Motorola Pen Ultra

Unveiled at CES 2026, Motorola has added the 'moto pen ultra' to its accessories list for owners of the Signature and Razr Fold. In the UK, the pen is bundled with the Razr Fold, but your region may vary on that. As a Signature owner, I had to buy one separately and it cost £49. It is pretty hard to get hold of one at the moment, but I was lucky and landed on Moto's UK online shop on just the right day!

My review of the Motorola Signature is linked here and, since it first arrived, I have gazed longingly at the greyed-out "Smart pen, Manage pen features" item in the phone's main Settings! Well, it is here now - and as I say, good luck getting one at the moment anyway - with Moto pitching it as a high-performance smart stylus. Unlike the basic capacitive styluses found in the Moto G Stylus series, the Pen Ultra is a "professional-grade tool featuring pressure sensitivity, tilt detection and palm rejection". Apparently!

So, the Pen Ultra adds functions not dissimilar to Samsung's S-Pen - well, the older one that had Bluetooth, Air Actions, and remote shutter capabilities. It is noteworthy to mention that Samsung's more recent S-Pens are missing these features and more. As Samsung decides to pull away from the notion based on user feedback and usage, Lenovorola moves in and is all over it. Late to the party, but filling a current void. The same thing happened with Samsung and its Windows-based DeX functionality; Motorola moved in with Smart Connect and did it well - even better, arguably, than Samsung ever did.

One thing that the S-series Samsung Ultra models do have, which Moto lacks on these two models, is a silo to put the pen into. Moto has a silo on its G Stylus series, so maybe they will think about that for the next generation of devices. Samsung, being so globally popular, also has the benefit of third-party case-makers (as well as their own) designing covers with some sort of pen-holding function. These are often unwieldy, however, and feel 'bolted on' rather than looking like they are a part of the device, unless one goes for a thick, ruggedised case. Either way, there is scope for improvement and plenty of food for thought.

What the Pen Ultra does come with, however, is a holder/charger with a silo of its own! You slide the pen into the case's silo and it charges the pen up. The pen lasts about 3 hours out of the case, and with a fully charged case, there is potentially 27 hours of use. So, if it is all topped up, the user should in theory be able to charge the pen a further 8 times before the case needs plugging in again. Sounds like a pretty good compromise to me. If the pen is not being used but is out of the case, it does go to sleep in a standby mode, sipping the battery. And let's face it, who is going to use it constantly for 3 hours at a time anyway, I muse!

So, I am OK with that. It is just that, yes, you have to take it with you - the pen and/or the case - and if you do want to charge it away from base, you will need some means of plugging a charger into the case's USB-C port to do so. There is no charger in the box (at least in this UK release). The case is made of hard plastic, but the outside material is much like Moto has been using on some of its phones lately, including the Signature: a soft-touch, cloth-like fabric finish. Nice. Room for improvement might be the use of a material that Velcro will stick to. That would open up some great portability possibilities.

The 'moto pen ultra' (note the lowercase styling) is a bit small for my liking. If it is not going to fit inside a silo in the phone, then there is no real reason that it couldn't be the size of, say, the S-Pen Pro rather than a toothpick! Those with small hands will be OK, but I have big ones, and it feels a lot like the hunt-and-peck experiences of 2004 with PDA/phone units such as the i-mate JAM! So, if you are going to have a silo, fine - make it fit. But if not, make it a 'proper' pen/pencil size, Moto.

As an aside, it doesn't seem to work beyond invoking the on-screen circular carousel menu when the Signature is Qi wireless charging. It works fine if it is cable-charging, so I wasn't sure what that was about! Gemini reckons it is down to the fact that the pen is an active stylus, and both systems rely on magnetic induction. When the phone is on a wireless pad, the pad's internal coil generates a continuous, alternating magnetic field. This field pumps energy directly through the back of the phone into its receiving coil to juice up the battery. The phone's screen contains a digitised grid that emits its own tiny, precise magnetic field to track the pen’s nib location, pressure sensitivity, and hover distance. When you place the phone on a Qi pad, that massive, high-frequency charging field completely drowns out the delicate signals from the display's digitiser. The circular on-screen carousel menu still works, basically, because it is fired up and connects via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The button click that summons the quick-access carousel menu is a standard Bluetooth command, and Bluetooth operates on a completely different high-frequency radio spectrum which easily cuts right through the low-frequency magnetic noise of the Qi pad. How did we live life without Gemini, eh!

One thing that is immediately missing from the pen experience here, that Samsung had, is firing up a Quick Note from the off-screen or Always on Display. I am sure Moto could add this in a software fix, as it works fine with the G Stylus. When you fire up the S-Pen or G Stylus, you can set the phone to jump straight into note-taking mode over the top of the AoD. It works independently of the phone being 'on' and in normal use. Then you can save the note you've made, put the pen away, and the phone goes back to the AoD (or turns off). Here, it doesn't. And it might be another restriction of not having a silo, I guess. It will fire up a note-taking front-end, but if you have a PIN/Pattern/Password in use, you have to get past that first. This means that the phone is then 'open' as normal rather than sitting 'in front of' the normal lock screen interface. You press the pen's button, then tap the screen twice to invoke it. Now, in reality, the face unlock is so good (in decent enough light) that it swiftly lets you past the security anyway, but when you have finished, it doesn't go back to the AoD or turn off like the G Stylus or S-Pen. It is apparently because of a dedicated 'secure sandbox mode' built directly into the lock screen OS layers that isn't present in the Signature. It could easily be added - silo or not.

Pressure sensitivity seems to work well in the drawing mode, as do tilt detection (for shading and line-weight) and palm rejection. With Sketch-to-Image, you can draw a rough sketch and use integrated AI to transform it into an image. You don't need the pen to do this, of course - any MotoAI-equipped phone will do it - but there are obvious benefits to using a pen. You only get 6 of these generations per day, and the clock seems to reset at 1am. Quick Note lets you highlight (clip) screen content, then long-press for the option to 'add to a Note' (though to be fair, you can also do this with a finger, but I guess the accuracy is better with the pen). Circle to Search works fine, but again, a finger will do. Speed Share suggests contacts you are most likely to share your notes or annotations with - again, not pen-dependent. There is lots of stuff to play with then, some clever and pen-only, some smart without - but plenty is integrated into MotoAI. Just a quick note to say that for owners of the Razr Fold, the pen does - much like some of the far-east OEMs' implementations for pens now - work on both the outside and inside screens.

