phone of the year” is the Sony Xperia 10 Plus. Simply named, this phone is not the wannabe-flagship that the ZX2 Compact was (but at less than flagship prices); instead, Sony reduced its cost with a lighter Snapdragon 636 processor, and paired with 4GB RAM it still does a remarkably good job at keeping up with normal tasks. But that doesn’t make it weird. The weird comes in the 6.5” FHD+ display that has an aspect ratio of 21:9. We’ve seen a lot of tall phones over the last couple years, but this one towers above them all. For those who don’t know, cinema films like the ones you watch in a movie theater are typically displayed in that same 21:9 aspect ratio. Given my recent love for obtaining *ahem* totally legitimate 21:9 cinema movies and watching them at home, this device had me intrigued. Looking further into the other specs—64GB storage with microSD card supporting up to 512GB more, Android Pie, a 3000mAh battery and some other fun software goodies—for less than $500…this was a phone I had to get my hands on. One of my favorite parts of opening a new gadget is the packaging itself, as so many companies put so much money into things that typically get thrown away (not by me, though…I keep every single one of them). Unfortunately, though, the box was damaged in shipping and, while the phone itself was intact, the box was no longer the immaculate container it was when it left the warehouse. After further review, the packaging itself seemed cheap and flimsy, so it was no surprise the box had seen better days. Moving on to the phone itself…it is a sight to be seen for sure. It’s tall, but thin, and the 21:9 screen is bright and colorful. The top of the phone has only a headphone jack, in spite of it losing its ubiquity in the smartphone world as time goes on. The left side of the phone hasn’t a single button or sensor, while the right side of the phone has the power button, fingerprint sensor, and volume buttons. The buttons are very clicky, not really to my liking, but some people are into that I guess. And while the screen is huge, and tall, and pretty, the phone has a smaller, but still noticeable forehead. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though: in 2019, at under $500, it’s got to have some flaws, right? The bezels otherwise are very thin, so that’s a big win. Around back, the phone sports a dual camera system—the 12MP main shooter and an 8MP secondary shooter that helps with depth processing. The camera is also capable of a 2x optical zoom (eat your heart out, iPhone 7). The unique screen size allows for some fun camera features, like the ability to shoot and film in the same 21:9 aspect ratio that matches the screen (although, unfortunately, there’s no other screen you’ll be able to play your homemade fail videos on in the same way as the Xperia 10 Plus). Out of the box, the phone is designed for use by a right-handed person: Sony has a few tricks up its sleeve to address the abnormally tall screen, so that one-handed operation is just hard, instead of impossible. Between shrinking the displayed image itself with a simple gesture to reach the upper left of the screen more easily, and using Sony’s Side Sense features, tolerating the phone’s dimensions is made that much easier. I did find out, thankfully, that the phone works just fine for lefties too, you just have to go into the menu to switch everything over. (Side note, it would have been cool if the setup UI just asked you what your dominant hand is.) Some more things about the screen: watching a movie on this thing is great, that’s provided you don’t mind holding it near your face. That sort of thing has always made me wonder—who is actually using a phone to take in all their media, between laptops, tablets and smart TVs, the days of needing to find something to lean your phone against are over. Still, if you’re in that category of viewers, and you find yourself viewing a lot of 21:9 content, this phone is not something to dismiss outright. Sony also boasts that multitasking is somehow better because you have just a little more space to work with, but I rarely find myself needing two smartphone apps running simultaneously on one screen. That said, this phone easily declares itself the master of social media, as its height allows for more content viewing, and a little less scrolling, while you peruse your favorite social sites. News is great too, and really anything involving longer webpages. Everything else, though, is kind of weird. 21:9 is unusual, and while many of the bigger app developers allow for full use of the screen, many apps don’t take full advantage of the extra real estate, or they do it in a weird way. But if you are watching a movie, and you have a decent pair of headphones connected, the phone can deliver great audio quality thanks to Sony’s Hi-Res audio and LDAC onboard. As always, it’s important the audio source is high quality, but if it is, you’re in good hands. The phone falls short in the audio department, though, with it’s dual bottom-facing speakers that sound like the kind of speakers you’d get on a sub-$500 smartphone. They’re plenty loud, that’s for sure, but the quality is less than desirable. Its battery is great—3000mAh—and in spite of the tremendous screen size, provided you don’t go crazy with brightness, you’ll find this phone lasting you most of the day if not well into day two, as in my case. I’m not a super-heavy phone user, so for me making it a day is never a problem…but I didn’t find myself charging this until halfway through day two of my testing period, and that’s without a full charge out of the box on delivery. It’s worth noting that some markets offer versions which are dual-SIM capable…mine wasn’t, and we don’t see a ton of that in the US, but over time we’ll undoubtedly see more. The phone comes in black and silver, and the silver looks very similar to last year’s ZX2 silver which I found to look rather cheap and plasticky. My unit was the black one, which looks a lot nicer; the phone itself has a decent weight to it to feel premium enough, but is by no means heavy. The dimensions are weird, and the button placement on the right side seems a bit strange as well. I am, however, a huge fan of the side fingerprint sensor in place of putting one on the back, although I think the sensor could have doubled as a power button so the volume buttons could be shifted upward. The camera performed surprisingly well, especially in low light, a nice feature for mid-range smartphones. The ability to record video in 21:9 seems a bit gimmicky to me, but I guess it does provide a more immersive experience when you view them on the phone. The phone performance at large was, well, fine. It’s a mid-range smart phone with a stunted processor, running Android 9 with 4GB RAM and a screen larger than the industry average: I think it’s safe to say it’s not going to be an amazing user experience when it comes to performance. And while that’s a surprise to nobody, for $449 you are getting a reasonably well-equipped smartphone without having to break the bank. You’ll sacrifice in a few areas, namely performance, but you stand to gain in other areas. If you’re a big consumer of media—Netflix binging, perhaps, and those black bars really get on your nerves…this phone might be for you. If you depend on high quality audio while you listen to music, take a look. The phone by no means comes off as a $449 smartphone in the looks department: it looks sleek, and polished, and elegant (provided you avoid that silver color). So in the end—it’s a peculiar thing; the aspect ratio is a specialty for Sony right now, and it’s hard to tell if other manufacturers are going to continue the trend. I think that you can probably do better (overall) than this phone for the price—finding similarly equipped phones for less—but 18:9 is so 2018.

