Sony Xperia 10 IV review

GSMArena Team, 14 May 2022.

Android 12, Xperia style

The Xperia 10 IV boots Android 12, same as the 1 IV we just reviewed. As usual, it has a very stock look and feel, though you'll be able to see a few bits of software Sony's added on top, if you look a little deeper.

Sony Xperia 10 IV review

Starting with the basics, we find out that some of them are actually missing - like Ambient display (Google's name for an always on display feature) - somewhat odd, given that the Xperia 1 IV does have it. The lockscreen brings no surprises and features a clock (that you can customize), a shortcut to the camera and another one for Google Assistant.

The homescreen, too, is as standard as they come. The Google feed is the leftmost pane, but you can disable it if it's not your thing. The quick toggles/notification area is Google's stock, too, the latest one with oversized buttons. Similarly, the Android 12 improved widget handling interface makes an appearance on the Xperia.

Lockscreen - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Homescreen - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Folder view - Sony Xperia 10 IV review App drawer - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Notification shade - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Widgets - Sony Xperia 10 IV review
Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Notification shade • Widgets

One of the Sony exclusives, which deserves mention even though it's not new, is Multi-window switch. You can access it from the task switcher or from the dedicated Multi-window manager shortcut icon on the homescreen (which technically sums up Side sense, it's all a bit intertwined). You get sort of like two stacked task switcher rolodexes with your currently opened apps to pick one for the top half and one for the bottom half of the screen. The rightmost pane in each half lets you launch another app, not just pick from the already running ones.

The phone remembers three previously used pairs, so you can access them directly, though we couldn't find a way to save custom app pair presets. It's worth mentioning that the window split can be done in almost any arbitrary ratio, not just 50/50.

Task switcher - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Multi-window switcher - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Multi-window switcher - Sony Xperia 10 IV review
Task switcher • Multi-window switcher

Side sense is another of the in-house Sony features. A handle on the side of the phone opens up a menu of shortcuts to apps and features, most of them user-configurable. The 21:9 multi-window pairs can be customized here, but they don't go into the three pair shortcuts in the regular task switcher. A recent addition to the menu is a widget to control the Sony headphones app - handy if you have a set of those.

Side sense - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Side sense - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Side sense - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Side sense - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Side sense - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Side sense - Sony Xperia 10 IV review
Side sense

There's a fairly standard set of gestures for call handling, as well as a one-handed mode and smart backlight control. It's in this menu that you'll find the navigation options with the two basic types available - gestures or a navbar.

Gesture settings - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Gesture settings - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Gesture settings - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Gesture settings - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Gesture settings - Sony Xperia 10 IV review Gesture settings - Sony Xperia 10 IV review
Gesture settings

Similarly to previous generations, the Game Enhancer utility is missing on the Xperia 10 IV. Sony's Music player is on board, though, while Google's Photos and Files are used for gallery and file management purposes.

Synthetic benchmarks

The Xperia 10 IV is powered by the Snapdragon 695 chipset, a mid-tier chipset with 5G capability. Compared to the SD690 of last year's Xperia 10 III, the new chip should offer better power efficiency thanks to the improved production process (6nm vs. 8nm). Additionally, while the CPU remains unchanged in principle (2xCortex-A77 + 6xCortex-A55 cores with some Kryo branding on top), the powerful cores can reach as high as 2.2GHz (2.0GHz on the old one).

Sony Xperia 10 IV review

The thing is, the Xperia 10 III was underpowered next to its competitors at the time, and with an essentially unchanged performance potential, the 10 IV isn't going to look any better against its rivals today.

There's also the matter that the new chip does not support 4K video recording. Perhaps it would have been wise for Sony to fit a more powerful SoC, but there's little point in debating that after the fact.

In GeekBench, the Xperia 10 IV is marginally ahead of its predecessor in both single-core and multi-core tests - an expected result. The Galaxy A52s is comfortably ahead of the 10 IV in single-core and is vastly more powerful under multi-threaded loads, while the newer A53 is roughly on par with the Xperia in multi-core and slightly ahead in single-core. The Motorola Edge 20 (standing in for the Edge 30, which should possibly come with the same chipset) and the Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE, both equipped with the SD778 like the Galaxy A52s, show that a lot more oomph can be had for the Xperia's price.