The pen utilises USI 2.0 and LPP 4.0 protocols. So what does that mean, USI and EMI, I hear you ask! They cross paths directly in how a phone's screen listens to a pen. EMI is the "noise" or static created when one electrical component generates an electromagnetic field that disrupts another nearby component. USI is a protocol (the technology) - Universal Stylus Initiative - which is an open industry hardware standard designed so that one active stylus can work across completely different brands of devices, like using the same pen seamlessly on a Google Pixel Tablet, a Lenovo Chromebook and a Motorola phone.

So why not rely purely on a standalone standard? How would that be better? It would mean users could use any one of oodles of USI 2.0 standard pens out there. As it is, Motorola has tailored this hardware specifically, meaning this is the only pen that will work correctly with these digitisers. Accuracy is great, and frankly, it seems pretty robust to me as it is! And then there is that Bluetooth in the mix. The Bluetooth 5.3 provides for remote shutter functions because it has ultra-low latency, which handles the remote commands effortlessly. If you have the camera app open, you can press the button on the pen to take a photo or video - just like the old S-Pen. But there it ends: there are no 'air actions' like Sammy had for zooming or switching things around.

The software support is found in the phone's settings. As soon as you take the pen out of its case, the phone detects it and fires up an on-screen 'button' which, when tapped, produces the carousel I mentioned earlier, on which you can assign the tools you want to have within easy reach. You also get an icon in the Status Bar indicating that the pen is 'live'. You can have 4 tools on the carousel or add apps if you like - I added Noteshelf, as I have used it cross-platform and have data in it. The moto pen ultra works perfectly well inside that too.

Pen Controls brings us to a great feature known as Knock-Knock! Turn the pen upside down, double-tap it on a surface, and it takes a screenshot! I have used this extensively while penning this review! You can then assign one action to a single-press of the pen's button - like opening the toolbar on-screen. A double-press is a bit more flexible, allowing for Annotate, New Note, Hover to Magnify (which works well, just like Sammy's - except it's a circle instead of a square) or Circle to Search (instead of having to long-press the navigation gesture bar at the foot of the screen).

Settings also allow you to see the pointer when hovering, open the toolbar when the pen is taken out, or give you a reminder if the pen is left out of the case. This can be set to various numbers of minutes, from 5 minutes up to 1 day (but actually, I can't get this out-of-case reminder to work at all - I've tested and tested it in all sorts of ways, and got nothing). There is also Last Known Location, which can be set to open in whatever mapping app you fancy to show you where you last used it, complete with coordinates. There is also an option to allow other Lenovo pens to work with the system; depending on their capabilities, that will dictate what they can do. I have a couple here and they both seem to work for basic functions, though not the higher-end ones.

As you will know if you are reading this, I'm a huge Motorola fan, but this experience does feel like it falls short of what the Samsung S-Pen can (or at least, could) do (before they stripped back some of the functionality). The relatively 'dumb' stylus of the Moto G Stylus (2024) that I have here doesn't try to have all those high-end bells and whistles, but what it does, it does in some ways more robustly. And I think that's because it has got a silo. Samsung proved that all this stuff can work well without a silo, however - look at the tablets they have produced. I have a Galaxy Tab S8 here and it works brilliantly with the magnetic connection on the back. So, it can be done. We're relying on Moto to get on and sort this out with software updates, so I won't hold my breath!

Talking of magnets, the pen attaches to the back of the Signature in one position, albeit fairly weakly, but it doesn't do anything. Now there's a thought! A future Moto device, like a Samsung tablet, that lets you at least put the pen on the back to attach magnetically and charge as an alternative to the case - or in addition to it, if they really can't work a silo into the chassis.

I do wish the pen was bigger. That is probably the main reason why I am less likely to use it, to be honest. And, as I said, if it's not tucked away in a silo, there is no structural reason why it can't be a proper size. It's a nice plaything, but I wonder how much anyone will use it for productivity in the real world. Maybe on the Razr Fold opened up, but even then, I wonder how that plastic internal screen will hold up over time.

The moto pen ultra is a fascinating release that signals Motorola's serious intent to capture the premium productivity space left behind by a complacent Samsung. At £49 in the UK - if you can track one down - the hardware itself feels like a solid compromise. The external charging case is excellently finished in Moto’s signature soft-touch fabric, providing 27 hours of total battery backup that neatly solves any low-power anxiety.

When you get the pen on the glass, the core fundamentals - pressure sensitivity, tilt detection, palm rejection and the brilliant "Knock-Knock" screenshot shortcut - work beautifully. However, the overall user experience is heavily hindered by the lack of an integrated hardware silo and a few half-baked software implementations.

The inability to use the pen accurately while the Signature is on a Qi wireless charger due to electromagnetic interference is a frustrating physical quirk. Worse still is the lack of a secure lock screen sandbox; forcing a full biometric unlock just to take a quick off-screen memo completely robs the stylus of its spontaneous, scratchpad utility. Add in a completely broken out-of-case reminder system and a toothpick-thin physical profile that will cramp larger hands, and the pen ultra starts to feel more like a luxury plaything than an essential daily workhorse.

If you own the big canvas of the Razr Fold, it is a no-brainer bundle. But for Signature owners, unless Moto commits to anchoring this premium hardware with robust, polished software updates, it remains a nice-to-have novelty rather than a productivity revolution. I've taken a load of screenshots for those who'd like to dig deeper and see them and they're now inside a Google Photos Shared Album, so feel free to click through.

Lee Cronin's The Mummy (2026)

Lee Cronin's body-horror reimagining of the classic monster tale veers away from the traditional Egyptian tombs and archaeological adventure stuff we're usually served up, heading instead towards something more akin to The Exorcist!

The film begins with a prologue on a nectarine farm in Egypt, where a man and his wife - known only as The Magician (Hayat Kamille) - discover a secret chamber beneath a hidden pyramid on their land. When they open a sarcophagus inside, a resurrected mummy instantly and gruesomely kills the husband, setting the tone for the level of gore ahead.

We then cut to a domestic setting and a family of four: Charlie (Jack Reynor), an American TV reporter living in Cairo with his pregnant wife Larissa (Laia Costa), their son Sebastian (Shylo Molina) and daughter Katie (Emily Mitchell, later played by Natalie Grace). Charlie becomes paranoid when he finds a hidden stash of sweet wrappers, realising someone has been secretly talking to his daughter, possibly grooming her.

In a deeply unsettling scene, a woman we only know as The Magician, whom we later discover to be terrifyingly manipulative, approaches Katie in the family's back garden. She has befriended Katie through her own daughter, Layla. The Magician hands Katie a nectarine and chants an incantation. A supernatural beetle emerges from the fruit, crawls into Katie, and she is possessed and abducted right there. Charlie panics, chasing her through the streets of Cairo, but he loses the scent and has to give up. The family is clearly devastated, particularly when the local policeman all but accuses them of having got rid of her themselves! His colleague, Dalia (May Calamawy), however, is much more sympathetic and returns to our story later on.

