Sony Xperia 10 II Review: Compact Pocket Companion
August 2, 2020Sony’s more budget friendly smartphone is aimed at a niche within a niche, but is that wise?
Performance: Snapdragon 665, 4GB RAM
Display: 6.0-inch OLED (1080 x 2520)
Storage: 128GB
Battery: 3,600mAh
Features: Fingerprint sensor on power button, 4K video recording
Rear Camera: 12MP Wide, 8MP telephoto, 12MP ultra wide
Front Camera: 8MP
Rating: 8/10
Price: RM1,799
Sony has been an enigma to most of us these past few years. While most Android competitors try to push the boundaries of what’s possible, the Japanese giant’s zen-like contentment with what it already has, is astonishing. The Xperia 10 II, exemplifies this notion.
It’s one of the most affordable phones in the company’s line up. It retains the candy bar aesthetics of the Xperia 1 and Xperia 5, as well as the rear glass and glossy colour scheme. Its frame has a rubbery matte finish, that’s comforting to hold. It also improves the level of grip when shuffling the phone about, which you’ll be doing a lot of…
See, it’s a tall and narrow device, which makes it rather easy for one handed-use. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a device that offers similar experience. Astonishingly, even the Samsung Galaxy S20, feels far wider than the Xperia 10 II. Holding it, feels eerily similar to phones from 2013. The era when phone sizes were far more manageable.
There’s also a nice weight to it, but is still relatively light and convenient to hold. It doesn’t feel cheap – the glass back, the flat 1080p OLED screen and rounded edges offer a similar feel to what you’d get on more expensive models. That’s one of the appeals of Sony devices. The disparity in appearance between a flagship and budget device, is minuscule at best.
What’s It Like
For 2020, the bezels can be considered as fairly thick, which may be a deal breaker to some, but not to those of us who are little ‘more OCD’. I for one, am not a fan of punch hole cameras and loathe the continual existence of notches. I prefer a uniform rectangle devoid of obtrusive cutouts or odd termination points. It’s the reason why I held off from upgrading for a year or two.
Surprisingly enough, there are many others like me who have not warmed up to the ‘all screen’ fad. This is the Xperia 10 II’s demographic, people who are less focused on cutting-edge aesthetics but are more concerned with the phone’s day-to-day behavior. And this is where Sony excels best – its clever underlying software.
The subtlety of the software’s effectiveness is simply captivating. The way it manages updates, scrutinizes battery consumption and charging tendencies, as well as app management and performance, is exceptional. It instills a sense of satisfaction, knowing that your phone ‘has your back’. It’s a trait not often seen in smartphones of its ilk.
The OLED screen is well calibrated and portrays a wide colour gamut with decent accuracy. Even the whites are of the right hue, unlike the yellow tint that befalls many budget devices. And despite being very narrow, websites and text are adjusted to a neat and perfectly legible size. But getting from top to bottom, requires a significant amount of scrolling.
Due to its 21:9 aspect ratio, the screen isn’t ideal for media consumption, and those with stubby thumbs might find the keyboard a bit inconvenient to type on. Regardless of the content you’re watching, the omnipresence of thick black borders on each side, is difficult to ignore. In addition to this, the odd aspect ratio, makes it difficult to frame certain videos properly.
There’s a single front mounted speaker at the bottom, which offers ‘ok’ sound quality. Powering the phone is a Snapdragon 665, an 11nm chip released early last year. It isn’t great at juggling high-end gaming, shuffling between memory hungry apps and video processing. But offers snappy performance for moderate web browsing, chatting and switching between various programs.
There is a noticeable delay when switching between tasks, due in part to the 4GB RAM. The ceiling limit here is a lot lower than it should have been. Though the Snapdragon 665 isn’t a powerhouse, but is a competent chip that should have been paired with a bit more memory.
The Camera
Another area where Sony does really well, is in the camera department. Like the Xperia 1, this phone is only equipped with a 12 MP main camera but its photo-taking ability is the amalgamation of sophisticated software working in tandem with respectable hardware. It’s a perfect example of how insignificant pixel count is, next to software image processing.
The Xperia 10 II takes really good pictures in good lighting conditions though not as detailed as that of the Xperia 1. The same is true of selfies, colors are neutral and well balanced, providing a more natural setting to the entire frame. It can shoot decent videos too at up to 4K resolution. But the lack of decent image stabilization can hamper quality somewhat.
The camera software also allows for fine tuning of settings, which includes blurring areas of the frame that aren’t important. It’s this level of thoughtfulness from Sony’s engineers, that made me a fan of the brand. It’s as though as they derive their enjoyment from users stumbling across special ‘hidden’ features, then jumping for joy.
And to my surprise, night time photography is also pretty decent. Though a far cry from what the Xperia 1 is able to capture, the footage isn’t half bad. The software tends to adjust the lighting to help retain detail without introducing too much noise. It also takes a fair bit of time to capture shots, which is inconvenient.
Should I Buy One?
If you appreciate small form factor devices and the convenience of gliding them into the tightest of jeans pocket, then, yes. It offers decent performance, good camera quality and a day’s worth of battery life. But if you simply must have the best bang for your buck, the Samsung Galaxy A71 is a better choice.
The Xperia 10 II is meant for people who hold on to their phones for a fair few years longer than most others. The thicker bezels provide extra cushioning against knocks and drops. The simple screen presents users with a cleaner visual experience. So, if you conform to this level of thinking, then you will be happy with Sony’s ‘budget’ phone.
