Sony Xperia 10 Plus review

Introduction

The 10 Plus, along with the smaller 10, are the first two phones that will attempt to sell you on a 21:9 screen - Sony may want you to think the flagship Xperia 1 is the true ambassador of the crazy-tall aspect, but that one is months away and the 10s are here now.

This year it's the Xperia 1 at the top of Sony's smartphone lineup and the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus rank below it. It's the Xperia 10 Plus we'll be focusing on now - the midranger to replace the XA2 Plus/Ultra of yesteryear.

So, the Xperia 10 Plus has a 6.5-inch display with 1080x2520px on it - we've seen tall, but not that tall. The other bits aren't as striking - we'd even call them ordinary. The Snapdragon 636 chip is often seen in the segment, though perhaps on the lower end of it - a 710 wouldn't have been out of place on the 10 Plus. Battery capacity is on the low side of average too, but the RAM and storage numbers are about right, and the camera count is sensible, plus the configuration is even more so - there's a telephoto secondary module on the back, as opposed to a simple depth sensor.

Sony Xperia 10 Plus specs

• Body: Plastic unibody with "metallic finish"; Gorilla Glass 5 on front; 167 x 73 x 8.3 mm; 180 grams; Navy, Black, Silver, Gold color options.
• Display: 6.5" IPS; 21:9 aspect ratio; FullHD+ (1080x2520px).
• Rear cameras: Primary: 12MP (1/2.8"). Secondary: 8MP (1/4") 2x telephoto camera (only available for stills). Hybrid AF, ISO 12800 for photos and 3200 for videos; 4K (16:9 or 21:9); SteadyShot.
• Front camera: 8MP (1/4"), ISO 3200 for photos and 1600 for video.
• Chipset: Snapdragon 636 chipset, octa-core processor (8x1.8 GHz Kryo 260), Adreno 509 GPU.
• Memory: 4GB/6GB (in China) of RAM + 64GB storage; Up to 512GB microSD card support.
• OS/Software: Android 9.0 Pie.
• Battery: 3,000mAh Li-Ion; Smart STAMINA, Battery Care.
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM/ Single-SIM options available (market dependant); Cat.12 LTE; USB 2.0 Type-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS + GLONASS; Bluetooth 5.0; NFC; 3.5mm audio jack.
• Audio: Single bottom-firing speaker, DSEE HX, LDAC, Smart Amplifier.
• Misc: Side-mounted fingerprint reader.

Let's put off marveling at the phone's unusual proportions and say a few words about what's going to come inside the box.

Sony Xperia 10 Plus unboxing

That is, as far as we can tell. We did get a box, so it is technically an unboxing, though it's not strictly retail-grade contents we have here even if the box itself is final. We only got a basic charger (5V/1.5A) and a USB-A-to-C cable to go with it.

However, the Xperia 10 Plus supports Power Delivery, and Sony now makes a PD charger (which it didn't when it launched the PD-capable XZ3), so it could come in the box as well. We've also seen bundles containing headsets. As is typically the case with Sony phones, the retail package contents vary by market and even carrier, so it's worth checking with them beforehand.