Smart Android And Trik-Commenting on Andorid indeed never endless, because smart devices this one is often updated every certain amount of time. So that the market can always be garapnya menerinya with pleasure. And it is not denied if this device has become the lifestyle of each society. To not wonder if the 6th business information and many are turning to mobail smartphone. With Android which thoroughly dominated the mobile industry, choosing the best Android smartphone is almost identical to choose the best smartphone, period. But while Android phones have few real opponents on other platforms, internal competition is intense.
Introduction
You don't make drastic changes to a working formula, right? Well, we don't have the numbers to say just how successful the Xperia 10 II was, but it must have been very, since Sony hasn't altered too much on the Xperia 10 III we have for you today.
Sony Xperia 10 III (left) next to the Mark 2
The few areas that have been improved are important, of course. While not a powerhouse in isolation, the Snapdragon 690 inside the new model is vastly more powerful and at least a little more competitive against the rivals of the day. 5G support is also now part of the package, thanks to the new chipset.
A significant increase in battery capacity to 4,500mAh (from 3,600mAh last year) is another most welcome development. That comes with some added heft, but at 169g, the Mk 3 remains one of the more easily pocketable handsets.
Less tangible changes include a bump in RAM to 6GB (previously 4GB) and the now-added HDR support on the otherwise apparently identical 6-inch OLED display. Sadly, it's still a 60Hz panel, and these are hardly fashionable, regardless of market position.
Of the things that have been carried over that still deserve a mention, the most important is the IP65/68 rating for dust and water protection - a rarity in the midrange that really sets the Xperia 10 III apart. The Gorilla Glass 6 sandwich is also hardly a given for the price. Here's a rundown of the key specs.
Sony Xperia 10 III specs at a glance:
- Body: 154.0x68.0x8.3mm, 169g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 6), glass back (Gorilla Glass 6), plastic frame; IP65/IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins).
- Display: 6.0" OLED, HDR, 1080x2520px resolution, 21:9 aspect ratio, 457ppi; Triluminos display.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM6350 Snapdragon 690 5G (8 nm): Octa-core (2x2.0 GHz Kryo 560 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 560 Silver); Adreno 619.
- Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM; UFS; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
- OS/Software: Android 11.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 12 MP, f/1.8, 27mm, 1/2.8", PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 16mm, 1/4.0"; Telephoto: 8 MP, f/2.4, 54mm, 1/4.0", PDAF, 2x optical zoom.
- Front camera: 8 MP, f/2.0, 24mm (wide), 1/4.0".
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 30W, Quick Charge, USB Power Delivery.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); NFC; 3.5mm jack.
Sony Xperia 10 III unboxing
We got our Xperia 10 III review unit in the familiar white box Sony has been using for a few years now. There was the bare minimum of accessories inside it - just a charger and a USB cable to go with it.
The charger is rated at a lowly 7.5 watts, and that low of a value we haven't seen in a while. The phone does support USB PowerDelivery and will benefit from a higher-powered adapter - such as the company's own 30-watt XQZ-UC1 unit, but that's not what came bundled with our review device. Perhaps retail units will be equipped differently. Additionally, Sony has been known to adjust package contents from region to region, so variation by locale may also exist.
Design
The overall approach of 'if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it' is nowhere more evident than in the Xperia 10 III's physical appearance - it's what your eyes see and what your fingers touch, and both can be fooled it's the same phone, unless you pay attention. That's just as bad as it is good.
Sony Xperia 10 III (left) next to the Mark 2
We get the principle of continuity and evolution, and brand identity, and all that - the 10 III is clearly an Xperia, and you can spot that from just a passing glance. Flashy designs from other midrangers we've seen recently don't bother much with trying to adhere to a common design language, instead opting to stand out at this very moment, with another, very different-looking handset replacing them in a few months. That's not Sony, and we have a certain respect for Sony for it.
But the thing is, the Mk 3 is barely different from the Mk2, and it's more than 12 months that split the two - some slightly bolder strokes could have livened up the looks a bit.
Sony Xperia 10 III (left) next to the Mark 2
That's not to say there aren't changes, even if it may take a while to spot them. The Xperia 10 III has actually shrunk in footprint compared to the last generation - it's a millimeter narrower and three mils shorter and it's one of few handsets in the midrange that can pass for 'compact'.
That's with the display maintaining its size at 6 inches, effectively meaning that it's the bezels that have been trimmed - one area where Xperias have been prone to attracting criticism.
