Sony’s new Xperia phone jumps on the camera bar bandwagon

4 hours ago 1

Sony has announced the Xperia 10 VII, a midrange Android telephone that’s launching successful the UK, Europe, and Asia, though not the US. It’s much notable than astir Sony phones due to the fact that it marks the archetypal large alteration to the rear plan successful implicit 5 years: a camera bar, conscionable similar caller Pixels, and present adjacent iPhones.

The Xperia Android enactment has kept its cameras vertically stacked successful 1 country since the first-generation Xperia 5 successful 2019, with lone uncommon exceptions similar the standalone Xperia Pro-I. But the 10 VII reinvents that plan connection with a horizontal camera brace mounted successful a pill-shaped raised barroom that stretches crossed the phone’s back. The matte integrative assemblage comes successful black, white, oregon turquoise, and looks similar nary Xperia telephone earlier it. It looks a small much similar Google’s Pixel phones, a plan besides aped by Apple’s iPhone Air this week.

Things are much recognizable from the front, with Sony’s acquainted insistence connected a chunky bezel supra and beneath the display. That means the telephone isn’t rather arsenic compact arsenic its 120Hz 6.1-inch show would suggest, but it’s inactive smaller and lighter than most. It besides follows the recent Xperia 1 models successful ditching what utilized to beryllium a trademark 21:9 facet ratio, present utilizing boxier and much accepted 19.5:9 proportions.

There are a fewer different modular Sony touches though. Most invited for immoderate volition beryllium the 3.5mm headphone jack, and the aforesaid assemblage are apt to emotion the expandable microSD storage. The large bezel packs front-facing stereo speakers too, and the associated IP65 / 68 standing is amended than astir offer. There’s besides a side-mounted single-stage camera shutter fastener — a diagnostic that’s little unsocial than it utilized to be.

Otherwise, this is simply a beauteous by-the-numbers midranger. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset is nary powerhouse, and the dual rear cameras — a 50-megapixel main and 13-megapixel ultrawide — sound emblematic for the price. The 5,000mAh artillery should past for 2 days according to Sony, but charging is constricted to wired.

I’ve ever liked the look of Sony’s modern phones, adjacent if they’ve often lagged down the contention elsewhere. They were opening to look a small dated though, and I’m a definite instrumentality of the caller design. Sony precocious reiterated that the Xperia phones are “very important” to it — hopefully this redesign is simply a motion of immoderate committedness to the line, and that we’ll spot it widen to adjacent year’s flagship exemplary too.

The Xperia 10 VII costs €449 / £399 (around $530) and is disposable to preorder present successful the UK and Europe, shipping from September 19th.