Sony Xperia 1, 10 Plus, 10, L3 hands-on review

Introduction

On one hand, it's kind of hard to be too surprised about Sony's new device announcements, purely on the grounds of the avalanche of leaks that preceded the MWC keynote. Then again, many of said rumors turned out to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Whether intentional or not on Sony's part, all that matters is that the devices the Japanese giant did unveil at the Barcelona event still managed to turn quite a few heads.

Sony's fresh new lineup can probably be described best as different. Alternative and pretty bold also spring to mind. Let's start with the elephant in the room - the new aspect ratio. Sony is banking hard on the 21:9 ratio and for the most part has pretty sound reasoning to back that decision up. First and foremost, of course, there is the constant strive to stay different, interesting and hence relevant in a vast and mostly similar smartphone market. A skinny and extremely tall phone, with memorable bezel design and proportions that can show cinematic content in all its glory, is definitely an attention-grabber.

Multimedia consumption is one of the key marketing points Sony has put forward for its new devices. Backed up by a set of other advanced audio and video features, we can definitely see the angle.

Then there is also the productivity argument. Split-screen multi-tasking really comes into its own with the extra screen real estate. Plus, if nothing else, it's a fact that most of what we tend to do on our phones nowadays is scroll through various vertical content. This is another area the 21:9 aspect ratio in portrait orientation really shines.

So color us impressed and intrigued by the new aspect ratio. But there are more interesting aspects to Sony's MWC 2019 announcements to consider as well. Mainly dealing with a new product naming convention and potentially strategy. Without further ado, let's quickly go through the total of four handsets Sony took the wrappings off.

First off, we have the Xperia 1. Pretty simple and straight-forward as far as naming is concerned. Yet slightly confusing once you realize it is intended as a continuation of Sony's "Premium" line, rather than the flagship "XZ" one.

Sony Xperia 1 specs

• Body: Aluminum frame; Gorilla Glass 6 on back and front; 167 x 72 x 8.2 mm; 180 grams; IP65/68 ingress protection rating; Color options: Black, Grey, Purple, White
• Screen: 6.5" OLED; 21:9 aspect ratio; 4K (1644 x 3840 px); 420ppi; HDR BT.2020; DCI-P3 color space
• Rear cameras: Primary: Motion Eye 12MP (1/2.6" Exmor RS), f/1.6 aperture (ISO 3200), 26mm lens, Dual Photo Diode; 12MP (1/3.4") telephoto, f/2.4, 52mm lens; 12MP (1/3.4") wide, f/2.4, 16mm
• Additional camera features: Predictive Capture (Motion/Smile), Autofocus burst with up to 10 fps AE/AE tracking; Eye Autofocus; Predictive Hybrid Autofocus; Anti-distortion shutter; Optical SteadyShot with Intelligent Active Mode (5-axis EIS + OIS); RAW noise reduction
• Video capture: 4K (16:9 or 21:9), Super slow motion 960fps at FullHD
• Front camera: 8MP (1/4" sensor), f/2.0 fixed-focus
• Chipset: Snapdragon 855 chipset, octa-core processor (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 485 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 485 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 485), Adreno 640 GPU.
• Memory: 6GB of RAM + 64/128GB storage; Up to 512GB microSD card support
• OS: Android 9.0 Pie
• Battery: 3,330mAh Li-Ion; USB Power Delivery fast charging; Smart STAMINA, Battery Care, Xperia Adaptive Charging
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM/ Single-SIM options available (market dependant); 5CA LTE 4x4 MIMO, Cat.19 LTE (Up to 1.6Gbps download speed); USB 3.1 Type-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS + GLONASS; Bluetooth 5.0; NFC.
• Audio: Hybrid stereos speaker setup, Dolby Atmos, DSEE HX, LDAC, Qualcomm aptX HD
• Misc: Side-mounted fingerprint reader, X1 For mobile engine, TRILUMINOS display, BIONZ X for mobile (Eye autofocus); Cinema Pro app for cinematic video recording

Digging a bit into the specs sheet clearly reveals more than a few signs of the Xperia 1's "Premium" pedigree. Most-notably that's the 4K resolution. A pretty unique Sony offering, as it is, now made even better and holding the claim of the world first 4K OLED smartphone panel. Skip on to the next page for a more in-depth look into some of its other awesome qualities.

Following the Xperia 1 in the current announcement roster are the Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus. As per Sony's own placement of the pair within its current lineup these shape up as successors to the popular "XA" lineup. Although that being said, Sony has coined a pretty apt "super mid-range" title for them.