We then leap unceremoniously eight years into the future. The new child, Maud (Billie Roy), is almost eight years old, Seb is in his teens and the family is still trying to recover from their loss. Charlie and Larissa remain completely shattered but are still living in Egypt when the police suddenly phone to say they have found Katie. Larissa collapses in shock, but all is not well as they head to the reunion, only to be warned that she might not be quite the same Katie they remember - quite apart from being eight years older!

This is where the film completely changes pace and feel, turning into a dark, sinister, supernatural possession-style nightmare that harks back to that opening scene. It marks the end of nice domestic family life, pulling us into something altogether gripping and horrific. Katie’s behaviour is deeply wrong; she is physically a wreck, doesn't speak and becomes violent at the drop of a hat. Yet, for some bizarre reason, the authorities seem to think it's perfectly alright for her to go and live at home with the family!

We then get into the middle part of the film, which is filled with Larissa trying incredibly hard to make it work - so pleased is she to have Katie back, at any cost. Charlie thinks it's not such a good idea but is fended off by her, prompting the introduction of some seriously wacky body-horror stuff. It's scene after scene of eye-opening, stomach-churning violence and gore. Definitely not for the faint-hearted!

Charlie consults with a local archaeology expert, Professor Bixler (Mark Mitchinson), about some ancient hieroglyphics he finds (I won't tell you where)! As Katie's influence takes over the house, it leads to a brutal, gory and chaotic showdown where the whole cast has to try and deal with what's going on. Verónica Falcón plays Katie's grandmother, who is caught up in the heartbreaking aftermath when the girl is returned, ending up somewhat in strife amid the chaos, false teeth and all!

The film is filled with creepy sequences involving all sorts of insects and creatures (all black, of course), levitation, moving furniture and loads more - very much, as I say, in the style of The Exorcist overall. The standout performances are from the two girls, Billie Roy and Natalie Grace, who make it all terror-ific! The whole cast is very good, though, and the cinematography is superb throughout. The special effects are done really well too! My only real complaint is that at two hours and fifteen minutes, it felt about twenty minutes too long. This is especially true because Cronin decided to bolt on an epilogue after the finale, which the film could probably have done better without, making for a tighter runtime.

Having said all that, it was a rip-roaring, entertaining thrill-ride which - assuming you don't sit and look for plot holes but rather enjoy it for what it is - will give you a good time. Well, unless you're squeamish! It has now just arrived on streaming services in the UK, but for now, it is pay-to-view even if you have a subscription. Hopefully, you have some vouchers, tokens or cash handy! It's still cheaper than the cinema - but you can go there too if you like!

Fackham Hall (2025)

A British period drama with fart jokes and a good dose of Monty Python! Director Jim O’Hanlon has delivered alongside co-writer Jimmy Carr. It's a rip-roaring, 1-hour and 37-minute spoof that shoots blindly at the stuffy world of Downton Abbey and the whodunit antics of Knives Out or Agatha Christie.

It's a stupidly funny, highly entertaining piece of mindless fun that never slows down. We're in amongst the Great Depression of 1931 and the story/plot follows the eccentric, upper-class twit Davenport family! Despite the economic downturn, Lord Humphrey Davenport (Damian Lewis) and Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston) are determined to maintain their stuck-up lifestyle at their whacking great big Fackham Hall. Get it?!

However, disaster looms. Having tragically lost all four of their sons (hilariously depicted in scrapbook clippings - you have to be quick), the Davenports face imminent eviction and the loss of their estate unless their lineage can be secured. The rule is simple - one of their daughters must marry the next male heir in line - their insufferable cousin Archibald (Tom Felton). Trouble is, neither of them fancies the twit! While the eldest daughter Poppy (Emma Laird) prepares reluctantly for a chaotic wedding, her sister Rose (Thomasin McKenzie) has other ideas. She has fallen hard for Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe), a streetwise orphan pickpocket who stumbled into a job as a Hall Boy.

Just as things couldn't get any worse, a shocking death occurs on the property. Hidden family secrets come out and poor Eric finds himself framed for the murder and hurled into jail. Rose is now facing a forced marriage to Archibald to save the estate, because Poppy legged it, and the future of Fackham Hall is thrown into complete, hilarious uncertainty.

The film plays out like a Carry On film really, crossed with an murder/mystery. The fact that much of it is predictable doesn't really matter as it's so well delivered. Yes, you'll see the plot twists coming from a mile away, but it won't spoil it. The actors are clearly having great fun with the material and I challenge you not to laugh out loud at times checking out them trying not to!

Damian Lewis is central to the film's success - has he done comedy before? He is hilarious as Lord Davenport, delivering a brilliant performance as the out-of-touch English aristocrat. There's real chemistry between Thomasin McKenzie and Ben Radcliffe as Rose and Eric in amongst a parade of recognisable British actors popping up. Jimmy Carr delivers a hilarious turn as a Vicar with poorly timed speech delivery (a dead ringer for Michael Palin) and Tom Goodman-Hill is brilliantly funny as a bungling police inspector. There is even a wacky subplot featuring Jason Done as J.R.R. Tolkien, packed with Lord of the Rings nods going on, amongst much more.

O'Hanlon directs with a good comic eye, making great use of gorgeous English villages, local pubs and sweeping countryside backdrops. But the real fun is in the background details as the film is packed with those visual gags, so you will want to keep your eyes peeled for hidden jokes in book titles, newspaper headlines and props on the walls (you'll want to watch it twice)! The script balances great satire with low-brow slapstick, dirty jokes and crude innuendos. It heavily channels Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life in its surreal, absurd approach to comedy. While not every single joke lands, enough of them do to keep us cackling away!

So yes, Fackham Hall is tasteful yet delightfully tasteless! While its very specific brand of traditional British humour might miss the mark for some international audiences, we'll have a ball! It is a fast-paced, comforting and genuinely funny watch where the time just flies by. You can see it on a few streaming services now in the UK as I write.

Breakheart Pass (1975)

Based on Alistair MacLean’s bestselling novel and screenplay, this film is a mashup of a classic 1870s Western and an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. Tom Gries leads the way as director, best known to me for the 1976 TV mini-series Helter Skelter, about the investigation and trial of Charles Manson. Here, however, we get something very different.

