https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_10_vii-review-2879.php
The device seems okay, but I wanted to hear if other people here have feedback
My wife used Xperia phones exclusively for years. The only real issues she had, and why she dropped them, was their mid tier cameras and the severe overheating. She switched pre-COVID, so maybe the CPU issue has been addressed.
Had Sony smartphones for years. Loved them. The real issue with Sony nowadays is imho their terrible update policy which only offers two or three years if updates iirc, which is so much less than other players it was a dealbreaker for me. Last time I had one I could flash a custom rom but the camera was locked to the original firmware, with the default mode being much worse than the one Sony offered - which I considered a dick move. Dunno how they behave with their current phones though.
Just checked, the phone will supposedly be updated until 2031, which isn’t bad. Battery, camera, display all seem to be fine.
They have improved the update policy. So, newer phones get more updates compared to before. The VII gets 4OS, and 6yrs security updates.
Go to versus. On the left side, scroll down to 3.5mm headphone jack and change the selector to On. Then choose whatever are the other most important criteria for you.
Just tried it. Top result is… Sony Xperia 10VII
What’s this about Motorola’s update practices? I have a Razr+ and it seems pretty clean Android to me, and I used to use GOS and Lineage before this, so my tolerance for bloatware is pretty low. I could never tolerate a Samsung.
Fuck Samsung, in giant letters.
I’d use their hardware if they didn’t lock the bootloader, because it’s pretty nice.
Did my share of fighting their nonsense back with the S3/S4. Had enough.
S4 is where they lost me too. I can’t imagine what they’re like today
They’ve been a lot closer to stock android compared to the days of touchwiz since about the S10. I bought unlocked Note10 and S20s years ago and was a great experience, no bloat with the unlocked devices direct from Samsung.
How long have you had the RAZR+? Have there been routine OS updates? I kinda wanna get either a 2025 or 2026 ultra in march/April and not sure the device will last or be supported for 2+ years
I had the razr 40 for about 18 months and Motorola consistently failed to deliver updates on time and match their promise. All they had to do was push out an update every 2 months and they couldn’t do it, I’d go like 3 to 4 months without an update then get 2 in a fortnight. I thought it was pathetic for what was a relatively expensive phone from a relatively large company so I gave up and sold it. You would probably have a better experience with an Ultra, but I wouldn’t recommend Motorola if you care about timely updates. They just aren’t reliable at all in my experience.
I’ve been getting more updates than I want, and it’s a 2023? razr+. It’s not a new one, seems like they’re on top of it.
I have the 10vi. It’s pretty good for the money I paid (~300€). The UI is very close to plain android which is nice and doesn’t have a billion extra apps pre-installed like Samsung. The battery has been great so far. MicroSD and headphone jack are great features and I think you can also unlock the bootloader.
Having said that, some issues I’ve had that may or may not exist in other versions:
- The lock screen is buggy as hell, way too many accidental fingerprint unlocks and camera bugs that have persisted across updates.
- In Europe (different countries) it’s only ever gotten 5G once.
- Sony is doing something weird with its camera hardware. Any apps that try to use the camera outside the official app are having issues focusing and one app was actually crashing. This is not an everyday issue but would be a problem if you want to use a third party camera app.
I’d still recommend it but maybe try to find a discount cause Sony overcharges a lot.
Thank you!
I have a Sony Xperia 10 IV. To be honest, I only bought it for the headphone jack and microSD card slot, and struggled a lot between it and an old Fairphone. If not for gaming or taking pictures, it’s good enough, I guess. At lease, it’s good enough for me.
I degoogled it, striped most of its property apps, and only installed FOSS ones as replacements. It has a good battery life (at lease for me), I only have to charge it twice a week, but I’m not a heavy user. (Only basic social, web browsing, music, some video watching.)
It still receives security updates after three years, which should have stopped sometime ago. Anyway, I think I’ll eventually have to get it a new OS.
Not knowing the requirements that push you to needing an SD (I get it, I wish all phones still had them), but I found 2 apps that really help with reducing my need for an SD: Syncthing and Resilio Sync.
ST ensures all files on my phone are synced to my home server (photos instantly, other files only when I have wifi), and Resilio enables me to pull any file from my home server at any time (with it’s Selective Sync feature).
This may not address your requirements, just throwing it out there.
The microSD card is for all the videos and lossless CDs, they are huge… For desktop syncing, I use self-hosted Syncthing too, somehow I didn’t use it for my phone…
I’m using a 5v and its been a great phone so far. I will say, if you are in the US it is missing one of the important 5G bands and when it updates you have to go fiddle with the dual sim mode settings to get full internet speed again which is irritating.
It was the only phone I could find at the time that was smaller sized, waterproof, had a headphone jack and sd card slot, and a good camera though.
Thank you for your comment. I’m in Europe so I should be fine
Check out the r/sonyxperia subreddit. I don’t know if this model is cursed or not but some models have a nasty “green line” hardware defect.
I’m running a Motorola G Power for the headphone jack. Do you have more info on their predatory update policy? Genuinely curious to know what’s in store for me in the future. I’m not crazy about this phone but it does have a headphone jack and an SD card slot which is why I settled for it.
Here is a thread: https://piefed.zip/c/android/p/724108/motorola-ignores-eu-regulation-on-security-updates-for-smartphones-will-this-end-well#post_replies
It’s a shame, I like Motorola’s software, the phones are decent, but this is just… bad.
Ugh that sucks. Thanks for sharing though.
Would be nice if graphene os supported this device but I don’t hold out much hope. Maybe the EU will make things difficult for Motorola but again I don’t have much hope.
Fuck Motorola. I had to pay $30 to get a warranty replacement for this phone when the USB port stopped working about 2 months into owning it.
Also the fact that there’s no way to disable 5g which means constant cell signal dropouts while the phone switches back and forth between 3 bars of 4g and 1 bar of 5g. I’m seriously considering buying a 4g only phone from a few years ago just because 5g has only made my experience worse.
5 III here and it’s generally been good for 3.5 years now, but I’ve been disappointed to find the fingerprint reader stopped working recently. Apparently this is a somewhat widespread issue due to the narrow, edge-located design that allows too much moisture underneath it.
we shouldn’t be using biometrics anyway
Curious to hear your reasoning? I know that police can force biometric access without a warrant, while they can’t with passwords. But I haven’t heard of any biometric data leaving the device or any hacks like that?
police thing is the main practical one.
from a more philosophical view, if your biometric gets compromised you can’t do much about it. most of us only have two eyes. if you lose your authentication finger in an accident that’ll cause some problems, the quality and reliability of fingerprint sensors is dubious.
i’m sure there’s defcon presentations about biometric if you want to really dive into it.
Yours lasted longer than mine. Mine gave out after 2 years. I’m still using it though. I wish the screen were a bit brighter and the speakers a bit louder. Other than that it’s the perfect phone.
That’s disappointing. Considering, its IP68 rated. I have a samsung from 2022 the fingerprint side button still works fine.
Never used one but I’ve heard the UX is rough in a few ways. Sorry, vague memories is all I have to offer
Oneplus has at least one with a headphone jack
Seems like they haven’t released a jack phone this year, the last one was released in June 2024: https://www.gsmarena.com/oneplus-phones-f-95-14.php
But they still sell it