Sony Xperia 10 Plus specs

• Body: Plastic unibody with "metalic finish"; Gorilla Glass 5 on front; 167 x 73 x 8.3 mm; 180 grams; Color options: Navy, Black, Silver, Gold
• Screen: 6.5" IPS; 21:9 aspect ratio; FullHD+ (1080 x 2520 px)
• Rear cameras: Primary: 12MP (1/2.8"); 8MP (1/4") 2x telephoto camera (only available for stills)
• Additional camera features: Hybrid AF, SteadyShot, ISO 12800 for photos and 3200 for videos
• Video capture: 4K (16:9 or 21:9); SteadyShot
• Front camera: 8MP (1/4.0"), ISO 3200 for photos and 1600 for video
• Chipset: Snapdragon 636 chipset, octa-core processor (2x1.8 GHz Kryo 260), Adreno 509 GPU.
• Memory: 4GB/6GB (in China) of RAM + 64GB storage (some markets could get less); Up to 512GB microSD card support
• OS: Android 9.0 Pie
• Battery: 3,000mAh Li-Ion; Smart STAMINA, Battery Care
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM/ Single-SIM options available (market dependant); Cat.12 LTE; USB 2.0 Type-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS + GLONASS; Bluetooth 5.0; NFC; 3.5mm audio jack
• Audio: Single bottom-firing speaker, DSEE HX, LDAC, Smart Amplifier
• Misc: Side-mounted fingerprint reader

We definitely understand the reasoning. Both phones borrow heavily from the premium Xperia 1, especially in terms of design. This also includes the experimental new 21:9 cinematic aspect ratio. Of course, on slightly less visually impressive display and with more mid-range appropriate internals, but the overall product strategy is clearly there.

Sony Xperia 10 specs

• Body: Plastic unibody with "metalic finish"; Gorilla Glass 5 on front; 155 x 68 x 8.4 mm; 162 grams; Color options: Navy, Black, Silver, Pink
• Screen: 6.0" IPS; 21:9 aspect ratio; FullHD+ (1080 x 2520 px)
• Rear cameras: Primary: 13MP (1/3.0"); 5MP (1/4") depth sensor
• Additional camera features: Hybrid AF, 5x digital zoom (photo and video), SteadyShot, ISO 12800 for photos and 3200 for videos
• Video capture: 4K (16:9 or 21:9); SteadyShot
• Front camera: 8MP (1/4.0"), ISO 3200 for photos and 1600 for video
• Chipset: Snapdragon 630 chipset, octa-core processor (8x2.2 GHz Cortex-A53), Adreno 508 GPU.
• Memory: 3/4GB (in China) of RAM + 64GB storage (some markets could get less); Up to 512GB microSD card support
• OS: Android 9.0 Pie
• Battery: 2,870mAh Li-Ion; Smart STAMINA, Battery Care
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM/ Single-SIM options available (market dependant); Cat.12 LTE; USB 2.0 Type-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS + GLONASS; Bluetooth 5.0; NFC; 3.5mm audio jack
• Audio: Single bottom-firing speaker, DSEE TX, LDAC, Smart Amplifier
• Misc: Side-mounted fingerprint reader

Last and probably least, there is the new Xperia L3 entry-level model. It might be the runt of the litter in this case, but compared to previous Xperia L devices, it clearly shows more ambitions to strive towards its bigger sibling.

Sony Xperia L3 specs

• Body: Plastic unibody with "metalic finish"; Gorilla Glass 5 on front; 154 x 72 x 8.9 mm; 156 grams; Color options: Black, Silver, Gold
• Screen: 5.7" IPS; 18:9 aspect ratio; HD+
• Rear cameras: Primary: 13MP; 2MP depth sensor
• Additional camera features: Contrast AF, ISO 3200 for photos and videos, Bokeh, 4x Clear Image Zoom (digital)
• Front camera: 8MP, 83-degree super wide-angle, ISO 1600
• Chipset: Mediatek MT6762 Helio P22 (12 nm) chipset, octa-core processor (8x2.0 GHz Cortex-A53), PowerVR GE8320 GPU.
• Memory: 3GB of RAM + 32GB storage (some markets could get less); Up to 512GB microSD card support
• OS: Android 8.0 Oreo
• Battery: 3,300mAh Li-Ion; Smart STAMINA, Battery Care; USB Power Delivery compatibility
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM/ Single-SIM options available (market dependant); Cat.6 LTE; USB 2.0 Type-C; Wi-Fi; GPS + GLONASS; Bluetooth 5.0; NFC; 3.5mm audio jack
• Audio: Single bottom-firing speaker, Smart Amplifier
• Misc: Side-mounted fingerprint reader

The new revamped design is there, complete with a trendy tall panel. A much more common 18:9 aspect, but a clear indication of Sony's focus on entertainment and multimedia consumption.

Speaking of design, Sony is clearly taking a step away from the familiar "Ambient Flow" concept and all of its predecessors and derivatives. Like we said, it's a bold new look, mean to house a bold new experimental display form factor. We can see it trickle down all the way to the budget Xperia L3 offer.

Follow along on the next page as we take a closer look, of course, starting from the new ultra-premium Xperia 1, it's looks and what it has to offer.

Sony Xperia 1 design

Let us just start by saying the Xperia 1 is a really gorgeous device. Of course, we mean that in pretty typical smartphone terms - a standard metal frame construction, complete with a glass sandwich on both sides. Having said that, Sony really spared to expense in terms of materials and build quality. The metal frame feels really sturdy, despite the fact that it extends 167mm. We felt zero flex in the extra-tall Xperia 1. Still, it is not exactly the most pocketable device out there.