At the outset, it feels very much like a traditional Western, complete with the expected music and visuals of a Spaghetti Western. It successfully creates an atmosphere of villainy and menace amongst various hoodlums who are working with a nasty band of Native Americans in order to rob a train and its cargo. But that is jumping ahead a bit, as the story opens with the grim news of a diphtheria outbreak at a remote US Army outpost in snowy Idaho.

A special express train is hastily dispatched to deliver vital medical supplies and a company of army relief troops under the command of Major Claremont (Ed Lauter). Travelling in the luxurious private car at the rear of the train are several high-profile civilian passengers: Richard Fairchild (Richard Crenna), the Territorial Governor overseeing the relief mission; Marica Scoville (Jill Ireland), the Governor’s fiancée and daughter of the outpost's commanding officer; Dr Molyneux (David Huddleston), a physician heading to treat the sick; Reverend Peabody (Bill McKinney), a preacher sent to minister to the troops; and O'Brien (Charles Durning), a high-ranking railroad representative.

During a water stop in the small, snowy settlement of Myrtle, the train is approached by US Marshal Nathan Pearce (Ben Johnson). Pearce requests passage for himself and his prisoner, John Deakin (Charles Bronson). Deakin is introduced as a notorious outlaw, cardsharp and accused murderer who was recognised from a newspaper clipping. Despite Major Claremont’s initial protests against boarding a criminal on a military transport, Governor Fairchild grants them entry.

The train heads off with this motley crew into the treacherous, snow-bound Rocky Mountains, where strange and sinister incidents begin to occur. Two army officers suddenly vanish from the train, telegraph lines are cut and more! When the train stops to use a trackside telegraph to report the disappearances, they discover the lines have been deliberately sabotaged. The doctor is then found dead in his quarters. Because Deakin is a handcuffed prisoner, he is initially above suspicion, though he possesses a sharp intellect and a cynical demeanour. When the train’s engineer is mysteriously thrown to his death while crossing a high wooden bridge, they are forced to stop again. Because they are now short-handed, the corrupt or oblivious crew forces the so-called outlaw Deakin to help stoke the engine's fire. Taking advantage of the fact that nobody is watching him, he uses the opportunity to snoop around the train and investigate.

Deakin discovers all sorts of suspicious-looking gear and it becomes clear that the supplies heading for the victims of the epidemic are not quite what they seem. You get the idea by now - and yes, Deakin turns out not to be who we thought he was either! From there, the film unfolds into a tale of corrupt officials, mastermind criminals and brutal outlaws aplenty, with gold, guns and much more at stake - with anyone who gets too close to the truth systematically eliminated!

There is a great deal of train-based fun and frolics on show. Carriages are uncoupled, coaches run away at breakneck speeds and dynamite is kept at the ready to blow up sections of track. Engineers, drivers, firemen and chefs all do their bit in the mix - the latter, Carlos (played by former boxing champion Archie Moore), ending up in a punch-up to the death on top of the icy, snowy roof of the speeding train with Deakin. No prizes for guessing who survives that!

We then head towards the finale at Breakheart Pass. Deakin chums up with our leading lady, Ireland - seemingly the only person who is not mixed up in what is going on, at least not once she realises what is happening. Native Americans on horseback gallop around whooping, culminating in a massive, chaotic shootout. With everyone firing at everyone else, there is plenty of action, featuring a good deal of maiming and slashing. Again, no prizes for guessing who survives (in each other's arms)!

Charles Bronson is irresistible as always as the cool leading man, while Jill Ireland does well as pretty much the only female in the story (if you discount the hookers at the beginning). Crenna is suitably revolting as the corrupt elected official and the rest of the cast do a great, highly convincing job. The script is fine, the music remains very Western in style, and the cinematography is great - whether capturing the claustrophobic interiors of the train or the sprawling outside views of the snowy scenery and long shots of the steam engine.

The action is first-class, giving the impression that the closest anyone got to special effects was the odd stuntman here and there. This was an era when actors often actually did things themselves on camera! It is a good yarn that successfully mixes a murder mystery with a proper Western style and feel. As for Alastair MacLean's story, well, it's no Where Eagles Dare, but it is still a tale well worth telling and it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable 90-minute romp.

Moto Buds Loop

I approve of this whole 'loops' thing for ear 'buds' over shoving silicone or foam down one's ear canal, often associated with ear infection and wax build-up! There, I said it! So when these 'loop' style units started to get popular I was very interested. I rushed out and bought Anker's SoundCore C30i 'clip-ons' and at first, thought they were great but when I got the Moto's version, I realised that maybe, with the SoundCore for 25% of the cost (RRP), one gets what one pays for!

Earphones that 'hang' on the bottom of the ear are OK, but very few of them are totally devoid of the risk of falling out, especially when provoked by firm body movements - think gym workouts. So these, as I found with the SoundCores, clip on and don't shift. They're great!

One of the reasons that I find the Moto Buds Loop to be better than the SoundCore C30i is very much a physical one. When putting the SoundCore buds on the edge of the ear, the Helix, apparently, they are stiff, tight and need two hands for me, always, to get into place. Once they are on, they don't shift, but over time they do let you know that they are there by the firm grip, however I try to adjust them. The Moto Buds Loop, conversely, have a 'bouncy' and more flexible 'arm' joining the speaker facing your ear with the battery housing round the back. Consequently they are very easy to put on, even one-handed, and presumably because of the material used, stay in place in just the same way, but differently, you don't know they are there. Hours and hours on end and one forgets they are on.

Now, all of the above might be dependent on one's ear cartilage and size, I do accept, and it maybe for someone who has smaller ears than me the SoundCore units don't grip and pinch over time like they do for me. My ears are big, for sure. But nobody could deny the firm 'grip' of the opening/closing mechanism and pretty-much always needing two hands to get them into place. The Moto Buds Loop absolutely win here with whatever that pliable material used is. The exact same thing happens with my Sony LinksBuds Clip 'loops'. All the above. Too tight, two hands to put on and I know they are there all the time when placed. I can't image how small your ears need to be in order to have to use Sony's supplied 'fitting cushions' by the way!

The Moto Buds Loop are easy to pair-up with any phone, yes, iOS too, using Bluetooth (as are they all) for simple functions or with the Moto Buds App for more granular control, assignable taps for functions - the usual thing. Dual connection for connecting to a second device - essentially swapping over if, for example, one is listening to music via one's PC and a phone call comes in. It will stop the music from one source when you 'answer' and go to the other device's function, then back again to the music when you hang up. Crystal Talk uses "AI-Powered" noise cancellation for clearer phone calls. I'm not sure, honestly, if I can tell the difference, but some report being able to do so.

