Sony Xperia 10 V review

Android 13 in a clean Xperia wrapper

The Xperia 10 V ships with the latest Android 13 with minimal Sony customization on top. In typical Sony fashion, the look and feel are very AOSP, with just a pinch of extras, which you typically have to dig a bit deeper to uncover.

The number of pre-installed apps on the Xperia 10 V is really small. The phone handily asks you if you want to install some basics from a curated list during the setup process. No bloat, just genuinely useful suggestions, as far as we can tell.

App suggestions during setup

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). This was the case with the previous generation Xperia 10 IV as well. For some reason, Sony reserves this feature for its higher-end devices, even though the Xperia 10 V also has an OLED display.

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 style of choice features oversized buttons. The improved widget interface from Android 12 is still present here as well.

Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Notification shade • Widgets

One of the Sony exclusives, which deserves mention even though it's not new, is the 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. Each half's rightmost and leftmost pane lets you launch another app, not just pick from the already running ones.

The phone remembers three previously used pairs so that 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 • Multi-window switcher

If multi-window does not provide enough multitasking potential for you, there is always pop-up window. It does only work on supported apps, but most are already on that list.

Pop-up window

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

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

Gesture settings

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

Sony Music • Google Photos • Google Files

Synthetic benchmarks

There is no point beating about the bush - the Xperia 10 V is pretty deficient in the performance department. Sony is carrying forward the same silicon for a third year in a row. Like its predecessor, the Xperia 10 V uses the Snapdragon 695 chipset. Before that, the Xperia 10 III used the Snapdragon 690, which is essentially the same chip with a slightly lower max speed on its "big" cores and the ability to capture 4K video, which the Snapdragon 695 lacks.

Yes, you read that right, it's a year later, and we still have to criticize Sony for going with a midrange chipset that does not support 4K video capture. At least the Snapdragon 695 is a fairly efficient 5G-capable chip (6nm), as we already saw with the excellent battery score of the Xperia 10 V.

It has a 2x2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 660 Silver CPU configuration, plus an Adreno 619 GPU - nether is particularly impressive, especially in 2023. The Xperia 10 V comes in a single 6GB RAM and 128GB expandable storage configuration. That's what we tested as well.

Let's start with GeekBench and its CPU tests. We can clearly see that the Xperia 10 V hasn't improved compared to the Xperia IV with the same chipset and even the Xperia 10 III with its Snapdragon 690. The Snapdragon 695 is only slightly more powerful in CPU tasks than the MediaTek Helio G99 and trades blows with the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 - a chipset that is technically in a lower performance class but simply has the benefit of being much newer and more modern.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  3049
• Nothing Phone (1)
  3024
• Poco X5 Pro
  2930
• Google Pixel 6a
  2876
• Galaxy A54
  2703
• vivo V27
  2400
• Realme 10 Pro+
  2371
• Galaxy A34
  2316
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  2229
• Realme 10 Pro
  2021
• Redmi Note 12 5G
  1998
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  1908
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  1897
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  1797
• Realme 10
  1762
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  1738
• Galaxy A14 5G
  1727
• Realme C55
  1452
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  1413

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  1096
• Google Pixel 6a
  1047
• vivo V27
  887
• Realme 10 Pro+
  842
• Nothing Phone (1)
  820
• Galaxy A34
  781
• Poco X5 Pro
  781
• Galaxy A54
  770
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  758
• Realme 10 Pro
  698
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  667
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  662
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  592
• Redmi Note 12 5G
  588
• Realme 10
  567
• Galaxy A14 5G
  530
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  440
• Realme C55
  374
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  315

AnTuTu isn't particularly kind to the Xperia 10 V. It manages to score closer to the Xperia 10 III and the Redmi Note 12 5G and Realme 10, with their Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 and Helio G99, respectively, than the Xperia 10 IV and Realme 10 Pro, both running the same Snapdragon 695 chipset.

This effectively means that either the Xperia 10 V is not making full use of the performance the Snapdragon 695 has to offer or some other parts of the performance chain, like RAM and storage, are misbehaving, or alternatively, there is some software issue. Hopefully, this gets resolved via an update, and we get at least proper Snapdragon 695 performance levels.

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  719696
• Google Pixel 6a
  712092
• vivo V27
  613641
• Nothing Phone (1)
  592789
• Poco X5 Pro
  531398
• Realme 10 Pro+
  522376
• Galaxy A54
  506678
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  490526
• Galaxy A34
  472126
• Realme 10 Pro
  401860
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  396008
• Realme 10
  385829
• Redmi Note 12 5G
  360745
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  357142
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  345223
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  319219
• Galaxy A14 5G
  307886
• Realme C55
  257263

At least the Adreno 619 GPU inside the Xperia 10 V performs as expected. That is to say better than the Helio G99 and its Mali-G57 MC2 but worse than the Dimensity 1080 and the Mali-G68 MC4.