Sony Xperia 10 III (left) next to the Mark 2
The top bezel is visibly slimmer while maintaining all the functionality of the predecessor. It still houses the selfie camera (so no display cutouts), there are proximity and ambient light sensors, and even an RGB notification LED is still present. The earpiece cutout has been moved off to the edge of the Gorilla Glass 6 panel, but it's still an earpiece only - there's no stereo action going on on the 10 III.
Down below the display, the bezel is again thinner than before, though slightly less so than up top. The single front-firing speaker gets a wide slit where the glass meets the frame, now protected by what is apparently a metal mesh in place of the finer textile one of the old phone.
Another minor change can be spotted along the matte polycarbonate frame, though this one has actual functional implications. It's the inclusion of an extra key on the right. Placed about a third of the way up, flush with the frame's outer edge, it gives you direct access to Google Assistant.
Sony Xperia 10 III (top) next to the Mark 2
The rest of the controls remain unchanged. You get a power button just around the midpoint on the right side with a capacitive fingerprint sensor embedded in it. In contrast to the Google Assistant button, this one is slightly recessed into the frame to help you locate it more easily.
That's not necessarily enough to avoid accidental touches, and you may find yourself locked out of fingerprint recognition if you happen to graze the sensor accidentally in the handling of the phone. Other phones with side-mounted sensors let you set them up so that a press is required to engage the unlocking procedure, but we couldn't find such a setting on the Xperia 10 III - this one is always on and will directly unlock the phone if you touch it with a registered fingertip.
The unlocking procedure is straightforward, and we generally didn't have issues with the Xperia 10 III with either right thumb or left index finger unlocking, though the lefties might score a lower success percentage.
The sensor is also a bit temperamental outside of a plain and simple single unlock. Say you just pressed the power button to lock the phone but a split second later you decide you want to unlock it again - well, it may or may not work and you may need to deliberately move your finger away for that extra bit more time and tap on the sensor again. It's not a huge deal and you probably don't do 10 repeat unlocks just to feel the speed of the process like we happen to.
Above the power button/fingerprint reader combo is the volume rocker, itself unremarkable in its operation - it clicks, volume goes one way or the other. There's no dedicated shutter release button on the Xperia 10 III, but wasn't on either of the previous generation phones, so it's not a surprise. And, before you ask, there's no way to set the Google Assistant key to act as shutter release, but the volume rocker can do that.
On the opposite side of the phone is the card slot. In typical Sony fashion, you can pry out the tray using just your fingernail - no pins needed. The tray can take two cards back to back and those can be two nano SIMs or a nano SIM and a microSD - there's the option for storage expansion, but not if you need two SIMs in at the same time. The tray has a high-vis green gasket to ensure the slot is good for the IP65/68 rating - not that's both water jets and submersion covered (dust too, if flour is your kryptonite).
Down below, there's just the USB-C port and a mic pinhole. Up top, you can find another mic pinhole, and another port - the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Hybrid microSD slot • USB-C port on the bottom • Headphone jack up top
We left the back for last because, well, it's essentially the same as on the Mk 2. It takes some hair-splitting to come up with the point that with the fractional increase in overall thickness, the camera cluster now sticks out by fractionally less.
This minimalist camera island is, in fact, sort of a feature in 2021, when all sorts of oversized assemblies have been devised to make otherwise mundane setups look more intimidating, particularly on less expensive phones. Could the Xperia 10 III be a trendsetter by sticking with the old?
The rear panel is made of Gorilla Glass 6 too, that's no small feat given that, say, the Galaxy S21's back cover is plastic, and the Galaxy S21 is more than twice as expensive as the 10 III. Our black Mk 3 review unit is a different shade than the black of last year's one, a grayer black, if you will. The Sony logo is in a more contrasting color this time, making it pop more, while the Xperia branding has been shrunk a bit. That's about it.
The new phone is indeed slightly heavier - 169g vs. 151g. We'd say that while the difference can be felt when someone points it out to you, the Xperia 10 III weight isn't enough to push it into what you'd call heavy, and in our minds, it remains a lightweight phone.
We'd also dare call it a compact phone, particularly for its market context. That's not all that difficult given that the Xperia's diagonal stands at 6 inches and competitors are in the 6.4-6.7 inch ballpark. The perception is further aided by Sony's push for elongated 21:9 displays that ate slimmer and taller for the same diagonal than competing offers that are typically 20:9. Anyway, this is about as close as you can get to a reasonably sized midranger in 2021.
