Snapdragon 695? “No, thank you,” responded respondents in last week’s survey. The Sony Xperia 10V looks like a flop because the older chipset and 60Hz display are a tough sell at €450. And that upgraded 48MP camera looks weird with chipset-set 1080p@30fps video limitations that really should have been dropped by now.
Not much to say about the 10V, a few people who like the phone for its size, card slot and headphone jack have commented that they might as well get the Mark 4 – the few upgrades from the 2023 model not worth the extra cost.
With that out of the way, let’s focus on the Sony Xperia 1V, the phone people already love. Well, they liked it by a long shot, €1,400 / £1,300 is a pretty high price for most people, and based on previous generations of phones it won’t come down much over time.
The Xperia 1 V has its own charm, but it’s the king of its niche. This phone sits at the intersection of two Sony businesses: cameras and game consoles. The camera in particular is ideal for people who like to manually edit photos. Feedback also praised the phone’s ability to record 4K video for long periods of time without overheating.
However, it’s not perfect. Sony really needs to join other phone makers in expanding software support for their phones, especially their expensive flagships. This is something that can convince people on the fence that the quality is worth the extra cost.
One criticism that applies to both the 1V and 10V Xperia is the relatively limited worldwide availability. Also, many potential buyers aren’t happy with the color selection for buttons for 1V – there are only three, and some markets don’t even have that many.
