Sony has officially launched the Xperia 10 VIII smartphone, the successor to the Sony Xperia 10 VII, with the update centered heavily on everyday usability. The Sony Xperia 10 VII launched in August 2025, with sales beginning in September 2025.
The launch marks another return for the company's smartphone business after it once appeared to be stepping away from phones altogether in 2019. The biggest changes on the new phone model are the display and speakers.
The display is brighter and the sound is louder
The Xperia 10 VIII has Sony's familiar tall, minimalist Xperia design, with a very flat body, squared-off edges, and a narrow profile. The tall front display is surrounded by relatively substantial bezels, particularly at the top and bottom. The brand retained the selfie camera and earpiece within the top bezel rather than using a punch-hole cutout.
The rear has a horizontal, pill-shaped camera housing near the top that extends across part of the phone's width. It contains two large circular camera lenses arranged side by side, with a small LED flash between and above them. The logo sits toward the right side of the camera module. The rest of the rear is largely plain, with a subtle Xperia and NFC marking around the upper-middle area.
The frame is completely flat and appears to use the same general color as the rear panel. Along the right edge, you can see the volume controls and the power button and fingerprint sensor area. The left edge is largely clean, while the bottom has the USB-C port and speaker openings. The rear material has a transparent layer with a matte clear coating.
According to Sony, the Xperia 10 VIII's display is approximately 50% brighter than the Xperia 10 VII. The company highlights outdoor visibility, where a brighter screen can make maps, messages, and other content easier to see in direct daylight. The phone can also automatically adjust its colors according to ambient brightness.
The stereo speakers have also been upgraded, such that the front-facing system has 15% higher overall volume and more than 30% stronger bass compared with the Xperia 10 VII.
Another new feature is the “Rewards & Pay” menu, which appears after a double press of the power button. It provides quick access to frequently used payment and retail rewards apps. Sony is presenting it as a one-handed convenience feature, particularly for situations such as paying at a store when you want to get to the relevant app quickly.
Battery life remains another major part of the Xperia 10 VIII's pitch, with claims of up to 48 hours of use, or two days, based on a specific testing profile involving 360 minutes of daily active use and 1,080 minutes of standby time.
Batteries naturally lose capacity after repeated charging and discharging, yet Sony has simulated repeated charging and discharging cycles and says the Xperia 10 VIII's battery should still maintain its performance after four years. However, the claim is on battery longevity, and not a promise that you'll still get exactly the same battery life on day one.
Anticipate 14GB of virtual RAM and more
The phone comes with 8GB of RAM and an additional 6GB of internal storage as “virtual RAM.” Android can move some less-active data from physical RAM into that storage to free up physical RAM for other tasks, which should translate to 14GB of addressable memory.
As internal storage is much slower than physical RAM, virtual RAM can help keep more apps available in the background, but it doesn't give the phone the same performance as one with 14GB of actual RAM.
The Xperia 10 VIII is priced at £549 (≈ $746) in the UK and €599 (≈ $698) in Europe, with availability expected from around mid-to-late September 2026 depending on the market. It's available in three colors: Frozen White, Frosted Grey, and Misty Lilac.