6.0" OLED with a tall aspect, standard refresh rate
The Xperia 10 III is equipped with a 6-inch OLED display with a 1080x2520px resolution in a 21:9 aspect - Sony likes the cinematic ratio. A notable omission here is a high refresh rate capability. At least a 90Hz panel feels like a must in a world where even midrangers with the standard 60Hz are rare - well, the 10 III is one.
It's not overly bright either, this Xperia's display. We measured 345nits when operating the slider manually and 559nits with the Adaptive brightness. Competing OLEDs can comfortably put out 200nits more than that when the ambient light calls for it.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 343 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 559 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 379 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 520 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 395 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 570 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 386 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 794 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 323 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 756 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 514 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 846 | ∞ | |
| 0.432 | 512 | 1185:1 | |
| 0.541 | 630 | 1165:1 | |
| 0 | 511 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 716 | ∞ | |
The display covers 97% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, carries the Triluminous branding and supports HDR10. The phone has 2 'Color gamut and contrast' modes - Original and Standard, with an additional Video image optimization toggle. Then there's the White balance submenu, where you get warm, medium, and cool presets, plus RGB sliders for further custom tweaking.
Original mode is the one better suited to sRGB content. This one defaults to the warm white balance, and while there is a minor green shift, colors are generally fairly accurate.
Standard mode is on by default, and it will get you more vibrant colors and almost-DCI-P3 coverage. White balance defaults to Cool, and indeed there's a fairly strong shift towards blue, evident on white and gray backgrounds. Switching to warm improves the overall color accuracy and brings the white point a lot closer to target, though there's still a faint green shift now.
Display settings
While in this mode, you get the option to enable Video image optimization. We wouldn't. It makes for a downright blue rendition in video streaming apps like YouTube, Netflix and Prime Video - you see the display drastically switch colors, and it's not pretty. In YouTube, for HDR videos, it'll switch once more to a different, warmer color palette. In Prime video, we didn't get HDR, nor did we see the blue shift disappear, though we were getting 1080p streams.
Netflix, meanwhile, wouldn't run past a (not very welcoming) welcome screen telling us to update the app, which takes us to the Google Play Store, only for us to find out that we are, in fact, using the latest version, and the phone simply isn't compatible with Netflix for the time being. That will likely change in the future as the phone hits the market and the streaming service updates its supported devices list. Still, just launching the app was enough to send the Xperia into blue mode.
Sony Xperia 10 III battery life
The Xperia 10 III packs a 4,500mAh battery, a healthy increase over the 3,600mAh capacity of last year's model. The Galaxy A52 5G and the Poco F3 have the same capacity cells, yet the OnePlus Nord stands at 4115mAh, while the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G relies on a 5,000mAh power pack.
Thanks to the combination of big battery, frugal chipset, and relatively small display, which is also 60Hz only, the Xperia 10 III put out impressive, class-leading battery endurance results. The over 26 hours of offline video playback in our test is perhaps the most striking number, but the 15:36h of Wi-Fi web browsing is properly great too. We also got more than 31h of voice calls out of the 10 III.
Top that up with excellent results in standby, and the Endurance rating of the Xperia 10 III works out to 137h - an impressive result, indeed.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating denotes how long the battery charge will last you if you use the device for an hour of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. More details can be found here.
Video test carried out in 60Hz refresh rate mode. Web browsing test done at the display's highest refresh rate whenever possible. Refer to the respective reviews for specifics. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your own usage - check out our all-time battery test results chart.
Charging speed
One of our main beefs with the Xperia 10 III ever since we opened its box has been with the bundled 7.5W (5V/1.5A) charger. It's the weakest adapter we've seen in a good while - even the Redmi 9 that costs a little over €100 comes with a 10W unit in the box.
The phone does support USB PowerDelivery, and Sony does make and sell a 30W PD adapter now. That XQZ-UC1 unit supports both the PDO and PPS extensions of the PD standard, which is great. The only trouble is that it has an MSRP of €50/£50, and that's more than a little too steep.
We timed the Xperia 10 III's charging speeds with both the bundled adapter and a good third-party one that maxes out at 65W and supports PPS as well. The included unit took three full hours from flat to full, with just 20% showing in the battery indicator at the half-hour mark. Things got a little better with the PD adapter - it got us to 37% in half an hour and needed 2:10h for a full top-up. In any case, the Xperia is the slowest-charging phone in its class, be it with its bundled adapter or a third-party one.
Battery settings • Stamina • Battery care
We didn't have Sony's own 30W charger to test, but we see no reason why it should perform any different than the one we tested with. Mind you, we carried out these tests with the Battery care feature turned off to avoid any potential effects of that slowing down the process.