The Sony Xperia 10 Plus is a strangely tall, narrow phone that takes some getting used to. But that size has a purpose. Sony has decided to distinguish itself from other phone manufacturers by focusing on the thing Sony does best - entertainment. The 21:9 screen on the Xperia, which matches the ratio of most commercial films, brings an uniquely immersive experience to watching movies and similar video on a phone. It's like IMAX on a phone.  The 10 Plus is Sony's new entrant in the world of mid-range phones. It slots well below the Xperia 1. The back is metal instead of glass. The resolution is "HD+" instead of 4k with HDR. The processor is a Qualcomm 636 instead of the 855. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 instead of 6. But most other things are about the same. The phone looks and feels like a quality handset. It may be mid-range, but it does not come across as cheap.  In terms of OS, it ships with a current version of Android Pie (9) with a fairly unobtrusive skin by Sony. I appreciated that Sony let me decide which, if any, of their recommended apps to install. Coming from a Pixel, I also like to stay pretty close to stock Android, and the Xperia does that. The most immediately noticeable differences to me were what Sony calls Side Sense, which lets you easily access favorite apps with one hand, and some tweaks to the camera software. Note, you can take photos in the 21:9 format.  Image quality is pretty good, although I think it lags a little in low-light settings. The phone features dual rear cameras at 12MP and 8MP, so the popular Bokeh effect is there. The front camera offers 8MP. Video can record in 4k, but focus can be a little slow with motion. Everything about the cameras seems good enough. Again, it doesn't compete evenly with the premium phone cameras, but it holds up quite well.  Overall performance is better than I anticipated with the 636 processor. I presume that is due partly to the 4GB of RAM. Regardless, I haven't found anything that makes the phone stutter. It operates quickly and smoothly across the board. Sound out of the dual speakers on the bottom is decent. It can get fairly loud. Of note, the phone does have a 3.5mm headphone jack.  The volume buttons are on the right side of the phone. They are small and not very tactile. I would have liked them to stand out a bit more. The power button is higher up on the right side, and likewise doesn't stand out much. While this makes for a trim profile, it is a bit annoying in terms of daily use.  The phone also has a fingerprint reader on the side. I thought this would be a poor placement, it feels natural and works very well. I have not had any issues with it recognizing my print.  I'm a 5'9" guy. With "normal" jeans, the phone fits in my front pocket - but just barely. The top is near the edge of the pocket. Sitting is also ok.  The phone has a larger bezel across the top rather than notch. This helps the phone look more sleek. It also makes the 21:9 aspect ratio a bit more intimidating. I'm not a fan of notches, but that might have been a better option this time. The bottom of the screen shows only the on-screen home button; there is no back button on the main screen, although it does pop up when you open something within an app or settings.   The phone comes with 64GB of onboard memory, but it accepts micro-SDXC cards up to 512GB. The access door is on the left side of the phone and is easy to remove. The SIM card slot is also accessed with the same side door. BT 5.0 works well with various headphones. The phone also has the NFC feature. It charges with a USB-C cable, which I greatly appreciate.  At the end of the day, I like this phone. However, I'm still not a fan of the form factor. I'd much rather Sony cut half an inch off and go with more typical aspect ratio. Except for when I want to watch a movie. Then, I love it.  I think how much you love it will depend on how frequently you watch movies on a phone. If that's your thing, the Xperia series is for you. Even if not, this is a nice, smooth phone that takes a little time to get used to, but you do get used to it. And if you're tall, then it may even feel more natural than a typical phone.