There's a nifty feature that allows the user to, with the case open and the buds inside, use the case to record audio, say at a meeting, which hooks into the phone's "Take Notes" AI app and gets saved into the Moto Notes app with a transcription and summary. So all that does rely on having a Moto phone - and one which has MotoAI on it (which to be fair is most now, going forward).

As for sound quality, you should be aware that I'm no audiophile and that my ears are now well over 60 years old! But they sound great to me with their 12mm drivers and sound tweaked by Bose. But to be fair, so do the other two units mentioned above - I think they all sound pretty similar. All of them do a grand job of proving a high enough volume in my test areas, in amongst traffic too. I do wind up the 'bass' in settings on all of them so that some of it gets across the 'gap' between the speaker and start of the ear canal, resulting in, yes, some. Users shouldn't expect the bass response that they'd get with over-ear headphones or in-canal buds. That's not what these are for. They are for enjoying audio, but still being aware of one's surroundings.

All of them do a great job in this respect - you can hear whatever is going on, but still have a great audio-listening experience. Inevitably it's going to be a compromise when there's a gap between the speaker and the ear, but it's a good one. And the payoff is all-day comfort (with the Motos, I really forget they are there) with 37 hours of juice with the case and 8 hours continuous listening between returning them for a boost. You can also grab 3 hours listening back with a 10-minute spell in the case. The case takes about an hour to charge from flat. Moto say that they are 'water repellent' - so sweat, splashes, light rain.

If you're into bling, you can also buy (for more cash) the French Oak coloured Swarovski version of the loops! They hike the price for the standard Trekking Green ones of £130 RRP (though as I type, £99 at AmazonUK) to £250! Not sure the extra will be worth it for most people, but for the fashion-conscious amongst us, maybe! Anyway, whichever colour you fancy and however deep is your purse (or fat your wallet) I can recommend these very much. For me, they fit the best out of the three options noted above, but YMMV on that so perhaps see if you can try before you buy.

Sony Xperia 10 Mk VII

I haven't had a 10-series Xperia in-hand since the Sony Xperia 10 Mk V in 2023 and in my blog review from July that year, I reflected that the 10 Mk V certainly had an audience - though probably not with me. It was a lovely device for the right user, but with no wireless charging, no Always on Display, no HDMI-Out support and more, the 5-series was much more for me. The landscape has somewhat changed since then however, as the last 5- Series Xperia was launched in 2023 (and you can read my review of the Sony Xperia 5 Mk V via this link) but the only other option for the Sony faithful since then has been the much more expensive and sophisticated 1-series.

So my thoughts here will be slightly shifted because, well, there's now not that choice - it's expensive and better-featured 1-series or mid-range (at best) 10-series and nothing between. I do still have the 5 Mk V here, so that will be useful in terms of comparison too, but the 10 Mk VII will much more appropriately be compared with previous 10-series models. The most obvious change since the last generation, incidentally, is something Sony did with the 6th generation of the 1-series, moving away from the 21:9 letterbox screen and more into what most others were doing, providing a less tall, but wider 19.5:9 ratio screen. So yes, this is the first time it's been done on a 10-series phone.

I did have hands-on for a while with the Sony Xperia 1 Mk VI, so saw the difference in the screen ratio there, but it was an altogether bigger phone - so this will be the first time I've seen that screen ratio on one of the Xperia lines' smaller devices. It would have been nice to see it on a 5-series device, but I guess Sony know what they want to do, and their audience, so I don't think there's much chance of that for the foreseeable. Image here, showing the difference between the 10 Mk VII and 5 Mk V with thanks to GSMArena.

But anyway, the big question for me will be about whether or not the battery is good enough to get through the day with a 3rd Party Always on Display app and whether on not I can hide my 3rd Party Qi Coil under the case nicely. So, brace yourself Salmon - lower expectations again, from the heights of the 1-series and invisibility of the 5-series, and let's see if it remains another 'not for me' phone.

The first thing that hit me when opening the (empty apart from the phone and legal papers) box was the stunning turquoise colour. It really is a smashing shade and so much more preferable to the dull-sounding charcoal (black-into-grey) and white. It's cheerful, vibrant and fun-looking and I can't imagine why anyone would not choose it over the others! But yes, as usual with Sony, there's nothing else in the box except for claims of eco-friendly materials used, the same for the plastics that the phone are largely made of - instead of the aluminium and more glass of the grander Xperia models. On first handling, particularly with this colour, it reminds me of colourful phones of years gone by - many from Nokia and there was that iPhone 5c thing too.

Plastic is OK with me at this price-point. A price-point of £399 (though deals will snag it cheaper almost always). This price raises eyebrows amongst the tech-savvy, pointing out that for this price buyers can get 'so much more' from other brands, certainly from China-based OEMs. More features, better components, faster chipsets, more RAM - 'better' everything, except for the Sony name of course. Sony knows their audience, as I say, and they know they have people who are staunchly brand-loyal and would much rather pay a bit more than elsewhere, feeling reassured and confident about what they are buying. In terms of supply and demand, there's very limited scope in America for people to buy Xperia phones, so they know that they are limiting their audience to other regions - which must be reflected in their bottom-line pricing too. Anyway, we'll see if the extra cash is worth it. Well, at least, for me! Incidentally, I picked mine up second-hand for much less than this RRP so do jump around online for options.

When you take out the SIM Card Tray you can clearly see the effort that has gone in for the IP65/IP68 rating for ingress. There's a rubbery loop around the door which offers huge confidence that it's sealed, tight, when pushed in with a finger. The payoff for this is that it's a bit tougher than previous Xperia models to get the thing open! The 'fingernail' slot seems to be smaller to me, so don't cut your nails too short! Inside is the nanoSIM card slot on one side and microSD Card slot on the other. This unit does not seem to be Dual SIM but the phone does support eSIM if a second is needed. The microSD Card slot will support up to 2TB Cards and is playing very nicely with my 1TB version. The card on which I keep pretty much all my data as there's only 128GB storage onboard of course, as usual for anything outside of the 1-series. There was apparently a 5 Mk V with 256GB but I never saw one - probably just in Japan. Once all my data/media is on the card and initial indexing is done by various apps, it works just like the internals storage really, so that can be kept for system resources with plenty of breathing space.