30min charging test (from 0%)
- Poco F3
67% - Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
61% - Sony Xperia 10 II
60% - OnePlus Nord
60% - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
58% - Samsung Galaxy A52 (25W)
52% - Sony Xperia 10 III (65W PD)
37% - Samsung Galaxy A52
34% - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
27% - Sony Xperia 10 III
20%
Time to full charge (from 0%)
- Poco F3
0:56h - Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
0:58h - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
1:04h - OnePlus Nord
1:05h - Sony Xperia 10 II
1:30h - Samsung Galaxy A52 (25W)
1:30h - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
2:01h - Samsung Galaxy A52
2:03h - Sony Xperia 10 III (65W PD)
2:10h - Sony Xperia 10 III
2:58h
Speaker test
The Xperia 10 III has a single speaker on the bottom - the same setup, in principle, to the Mk 2. Similarly to the phone it replaces, the 10 III earned an 'Average' rating in our seven-track test, with the numerical loudness result being slightly better. The Galaxy A52 (4G) has stereo speakers and they proved louder than the Xperia's, and that likely applies to the A52 5G as well. The Poco F3, too, packs stereo speakers, and they're even louder.
The 10 III's output sounds a little different to the 10 II's - more full-bodied with a bit more presence in the low end but less vibrant mid-highs. It's decent, not great.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Android 11, Xperia style
The Xperia 10 III boots Android 11 in what appears a very stock state. Looking deeper, though, there are several touches from Sony that add extra functionality.
Starting with some of the basics, the lockscreen is business as usual with a clock (that you can customize), a shortcut to the camera and another one for Google Assistant (a bit redundant when there's a hardware key for that already). The homescreen, too, is as standard as they come. The Google feed is the leftmost pane, but you can disable it if it's not your thing. The quick toggles/notification area is Google's stock too.
With this version of Android, you get Notification history and the Bubbles shortcuts as part of the Conversations features - both available on the Xperia, unlike some more heavily customized UIs.
Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Notification shade • Notification settings
This brings us to one of the Sony exclusives, already available on the previous generation, the Multi-window switch. Split-screen multi-window implementation is one of the bits Google changes most often, but the current one has stuck for a couple of years, and it's a really clunky one, so Sony intervened.
You access it from the task switcher or from the dedicated shortcut icon on the homescreen, and you get sort of like two stacked task switcher rolodexes with your currently opened apps to pick one for the top half and one for the bottom half of the screen. The rightmost pane in each half lets you launch another app, not just pick from the already running ones. The phone remembers three previously used pairs so you can access them directly, though we couldn't find a way to save custom app pair presets. It's worth mentioning that the window split can be done in almost any arbitrary ratio, not just 50/50.
Task switcher • Multi-window switcher
Side sense is another of the in-house Sony features. A bar shortcut on either side of the phone opens up a menu of shortcuts to apps and features, most of them user configurable. The 21:9 multi-window pairs can be customized here, but they don't go into the three pair shortcuts in the regular task switcher. A new addition to the menu a widget to control the Sony headphones app - handy if you have Sony headphones.
Side sense
There's a fairly standard set of gestures for call handling, as well as a one-handed mode and smart backlight control. It's in this menu that you'll find the navigation options with the two basic options - gestures or a nav bar.
Gesture settings
Just in case you were wondering, the feature-rich Game enhancer, as seen on the Xperia 1 II and 5 II, is not present on our Xperia 10 III review unit, just as it was missing on the Mk 2. Sony's in-house Album gallery is long gone, but Music still persists.
Synthetic benchmarks
The Xperia 10 III is powered by the Snapdragon 690 chipset, a mid-tier chipset with 5G capability, and it's manufactured on an 8nm process. It's a significant step up from the Snapdragon 665 of last year's model (in both performance and, obviously, next-gen connectivity), but in the context of 2021 5G midrangers, it's still not among the chart-toppers.
The SD690 has an octa-core CPU in a 2+6 arrangement (2x2.0 GHz Kryo 560 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 560 Silver) and uses the Adreno 619 for graphics. A single 128GB/8GB RAM and storage configuration is available.