On the other hand, at 72mm wide, it is fairly skinny and thus easy to get a good grip on. Probably a good thing, since the Xperia 1's curved back, as pretty as it is, is amazingly slippery. If you do, unfortunately, end up dropping the Xperia 1, Sony has done everything it can to give you that little extra bit of edge in the fight against gravity.

Both faces of the phone are covered by Gorilla Glass 6. Compared to the previous 5th iteration, you can count on increased drop resistance in particular, whereas the scratch protection remains pretty much unchanged.

Speaking of protection, the Xperia 1 is certified for IP65/IP68 water and dust resistance. Still carrying a certain memory of IP rating scandals from long long ago, Sony is now pretty descriptive when it comes to this stuff and says that you can confidently splash water on the Xperia 1 or even clean it under the tap. Just make sure not to purposefully submerge it fully in water. Also, be especially mindful when closing the SIM card tray. And salt water, as always, is a real bad idea. Pretty standard ruler to follow with modern IP rated devices.

Speaking of ingress protection, the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus, which we had the pleasure of handling as well will have an optional official Style Cover Solid case which Sony has rated for MIL-STD-810G-516.7 durability. We aren't sure whether such an accessory will be available for the Xperia 1 as well, but we would just hate to see its gorgeous chassis be covered up. Sony's new design really is a thing of beauty and you even get a fair selection of color options to choose from: Black, Purple, Grey and White.

Overall, we have a noticeable tall and skinny device, but one with a very good feel in the hand. Again, we can probably describe it best as different and quite a bit experimental. This is clearly no the "Ambient Flow" language we have grown accustomed to in one form or another. A fact probably most apparent from the front of the phone.

Sony Xperia 1

Although not entirely edge-to-edge, the side bezels around the 6.5" panel are really thin. The same goes for the bottom chin. Sony is clearly using some what-around control board technique to accommodate the electronics for the display. If you ask us, this is probably as small as we would like to see a chin on a device, especially one this big. Having it smaller or even completely gone would traditionally place the Android navigation way too far for a comfortable reach. Nothing that clever UI design can't fix. But only up to the point when you encounter a misbehaving legacy app of some sorts.

The "forehead", if you will, above the panel is also fairly slim. Unlike the chin, however, this feels like a slightly bitter-sweet thing to celebrate, since it goes hand in hand with a lack of any kind of advanced biometric or facial scanning hardware. Furthermore, compared with the likes of the Xperia XZ2 Premium or XZ3, the selfie camera has clearly taken a hit in raw specs. It is now an 8MP unit, compared to 13MP on the aforementioned devices, with a fairly small 1.4+ sensor, behind an f/2.0 lens. Not exactly in line to win any selfie contests. What we are getting at here is that lack of room could have attributed to the selfie downgrade.

To finish off the hardware tour and our initial impressions of it, we should mention the controls. We admit that the huge 21:9 panel diverted our attention away from this for some time, but the side-mounted fingerprint reader is no small revelation in itself.

A throwback to older Sony design if we ever saw one. This sensor in particular is really accurate and very snappy. Plus, we really enjoy its location. Without going too deep into legal particulars, some of you might remember that Sony had certain patent issues regarding its side-mounted fingerprint reader/power button combo. Apparently getting around that was at least part of the motivation to separate the power button. On the Xperia 1 you can find a dedicated power clicker underneath the fingerprint reader.

However, since the latter is always-on and definitely better positioned on the tall side bezel, you can simply use it on a daily basis to wake up and unlock the phone.

Unfortunately, positioning is far from the only problem we had wit the Xperia 1's buttons. On our test unit, which we will add was an early one, all the buttons felt really mushy, with practically no travel or tactile feedback. The dedicated camera shutter key being the biggest disappointment. While it was clearly working correctly registering a half and full press, you really couldn't tell by pressing it.

The rest of the control scheme is pretty self-explanatory. The only thing we will note is that despite its appearance, there is more than one speaker on the Xperia 1. The bottom one is clearly visible. The other channel is handled by the earpiece, so it is technically a hybrid setup. Even so, it left us with pretty good initial impressions. Dolby Atmos, along with a slew of other Sony audio technologies is clearly doing a good job here.

Display

The 6.5", 4K OLED, HDR panel on the Xperia 1 is nothing short of stunning. Like we already, Sony has managed to claim a "world first" here by combining 4K resolution and OLED. All the other tech sprinkled on top beyond that only sweetens the deal further and makes for an even more one-of-a-kind offer. Sony has even coined a marketing brand for this high-end panel, referring to it as CinemaWide.

Going into more particulars, the resolution you are actually getting on the Xperia 1 is 1644 x 3840 pixels. On the 6.5" diagonal this makes for a crispy 420ppi density rating. All pretty great stuff. To be perfectly fair, though, just like an ultra-wide PC monitor or a cinema screen, for that matter, this aspect tents to come off as way too "short" for productivity in landscape mode. To be frank, there is some truth to this on the Xperia 1. Keep in mind that for good practical and especially battery endurance reasons, you are not going to get the full native panel resolution in most regular use cases throughout the UI. That only triggers automatically when compatible content is displayed on screen. That does limit the number of pixels you get in one dimension rather disproportionally.

