The back of the Xperia 10 IV has a frosted finish instead of a glossy one. This is the first time in two years that the back has not been glossy. The sides are more or less flat, which is different from the other phones in the series and similar to the Sony Xperia 10 IV, but not quite the same. On the inside, things aren’t as clear. The Snapdragon 690 from last year has been replaced by the Snapdragon 695.
Sony Xperia 10 IV: Description
The increase of 5 means that a newer 6nm manufacturing process will be used and that the CPU clock will be a little bit faster. Still, the flip side is that you can’t record 4K video. This is Qualcomm’s fault, not Sony’s, but Sony could have chosen a different chip.
The other big difference is how much power the battery can hold. This year, after a jump last year, the number has gone up again to 5,000mAh. Sony says that the 10 IV is the lightest phone with 5G and a 5,000mAh battery. This is even though the phone has lost 8g of weight
That pretty much sums up the most important changes from Mark 3 to Mark 4, but there were other, less important changes as well. For example, the front glass is now Gorilla Glass Victus, while the back panel is made of plastic (GG6 on the old model). The main camera now has OIS, but the other two cameras are still set up the same way. In the same way, the display is said to be 1.5 times brighter than it was before, but its refresh rate is still 60Hz.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Epic battery life
- Rare IP65/IP68 rating
- Super-clean software
Cons
- Below-average primary camera
- Only a 60Hz refresh rate
- Extremely slow to charge
Sony Xperia 10 IV: Specifications
| Display | 6.0″ OLED |
| RAM | 128GB 6GB |
| OS/Software | Android 12 |
| Front camera | 8 MP, f/2.0, 27mm (wide), 1/4.0″ |
| Battery | 5000mAh |
| Rear camera | 1080p@60fps |
| Front camera | 1080p@30fps |
Design and Features
Sony’s intentionally blocky and plain design style has become something of a calling card, which is great in a mid-range market where flashing lights and racing car decals are often used as visual tricks. Like the Xperia 10 III (£330), the focus here is on the tall and uninterrupted 21:9 aspect ratio of the screen. The phone itself is unusually tall and thin, measuring 153 x 67 x 8.3 mm, so that it can fit this large screen.
The Xperia 10 IV is tall because its forehead and chin bezels are longer, which, along with the screen, makes the phone taller. The first one is mostly there to hold the phone’s selfie camera, instead of the usual hole punch notch that messes up the picture. The Xperia 10 IV is very light at 161g.
Even so, and despite the price, it’s made of surprisingly strong materials. This is a rare mid-range phone with a water resistance rating of IP65/68. Gorilla Glass Victus is also used to cover the screen, while the frame and back are made of plastic.
Given Sony’s focus on media and those thick bezels, the lack of stereo speakers is a bit of a surprise. There is a 3.5mm audio jack on the top edge, but it doesn’t look good that you can’t get true stereo sound out of it when the top competitors do.
Sony Xperia 10 IV: Display
The good news is that the Xperia 10 IV’s screen is very bright and the colours are also pretty accurate. Sony says that this model is 15% brighter than the last one, and our test proves that. It has a gorgeous 6-inch OLED screen, and in typical Sony style, there are no camera cutouts or notches. The bad news is that the refresh rate is locked at 60Hz and can’t be changed. This might not make or break the deal, but more and more midrange phones in the same price range now have refresh rates of 90Hz or even 120Hz.
Even so, there’s nothing wrong with the screen, and it’s great for watching movies and videos. The resolution is the same FullHD+ (1080 x 2520 and 479 PPI) as the last model, so the image is clear and bright. When it comes to vivid, there are two colour modes: original and standard. The first one makes the colours a little brighter, while the second one shows the colours as they really are. You can also change the display’s temperature by making the white balance cooler or warmer.
Sony Xperia 10 IV: Camera
The Sony Xperia 10 IV has three cameras on the back, just like the Xperia 10 III, but the main sensor now has optical image stabilisation (OIS). At first glance, the Xperia 10 IV seems to slow down before and after taking a picture. When you use the pinch-to-zoom feature, the delay is even worse because it takes the lenses a second or two to catch up with your fingers.
