The Sony Xperia 10 Mark V is an extraordinary compact midrange phone that delivers an exceptional battery life, surpassing many smartphones we’ve seen before. But if we knew that battery life isn’t the only thing that will encourage customers to target a specific device, what would be the other interesting things that this phone brings to our pocket? Let’s find out in the Sony Xperia 10 Mark V review.
Design And Display Technology
Introducing the Xperia 10 Mark V, a fresh addition to Sony’s smartphone lineup that effortlessly distinguishes itself in the mid-range market with its unique form factor and unwavering emphasis on exceptional battery life. While the changes from its predecessor may not be revolutionary, Sony maintains a consistent approach with some noteworthy enhancements.
This latest iteration features stereo speakers for an enhanced audio experience, along with an upgraded main camera to capture memorable moments. Furthermore, the Xperia 10 Mark V boasts a slightly larger display than its predecessor, increasing by a mere 0.1 inches. As a result, the phone’s overall dimensions have expanded slightly, yet remarkably, it manages to be even lighter, weighing a mere 159 grams.
Its slender and elongated profile is attributed to the display’s tall aspect ratio. Continuing the trend from the previous model, both the back panel and frame of the Xperia 10 Mark V are constructed from plastic, which contributes to its lightweight design. Notably, this mid-range gem also features Ingress Protection ratings of IP65 and IP68, a rare find in devices of its class, ensuring enhanced durability and protection against water and dust.
Display Technology And Specs: The Xperia 10 Mark V boasts a stunning 6.1-inch OLED display with a crisp 1080p resolution, offering a visual feast for your eyes. With its tall 21:9 aspect ratio, this display provides an immersive viewing experience. To ensure durability, the display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus, shielding it from scratches and minor impacts.
It’s worth noting that Sony has opted to stick with a 60Hz refresh rate for this device, which means it may not offer the same level of smoothness as competitors with higher refresh rates. However, the maximum brightness of the display has seen improvement. With manual adjustment, it can reach impressive levels of around 620 nits, ensuring good visibility even in bright environments. In auto mode, it can even boost up to nearly 950 nits when exposed to direct sunlight.
The OLED panel offers excellent contrast levels, typical of this display technology. Additionally, it supports HDR video playback and 10-bit color depth, allowing for a more dynamic and vibrant visual experience. The color accuracy of the display can vary depending on the chosen color settings, so selecting the right configuration can help achieve accurate and pleasing colors.
While the Xperia 10 Mark V may not feature a high refresh rate display, it compensates with its impressive brightness levels, HDR support, deep contrast, and potential for accurate color reproduction, all made possible by its OLED panel.
Audio And Storage Options
Similar to its predecessor, the Xperia 10 Mark V continues to provide the convenience of a 3.5mm headphone jack, allowing you to effortlessly connect your favorite headphones. However, a notable upgrade can be found in the audio department with the inclusion of front-facing stereo speakers.
These speakers deliver excellent loudness, ensuring that your audio experience is immersive and enjoyable. The sound quality is clean, with well-defined midrange tones and crisp highs, enhancing your listening pleasure.
In terms of device security and convenience, the Xperia 10 Mark V incorporates a side-mounted fingerprint reader seamlessly integrated into the power button. While it may not be the fastest fingerprint reader available, it allows you to wake up and unlock the phone in a straightforward manner, ensuring easy access to your device’s features and functionality.
When it comes to storage, the Xperia 10 Mark V offers 128GB of onboard storage, which can be expanded further using a microSD card. Running on Android 13, the phone features a relatively stock Android user interface, with minimal modifications from Sony. From the home screen to the notification shade, the interface remains faithful to Google’s intended design.
However, certain proprietary features found on Sony’s more expensive flagship models, such as custom camera apps and the game enhancer, are absent in this iteration. Additionally, the phone does not include an always-on display feature.
On the other hand, users do have access to the multi-window switch, which consists of two task switchers stacked on top of each other, facilitating seamless navigation and app usage in split-screen mode.
Another notable feature is Sidesense, an in-house Sony feature that can be activated by tapping on the side of the phone. This opens up a menu of customizable shortcuts to apps and features, adding a level of convenience to the user experience.
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Chipset And Battery
Moving on to the chipset performance of the Xperia 10 Mark 5, it is unfortunate to say that it falls short in delivering a satisfactory experience. Equipped with a Snapdragon 695 5G chipset, which is the same as its predecessor, the performance gap compared to competing devices has widened even further.
This lackluster performance is evident not only in benchmark tests but also in everyday tasks, where users may encounter slowdowns and stutters. Moreover, the thermal management of the device during prolonged stress tests leaves much to be desired. These inconsistent dips and spikes in performance can present challenges, particularly when it comes to gaming.