The SIM Card Tray incidentally is on the side, top-left, which I think is a 10-series thing. Most Xperia units that have come through my hands have this on the bottom, left. There's an XPERIA branding on that same side, low down, embossed, which feels like a nice touch in the same colour, rather than an advert. Easily missed. There are various microphones around the phone's edges and up-top that 3.5mm audio-out socket, which I'll come to later. On the right, there's the first appearance of a shutter button on a 10-series Xperia. It's not the 2-stage focusing button that grander Xperia phones have, but you can invoke the camera app (even with screen off) by long-pressing it (or turn that off in settings). Once the camera is open, you can short-press it to take a photo or long-press it to switch to video-shooting mode. Or, in photo mode, you can set it to start recording a video with a long-press. Or turn the long-press off (which is what I have done). Wherever else you are in the phone, a short press will take a screenshot - which is really handy. Or you can turn that off. The button is much higher up the side than on 1/5-series models, apparently because the 10-series is aimed much more at people who are likely to be shooting in portrait. Apparently. Says a lot!

On that same right side there's a very slightly indented power button which doubles up as a capacitive fingerprint scanner, which is quick and easy to set up. By default it's touch to unlock (which is why I think it's slightly recessed to avoid accidental touches). If you don't want that to be the case, then tough luck! There is no 'press to unlock' option here that 1 and 5 series Xperia have. But it works well for me here as-is. I guess you can just not register any fingerprints then 'press any button' to wake the screen then use a pattern or PIN instead. Or not, if you're feeling brave! Above this button is the volume rocker which works well. The volume rocker and shutter button are coloured the same as the phone and the power button, black. Down the bottom we have a USB-C slot, central. On the back, the camera-bar has been turned through 90-degrees since the last model and is now spookily similar to the Pixel phones running across most of the width in a 'long pill' shape. Great for putting down on a surface - and even provides, like with Pixels, a 'finger ridge' (for those not using a case that levels the back) and for styling, much like the XPERIA on the side, there's a similarly embossed SONY on the 'long pill' to the right of the cameras.

The front of the phone is flat. The plastic edges coming around from the 'trough' that the phone's works sit inside are slightly proud of the surface of the glass which might help with not getting the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 micro-scratched (or worse)! And then, there are those bezels. Sizeable all-round but particularly, by preference in design for Xperia, top and bottom - where sensors, selfie-camera and speakers have room to breathe. I've always been OK with this on Xperia phones. The modern trend is to go as bezelless as possible of course, but I like the space for fingers, avoiding accidental screen-touches.

It's a really nice phone in the hand. The plastic is just fine for me (and I'd argue anyone) staying away from the risks of dents and breakages of metal or glass. I know it saves them money, but I think it works well and keeps the weight down - here to 168g. You hardly know you're carrying it. Overall, the dimensions are 153mm tall x 72mm wide x 8.3mm fat - and that feels very much in proportion. The 19.5:9 ratio screen is the big change here from previous models' 21:9 and I think it was the right decision. On the bigger 1-series, I wasn't so sure as it made it jolly much wider than the models before, but here, it feels right. More space in the width for typing than my narrow 5 Mk V and as for consuming content at 21:9 - well, most of it is 16:9 still anyway, frankly. With media created in different formats, nobody is ever going to get it perfectly right. As for scrolling through data and social media feeds benefiting from the taller 21:9 I really haven't noticed that to be much different (in practice). I come away from this wishing that my 5 Mk V was 19.5:9 too.

As for the screen tech, it's a dinky, Triluminos 6.1" OLED, same as last year's phone but, as I say, shorter and wider with that shifted ratio. It's a perfectly good 1080p with a generous 422ppi and for the first time on a 10-series, has a refresh rate of 12oHz. Can't say that I particularly notice the difference still (and have mine on 60 to save battery) but yes, for those with younger, sharper eyes, they'll no doubt be pleased with the smoother flow. This is either on or off, by the way - no fancy auto-mode! The panel is bright, colourful and vibrant as we'd expect from Sony. The tech figures show nearly 700 nits on manual and just over 1,000 in auto. Looks great to me and unless one is basking in the daytime sun in Alice Springs, outside is good too! Worth noting that this is a hike up from the brightness levels found in the previous models in the line.

I was expecting the speakers to be a bit rubbish, to be honest, but actually, I am pleasantly surprised. They are stereo and both forward-facing, one at each end, common now to all Xperia phones. I'm comparing the sound output with my 5 Mk V (tweaked with whatever tools are available on either phone). Incidentally, the 10 Mk VII doesn't have Dolby Atmos baked in like more expensive Xperia phones, but for my tests here and these tools, I employed-if-available - so as to make the listening experience meaningful as to what you'd get in the real world. It does, however, have some audio settings of its own from Sony - 360 Reality Audio and 360 Upmix (which you really need to use specific music apps/services to make the most of, some behind a paywall) and DSEE Ultimate which "upscales compressed music using AI". I found that generally the speakers sounded better with that toggled on. Slightly more body and richness to the output, but not more volume.

So, the results, for my ears, are closer than I feared they might be distant. Yes, the 5 is louder by, maybe, 25%, and the quality (once tweaked, as above) is richer and there's more bass by, say, a similar amount - or maybe a bit more. There's no sign, or even hint, of 'tinny' on my 5 but yes, on maximum volume, there is a hint with the 10 with certain music sources, certain mp3 media files that I use. Introduce Wavelet to narrow the gap perhaps? Usually, the payoff with this excellent app is that you get better quality with a reduced volume - but strangely here that is not the case. There is a very slight improvement in quality across tracks but not the usual hike this app brings - tested with various settings, the best EQ being 'Dark'. As I say, I was really not expecting the speakers to be this good and overall, I think that the vast majority of target users will be delighted and impressed. Yes, there are much better out there (and even in here!) but it's better than many for sure and perfectly usable. What you don't get, that the grander Xperia models do, is Dynamic Vibration which we at Phones Show Chat have reported on and wow'd about over the years. Many dismiss it as a gimmick, but we like it and think it makes for immersive and bass-like enjoyment of (particularly) video than without. All smoke and mirrors, no doubt, but I'll vote for jolly psychology!

The 3.5mm audio-out port again, I tested against the 5 Mk V and using my Sony XM4 headphones, wired, obviously! I started off with the 10 and again with tweaking, it sounded really, really bass-orientated and bonkers loud. Stupid loud! Nobody could safely listen at maximum volume, I'd content. But the quality, of course, also down to the headphones, is rip-roaringly fab! Switch to the 5 and I'd say that the only real difference was that it's bonkers, stupid, nutty loud! So yes, the volume for me seems to get even higher, but the quality sounds pretty level on both. I think I've damaged my ears now! I'll have a lie down in a dark room! Tested also with non-Sony gear - my Marshall headphones and even simple, cheap earbuds - and I really don't think anyone would need to consider a more expensive Xperia in this department. Bluetooth is the same bonkers-loud and fabulous on, well, both of these phones with various Bluetooth-enabled earphones and headphones. Again, nobody could complain about the sound here.