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  47
• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  38
• vivo V27
  30
• Nothing Phone (1)
  23
• Galaxy A54
  19
• Galaxy A34
  17
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  16
• Realme 10 Pro+
  16
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  11
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  11
• Realme 10 Pro
  11
• Realme 10
  10
• Galaxy A14 5G
  8.3
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  7.9
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  5.3
• Realme C55
  5.3

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  29
• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  24
• vivo V27
  20
• Nothing Phone (1)
  15
• Galaxy A54
  13
• Galaxy A34
  11
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  11
• Realme 10 Pro+
  11
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  7.8
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  7.8
• Realme 10 Pro
  7.8
• Realme 10
  6.5
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  5.7
• Galaxy A14 5G
  5.5
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  3.5
• Realme C55
  3.5

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  39
• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  38
• vivo V27
  33
• Nothing Phone (1)
  23
• Galaxy A54
  19
• Galaxy A34
  16
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  15
• Realme 10 Pro+
  15
• Realme 10 Pro
  12
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  11
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  11
• Realme 10
  9.3
• Galaxy A14 5G
  7.9
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  7.3
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  5.3
• Realme C55
  4.9

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  32
• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  25
• vivo V27
  21
• Nothing Phone (1)
  16
• Galaxy A54
  13
• Galaxy A34
  10
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  10
• Realme 10 Pro+
  10
• Realme 10 Pro
  8.3
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  8.2
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  8.1
• Realme 10
  6.1
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  5.8
• Galaxy A14 5G
  5.3
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  3.6
• Realme C55
  3.2

Lowering the difficulty of the GFXBench tests doesn't change the overall picture too much. The Dimensity 1080 does gain a more substantial lead in raw fps numbers.

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  56
• Google Pixel 6a
  51
• vivo V27
  34
• Nothing Phone (1)
  33
• Poco X5 Pro
  28
• Galaxy A54
  25
• Galaxy A34
  23
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  22
• Realme 10 Pro+
  21
• Realme 10
  17
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  16
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  16
• Realme 10 Pro
  16
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  12
• Galaxy A14 5G
  12
• Realme C55
  9
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  7.5
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  5.6

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  66
• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  57
• vivo V27
  40
• Nothing Phone (1)
  37
• Galaxy A54
  31
• Realme 10 Pro+
  27
• Galaxy A34
  26
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  26
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  20
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  19
• Realme 10 Pro
  19
• Galaxy A14 5G
  15
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  14
• Realme 10
  14
• Realme C55
  10
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  8.6
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  7.1

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  98
• vivo V27
  61
• Google Pixel 6a
  60
• Nothing Phone (1)
  58
• Galaxy A54
  46
• Galaxy A34
  41
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  40
• Realme 10 Pro+
  38
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  29
• Realme 10 Pro
  29
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  28
• Realme 10
  28
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  21
• Galaxy A14 5G
  21
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  14
• Realme C55
  14
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  10

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  116
• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  103
• vivo V27
  68
• Nothing Phone (1)
  65
• Galaxy A54
  52
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  45
• Realme 10 Pro+
  45
• Galaxy A34
  44
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  35
• Realme 10 Pro
  35
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  34
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  26
• Galaxy A14 5G
  25
• Realme 10
  25
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  16
• Realme C55
  16
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  13

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  116
• vivo V27
  85
• Nothing Phone (1)
  84
• Galaxy A54
  69
• Galaxy A34
  62
• Google Pixel 6a
  60
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  57
• Realme 10 Pro+
  56
• Realme 10
  44
• Realme 10 Pro
  41
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  39
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  39
• Galaxy A14 5G
  34
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  29
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  23
• Realme C55
  23
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  16

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  167
• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  133
• vivo V27
  100
• Nothing Phone (1)
  93
• Galaxy A54
  79
• Galaxy A34
  68
• Realme 10 Pro+
  68
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  67
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  48
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  47
• Realme 10 Pro
  47
• Galaxy A14 5G
  40
• Realme 10
  40
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  35
• Realme C55
  26
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  20
• Sony Xperia 10 II
  19

3DMark generally offers a clearer, more legible picture of relative performance across different devices with its offscreen tests. Going by its numbers, the Xperia 10 V and its Snapdragon 695 are pretty similar in graphics performance to the Dimensity 700 and the Helio G99.

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  6066
• Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  5432
• vivo V27
  4138
• Nothing Phone (1)
  2921
• Galaxy A54
  2818
• Galaxy A34
  2313
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  2255
• Realme 10 Pro+
  2252
• Realme 10
  1320
• Realme 10 Pro
  1218
• Sony Xperia 10 IV
  1213
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  1205
• Galaxy A14 5G
  1197
• Sony Xperia 10 III
  825
• Realme C55
  740
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  652

3DMark Wild Life Extreme (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• vivo V27
  1156
• Galaxy A54
  808
• Galaxy A34
  636
• Redmi Note 12 Pro
  630
• Realme 10 Pro+
  622
• Realme 10
  366
• Sony Xperia 10 V
  358
• Galaxy A14 5G
  331
• Realme C55
  189
• Redmi Note 12 4G
  135

Things aren't looking particularly good for the Xperia 10 V in the performance department. At least the phone runs pretty cool to the touch. Initially, we thought that this meant it had great thermal management, and a 3DMark stress test even collaborated with that theory. However, it turns out that with a long enough stress test, the Xperia 10 V reveals some pretty lackluster thermal management. The kind that sees the chipset rapidly dip in performance, which might cause a stutter in-game, only to then ease up and ramp performance up, just to repeat the process seconds later. That's the worst kind of thermal management you can generally have.

Thermal throttling behavior

We are pretty disappointed with the overall performance profile of the Xperia 10 V. The Snapdragon 695 was never a great chipset and is starting to show its age. Plus, in practical terms, the Xperia 10 V doesn't even run its UI smoothly and suffers from slowdowns and stutters. We really think Sony dropped the ball by not moving the Xperia 10 V to a more potent chipset.