Luckily, though, the benefits of 21:9 seem to outweigh its shortcomings. Like we mentioned earlier, most of what we tend to do on a smartphone is scroll through long vertical content - lists or otherwise. On such a tall display that's a truly great experience.

Sony made sure to sprinkle some visual extras on top of the already impressive OLED panel as well. One being HDR certification. In keeping with the company's track record, the certification in question here is BT.2020, which is arguably a bit more versatile than HDR10. And while the panel is not truly 10-bit, but rather the more typical 8+2 bit variety, contrast, local dimming, gradients all looks spectacular, given the right content.

Speaking of which, there is already plenty of 21:9 content out there. YouTube has a bunch and so do streaming services like Amazon's video offerings and Netflix. The latter, especially, has a vast library of movies and Sony is currently busy working closely to make sure Netflix works great on the Xperia 1.

In case you are wondering, there are a few parts necessary for an ultimate experience. These mostly have to do with communication between the app and the Netflix platform so that you get the right stream. In this case a 21:9, HDR version (when available).

And speaking of right content and properly viewing and enjoying it, there is yet another interesting "sprinkle" on top of the Xperia 1's gorgeous panel, which Sony calls "Creator mode". What it is is a new system-wide color setting, which currently co-exists with "Standard" and "Super-vivid" mode. While in it, the Xperia X1 tries its best to display accurate colors, as close to the ones intended by the content creator as possible. The display itself supports wide color space ITU-R BT.2020m as well as DCI P3 and Illuminant D65. Of course, the source you are watching has to be encoded with the proper color info to take advantage of the feature. This is where Netflix comes into play once again.

Another way to leverage and experience "Creator mode" is by capturing cinematic video on the Xperia 1 itself. We'll get further in-depth in the camera section , but Sony has been working had together with its acclaimed "Alpha" professional camera division to craft a powerful "Cinema Pro" video recording app, complete with support for a wide selection of pro color spaces to record in.

The Xperia 1 also has the proprietary X1 for mobile engine running in the background, optimising content that is not natively created for the high contrast and color pallet of the panel. It is tech borrowed from the company's BRAVIA TV line and even works dynamically on streamed content.

Last, but not least, we feel like a few words are necessary on the topic of gaming. Ultra-wide gaming is definitely a thing in the PC realm. A glorious experience, we may add. The same goes for the gaming on the Xperia 1. When it works right, the extra field of view you get to enjoy makes a huge difference in immersion and can even potentially provide a competitive edge in some cases.

However, just like its PC counterpart, ultra-wide screen gaming on Android is littered with challenges, mostly having to do with compatibility. If a game is made correctly and scales properly it's a glorious experience. Sony is currently working with creators to optimise a few titles in particular, including Fortnite, Asphalt 9, Arena of Valor. Hopefully the list will expand in the future. Beyond that, it's going to be a hit or miss affair with pre-existing games. Some refuse to scale beyond 16:9, others do it poorly. Certain ones already behave correctly.

Taking the observation one step further, you are likely to run into similar issues with other applications as well. Sure, Android can force an up-scale on older, non-optimised apps, but that can sometimes look funky or even break certain apps. But, none of this is intrinsically Sony's fault. Rather, it's an ongoing Android-wide ecosystem struggle. The Xperia X1 simply gets to experience some extreme cases of bad compatibility with its 21:9 aspect.

Hardware and internals

In the absence of a real "XZ" flagship successor. Or at least at this point in time. And the clear "Premium" pedigree of the Xperia 1, it should come as no surprise that it is pretty well-stacked in terms of hardware.

Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 855 is at the helm of it all, which, by Sony's estimates can deliver up to 25% better CPU and 40% better GPU performance. We can only assume that's compared to the Snapdragon 845. Still, meaningless numbers aside, it is the latest and greatest Qualcomm has to offer so we expect nothing short of blazing performance out of the Xperia 1.

That being said, we couldn't help but notice that despite the current choice of flagship chipset, the Xperia 1 appears to be lacking Wi-Fi 6 compatibility. Pretty odd, given that it is within the SD855's capabilities. Sony isn't really taking full advantage of the X24LTE modem either. Although the jump from the provided Cat.19 speed to the theoretical maximum Cat.20 ones are hardly something to loose sleep over. Another notable omission is a 3.5mm audio jack. Realistically, however, you can't really go and expect that from most flagships nowadays. At least Sony gives you a Type-C to 3.5mm dongle in the box.

On the other hand, something not part of the standard retail package, or at least not in every market, is a proper Power Delivery charger to saturate the Xperia's potential charging rate. Still, on the plus side, it is good to see that Sony is sticking with its move to USB PD - a decision we are pretty sure Google appreciates as well. Plus, you can still pick up an official Sony PD charger separately.

And while it is definitely way too early to judge battery endurance, the 3,330 mAh battery capacity does leave us somewhat wanting. Especially on such a large flagship with such a massive display, clearly geared towards heavy multimedia usage. That being said, Sony has a slew of extra battery features, like Smart STAMINA and Battery Care to extend battery life both charge to charge and over a longer period of time. Hopefully all that adds up to a good endurance rating.