In GeekBench, the Xperia is roughly comparable with other mid-tier 5G-capable handsets using the SD690 (the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is the one we've seen), while the SD750 and SD765 devices do have a small if largely inconsequential advantage. The Xperia, in turn, is slightly more powerful than a Dimensity 800U device such as the vivo V21 5G. You might be able to squeeze a Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro within the same budget as the Xperia, and its SD865 is a notably scarier beast.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
3311 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
3091 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
2009 - Motorola Moto G 5G
1980 - OnePlus Nord
1953 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
1910 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
1848 - Oppo Reno5 5G
1813 - Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
1805 - Realme 8 5G
1784 - vivo V20 Pro 5G
1768 - Sony Xperia 10 III
1738 - Google Pixel 5
1647 - vivo V21 5G
1600 - Samsung Galaxy A52
1577 - Sony Xperia 10 II
1413
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
901 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
712 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
661 - Motorola Moto G 5G
659 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
643 - Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
615 - vivo V20 Pro 5G
611 - OnePlus Nord
610 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
608 - Oppo Reno5 5G
608 - Google Pixel 5
594 - Sony Xperia 10 III
592 - vivo V21 5G
574 - Realme 8 5G
569 - Samsung Galaxy A52
525 - Sony Xperia 10 II
315
Over in Antutu, the Xperia 10 III maintains its position behind the bulk of 5G midrangers - it's within 10%, but not quite a match for the Snapdragon 700s.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Poco F3
631850 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
563961 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
435166 - vivo V21 5G
336699 - Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
333952 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
324686 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
318882 - Oppo Reno5 5G
317762 - Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
317139 - vivo V20 Pro 5G
314978 - OnePlus Nord
312794 - Motorola Moto G 5G
312461 - Realme 8 5G
302059 - Google Pixel 5
289261 - Sony Xperia 10 III
286216 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
279579 - Samsung Galaxy A52
261282 - Sony Xperia 10 II
196545
It's a wider gap in graphics benchmarks where the higher-series Snapdragons are more heavily equipped. The Xperia is a good 30% behind in fps numbers in GFXBench, when compared against the SG750 Moto G 5G or the SD765 OnePlus Nord.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
87 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
74 - OnePlus Nord
38 - Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
37 - vivo V20 Pro 5G
37 - Oppo Reno5 5G
36 - Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
35 - Motorola Moto G 5G
34 - vivo V21 5G
34 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
33 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
33 - Samsung Galaxy A52
29 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
26 - Sony Xperia 10 III
26 - Realme 8 5G
25 - Google Pixel 5
22 - Sony Xperia 10 II
13
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
77 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
57 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
56 - Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
51 - OnePlus Nord
34 - vivo V20 Pro 5G
33 - Oppo Reno5 5G
31 - Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
31 - vivo V21 5G
31 - Motorola Moto G 5G
30 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
28 - Samsung Galaxy A52
26 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
23 - Realme 8 5G
22 - Google Pixel 5
22 - Sony Xperia 10 III
21 - Sony Xperia 10 II
10
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
51 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
43 - OnePlus Nord
21 - Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
21 - vivo V20 Pro 5G
21 - Oppo Reno5 5G
20 - vivo V21 5G
20 - Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
20 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
19 - Motorola Moto G 5G
19 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
19 - Samsung Galaxy A52
17 - Realme 8 5G
15 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
14 - Sony Xperia 10 III
14 - Google Pixel 5
13 - Sony Xperia 10 II
7.1
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
46 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
36 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
33 - OnePlus Nord
19 - Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
18 - vivo V20 Pro 5G
18 - Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
18 - Motorola Moto G 5G
17 - Oppo Reno5 5G
17 - vivo V21 5G
17 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
16 - Samsung Galaxy A52
15 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
13 - Realme 8 5G
13 - Sony Xperia 10 III
12 - Google Pixel 5
12 - Sony Xperia 10 II
5.6
Things are no different in 3D Mark where the Xperia is, again, not quite up to the standard of other phones you can get for the money.
3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
7101 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
6436 - vivo V21 5G
3331 - Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
3288 - vivo V20 Pro 5G
3286 - OnePlus Nord
3285 - Oppo Reno5 5G
3208 - Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
3167 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
2819 - Motorola Moto G 5G
2810 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
2789 - Samsung Galaxy A52
2529 - Google Pixel 5
2318 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
2166 - Sony Xperia 10 III
2135 - Sony Xperia 10 II
1125
3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
6412 - Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
5345 - vivo V20 Pro 5G
3127 - OnePlus Nord
3067 - Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
3062 - vivo V21 5G
3050 - Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
3035 - Oppo Reno5 5G
3008 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
2609 - Motorola Moto G 5G
2608 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
2595 - Samsung Galaxy A52
2406 - Google Pixel 5
2267 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
2012 - Sony Xperia 10 III
2002 - Sony Xperia 10 II
1121
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
2713 - Oppo Reno4 Pro 5G
1668 - Oppo Reno5 5G
1658 - vivo V21 5G
1605 - Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
1556 - Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
1105 - Realme 8 5G
1104 - Motorola Moto G 5G
1099 - Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite
1098 - Samsung Galaxy A52
1040 - Google Pixel 5
1033 - Sony Xperia 10 III
825 - OnePlus Nord N10 5G
811
The Xperia 10 III continues in the footsteps of its predecessor when it comes to raw performance - in that it's generally no match for its rivals of the day. It's not exactly underpowered and can stand its ground under CPU loads, but much better GPUs can be had for about the same asking price (of course, with inevitable concessions in other areas).
