Sony Xperia 10 VII
Sony’s Xperia 10 VII is a bit of a curveball. Finally, Sony tossed aside the familiar blueprint and went for something genuinely fresh. If you’d asked me last year what I expected from their next mid-range phone, I’d have said “vertical camera, another tall screen, minor processor bump.” Well, here we are: horizontal camera bar, more color, punchy design tweaks.
Sometimes, after years of incremental upgrades, a company just shrugs and goes for it. I like that.
What I noticed first: the phone feels lighter and easier to grip than I thought it would. 169 grams is nothing when you’re used to heavy slabs, and the 6.1-inch OLED display manages to be vibrant and sharp. Honestly, it’s kind of surreal watching cricket highlights in line at the coffee shop and seeing those colors pop, even under sunlight. The new aspect ratio is classic Sony, tall and thin, but the bezels are finally less intrusive. It’s the kind of thing that gets noticed when you hand the phone to a friend, and they don’t make a remote control joke for once.
Under that slick shell sits a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chip with 8GB RAM, smooth enough for my endless group chats and impromptu gaming. I threw it a half-hour video call plus a round of Clash Royale, and the phone held up, only a bit warm. Storage is 128GB, but expandable, so you can stack up way too many episodes of Love Island, don’t judge. The battery is a 5000mAh whopper (thank you, Sony!), and somehow the device doesn’t feel chunky. It’s also got 30W fast charging, which means I can forget to plug it in before bed and not panic the next morning.
Here’s the bit that actually made me smile: the camera. Not because it’s some mind-blowing flagship, those days are for phones twice the price, but the main 50MP and 13MP ultrawide do a nice job for everyday stuff. I took a group selfie last weekend with the 8MP front camera, and nobody looked like a ghost in bad light. Plus, shooting food pics at night came out way better than I expected. The horizontal camera module isn’t just for show; it frees up space in my pocket. I know, not everyone cares about aesthetics, but this one feels less like a drone and more like a “personality phone.”
Colors: Charcoal Black, Cedar White, and Turquoise actually landed well with friends and coworkers. My partner picked Turquoise, which got an approving nod at the office; it’s not the usual plain-Jane palette. The phone runs Android 15 out of the box, and Sony’s light touch on the software means less bloat. I’m glad about that. Who needs sixteen pre-installed shopping apps, anyway? Oh, side note: it’s supposed to get up to four software updates, so you won’t be stuck on ancient Android in two years.
Every day use was a relief. The side fingerprint sensor just works (none of that “try again” nonsense), and the phone breezed through hotspotting, navigation, and music streaming. I did drop it once in a gym bag, soaked next to my water bottle, and the water resistance held up. Whew.
Would I say Xperia 10 VII is perfect? Not really. But for a device at around $500–$599 expected globally, it’s one of those rare midrange phones that both works and looks like it’s meant for humans, not robots. Sony surprised me here, and you know what? Sometimes, that’s enough to put a smile on a tired face after a long day.