Battery management

The Snapdragon 855 is accompanied by 6GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of storage. The latter is expandable via microSD up to 512GB. Other little bits and pieces of hardware are pretty standard overall, like USB 3.1 Type-C, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC.

Camera

In a Sony first, the Xperia 1 is equipped with a trio of cameras on the back. A fairly versatile arrangement, in fact, consisting of a regular snapper, a telephoto one, as well as an ultra-wide. All with a resolution of 12MP. Going into more particulars, here is the camera setup it has to work with: Motion Eye 12MP (1/2.6" Exmor RS), f/1.6 aperture (ISO 3200), 26mm lens, Dual Photo Diode; 12MP (1/3.4") telephoto, f/2.4, 52mm lens; 12MP (1/3.4") wide, f/2.4, 16mm.

Sony has been building up a pretty compelling and multi-faceted camera setup throughout the years. Most tech that has proven worthwhile has definitely stuck, like the Ram-tacked sensor that enables things like 960 fps, FullHD slow motion video capture. Having said that, there are plenty of camera novelties in the Xperia 1 as well.

One such addition is optical image stabilization. It is incorporated in Sony's long-standing and pretty efficient SteadyShot stabilization tech. So, not only does it have the benefit of its traditional 5-axis EIS system, but there is also OIS now to give it an extra hand.

This year Sony also decided to borrow quite a bit from its professional cinematography "Alpha" company division. Bionz X for mobile comprises a few interesting new technologies that are now achievable with current mobile hardware. One is Eye AF - an intelligent focusing system that can fix itself on a subject's eye and provide impressively accurate tracking. Not only it is smart enough to easily tell the distance the person in question is at, but it can also remember a particular eye. So that even if more people come into frame or said person moves out of frame and then back in, the eye-tracking and focus, that goes along with it remain unfazed. Really neat!

Continuous burst shooting is another nifty trick. It allows the Xperia 1 to capture stills at a rate of up to 10fpsm with Auto Focus and Auto Exposure for each shot, so that each and every one comes out looking perfect.

RAW noise reduction, like the name suggests, is a noise-reduction algorithm that works on the RAW version of a photo, instead of the already compressed one. While definitely a resource-intensive task, the modern hardware in the Xperia 1 is up to the challenge and Sony claims the quality of the final result is better for it. We can't wait to but that tot the test in our full review.

The Xperia 1 comes with a few video capture goodies as well. For one, there is the new SteadyShot implementation we mentioned earlier, now complete with OIS. Also, seeing how big Sony is banking on its new 21:9 concept, it is only natural to see a 21:9 video recording mode in the camera app. It records at the native 1644 x 3840 pixel resolution of the Xperia 1's display.

Then there is "Cinema Pro" - an additional video capture app designed in collaboration with Sony's CineAlta division and squarely aimed at cinematography enthusiasts. It is hard to describe what it offers in a few words, but some of the most important highlights include shooting at a cinematic 23.98 fps at a cinematic resolution of 3840 x 1640 or 2520 x 1080. That, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. The app also allows you to simulate a lens, like 16mm f/2.4, 26mm f/1.6 and 52mm f/2.4. There is also adjustable ISO, ranging from 50 to 1600 adjustable shutter (1/23.98 to 1/1541.32) and manual focus.

Cinema Pro app

Most interesting, however, is the Look selector, which gives you a pick from professional color spaces for your video. These include s709-x, Strong/BU60 YE60, Bright/BU20 YE60, Soft/YE80, String/BU100, Cool/BU60 and Deep/YE40. Sony goes as far as to claim that along with the "Creator mode" display color mode in the settings, you can get a setup similar to a professional video camera monitor out of the Xperia X1. That would be pretty impressive, but you'll have to wait for the full review for our best attempt to put it to the test.

Features and Software

The Xperia 1 boots Android 9 Pie out of the box with a fairly light layer of extra customization and apps on top. Sticking close to Vanilla Android is actually pretty typical of Sony as of late and we definitely appreciate it. Even so, there are a few features worth mentioning. Keep in mind, though, that the software build we got to test is not final and some details might be subject to change.

Side sense is nor really a new feature, but it is still a unique enough offering to merit a few words. Plus, Sony's implementation in the Xperia 1 (not necessarily the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus, but mopre on that later) is fairly flexible and in-depth. It boils down to a pair of touch-sensitive areas on either side of the phone. You can tap of slide these to trigger various actions. Most ow which user-configurable, including the sensitivity of the areas.

Side sense

One particularly powerful and customizable option is the Pair shortcut feature. Through it you simply select two

apps and the relative location you want to launch them in and then you can trigger a split-screen with the pair instantly.

Game Enhancer is pretty self-explanatory but still contains a few interesting little features. It has two main interfaces - one acting as a game launcher with its own icon within the launcher, while the other being a overlay that can be pulled out while in game. Using it you can choose from one of two performance profiles. One being "max-throttle", while the other a more battery-minded mode that caps fps to 40 and adjusts some other settings. Then there is Focus mode, which disables pesky notifications and other distractions.

Game Enhancer

There are also screenshot and video capture features, the latter of which can also capture footage from your selfie camera along with the game "let's play" style. There is no direct streaming to any video platforms, though. Last, but not least, a quick search function can bring up YouTube videos in a floating video for you, related to the game you are currently playing.