Another reason for getting a more up-to-date Sony Xperia is that all the units I have here are outdated now with no Android OS updates left to come - and even the most-recent 5 Mk V is stuck on Android 15 with quarterly Security Patches now, the last of which being this autumn. Sony seem to have upped their game a bit now moving from a paltry 2 OS updates and 3 years of Security to 4 OS and 6 security. So double. (See how I worked that out?!) A much better prospect, meaning that this 10 Mk VII will get Android 19 and security to September 2031, having launched in September 2025. Hurrah! It's currently on Android 16 April 2026 Security in the first week of May. Sony are good at keeping to their promises of updates and they're much swifter to push them out, usually, than many others.

The chipset employed here is the SnapDragon 6 Gen 3 (4nm) which, yes, up against the 5 Mk V shows a little lag here and there, particularly on meaty tasks like processing 100 app updates, the setup procedure, copying data from the PC and so forth, but if it's not doing any heavy-lifting, day-to-day, ordinary tasks that the target buyer will be doing, it really is perfectly good and fine. I threw Asphalt 9 at it and yes, alright, there may have been a judder here and there, but nothing to be upset about. It depends on what's going on in the background too, as with 8GB RAM some stuff can, eventually, be shut down. I'm being picky but once or twice, switching between social media apps I've noticed that some of them have had to start up again - and during that process of firing up and getting going, yeah, maybe, a judder or two. But once in flow, it really is fine. Again, for target audience, they probably wouldn't even notice. The SD 6 Gen 3 is compared on testbenches with the MediaTek Dimensity 7300, in the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus I have here, or some mid-range Oppo/Vivo devices. Or Samsung's Exynos 1480 which is used in, for example, their A55. It's not the fastest out there, it is good for low power consumption, which we'll come to now in terms of battery. Sony’s UI is so light that the mid-range chip actually punches above its weight. On a Samsung or a Xiaomi, that chip would be gasping for air under the weight of the skin. On the Xperia, it’s perfectly good and fine - precisely because the software stays out of the way.

The battery is yet another 5,000mAh one which Sony love so much to use in Xperia phones, regardless of their size, power or market position. Which is good for these mid/lower-end devices and chipsets, as depicted above. It charges at 30W with the appropriate cable and plug and in my tests I've been able to get a full charge from flat in just over an hour and half. A part charge, say to 50% takes about 40 minutes or so. Sony have not gone off like others with Silicon-Carbon or super-fast charging speeds, prioritising rather their 4-year battery health promise. It shouldn't drop below 80% health until after 4 years of 'daily use'. In my 10% Reading Test I have got decent results of about two and a half hours - not the best, but far from the worst - and my average daily use test, well into Day 2 if needed with about 40% left at bedtime. As long as I don't have my Always on Display app on...

...if employed however, and I've played with a lot of them, I have found the best (with least impact on battery) to be AOD XPath by aodlink set to a simple readout of basic information and brightness to about 33%. YMMV but I have tested about half a dozen other apps and this is the best I can get. The hit is about 5% per hour, so it depends on whether or not that's worth it for you. You can always set it to go off in the pocket to extend life - and grab yourself a Moto Watch Fit. Kinda 'dumb' as it maybe, it keeps you well informed, takes less of a hit on battery with Bluetooth on than a WearOS watch - and here, means that you can keep the phone in the pocket more. With the screen off. There's no wireless charging here, sadly, so short of adding a 3rd party coil to the back for a tenner, which is a bit messy and annoying when it half covers the lovely turquoise back, it's wired only.

I've run the phone through the usual connectivity tests and can report that 5G and 4G work well in my decently-covered location, for phone calls by voice, VoIP and data. No drop-outs and good data when needed away from WiFi/routers. Speaking of which, I've tested 3 networks for that and again, they come up trumps - no issues at all - and WiFi 6e is supported. Maybe all this down to that really good EE cellular network and good domestic/commercial fibre-optics, but I do think we have entered an era where connectivity is good and can be relied on. Yes - of course, that won't be true everywhere for everyone, but for me, yes! Bluetooth v5.4 here works reliably and well, as I said above, but also in terms of range and stability. Bluetooth just gets better! GPS for tracking in various apps I've tested and again, good signal, good hold and good fixes. NFC works like a charm too, paying in shops with Google Wallet and hooking up with other hardware, as tested. USB-C OTG cable connection is solid, even if there's no Display Port output, HDMI-Out as there is on 1 and 5 series Xperias. So it's the 2.0 version only - but to be honest, latency over wireless sharing and sending is so good these days it's probably no wonder OEMs are saving the pennies and not including it.

Security is handled by the usual Android baseline stuff, PIN or Password, pattern etc. There's also that aforementioned capacitive fingerprint scanner which works first time, every time. There's no face unlock (like all Xperias to date) but sadly there's also no lift to wake or nudge to wake or tap to wake or double-tap to wake or shake to wake or whack to wake at all! You need to press a button to wake the screen or touch the fingerprint scanner. Tap to wake can be added with an app, like most things with Android. I've been testing various AoD apps (as above) and the main problem is that they tend to drain the battery, OLED or not, faster than I'm happy about, as mentioned. They also seem to interfere with the simple route-in via the fingerprint scanner - they want the screen to be tapped first, then finger on the scanner - making for a double-action always. I am beginning to think that I should abandon my festish for an AoD and live without it. Following on from what I was saying about the Moto Watch Fit, armed with Moto's app, it works perfectly well if set up properly - with an AoD on the wrist and Notifications too (as there is no notifications that pop up on the phone at all - without an AoD app - or at least the Lock Screen live) that I can find. When the phone's screen is off, the phone really is on life-support only, though to be fair it does push notifications out to the watch (without any signs of life on the phone)!

The software is the lovely, clean, near-vanilla version of Android that we've come to appreciate from Sony. No bells and whistles much, virtually no sign of any AI, a real old-fashioned experience. All that M3E stuff that Google has been working on and re-worked Notification Shade icons and more - nope, Sony ignores all that and goes its own way! Which is now refreshing to be honest. An oasis in a sea of OEMs copying bleedin' Apple in whatever way they can regardless of whether the ideas are crap or not! Everyone jumping on AI like much of it isn't just a bunch of gimmicks and toys. There's a sense in which Sony, taking a bit of a middle road, is just right. Enabling users to use core Google tools like Gemini, whatever is in Google Photos for all, and Circle to Search - but drawing the line on bolt-on tools which enable content creation for the lazy and ignorant, for example. Layers upon layers of so-called 'smart' functions have made their way onto today's phones - and for what? Techy folk to have a play with them, amusing themselves and friends down the pub, then never to be seen again? (Not the friends - the functions!)