This can be annoying when you’re trying to figure out how far away something is. This is one area where the Snapdragon 695 chipset, which isn’t very powerful, shows its flaws. The main 12MP camera is not very reliable. Most notably, the colours are more vivid here than in other lenses, and things of different sizes and distances become blurry.
At times during the day, there was too much light, which made the sky look white instead of blue. The fact that the preview image in Sony’s Camera app wasn’t very clear and got even worse in bright sunlight didn’t help.
White balance was also hit or miss, especially when there wasn’t much light. At this price, it’s very rare to find a camera that’s just for telephoto. Even though it has simple hardware, the 2x optical zoom works surprisingly well in many situations. This was my favourite camera on the Xperia 10 IV because the details were clearer and the colours looked warmer. The dynamic range and exposure are much better than on cheap cameras that only have digital zoom.
Sony Xperia 10 IV: Performance
When it comes to internal specs, the Sony Xperia 10 IV is in the middle of the pack. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage (which you can expand with a memory card if you need to). If you can connect to a next-generation network where you live, this phone is fully ready for 5G.
Overall, the phone’s performance was quick and smooth, but we did notice that it sometimes stutters when doing difficult tasks, like switching between complicated apps quickly. It’s not a big deal though, and most apps and games still work fine.
The single-core Geekbench score of 660, the multi-core Geekbench score of 1819, and the OpenCL score of 1353 show what kind of performance you can expect here: a lower mid-range level. The Google Pixel 6a, on the other hand, got a multi-core score of 2837, which is more like what you get with high-end premium phones.
If you plan to watch a lot of movies or listen to podcasts on this phone, you should know that the single speaker is pretty weak. Even at full volume, it doesn’t pack much of a punch, and you can’t count on it for high-quality music playback. The one person who speaks does a good job, but nothing more. The headphone jack is a different story. It supports Sony’s 360 Reality Audio (surround sound) and DSEE Ultimate (AI-powered upscaling), and you can control these features with the phone’s software.
Battery life and Charging
The bad news/good news trope is used in another part of the review. This time, let’s start with the bad one. There is no charger or cable inside the retail box. I’m done, I’ve said it all. Now, Sony says that by doing this, it will help the environment, but I’m not sure about that. Even so, it’s hard to criticise the company, since every big smartphone company is now jumping on the eco-train.
You probably already have one or two chargers lying around, and if you do, the Xperia 10 IV can get up to 30W of power from them. There is no way to charge wirelessly on board. Now let’s get to the good part. The battery capacity has gone up to 5,000mAh from 4,500mAh in the last generation.
This, along with the 6nm chipset and 60Hz OLED screen, makes for record-setting battery life numbers. When it comes to browsing, the Xperia 10 IV is the clear winner (albeit at 60Hz). The phone could browse the web for a whopping 21:20 hours straight, which blew away the competition.
Price and availability
The Sony Xperia 10 IV will sell for $449 or £429, which is about AU$650 (even though it isn’t on sale in Australia yet). Depending on where you live, you may be able to find variations on that as well as deals. The phone has been on sale in places where it is sold since June 2022 you can buy this smartphone directly from Sony’s store.
By looking at the price, you can tell that this phone is in the lower middle range, just above the cheapest phones on the market. If you set your expectations to match the price, it’s a pretty good deal for your money.
Final words
Sony’s cheap phone really shines where it matters. Many cheap Android phones can only be cheap because they cut corners in important ways. Sony, on the other hand, has thought about how to boil down the Xperia line without sacrificing important performance.
Even though it’s not perfect, the Xperia 10 IV is a great deal for people who want an entry-level Android phone that can also be used to watch movies on the go. It has a good screen for the price and good sound quality when using headphones.
FAQs
What is the refresh rate of Sony Xperia 10 IV?
All of the current Xperia devices have an OLED screen with a 21:9 aspect ratio and a size of 6 inches. The refresh rate of the screen is 60Hz, and it has a resolution of 1080p.
Why is Sony Xperia not popular?
Instead, the company started to lose ground. Sony’s overall strategy for the mobile market was a big part of why its smartphones didn’t do well in the years that followed. Sony, which is a big name in technology, wanted to become the “Apple” of Android by making only high-end phones.