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

  • Xiaomi Mi 11i
    1114
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    814
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    787
  • Realme GT Master
    785
  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    771
  • Motorola Edge 20
    762
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    743
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
    736
  • Realme 9 Pro
    694
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    687
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    676
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    666
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    662
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    592

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

  • Xiaomi Mi 11i
    3641
  • Realme GT Master
    2917
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    2832
  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    2801
  • Motorola Edge 20
    2550
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    2335
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
    2225
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    2063
  • Realme 9 Pro
    2020
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    1945
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    1908
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    1906
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    1891
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    1738

That impression gets reinforced in Antutu, where SD778 models record 30-ish percent higher scores than the Xperia 10 IV.

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

  • Xiaomi Mi 11i
    779481
  • Realme GT Master
    529263
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    527663
  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    506432
  • Motorola Edge 20
    488574
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
    437872
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    416031
  • Realme 9 Pro
    401894
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    396008
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    387218
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    384646
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    380672
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    379313
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    345223

Graphics benchmarks further cement the Xperia's 'below average' performance with the SD778 crowd pushing 70-80% higher fps numbers in GFXBench. In 3DMark's Wild Life test, the Xperia only scores half the points of those better-equipped rivals.

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    19
  • Motorola Edge 20
    19
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    19
  • Realme GT Master
    18
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    17
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    15
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    12
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    12
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    11
  • Realme 9 Pro
    11
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    11
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    7.9

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    13
  • Motorola Edge 20
    13
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    13
  • Realme GT Master
    13
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    11
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    10
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    7.8
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    7.8
  • Realme 9 Pro
    7.8
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    7.8
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    7.8
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    5.7

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    20
  • Motorola Edge 20
    20
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    20
  • Realme GT Master
    19
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    16
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    15
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    12
  • Realme 9 Pro
    12
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    12
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    12
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    11
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    7.3

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    14
  • Motorola Edge 20
    14
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    14
  • Realme GT Master
    14
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    10
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    10
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    8.2
  • Realme 9 Pro
    8.2
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    8.2
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    8.1
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    8.1
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    5.8

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Motorola Edge 20
    29
  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    28
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    28
  • Realme GT Master
    27
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    23
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
    22
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    19
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    17
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    17
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    16
  • Realme 9 Pro
    16
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    16
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    12

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    33
  • Motorola Edge 20
    33
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    33
  • Realme GT Master
    33
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    27
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
    25
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    23
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    21
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    20
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    20
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    20
  • Realme 9 Pro
    19
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    14

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • Motorola Edge 20
    51
  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    49
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    49
  • Realme GT Master
    46
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    41
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
    38
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    35
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    30
  • Realme 9 Pro
    29
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    29
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    29
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    28
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    21

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

  • Motorola Edge 20
    57
  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    56
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    56
  • Realme GT Master
    56
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    45
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
    43
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    38
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    35
  • Realme 9 Pro
    35
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    35
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    35
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    34
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    26

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

  • Motorola Edge 20
    2494
  • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
    2491
  • Realme GT Master
    2481
  • Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE
    2477
  • Realme 9 Pro+
    2296
  • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
    2292
  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
    2014
  • Sony Xperia 10 IV
    1213
  • Poco X4 Pro 5G
    1211
  • Realme 9 Pro
    1211
  • Honor Magic4 Lite
    1211
  • OnePlus Nord N20 5G
    1205
  • Sony Xperia 10 III
    825

For what it's worth, the Xperia's less than stellar performance output is essentially rock solid, though. 20 consecutive runs of that same Wild Life benchmark ended with virtually the same results, and in the CPU throttling test, the phone posted very good numbers, too.

CPU Throttling test - Sony Xperia 10 IV review 3DMark Wild Life stress test - Sony Xperia 10 IV review 3DMark Wild Life stress test - Sony Xperia 10 IV review
CPU Throttling test • 3DMark Wild Life stress test

Reader comments

  • bottomcentre
  • 24 Apr 2024
  • TuA

What's the spec of 30W charging of this phone? 15V/2A? Thanks!

  • Anonymous
  • 13 Oct 2023
  • m9P

I do think it's ludicrous how many features are just not optional. Very frustrating that regardless of what you're TRYING to focus on, the screenside camera will lock onto any perceived face, and there's no way to turn 'face detec...

  • Gad
  • 11 Aug 2023
  • 0E}

I like this phone a lot. I'm happy with it but disappointed with the 60fps video capture. Juddery and without image stabilisation. As stated in the review, the Camera UI suggests you can have optical image stabilisation on with 1080P60 but th...