Pricing and availability for the Xperia 1 are still not known, but you can expect the phone to start hitting shelves some time in late Spring this year.

Design

Moving on to the Xperia 10 and Xperia 10 Plus, we end up in what Sony is now calling its "super mid-range" family. Technically speaking, this new pair is more or less a direct successor to the "XA" line. However, unlike the XA2 or its other variants, the new Xperia 10 and 10 Plus do come a lot closer to their premium counterparts in terms of design (the Xperia 1 in this case).

The pair look and feel almost identical, with the "Plus" moniker mostly denoting a few hardware changes, like a zoom camera and more powerful chipset, as well as the obvious increase in size. Hence, it's only natural to look at these as a sibling pair and mention differences as they come for the purposes of this hands-on.

Just like on the Xperia 1 the stand-out feature here, the one that Sony will be focusing its marketing efforts on is the 21:9 display aspect ratio. Both Xperia 10 models have the new flavour of extra-tall and pretty skinny panel. The main difference between the two being diagonal. Compared to the Xperia 1, however, you are loosing quite a few display quality aspects and features. But, more on that in a bit.

Sony Xperia 10

Even so, you still end up gaining all the cinematic multimedia watching benefits of the new aspect ratio, plus the boost in productivity it provides. Essentially, in practical terms, an Xperia 1 experience. Or at least most of it. On a budget.

There are certain subtle, but somewhat important differences in design compared to the Xperia 1, though. For example, the bottom chin on the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus has, surprisingly been shrunk down even further. Perhaps the LCD panels have less bulky logic boards, or ones that lend themselves better to "folding" and tucking away.

On the flip side, the area above the panels, or "forehead" if you will, has grown noticeably compared to the Xperia 1. While not really bothersome in itself, we do find it kind of odd and disappointing that the extra room didn't go towards a bigger or more capable selfie camera, nor a beefy second speaker. In fact, the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus don't even offer a hybrid stereo setup. Let alone a dedicated top speaker.

One thing that does technically occupy the extra space on top of the display is the 3.5mm audio jack. Legacy or not, we still stand by this versatile, tried and true connector and definitely appreciate the fact that it made its way over from the Xperia "XA" family.

Sony Xperia 10 Plus

Since we are already discussing the frame of the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus, it is distinctly different from the one on the Xperia 1. In fact, the entire construction of the phone is - relying on a plastic unibody shell, instead of the three-piece glass "sandwich" on the Xperia 1 flagship. Sony's PR talk on the subject mentions "metallic finish", but that's really not the case and probably for the better. In reality the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus feel quite "silky" to the touch, if that makes any sense. The plastic resides in a quite particular niche between hard and soft, which, in our opinion, makes for a really pleasant feel. Plus, no glass means a lot less issues with smudges and slippage.

You can get both the Xperia 10 and the 10 Plus in Navy, Black and Silver colors. Pink is an exclusive shade to the Xperia 10, while the fourth color option for the Xperia 10 Plus is Gold.

The rest of the controls on the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus are a mixed bag of similarities and differences. With the former mostly prevailing. The "super mid-rage" pair also uses a side-mounted fingerprint reader, accompanied by a separate power button. The legal reasoning and practical implications here being identical.

Though it is interesting to note that the Xperia 10 pair have a different fingerprint reader. One that is generally bigger and easier to use. In terms of speed and accuracy, we couldn't really tell any difference between it and the one on the Xperia 1. Our best guess is that the latter needed to slim down the control in order to fit the extra sensors for Side sense along the frames on the phone. In contrast, the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus lack said dedicated sensors. Side sense is still present, but has to be triggered by tapping the actual edge of the display.

Another surprisingly important difference in the Xperia 10/10 Plus control layout is the relative location of the power and volume keys. These are swapped compared to the Xperia 1. Having the power button higher on the frame definitely makes it easier to reach, in our opinion. Then again, to reiterate an earlier point about the always-on fingerprint reader, most users are likely not going to use the actual power button much in day to day use.

Another reason why most might shy away from using the power button, as well as the volume rockers, for that matter, is the fact that these are lacking severely in terms of tactile feedback. At least on our review units, which, granted, are a bit early in the production cycle, the buttons are very mushy and have practically zero travel. Honestly, this makes us a little conflicted about missing the dedicated shutter key on the Xperia 10 pair.

Despite its dual cut-out design, the bottom of the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus actually only house a single bottom-firing speaker. That's one notable downgrade compared to the Xperia 1. While on the topic, another one is Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the display and a lack of any formal ingress protection rating.

There should, eventually, be an official Style Cover Solid case with MIL-STD-810G-516.7 rating, in case you need the extra protection. No pun intended.

Display

Considering the overall similarity in design, display diagonal is the most apparent differentiating factor between the vanilla Xperia 10 and the 10 Plus. Apart from a slight offset in the display position, telling the Xperia 10 Plus apart from the Xperia 1 from the front is a lot more challenging, since both rock 6.5" inch diagonal displays.