For what it's worth, the Xperia showed no signs of heat build-up or thermal throttling and maintained the same benchmark scores over repeated runs.
Triple setup with a tele in the midrange
The Xperia 10 III is equipped with a triple camera setup - one with three proper focal lengths, including a tele, as opposed to the vast majority of midrangers which have macros and depth sensors just to inflate the camera count.
It's a familiar setup too - in principle, at least, though a lot of the hardware is the same as what the Mk 2 has. The primary camera still uses Sony's IMX 486 sensor, a conventional 'regular Bayer' (not Quad) 1/2.8 unit. Now it's paired with a slightly longer 27mm lens with a slightly faster f/1.8 aperture (26mm, f/2.0 on the old one).
The ultrawide relies on the Samsung S5K4H7 sensor, carried over from the 10 II. It's an 8MP 1/4" imager with 1.12µm pixels and it has a 16mm f/2.2 lens in front. What was another S5K4H7 last year on the tele has now been replaced with an OmniVision OV8856 - that, too, an 8MP 1/4" sensor with 1.12µm pixels. The focal length on this one is now 54mm, up from the 52mm of the Mk2.
There are no changes on the front - it's an 8MP S5K4H7 with a 24mm f/2.0 lens.
Camera app
The camera app is the same as on the Mk 2 and that's, oddly, a little different from the one we saw on the Xperia 5 II and in ways that don't have to be. Namely, the focal length selector isn't the tree-based one with direct access to each focal length, but the other, less useful one that cycles between the three cameras. So if you want to get to the ultrawide from the main cam, you need to go through the tele first - it's just dumb, and Sony already has the superior solution on the high-end Xperias.
Other things are as expected - side swipes switch between stills and video while swiping down (but not up) toggles between the front and rear cams. The far end of the viewfinder has controls for flash, bokeh mode, aspect ratio, implicit white balance and exposure compensation adjustment, an extra toggle for switching between front and rear cams, and a cog wheel to take you to settings.
A Mode button in the vicinity of the shutter release gives access to extra modes like Panorama and Creative effect (a.k.a. filters), and the last mode you pick from here gets promoted to a sticky position for quick access from the viewfinder.
There's a manual mode where you get to tweak exposure parameters yourself. It's not the most full-featured - white balance, for example, can only be set to one of four presets, but not by light temperature. ISO range is 50-3200, so that's pretty good, while shutter speed can be set between 1/4000s and 1s. You can dial in exposure compensation in the -2EV to +2EV range in 1/3EV increments, and you can also focus manually, but there's no focus peaking. A live histogram is also missing.
There's also the matter that you can only access the main rear camera, but not the ultrawide or the tele. Oddly, you do get sort of a Manual mode for the selfie cam - with just white balance and exposure compensation.
Camera UI
Daylight image quality
Daylight image quality of the Xperia's main cam is adequate for the class. It tends to underexpose but maintains a relatively wide dynamic range, though, on occasion, it wouldn't deem a scene HDR-worthy, and those would turn out with harsh tonal extremes (like the snail shot). Colors are very likable - lively, just right. There's a good level of detail in these 12MP shots, and the noise is well controlled.
Daylight samples, main camera (1x)
The ultrawide, too, compares well to the rivaling offers in the segment. At 8MP, it's not as high-res as the 12MP one on the Galaxy A52, but the Poco F3 and OnePlus Nord both have 8MP units.
The photos out of the Xperia have very good sharpness almost all the way to the corners, and capture excellent detail for their megapixels. Some purple fringes around contrasting edges are par for the course for an ultrawide, particularly in the midrange. Dynamic range is wide, again, in the context of the price bracket and competition, and we're liking the metering and exposure better here than on the main camera.
Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)
The tele camera has a distinctly different color rendition, most evident in the purple-shifted skies - it's okay in isolation, but it's far from a perfect match for the other cameras. Sharpness and detail are respectable, especially when you factor in the Xperia's price point where teles barely exist. A boost in exposure wouldn't hurt these images, the dynamic range is wide enough not to be an issue.
Daylight samples, tele camera (2x)
Low-light image quality
The Xperia doesn't really thrive in the dark, it's modest 1/2.8" type sensor being unable to gather as much light as the bulk of competitors. Images are underexposed, and dynamic range is limited, though colors do maintain a good level of saturation where there is a decent amount of light on the subject. These photos are overall quite soft too.
Low-light samples, main camera (1x)
Night mode helps a bunch. It salvages blown highlights and opens up the shadows, making for a much better overall look. When you examine the photos from up close, you'd see these are slightly softer still, but at least they do look good at fit to screen level. We observed a weird haloing around highlights in the sixth sample that didn't present itself in other scenes, we're not sure what to make of it.
Low-light samples, main camera (1x), Night mode
All the points we mentioned about the main camera hold true of the ultrawide, only even more so. Underexposure is prevalent, the narrow dynamic range leaves extremes underdeveloped, detail is soft.
Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)
Similarly, Night mode improves things dramatically and gets you superior tonal development. There's no detrimental effect on sharpness, it may even be improved a little. We'd gladly take the hike in noise in the shadows to along with all the benefits.
Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), Night mode
At the 2x zoom setting, the Xperia switches between the tele cam and the main cam depending on available light. Out of the four samples below, only the last one comes from the zoom camera, and it's not great. When it's the main camera shooting, it struggles to focus in the dark, though when it does manage to acquire focus, it takes passable images, like the first one below. Dynamic range is very narrow regardless of the camera being used.
Low-light samples, 2x zoom
Again, we'd prefer the Night mode output for 2x zoomed-in shots because of its better dynamic range, even if it does tend to smooth out textures and detail a little. It's no miracle worker, of course, and you'd be better off in scenes with some actual light in them.
Low-light samples, 2x zoom, Night mode
Portrait mode
Portrait mode is accessed from the toggle at the far end of the viewfinder, as opposed to being in the modes pane. It makes for nice people shots with likeable skin tones and competent subject separation.
Backlit scenes might end up with blown highlights as the phone prioritizes exposure on the subject, which is the better side to err on. It's a fairly common shortcoming of midrangers, with HDR in portrait mode apparently requiring flagship-grade processors.
Portrait samples
Selfies
Selfies out of the Xperia 10 III are unremarkable. Skin tones are accurate, but a little lifeless to go along with the general muted color reproduction. Dynamic range is okay and you'd be getting good exposure on your face even in relatively challenging light. Fine detail isn't a strong suit of the Xperia's selfie cam, however, and even in decent light facial textures end up smoothed out (with all beautification features turned off), with further softening as the light drops. Overall, basically, any competitor has a stronger selfie game.
Selfie samples
Portrait selfie mode, which is accessed from the Modes panel shoots in 2.8MP, which is a perplexing development, given that the previous model operated in the full 8MP for portrait selfies. Subject detection is iffy, there's no HDR, images are overprocessed and not very detailed.
Selfie portrait samples
Once you're done with the real-world samples, head over to our Photo compare tool to see how the Sony Xperia 10 III stacks up against the competition.
Sony Xperia 10 III against the Galaxy A52 and the Mi 11 Lite 5G in our Photo compare tool
Video recording
The Sony Xperia 10 III records video up to 4K30 with its main camera. The ultrawide and the telephoto are technically capped at 1080p 30fps, but the 2x toggle remains operational in 4K and 1080p 60fps, only the footage is then sourced from the main camera. You get to pick between the h.264 and h.265 codecs for the 4K recording, the 1080p is h.264 only. Audio is recorded in stereo at 156kbps.
4K footage out of the Xperia (bit rate of 42Mbps) is okay, about on par with other midrangers. It has good detail levels but is a little on the soft side when you stare at clips at 1:1 magnification. Dynamic range is, again, average - the midday sun with an overcast sky wasn't doing the Xperia any favors, but it did a reasonably good job. A brighter exposure wouldn't have hurt, however. Colors, meanwhile, are excellent - natural and vibrant at the same time.
The ultrawide dials up the saturation a fair bit but remains within reason. It produces brighter clips, closer than the main camera to what we'd like, and it too has decent, if not spectacular dynamic range. Detail is very good for 1080p footage from a midrange ultrawide, albeit with a strong processed look to it.
