Sony needs a ‘compact’ device to challenge the Samsung Galaxy S10e

In the absence of Sony releasing a 2019 ‘compact’ flagship (at least so far), who would have thought that Xperia fans would be turning to Samsung to fulfil their needs. Sony Mobile has dampened plans to release any more ‘compact’ flagship devices. Earlier in the year, Sony Mobile’s Vice President of Marketing said that consumers wanted bigger displays, implying that Sony may be ending its compact range.

In light of this, there is a good chance that Sony will lose plenty of customers to Samsung. It’s interesting how many people have got in touch through email or social media, to cite the Galaxy S10e as a device that piques their interest, in the absence of any flagship compact from Sony.

It’s not hard to see why. The Samsung Galaxy S10e ticks a lot of boxes including a flat AMOLED 5.8-inch display (the first time a Samsung flagship has had a flat display since the Galaxy S7), IP68 certification for water resistance, headphone jack, microSD memory card support and good battery life. This is all while sporting the latest hardware specs (Snapdragon 855 chipset, 6GB RAM, 128GB internal storage).

To top it all off, Samsung has released the Galaxy S10e in some funky colours, like Canary Yellow and Flamingo Pink. Bright colours have been a staple for Sony’s compact devices for many years. So for all intents and purposes, Samsung has done a good job in replicating the formula that Sony did so well.

Now, we concede that the Galaxy S10e is far from ‘compact’. With dimensions of 142.2 x 69.9 x 7.9 mm, it’s certainly not compact when compared to Sony standards. The 5-inch Xperia XX2 Compact had dimensions of 135 x 65 x 12.1mm, but even this was bigger than Xperia fans were used to. The 4.6-inch Xperia XZ1 Compact, for example, had dimensions of 129 x 65 x 9.3mm. Despite this, the Galaxy S10e is as close to a flagship device that exists at the moment.

Since, Sony’s announcement of the Xperia 1 and 10 series, many have asked us where is the compact model. Xperia fans would love to see a compact version in a 21:9 form factor, maybe something similar to the Xperia ray of yester-year. But this remains high on people’s wishlist, rather than there being any real indication of an Xperia compact device surfacing this year.

If you have been a fan of Sony’s compact devices in the past, who will you turn to this year in the absence of a Sony model? Is the Samsung Galaxy S10e attractive? Are there other models you are considering? Please let us know in the comments below.

Tagged as: Sony, Sony Mobile