One positive aspect of the Xperia 10 Mark V’s chipset is its commendable power efficiency. Teamed up with a substantial 5,000mAh battery, this combination contributes to an exceptional battery life that surpasses many other phones. In our proprietary battery tests, the Xperia 10 Mark V achieved an incredible endurance rating of 175 hours.
However, it’s important to note that the phone does not come with a charger or many additional accessories in the box. Nevertheless, when using a suitable adapter, we managed to charge the phone from 0 to 37 percent in just half an hour. While this charging speed may not be particularly impressive, it still offers a reasonable level of convenience.
Sony Xperia 10 Mark V Cameras Review:
When it comes to the camera, the Xperia 10 Mark V comes with a new 48-megapixel main cam, an 8MP 2 times telephoto zoom, and 8MP Ultra wide cam. The Xperia 10 Mark V offers electronic stabilization that is available across all its cameras.
This feature does an excellent job of effectively reducing the impact of bumps and shakes in your photos and videos. With electronic stabilization enabled, you can expect smoother footage and clearer images, enhancing the overall quality of your content. Whether you’re capturing moments with the main camera, telephoto camera, or ultrawide camera, electronic stabilization ensures a more stable and professional-looking result.
Main Camera: The main camera of the Xperia 10 Mark V captures 12-megapixel photos using pixel-bending technology, resulting in decent quality with good detail and natural colors, albeit slightly muted. The dynamic range is generally good, and portrait shots exhibit adequate subject separation.
In low-light conditions, the quality is acceptable but not impressive, as photos tend to be underexposed with dark shadows. However, light sources are well-handled, and there is sufficient detail with minimal noise. Enabling night shooting mode improves shadows and sharpness slightly.
Due to chipset limitations, the Xperia 10 Mark V supports a maximum video recording resolution of 1080p. Videos captured with the main camera offer satisfactory dynamic range and saturated colors, but the level of detail is not exceptional, and some noise may be present.
2x zoom camera: the 2x zoom capability allows for capturing photos with sharpness and impressive detail. The dynamic range is also good, providing balanced exposure across different lighting conditions. However, it’s worth noting that the color rendition of the telephoto camera may differ slightly from the main camera.
In low-light scenarios, the telephoto camera performs well, capturing good detail with natural-looking colors and acceptable dynamic range. However, similar to the main camera, the photos from the telephoto camera may appear underexposed with dark shadows. Enabling the night shooting mode significantly improves the performance of the telephoto camera, brightening up the scene, reducing noise, and enhancing sharpness.
When it comes to recording videos at 1080p using the zoomed feature, the telephoto camera delivers decent results. While the level of detail may not be exceptional, it appears to be slightly better than the main camera. The colors in the zoomed videos also closely match those captured by the main camera.
Overall, the telephoto camera of the Xperia 10 Mark V provides sharp and detailed photos with good dynamic range. Its low-light performance can be improved with night shooting mode. In terms of video recording, the quality is satisfactory with colors that align closely with the main camera.
Ultrawide camera: the ultrawide camera on the Xperia 10 Mark V performs well, capturing photos with a decent level of detail, good dynamic range, and accurate colors. In low-light scenarios, the camera provides acceptable results, although dark shadows and blown-out light sources can still be observed. Video recording with the ultrawide camera offers a relatively lower level of detail, limited dynamic range, and noticeable noise, with colors that differ from the other cameras.
Selfie: When it comes to selfies, the Xperia 10 Mark V impresses with its 8-megapixel front camera. Selfies captured with this camera exhibit plenty of detail, allowing you to capture fine facial features effectively. The colors appear natural, giving a true-to-life representation, and the dynamic range is reasonably wide, ensuring that both bright and dark areas are well-exposed.
You can rely on the camera to consistently deliver dependable exposure levels, resulting in well-balanced and appealing selfies. Whether you’re capturing a solo selfie or a group shot, the Xperia 10 Mark V’s front camera provides a satisfying selfie experience.
The Xperia 10 Mark V continues the tradition of being a well-built compact mid-range phone with impressive battery life. In fact, this time around, the battery life is even better than before. Additionally, the inclusion of stereo speakers and a brighter screen sets it apart from other mid-range phones in its price range.
However, it’s important to note that the Xperia 10 Mark V lacks a high refresh rate on its screen, which may be a drawback for some users. Additionally, in terms of chipset performance, there are more powerful options available in the market. Nevertheless, if these aspects are not major concerns for you, the Xperia 10 Mark V is definitely worth considering.
Overall, the Xperia 10 Mark V offers a solid package with its compact design, exceptional battery life, stereo speakers, and improved screen brightness. If you prioritize these features and can overlook the absence of a high refresh rate and a more powerful chipset, the Xperia 10 Mark V is a device worth exploring.
- Check out these biggest competitors of the Xperia 10 Mark V:
- Samsung Galaxy a54
- Google pixel 6A