The tele camera does have the same off colors that it exhibits in stills, but it's not that big of a deal unless you're doing direct comparisons. Sharpness and detail aplenty here, no complaints.
Video stabilization is available in all modes. 4K footage from the main camera is very competently stabilized in general, though moving the phone does cause it to hunt for focus, and that ruins the impression of smoothness.
The ultrawide irons out walking very well too, but exhibits issues at the ends of pans as the phone seems to hesitate whether you'd be stopping the pan or there is gone to be more motion. Pointing in one direction results in super stable footage though.
The telecamera doesn't have panning issues and produces very steady results too.
Here's a glimpse of how the Sony Xperia 10 III compares to rivals in our Video compare tool. Head over there for the complete picture.
Sony Xperia 10 III against the Galaxy A52 and the Mi 11 Lite 5G in our Video compare tool
Competition
The Xperia 10 III is another of those Sonys that don't bother adhering to market trends. Sony has its own feature prioritization. As such, this Xperia is different from a lot of its competitors in the 5G-capable midrange space. With, naturally, both the good and the bad implications.
Perhaps the closest match to the Xperia's feature set is the Galaxy A52 5G. While we've only reviewed the 4G version, the largely identical hardware between the two Galaxies lets us speculate with a fairly high level of confidence who's going to win at what. The Galaxy has a superior display, beefier chipset, and stereo speakers. The main and ultrawide cameras on the A52 5G are a little better, but the Xperia does counter with a decent zoom camera which the Galaxy lacks. The Samsung is the only competitor offering proper water resistance, but the 10 III is that extra bit safer with its IP65/68 rating (IP67 on the A52), and the Sony is the obvious choice if you value pocketability.
If you care about size and weight, the Mi 11 Lite 5G can give the Xperia 10 III a run for its money thanks to its svelte 6.8mm waistline and 159g weight, but the narrow Sony remains a favorite for single-handed use. The Xiaomi's water protection maxes out at splashes, but it has stereo speakers, a finer display, and a more powerful chipset. The Sony lasts longer on a single charge but takes three times as long to top up. Oh, and one has an infrared blaster (Mi), the other - a headphone jack (Xperia).
The OnePlus Nord is half-way out the door, to be replaced by the Nord CE any day now, but the new one won't be much different by all accounts. Yet another alternative with more raw power and better display, the Nord is much quicker to charge, but also quicker to drain - the Xperia wins another endurance race. The Sony is the overall better cameraphone, too.
Here's a curveball - the LG Velvet. It matches the Xperia's water submersion survival rating, has stereo speakers and a headphone jack, and even if it's not overly compact, it is a pretty sexy handset. It, too, offers better performance than the Xperia though it's far from the Sony's endurance rating. With the Velvet you win bonus points for having one of LG's last smartphones, but it's really the fact of LG exiting the smartphone business that will allow you to get it at roughly Xperia 10 III money, otherwise it would have been out of reach.
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G • Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G • OnePlus Nord • LG Velvet 5G
Verdict
The Xperia 10 III, similarly to the bulk of Xperias in the past, is hard to get us excited and advising that you rush into stores to get one. It's got its flaws - the 60Hz display sticks out at a time when virtually the entire industry is switching to high refresh rates. And we've picked our words very carefully when talking about the charger but we do have very strong feelings in that respect. Stereo speakers are ever more common in the midrange too, and the Xperia misses out on this trend too. And for a phone that prides itself on its camera prowess, selfies sure aren't up to scratch.
However, the Xperia has its fair share of advantages over the competition. Starting with the physical, the Xperia is one of the most compact devices you can find in the midrange. More importantly, it has full IP65/IP68 dust and water protection - best in class weather sealing. Best-in-class is also the 10 III's battery endurance, and that does mean a lot. Plus, you do get a proper triple camera system that while not infallible, is more versatile than most. And, in the end, it's an Xperia and that amy matters a lot to the right buyer.
Pros
- Durable Gorilla Glass on both sides, IP65/IP68 rating for dust and water protection.
- Relatively light and compact.
- Superb battery life.
- One of few telephoto cameras in the price segment.
Cons
- Display is only 60Hz in a sea of HRR competitors, it's not as bright as most either.
- Painfully slow bundled charger, optional Sony unit is expensive, and charging speed is not competitive even with it.
- No stereo speakers.
- Middling camera low-light performance, unimpressive selfies.
0 Response to "Sony Xperia 10 III review"
Post a Comment