Sony’s Latest Midranger is Here, But Almost Nothing Has Changed

Sony has unveiled the Xperia 10 VIII, its latest mid-range smartphone, though the new model carries few enhancements over its predecessor, the Xperia 10 VII. Priced at €599 in Europe and £549 in the UK, the Xperia 10 VIII retains the same display, chipset, cameras and battery capacity as its earlier version. The company has instead emphasized minor upgrades like a brighter screen, louder speakers and newer software.

Design-wise, the Xperia 10 VIII boasts a 6.1-inch LTPS OLED display with FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Sony claims the display is 50% brighter than the previous model, without providing a precise peak brightness measure. The phone continues to feature front-facing stereo speakers in the top and bottom bezels, which Sony states are now 30% louder than before. It will be available in Frozen White, Frosted Grey and Misty Lilac.

Under the hood, the device is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset, accompanied by 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. A microSD card slot allows for additional storage expansion, and a 3.5mm headphone jack remains, making it one of the few modern smartphones to support wired headphones. Sony Xperia 10 VIII runs Android 16 with Sony’s near-stock Android interface, promising up to four major OS updates.

The rear dual-camera system maintains the same setup as the Xperia 10 VII, with a 50MP main camera and a 13MP ultrawide lens. The phone’s 5,000mAh battery, along with its 30W wired charging support, remains unchanged from the Xperia 10 VII. Despite these enhancements, Sony has not increased the battery capacity. The Xperia 10 VIII is set to launch in mid to late September, priced at €599 in Europe and £549 in the UK.