That being said, the Xperia 10 Plus and its smaller sibling do miss out on most of the high-end goodies the Xperia 1's panel has to offer. OLED technology gives way to LCD. There is no HDR support or extended color spaces for "Creator mode". No X1 for mobile enhancement engine either. The native panel resolution is also dropped down from 4K to FullHD+ (1080 x 2520 pixels).

Sony Xperia 10 Plus display

Even so, both panels look perfectly sharp in person. Naturally, we'll reserve any official comments on their brightness, contrast and color accuracy for the full review, but our preliminary impressions are pretty positive.

Sony Xperia 10 display

Even though they're not getting the most advanced display tech currently in Sony's roster the 21:9 aspect alone lets the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus participate plenty in the company's new multimedia and productivity vision. Streaming content in 21:9 is only going to get better and easier, especially once Sony smooths official phone detection and support over with Netflix. As for multi-tasking, that works just as well on these devices. Barring some raw performance limitations, of course. Sony's Twin apps Side sense feature might not be available exactly at launch for the Xperia 10 pair, but it will be added in an OTA shortly after.

Hardware and internals

We already mentioned that the most apparent difference between the Xperia 10 Plus and the vanilla Xperia 10 is the display size. Naturally, that difference in size translates to overall dimensions as well: 167 x 73 x 8.3 mm; 180 grams on the Plus and 155 x 68 x 8.4 mm; 162 grams on the Xperia 10.

A smaller chassis generally means less room for battery. In the case of the Xperia 10 - 2,870 mAh. Not that the Xperia 10 Plus is endowed with a particularly large pack itself, rated at 3,000 mAh. Large and power-hungry LCD's plus relatively small battery packs could really spell trouble in terms of battery endurance. But, we'll reserve judgement for the final review. At least Sony equipped the Xperia 10 pair with its Smart STAMINA and Battery Care tech. Hopefully that helps a bit.

The display clearly bore a huge chunk of the cost-saving measures for the step-down Xperia 10 and 10 Plus models. Another somewhat major and frankly expected downgrade, compared to the Xperia 1 is in the chipset department. Instead of the Snapdragon 855, the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus are powered by a Qaulcomm Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 636, accordingly.

These two are clearly nowhere near as powerful as the Snapdragon 855, but they are also not created equal between them. It is worth noting that the Snapdragon 630 was a total of eight Cortex-A53 cores at its disposal (four at 2.2 GHz + four at 1.8 GHz). While the Snapdragon 636 uses a noticeably more powerful Cortex-A73 cluster of four units (four 1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Gold + four 1.6 GHz Kryo 260 Silver). These are custom Qualcomm derivatives as well, as opposed to vanilla ARM cores, so we can potentially expect better power efficiency out of the Snapdragon 636 overall.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Motorola Moto G7 Plus
  1999
• Nokia 6.1 Plus
  1951
• Nokia 7.1
  1940
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
  1812
• Sony Xperia 10 Plus (pre)
  1725
• Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
  1548
• Sony Xperia XA2
  1545
• Motorola Moto G6 Plus
  1525
• Sony Xperia XA2 Plus
  1523
• Nokia 6 (2018)
  1517
• Sony Xperia 10 (pre)
  1411

We'll know how much of a difference that really makes in practice once we get the Sony's in the lab for a full review. On the GPU side of things, we don't really expect that much of a variance, since we have an Adreno 508 going against a 509 model.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia 10 Plus (pre)
  15041
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
  15025
• Motorola Moto G7 Plus
  15004
• Nokia 7.1
  14963
• Nokia 6.1 Plus
  14903
• Nokia 6 (2018)
  14365
• Motorola Moto G6 Plus
  14357
• Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
  14328
• Sony Xperia XA2
  14312
• Sony Xperia 10 (pre)
  14156
• Sony Xperia XA2 Plus
  14119

While on the subject of chipsets, moving past CPU performance, as far as connectivity loud-out goes, the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus pretty much have feature parity locked down. Cat.12 LTE, USB 2.0 Type-C, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, GPS + GLONASS, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC all present on both. Audio setups appear mostly identical as well: DSEE, LDAC and a Smart Amplifier are all included. Again, quite a few omissions compared to the Xperia 1, but that's the nature of putting together a midranger.

Last, but not least, there are certain differences in memory configuration between the two Xperia 10 variants. The smaller vanilla has 3GB of RAM in its international version and 4GB in China. Its bigger sibling - 4GB worldwide and 6GB in China. At least as per official, even if preliminary info. All models get 64GB of built-in storage, expandable with up to 512GB extra via microSD.

Camera

Sony has a pretty tidy progression going in the camera department. On top of the food chain, naturally, we find the Xperia 1 with its tripple camera setup. Right below it, the Xperia 10 Pro has to settle for a pair of snappers - 12MP main and an 8MP additional unit.

The way this is "one better" than the vanilla Xperia 10 is that the second camera is actually a functional one. Specifically, it can do 2x "optical" zoom. It is worth noting, however, that the latter is only limited to stills. If you try to zoom while recording video, you will be able to, but it's going to be up to 5x digital-only zooming.

