Information technology'southward no cloak-and-dagger that Sony's smartphone business concern is struggling. Competition has go fierce over the last couple of years, with connected innovation and lower prices causing trouble for market incumbents. Rather than doubling down on their flagship products, like HTC did with their excellent HTC ten, Sony seems happy to trundle forth with minor iterations year afterward year.

The new Xperia 10 series may non carry the same name every bit its predecessor, the Xperia Z, simply there's no mistaking these products for a revolutionary alter. I've been testing the the top-end Xperia X Performance for a few weeks at present and I've found it to be remarkably like to the Xperia Z5 that preceded information technology. Considering the Z5 was the 6th derivation of the iii-year-old Xperia Z, it'south like shooting fish in a barrel to feel this blueprint is getting stale.

The similarities between the Xperia X Performance and the Xperia Z1 in particular are striking. Released in 2013, the Xperia Z1 came with a 5.0-inch 1080p display; in 2016 we're notwithstanding seeing a v.0-inch 1080p brandish on the 10 Performance. Both phones are water resistant. Both phones have cameras with more than twenty megapixels, and both have dedicated shutter buttons.

Then what has Sony managed to achieve in three years? Well, the Xperia Ten Operation ditches the Snapdragon 800 SoC for the modern Snapdragon 820, bringing along meliorate connectivity, more storage, and more RAM. The forepart camera is up to thirteen megapixels now, while Sony claims the rear camera is their fastest e'er. Unbelievably, we're getting a smaller battery in a phone just as thick. Plus nosotros're getting some new software features, besides.

When I start picked up the Xperia X Functioning at MWC 2016, and then again for this review, I couldn't help just feel that the design is bland. I've seen this verbal sort of smartphone manner from Sony more than three years agone, and it seems that equally competitors accept got slimmer and sexier, Sony's designers have gone backwards.

There are very few aspects to the Xperia X Performance that are visually more than appealing than my favorite Sony smartphone design: the Xperia Z3. Since that telephone'due south release in 2014, Sony's flagship device has gained a millimeter of thickness, lost the comfortable and fashionable curved edges, and swapped premium materials for plastic in some areas.

On Sony'due south product page, the company is quick to highlight the sleek metal back panel, which I volition admit looks neat thanks to a subtle brushed cease and minimal distractions, but the plastic edges let this handset down; they look inexpensive and don't carry the same textural pleasure. Sony has tried to color these edges to look the aforementioned as the rear panel, but it hasn't worked: the visible seam that joins the back console to the sides is cruddy, and the difference in luster between metal and plastic is obvious.

Placed adjacent to the similar Huawei P9, it's clear what Sony should accept done in designing the Xperia X Operation. The P9's metal unibody looks and feels fantastic, equally the premium materials curve seamlessly effectually the edges. The Xperia X Performance'due south transition from metal to plastic looks ugly in comparison, and gives the impression that Sony's creation is the cheaper device.

It's not.

The metal back does have its advantages. There are no antenna lines which are ordinarily necessary on a unibody blueprint and tin detract from the style. The Xperia X Operation is also easier to grip than its Xperia Z series predecessors, which used fragile glass backs that were prone to cracks, every bit well as being slippery fingerprint magnets.

The front panel is constructed from a slab of glass protecting the brandish, which subtly curves into the edges, creating a swooshable experience. The bezels are average in size for a five.0-inch smartphone, and are colored to friction match the edges and back panel. I'm not a fan of this single-tone design – it looks a fleck boring – and the rose aureate model I received to review is not something I'd normally choose to buy. That said, the Ten Performance is too available in white, blackness and "lime gold."

The Xperia 10 Operation is ane of the very few remaining flagships to pack dual front-facing speakers, which provide a stereo feel when watching video and playing games. I honey stereo speakers on the front of smartphones, and it'south sad to see companies like HTC move away from this. The quality of the X Functioning's speakers isn't particularly great, but their volume is decent and I don't wait amazing audio from such pocket-size drivers.

Along the bottom edge of the Xperia X Operation is a micro-USB port, which is disappointing considering most high-end devices have transitioned to the more versatile USB-C port. Samsung is the other outlier here, as they accept their Gear VR arrangement which still uses micro-USB. Sony doesn't have annihilation like that, so I'chiliad puzzled as to why they didn't update their charging and data port to the modernistic standard.

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

On the correct edge is the fingerprint sensor, which doubles as the power push. I was critical of the Xperia Z5'south fingerprint sensor in this location as it didn't seem to piece of work very well, simply these bug have been resolved on the Xperia Ten Performance.

This sensor is ludicrously fast to operate, much more authentic than its previous implementation, and the positioning is just about perfect. My only business concern is that the tactile feedback from the button isn't peachy, and it might've fabricated 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-hand edge. A more comfy location here would be in a higher place the fingerprint sensor, and in that location would be less chance of accidental presses as well. Below the volume rocker is the dedicated ii-stage camera button.

The Xperia 10 Performance is water resistant, carrying an IP65 and IP68 rating that allows immersion in fresh h2o up to 1.5m for up to 30 minutes. Information technology'southward also dust tight and resistant to low force per unit area water jets. It's always handy to accept a water resistant phone for the times it accidentally gets dropped in the toilet or splashed with coffee, but under no circumstances should the X Operation exist taken into salt water.

As far every bit usability is concerned, the Xperia X Operation's v.0-inch display makes this smartphone easy to employ with one hand. At 8.7mm thick it's a chunkier than I would have liked to come across, especially every bit the phone doesn't pack in a large battery, though it remains more than portable than handsets with larger displays.