There's the usual stock feeling layout of pages right, Google's Discover/feed to the left (if you want it), App Drawer with a swipe-up which can be arranged by name or whatever order you fancy with an editor, Notification Panel with a swipe-down and nice, blocky icons, pull down again for more, a Status Bar with the good old basics like clock and icons - and a battery percentage readout in numbers without a stupid pill or bubble behind it and lots more which many will called 'dated' but I say fine! Side Sense makes an appearance, but to be honest, I never use it! You can put a marker on the edge of the screen and assign actions to it which open up a bar with apps on it for quick access. Straight out for the Side Sense 'Dashboard' which is all-but the same as pulling down the Notification Shade, an App Launcher, yes, which is no quicker really than having apps on one's home screens on in the app drawer - and Multi-window where apps can be dragged for 'split screen' top and bottom. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do this on such a tiny screen. I get it to some degree on, say, a big foldable phone or tablet - but this? By the time you've fiddled about executing the function and getting it set up and realising that you need a magnifying glass to continue, you could have just found some other ways to do what you want to do. Probably on a bigger device!

Anyway, Wallpaper and Style is present with Themed Icons (or not), the Colour Contrast setting which arrived on Android 16 to assist with those finding it easier to focus on screen elements and an App grid option for anything between 4x6 to 5x8. Then there's Lock Screen clocks to choose from, just like other Xperia phones - except here there are only two and they are stuck in the Lock Screen and don't make it out to an AoD. Which it doesn't have. Did I mention that?! Strangely, but maybe in keeping with the retro vibe, 3-button navigation is on by default, but there is a prompt during setup to change it. There's also a bunch of apps - some of them Google core apps funnily enough, which the user needs to tick or not to install or not, again, during setup. Oh yes - there's also FaceBook and LinkedIn installed and uninstallable. As usual. Force Stop and Disable is your friend. To be fair, that's pretty much all that irks. The only other ones seem to be the useful Sony Music Player and Sony Pictures Core (for their TV users), both clean uninstallable, if you want to. Somehow it doesn't seem so bad if they're Sony's own apps. It's 3rd party dross that's annoying.

In the Gestures settings, there's an item called Smart Call Handling. If you turn this on, it means that when someone calls, you can just lift the phone to your ear and have the call auto-answered so you're ready to speak, screen-on. So, if it can do that, how much more would it take for a simple lift-to-wake to work, I wonder! That's basically what it's doing anyway! So yes, these frustrations are mine, coming from a higher-end Xperia I realise. Most users wouldn't even think about this stuff, no doubt, not start whining - and get on to enjoying the phone!

The cameras provided are a main 50MP f/1.9 unit with OIS and a 13MP f/2.4 wide-angle. That's it! Apart from the 8MP f2 Selfie round front. You can shoot 4K video from the main at 30fps and 1080p at 120, both with OIS too. The Selfie will do you 1080p@30. The supplied Camera App's UI is simple, very much like many other phones out there, not with the depth of the Xperia 1 or 5. It's clearly designed for casual snapping and shooting - that the vast majority of buyers/users here will be posting to their mates on social media. So that's pretty-much the pitch. Simple and straightforward for the masses, not complex for the niche photographers. The main choices are on the usual side-swiping carousel of words, horizontally, across the bottom, in portrait, or sideways, on the side, in landscape. There's a choice up-front and centre to switch between the wide-angle lens (0.7x), the main 1x and digital 2x. Worth noting that yes, the dedicated 2x optical zoom has gone from the previous model, but Sony claims that their 'in sensor zoom' makes up for it.

The rest of the controls switch orientation when the phone is turned, by the way. Bear in mind though that if you do, and want to use the shutter button, it's pushed a long way towards the middle, ending in finger gymnastics. There's a 'Bokeh' mode (presumably replacing Portrait Mode) which actually does a nice job in my tests here. Quite a bit of it seems to be 'automatic' so it will switch to Night Mode when it thinks it needs to (unless you toggle it off and force its hand). As usual with Night Modes these days, it grabs light from places that the human eye can't (at the expense of noise etc.). Dig into the menus for a bunch of other options like Soft Skin Tone Effect, Hand Shutter - take a shot with a wave, AI Super Resolution Zoom which is "digital processing that preserves more of the original image quality". YMMV with that! Gridline and sound options and so on - the usual stuff.

It's a nice and simple UI which will please the target audience and not confuse casual users like the 1 and 5 series will be guaranteed to! Then, yes, there's the shutter button on the side, as described above. Nice and useful if you're (very likely) shooting in portrait. The rest of the camera stuff and deeper dive on all things digital photography, as you will probably know by now if you read my stuff, is something I don't have much interest/expertise in - so instead of bangin' on about something I don't understand, I'll hand you over to our friends at GSMArena for their blow-by-blow, samples and analysis which starts here. Please do support them - a really useful resource with huge amounts of data scooped up over decades now.

The previous owner passed on a simple, soft, clear TPU case - which, as almost always, is the perfect way to case a phone and make it grippy-not-slippy! Also sent over was a wallet case, nice and cheap on Amazon UK and defies the fiver cost by being well-made and useful for those who wish to go that route.

The Xperia 10 Mk VII is a testament to Sony’s steady as she goes philosophy, even if the boat has been steered into slightly wider waters! By abandoning the 21:9 letterbox for a more conventional 19.5:9 ratio, Sony has made a phone that finally feels natural for typing and daily scrolling, even if it loses a bit of that unique Xperia silhouette. In many ways, this is the most 'grown-up' 10-series device yet. The leap to a 120Hz refresh rate and a significantly brighter OLED panel brings the display into the modern era, while the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 provides enough 'oomph' for the average user, despite some occasional stutters under heavy load. The addition of a shutter button is a lovely nod to the brand's heritage, even if its placement is clearly skewed toward portrait shooters.

However, the 10 VII still carries the weight of Sony’s classic compromises. The 30W charging is slow by 2026 standards and the lack of native Always on Display or Qi Charging remains a baffling omission for a device at this price-point. The camera setup is capable but uninspiring - the main sensor does the heavy lifting well, but the ultrawide feels like an afterthought. 

Ultimately, if you value lightweight phones with durable build, good battery life and the trilogy of legacy features (3.5mm jack, microSD and no notch), the 10 Mk VII stands alone. It isn't a powerhouse, but with a revamped 4-year OS update promise, it’s a reliable companion that won’t demand a lifestyle change - just a bit of patience while charging. So yes, a solid, sensible mid-ranger for the brand faithful, but unlikely to lure the spec-sheet hunters away from the competition. And this turquoise is gorgeous!