It'south no secret that Sony's smartphone concern is struggling. Competition has become fierce over the final couple of years, with continued innovation and lower prices causing trouble for market incumbents. Rather than doubling down on their flagship products, like HTC did with their excellent HTC 10, Sony seems happy to trundle along with minor iterations yr after year.

The new Xperia Ten series may not deport the same proper noun as its predecessor, the Xperia Z, merely at that place's no mistaking these products for a revolutionary change. I've been testing the the top-finish Xperia Ten Performance for a few weeks now and I've found information technology to exist remarkably similar to the Xperia Z5 that preceded it. Considering the Z5 was the 6th derivation of the three-year-old Xperia Z, it'south like shooting fish in a barrel to feel this design is getting stale.

The similarities between the Xperia X Operation and the Xperia Z1 in item are striking. Released in 2022, the Xperia Z1 came with a v.0-inch 1080p display; in 2022 nosotros're still seeing a 5.0-inch 1080p brandish on the X Performance. Both phones are h2o resistant. Both phones accept cameras with more than 20 megapixels, and both have dedicated shutter buttons.

So what has Sony managed to achieve in three years? Well, the Xperia X Performance ditches the Snapdragon 800 SoC for the modern Snapdragon 820, bringing along better connectivity, more storage, and more RAM. The forepart camera is up to 13 megapixels at present, while Sony claims the rear camera is their fastest e'er. Unbelievably, we're getting a smaller battery in a telephone just equally thick. Plus we're getting some new software features, also.

When I first picked up the Xperia Ten Performance at MWC 2022, so again for this review, I couldn't assistance but feel that the pattern is bland. I've seen this exact sort of smartphone style from Sony more than iii years ago, and it seems that equally competitors take got slimmer and sexier, Sony's designers have gone backwards.

In that location are very few aspects to the Xperia X Functioning that are visually more than appealing than my favorite Sony smartphone design: the Xperia Z3. Since that phone's release in 2022, Sony's flagship device has gained a millimeter of thickness, lost the comfortable and stylish curved edges, and swapped premium materials for plastic in some areas.

On Sony'southward product page, the company is quick to highlight the sleek metallic back panel, which I will admit looks slap-up thanks to a subtle brushed cease and minimal distractions, only the plastic edges let this handset downward; they expect cheap and don't carry the same textural pleasance. Sony has tried to color these edges to look the aforementioned as the rear console, merely information technology hasn't worked: the visible seam that joins the back panel to the sides is cruddy, and the difference in luster between metal and plastic is obvious.

Placed next to the similar Huawei P9, information technology's clear what Sony should take done in designing the Xperia Ten Operation. The P9's metal unibody looks and feels fantastic, as the premium materials bend seamlessly around the edges. The Xperia X Performance's transition from metallic to plastic looks ugly in comparison, and gives the impression that Sony's creation is the cheaper device.

Information technology's not.

The metal back does have its advantages. There are no antenna lines which are usually necessary on a unibody design and can detract from the manner. The Xperia Ten Performance is also easier to grip than its Xperia Z series predecessors, which used fragile drinking glass backs that were prone to cracks, every bit well as existence glace fingerprint magnets.

The front console is constructed from a slab of glass protecting the display, which subtly curves into the edges, creating a swooshable experience. The bezels are average in size for a 5.0-inch smartphone, and are colored to friction match the edges and dorsum panel. I'thou not a fan of this single-tone design – it looks a bit tedious – and the rose gold model I received to review is not something I'd unremarkably cull to buy. That said, the X Performance is also available in white, black and "lime gold."

The Xperia Ten Functioning is i of the very few remaining flagships to pack dual forepart-facing speakers, which provide a stereo feel when watching video and playing games. I love stereo speakers on the front end of smartphones, and information technology's sad to see companies similar HTC move away from this. The quality of the X Performance'south speakers isn't particularly great, simply their book is decent and I don't expect amazing sound from such small drivers.

Along the bottom border of the Xperia X Performance is a micro-USB port, which is disappointing considering almost high-end devices have transitioned to the more versatile USB-C port. Samsung is the other outlier here, as they take their Gear VR organisation which yet uses micro-USB. Sony doesn't have anything similar that, then I'm puzzled as to why they didn't update their charging and information port to the modernistic standard.

The top border features a 3.5mm headphone jack, while the left edge has a tray for either two nano-SIMs, or a nano-SIM and microSD card slot. I appreciate seeing dual-SIM functionality here, every bit it isn't often found on high-finish smartphones.

On the correct edge is the fingerprint sensor, which doubles as the power push button. I was critical of the Xperia Z5's fingerprint sensor in this location as it didn't seem to work very well, simply these issues accept been resolved on the Xperia X Operation.

This sensor is ludicrously fast to operate, much more authentic than its previous implementation, and the positioning is just virtually perfect. My only concern is that the tactile feedback from the button isn't great, and it might've made the phone thicker than necessary.

Below the fingerprint sensor is the volume rocker, which is in an awkward position due to its low position on the right-mitt edge. A more comfortable location hither would be to a higher place the fingerprint sensor, and there would be less chance of accidental presses equally well. Below the volume rocker is the dedicated two-stage photographic camera push.

The Xperia X Performance is water resistant, carrying an IP65 and IP68 rating that allows immersion in fresh h2o up to 1.5m for up to xxx minutes. Information technology'south also dust tight and resistant to low pressure water jets. Information technology'southward always handy to have a water resistant telephone for the times information technology accidentally gets dropped in the toilet or splashed with java, but under no circumstances should the X Performance be taken into table salt water.

As far as usability is concerned, the Xperia Ten Performance'south 5.0-inch display makes this smartphone piece of cake to apply with i manus. At 8.7mm thick information technology's a chunkier than I would have liked to meet, particularly every bit the telephone doesn't pack in a large battery, though it remains more than portable than handsets with larger displays.