{"id":750435,"date":"2026-08-26T15:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T15:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/750435\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T15:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T15:30:09","slug":"sonys-latest-budget-smartphone-claims-to-double-the-brightness-of-its-predecessor-but-theres-a-catch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/750435\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony\u2019s latest budget smartphone claims to double the brightness of its predecessor \u2013 but there\u2019s a catch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sony<\/a> has announced the newest addition to its budget line of smartphones \u2013 enter the Sony Xperia 10 VIII.<\/p>\n

It offers a handful of upgrades over its predecessor, the Xperia 10 VII, and follows on from the Award-winning Xperia 10 VI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The new model boasts a claimed peak brightness that is double that of the previous smartphone to deliver \u201cimproved visibility even outdoors\u201d, although Sony has not disclosed the exact figures.<\/p>\n

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The Japanese brand also claims that the stereo speaker system (made up of the earpiece and a bottom-firing speaker) features \u201crevised tuning\u201d, which will supposedly deliver \u201cimproved volume and sound quality\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sony says that volume is boosted by 15 per cent and these speakers can also output 30 per cent stronger bass than the previous model.<\/p>\n

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There are still a fair few similarities with its older sibling, though. Like the VII model, it runs on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 with 8GB of RAM, and is powered by a 5,000mAh battery that Sony claims can last for up to two days.<\/p>\n

Resolution and size have also stayed the same, with a 6.1-inch screen with a 2340 x 1080 OLED display.<\/p>\n

The latest hi-fi, home cinema and tech news, reviews, buying advice and deals, direct to your inbox.<\/p>\n

The camera set-up is familiar too, with the 10 VIII sporting a 50-megapixel main and 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens on the back, as well as an 8-megapixel selfie camera.<\/p>\n

We are glad to see that the 3.5 mm aux jack has stuck around, and cements Sony as one of the best for audio features in the smartphone market.<\/p>\n

You can choose from three colour finishes for the Xperia VIII: Frozen White, Frosted Grey and Misted Lilac.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

The Xperia 10 VIII is launching at \u00a3549 in the UK, making it \u00a3150 more expensive than its predecessor.<\/p>\n

That would feel more warranted if there were more hefty upgrades, but it\u2019s a hard sell considering it has the same chipset and camera. That said, the ongoing RAM crisis is likely the cause, with smartphone prices rising across the board.<\/p>\n

We’re eager to find out if Sony has delivered another five-star budget portable AV machine, so stay tuned for our full review.<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/p>\n

Check out our review of the Sony Xperia 10 VI<\/a><\/p>\n

These are the best smartphones<\/a> on the market<\/p>\n

And here are the best Sony soundbars<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sony has announced the newest addition to its budget line of smartphones \u2013 enter the Sony Xperia 10…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[2306,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-750435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-mobile","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}