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  • All bow to the new endurance king: Sony Xperia Z3 scores a record battery life for its category

All bow to the new endurance king: Sony Xperia Z3 scores a record battery life for its category

Posted: , by Daniel P.

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All bow to the new endurance king: Sony Xperia Z3 scores a record battery life for its category
We are not going to mince words here - Sony is the current king of battery life when it comes to brand-name smartphones. We did our grueling battery benchmark on the Xperia Z3 over the weekend, and it broke all records in its respective category, just as we suspected it would do, given Sony's consistent performance in that department this year.

The phone lasted for nearly nine and a half hours of screen-on time when we ran our tasking battery benchmark, putting it comfortably ahead of any other flagship big-screen phone or phablet we've tested at the moment. 

All bow to the new endurance king: Sony Xperia Z3 scores a record battery life for its category
As mentioned, this is more than any other flagship we've measured so far - phone or phablet - and even more than the Ascend Mate7, which comes equipped with a whopping 4100 mAh juicer, while the Z3 has an "only" 3100 mAh piece in a 7.3mm thin waterproof body. 

The Z3 battery endurance is also better than the one of the Z2, which already has a great battery life, so kudos to Sony here - it managed to squeeze much more life out of a tad smaller battery, compared to the Z2, and make a truly "two-day battery". The charging time, on the other hand, is much longer than the average, at close to four hours with the paltry stock 850 mA charger. 

If you think that what Sony did is by accident, then a simple look at our top ten endurance champs will tell you that this is not the case. Sony phones are currently occupying six of the top ten slots in our battery benchmark ranking, and these range from low-ends, like the Xperia C, through midrangers like the slim T3, all the way to the Xperia Z3 flagship. The "culprit" must be Sony's displays, which might not be the best out there when it comes to color representation and viewing angles, but are apparently using an extremely frugal technology, and screens are the pesky components with the highest battery consumption in our smartphones, so kudos to Sony here.

Battery life

We measure battery life by running a custom web-script, designed to replicate the power consumption of typical real-life usage. All devices that go through the test have their displays set at 200-nit brightness.

name
hours
Higher is better
Apple iPhone 5s
5h 2 min (Poor)
Sony Xperia Z2
8h 10 min (Excellent)
Google Nexus 5
4h 50 min (Poor)
Motorola Moto X (2014)
5h 45 min (Average)
HTC One (M8)
7h 12 min (Good)
Sony Xperia Z3
9h 29 min (Excellent)
LG G3
6h 14 min (Average)
Samsung Galaxy S5
7h 38 min (Good)
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
6h 32 min (Average)
Apple iPhone 6
5h 22 min (Poor)
Huawei Ascend Mate7
9h 3 min (Excellent)
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
6h 8 min (Average)
View all

Story timeline

This story is part of: PhoneArena battery life test(21 updates)

126 Comments
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posted on 22 Sep 2014, 03:17 29
Reply

1. itsjustJOH (Posts: 232; Member since: 18 Oct 2012)


KNEEL BEFORE ZED(3)!

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 03:20 9
Reply

3. Lt.Green (Posts: 397; Member since: 13 Mar 2014)


We're not worthy!

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 03:30 14
Reply

8. jeeta444 (Posts: 154; Member since: 24 Mar 2014)


Z3 and Z3 compact are best devices.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 04:26 15
Reply

16. Siapaya (Posts: 17; Member since: 24 Jul 2014)


Z3 Compact FTW

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 04:31 7
Reply

20. Arte-8800 (banned) (Posts: 4562; Member since: 13 Mar 2014)


Make and believe

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 07:47 11
Reply

61. buccob (Posts: 2732; Member since: 19 Jun 2012)


PA should update their review rating to reflect this awesome news. Z3 Compact should be ~ 9.3

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 18:07 4
Reply

97. paul4hp (Posts: 14; Member since: 11 Sep 2014)


Indeed, I can not trust the impartiality of a site's reviews if they give the same score to inferior (but over over-hyped) fruit devices.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 09:14 3
Reply

