Sony Xperia 10 Plus

Sony Xperia 10 Plus arrives as a film buff’s delight. Priced at Rs. 35,990, the phone brings the oomph factor with its 21:9 aspect ratio screen along with the ability to record and click photos in the same aspect ratio.

While you can enter the director’s shoes with this phone, it does have some flaws. It comes with an abysmal battery which makes it unsuitable for reliable performance. It can be a second handset for movie fanatics suitable for just the movie experience, once proper content shows up on the streaming sites.

The Sony Xperia 10 Plus is long, and it might feel unnatural if you are moving to this 21:9 aspect ratio phone after using the regular 19:9 aspect ratio. The phone is difficult to manage with one hand. However, the phone is quite slim at 8.3mm thickness. The front of the phone is covered with a dependable Corning Gorilla Glass, and it has a stylish back cover of plastic build, which holds the dual rear camera module. It does not sit quite in flux with the back panel, though the ‘sticking out’ does not feel unnatural.

If you have been accustomed to using phones like Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus or the iPhone XS Max, then this phone might seem quite long length-wise, at 167mm, while the former are around 157.5mm. It is not pocketable, though. The phone retains the traditional headphone jack, which is a definite plus, and it also comes with the modern USB Type-C jack. The fingerprint scanner is fitted on the right along with the volume rocker and the power button. As far as weight goes, it is not especially light, but when you compare to its competing flagships like the 185g of Galaxy S10 Plus and the hefty 208g of iPhone XS Max, it seems to be of a reasonable weight.

Despite being a new phone, Sony Xperia 10 Plus comes with thick bezels below the screen, carrying the LED notification light and the speaker perforation. The phone comes with a 6.5-inch FullHD screen which is very bright, but the colours do not add much punch and appear quite muted. The main selling point of Xperia 10 Plus is the fantastic 21:9 aspect ratio – and Sony claims filmmakers want their audience to see this, as most movies are shot in 21:9. While the intention is good, the problem is that most TV shows and Netflix originals do not have this aspect ratio resulting in the off-centre video experience. However, the phone offers you the option to record videos in 21:9 aspect ratio so you could put on your director’s lenses.

The extended screen is excellent for reading text and you get to fit more text on the screen, and hence, the phone could be used as a great E-reader. In general, the Xperia 10 Plus has its heart in the right place, but the movies out there does not utilize the technology Xperia 10 Plus offer yet.

Sony Xperia 10 Plus comes with a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 Octa-core Processor paired with a 4GB camera. The processor is quite dated and is generally used now for mid-range phones. Benchmark score put it at around 4,862 for multi-core tests which are similar to Samsung Galaxy S6 of 2015. Loading apps do not face any problem, but there was some loading time spent while opening the camera app. It’s not the best set for gaming purposes, with graphic-intensive games like PUBG faltering in medium settings as well.

Demanding software can also put the phone into a sluggish mode. With casual apps multitasking is smooth, but demanding apps can make it a little jittery. This phone is not a powerhouse and not suitable for gaming purposes.

The Sony Xperia 10 Plus does not come with a spellbinding camera. It has two cameras on its rear panel – a 12MP camera with an f/1.75 wide-angle lens and an 8MP secondary camera with an f/2.4 aperture. In daylight, the shots have accurate colours with relatively high picture quality, but the pictures seem a bit dim. Since the megapixels on this camera is low, the phone tries to make it up with camera features like boosted brightness, though it makes the pictures look artificial.

However, in low-light, the camera works surprisingly well. The camera was able to focus accurately and boost the colours as well as use depth properly to reproduce great pictures. However, the shutter speed is quite slow, and sometimes, it can be challenging to take static shots. One of the main novelties of the camera is that it can take shots in 21:9,16:9, 4:3, and 1:1 aspect ratios. The 21:9 aspect ratio can be seen on this phone in full screen, but it does not appear in full screen on another phone.

The phone arrives with an 8MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture. The selfie camera can click decent shots with you can use for your social media profiles. The bokeh shots are pretty good, but sometimes the edge detection is faulty and the blur can be a bit exaggerated.

Regarding videos, the phone can record 21:9 aspect ratio videos. The colours appear to be sharp, but sometimes, the exposure might be a bit faulty. Otherwise, the Xperia 10 Plus produces amazing director-styled videos for a cinematic experience.

Sony Xperia 10 Plus comes with a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 Octa-core Processor paired with a 4GB camera. The processor is quite dated and is generally used now for mid-range phones. Benchmark score put it at around 4,862 for multi-core tests which are similar to Samsung Galaxy S6 of 2015. Loading apps do not face any problem, but there was some loading time spent while opening the camera app. It’s not the best set for gaming purposes, with graphic-intensive games like PUBG faltering in medium settings as well. Demanding software can also put the phone into a sluggish mode. With casual apps multitasking is smooth, but demanding apps can make it a little jittery. This phone is not a powerhouse and not suitable for gaming purposes.

Sony Xperia 10 Plus offer the movie magic with its unique 21:9 aspect ratio, but it is ahead of its time, since most streaming websites still don’t offer videos in this aspect ratio. However, the phone is excellent for reading e-books or texts. The problem with this phone is that it has a weak battery. The extended design might make it difficult to manage or put in pockets too. Plus, the Xperia 10 Plus comes with a mid-tier performance and camera, which performs moderately even in daylight. All in all, the Xperia 10 Plus appears as a mid-range phone that does not have enough to surprise its audience. However, if you are a fan of videos and want the 21:9 experience, then, this phone is a perfect match for you.