Xperia 10 Plus camera samples

Xperia 10 Plus telephoto 2x camera samples

The dual camera setup on the regular Xperia 10 is a bit of a downgrade. Its 5MP snapper is for depth sensing and bokeh alone. No zooming here. The main snapper is slightly different as well. Despite having more megapixels it is actually a bit smaller in terms of sensor size. So, the market segmentation is pretty linear and clear-cut.

Xperia 10 camera samples

At least there are no real differences or surprises in the selfie setup. Both phones get a fixed focus 8MP unit. One thing worth noting is the inclusion of Xperia's own SteadyShot EIS for video capture on both the main and selfie cameras. Of course, don't expect anything quite on the level of the Xperia 1's video stabilization, especially now that the main cam has OIS. Still, it's a nice little addition.

Also on the same list of nifty little party tricks is the ability to capture video in 21:9 4K resolution. And mind you, not the native FullHD of the two phone's panels. Sony went the extra mile to do 1644 x 3840 pixels at 30fps on both the Xperia 10 Plus and even the Xperia 10 with its Snapdragon 630 chipset.

Features and Software

There's not really a lot to share regarding software that is radically different from the current Sony Android experience and the Xperia 1 we already described in some detail. Naturally, certain advanced features, like Creator mode for the display and the Cinema Pro cinematography camera app.

On the flip side, Side sense is very much present. It even comes complete with the nifty App pair feature for setting up duos of apps to launch in a pre-defined "top-bottom" split screen view. Or, failing a day-one roll-out, Sony has promised to seed it to user via an OTA shortly.

Both the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus will be available for purchase starting today (February 25) in a number of select markets.

Design

Sony might have skipped on a direct successor in the "XZ" flagship lineup. Sort of. But the budget "L" family still got some love with a refresh in the Xperia L3. Well, at the very least a strong fondness seeing how the display was stretched up a bit to 18:9, but doesn't really get the full 21:9 experience.

Joking aside, we appreciate Sony's efforts to modernise its budget line, as best it can. Plus, despite some cut-backs, even the Xperia L3 gets to rock the new Xperia design language. Overall, that is. The bezels surrounding the 18:9 HD+, IPS panel are obviously thicker. And the plastic material for the body doesn't feel quite as nice.

For whatever reason, the principal construction of the Xperia L3 is a lot more similar to the one one the premium Xperia 1 than the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus. More specifically, the L3 uses a three piece design - a plastic central frame, with a plastic back. The latter has a noticeably glossier finish than the Xperia 10 pair, with color options including Black, Silver and Gold.

In the absence of a unibody and working with a tighter budget and less premium materials, the Xperia L3 did end up with a somewhat noticeable "gap" around its back panel. It's visible, but not exactly bothersome or apparent tot he touch. Plus, despite its bill of materials, the L3 feels very solid and well made. And the latter is actually not that bad to begin with. You still get Gorilla Glass 5 protection for the display, where it counts.

Just like the overall design and profile, the Xperia L3 manages to retain the controls and their overall placement from the more expensive Xperia 10 devices. It even does one better in the buttons department. Again, this might be bad luck on our end with the review units, but out of the roster or Xperia review units the L3 definitely delivered the best tactile feel and travel on its power and volume keys.

Smack in the middle of those is what looks and better still behaves like the side-mounted fingerprint reader on the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus. That is to say it is plenty big, easy to find, very snappy and accurate. Also, always-on, so you can again forego reaching for the power button to wake up the phone.

The 3.5mm jack on the top frame is a welcome sight and so is the USB Type-C port on the bottom. It might be limited to USB 2.0 speeds, but just like the rest of Sony's new device roster, the L3 is compatible with USB Power Delivery. You can't really expect to get a PD charger bundled in the box though. At least not on every market.

Hardware, Internals, Software and Features

The Xperia L3 has fairly modest internals to work with - a MediaTek Helio P22 chipset, accompanied by 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. Even so, Sony feels confident its abilities to live up to the title of an "entertainment-focused" smartphone.

Sony also throws in claims of "all day performance and entertainment" for the Xperia L3. Of course, it's all PR talk, but even so, I could be an achievable feat on the 3,300 mAh battery pack. Sony's own Smart STAMINA and Battery Care are part of the mix here as well.

We can't really complain about the connectivity loud-out either: Cat.6 LTE, USB 2.0 Type-C, Wi-Fi, GPS + GLONASS, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC. And to top it all off - a good old 3.5mm audio jack.

One thing to note is that unlike the other Sony devices we encountered at MWC 2019 the Xperia L3 was running an older Android 8.0 Oreo ROM.

Camera

The Xperia L3 gets a fairly basic 13MP + 2MP camera setup. It is actually quite comparable to the one on the Xperia 10 in terms of features. That is to say the secondary camera is there purely for the sake of Bokeh shots.

Unlike the Xperia 10, however, the Xperia L3 can only capture up to 1080p video. Naturally, no advanced cinematography features here either.

A basic 8MP, fixed focus shooter handles selfies. Frankly, not that much different from what the rest of Sony's new lineup has to offer. It has a pretty wide 83-degree lens and can do Bokeh shots, just like the back camera.

Just like the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus, the Xperia L3 will be available starting today (February 25), again, on select markets.

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