Sony Xperia 10 VII review

The competition

The Sony Xperia 10 VII is only available in a single 8GB/128GB variant in the EU market. Its price at the time of writing is £399 in the UK and EUR 449 in the EU. That's frankly a good chunk of change for what the phone offers. Let's have a look at what the market offers around this price point.

Samsung's popular Galaxy A56 midranger comes with a larger 6.7-inch AMOLED and a generally brighter panel, plus quicker 45W charging out of the box. Samsung's cameras are more dependable, and One UI packs plenty of extras.

The vivo V60 is the performance and battery champ in this group - it pairs a larger display with a bigger 6,500mAh cell and much faster 90W charging. It also brings a more ambitious camera setup and is the better pick for gaming and long screen-on sessions.

Samsung Galaxy A56 • vivo V60 • Xiaomi Poco F7 • Honor 400

True to Poco tradition, the F7 is all about specs per euro - you get a larger, faster display, far quicker 90W charging and a higher-capacity battery, making it the obvious choice for power users and gamers. It's also got a brighter screen based on our own tests, and it will pull ahead in performance.

The Honor 400 offers again a bigger display with higher peak brightness and much speedier 66W/80W charging for its larger battery, so it's the better pick if you're after fast top-ups and on-the-go endurance. Honor's imaging is also more feature-rich, and the phone feels more modern in hand.

The Xperia 10 VII can't match these competitors in sheer features, but it answers with the opposite philosophy: compact 6.1-inch form factor at just 168g, full IP65/68 rating, microSD expansion and a headphone jack, plus front speakers - all things you won't typically find together on rivals. And if you value those, you could say the Xperia holds its ground even against the heavy hitters in the segment.

Our verdict

The Xperia 10 VII stays true to Sony's "practical mid-ranger" package. The move to a more conventional 19.5:9, 6.1-inch OLED doesn't change the phone's core appeal: it's compact and feather-light, yet unusually robust thanks to IP65/68 sealing and Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Everyday niceties are where Sony still stands out - front-facing stereo speakers, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD slot (up to 2TB) are all here, now joined by a long-overdue 120Hz refresh rate.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 delivers the incremental uplift we expected over last year's chip, and it keeps the phone smooth in day-to-day use without any meaningful throttling concerns. It's also paired with Sony's very clean Android build and lengthy software support promise.

What had us surprised, however, is that the practical 10 VII falls short exactly in utility - the display's brightness trails much of the class, and the HRR implementation is clunky, often staying up at 120 or dropping to 60Hz just when you wouldn't want it to. Charging is quite slow to be competitive, and battery endurance doesn't exactly make up for it with it's unimpressive runtimes. The camera system looks decent on paper, yet the output is only average, with the ultrawide being a particularly weak point. Finally, the single available 8GB/128GB trim feels limited, even with microSD, and at £399/€450, the value proposition is not great when compared against rivals that offer brighter screens, faster charging and better cameras for similar money.

If you're looking for a small, durable phone with expandable storage, a headphone jack, and front speakers, the Xperia 10 VII is bang on the task. However, if display punch, fast charging or imaging quality top your list, many alternatives will make more sense unless the Xperia sees a healthy discount.

Pros

• Compact and light; IP65/68 rating and Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
• Now comes with a 120Hz OLED with a conventional aspect ratio.
• Reliable performance and no notable throttling.
• Clean Android with long software support.
• The new camera key also takes screenshots for some extra utility.
• Still offers 3.5mm jack, microSD slot, front-facing stereo speakers.

Cons

• Single 8GB/128GB storage tier.
• Sizable screen bezels look a bit dated.
• Speakers get tinny at high volume.
• Glacial charging speeds.
• Ultrawide camera has unsatisfactory performance.
• High-refresh-rate behavior is poorly implemented.