69. InspectorGadget80 (unregistered)


Don't you mean LORD ZED?

posted on 26 Sep 2014, 22:23
Reply

115. srivastsh (Posts: 1; Member since: 26 Sep 2014)


I ordered a Z2 as soon as it was released in the US, and I was über exited. The phone arrived and I was thrilled. Then it happened. My phone fell of the sofa onto my carpet (about 2 feet) when I picked it up it had powered off. I charged but to no avail. I took it to the SONY store and customer service couldn't do anything. They kept asking "would you like to buy another one?" I decided to get an iPhone 6. Best Phone Ever Period . It is amazing in every way. I am now grateful my Z2 broke. It enlightened me. Thank You SONY for making such crappy products.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 03:19 22
Reply

2. xperiaDROID (banned) (Posts: 5629; Member since: 08 Mar 2013)


Amazing! Just amazing! A salute and a bow to you, Sony!

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 04:29 6
Reply

17. Arte-8800 (banned) (Posts: 4562; Member since: 13 Mar 2014)


Why Compromise

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 05:31 14
Reply

36. o0Exia0o (Posts: 901; Member since: 01 Feb 2013)


I would take the Z3 Compact with its amazing battery life any day over any other "Flagship" phone simply for the battery life! What good is it to have the best CPU, the best GPU and a QHD screen if you can only use it for an hour at a time?

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 07:58 3
Reply

63. jroc74 (Posts: 6019; Member since: 30 Dec 2010)


Exactly.

My other want/need is reception. I might have to take a closer look at Sony for my next phone.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 13:23 3
Reply

92. akki20892 (Posts: 3902; Member since: 04 Feb 2013)


In gsm-arena....1st 1520 - 107h, 2nd Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G - 106h, & 3rd Z3C - 101h

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 03:22 36
Reply

4. hboy857 (Posts: 349; Member since: 03 Jun 2013)


Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 14h 44 min. Please level this kind of battery life as "Outstanding".

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 03:45 7
Reply

10. Smarter (Posts: 60; Member since: 18 Jul 2014)


I can agree. In comparison especially with Windows Phones, which are very poor regarding battery life and other features, this is really awesome result. Sony and Samsung are the best.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 06:13
Reply

43. Tamer81 (Posts: 37; Member since: 15 Mar 2013)


Where is the 1320 and the 1520? Can't see any of those in the comparisons!

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 04:31 1
Reply

18. Arte-8800 (banned) (Posts: 4562; Member since: 13 Mar 2014)


Like no others

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 05:17 8
Reply

32. giga.admin (Posts: 7; Member since: 22 Sep 2014)


If only they made a new Xperia Z Ultra (this time with flash led)....

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 07:00
Reply

52. SuperMaoriBro (Posts: 533; Member since: 23 Jun 2012)


Yes. If only. Please sony, please make a 6.5" z3 ultra. I want the z3 compact as my daily driver and a z3 ultra to use as a tablet.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 09:15
Reply

70. InspectorGadget80 (unregistered)


That was holding me back. Either the Z1 with flash or Z Ultra largest phone in the world.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 13:50
Reply

93. SuperMaoriBro (Posts: 533; Member since: 23 Jun 2012)


Its not the largest if you include tablets with phone functionality

posted on 23 Sep 2014, 06:39
Reply

112. giga.admin (Posts: 7; Member since: 22 Sep 2014)


I was thinking of buying a new larger phone, really loving xperia z ultra. But the lack of flash kept me from choising it. Damn Sony, you've missed a new customer! I'd better switch to the new Huawei Mate 7.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 04:56 4
Reply

27. iluvsonynokia (Posts: 151; Member since: 27 Aug 2013)


I CANT BELIEVE ,I THOUGHT IT WILL BE SIMILAR TO Z2/c BATTERY LIFE

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 03:23 5
Reply

5. ciprian.ruse (Posts: 311; Member since: 13 May 2014)


Great job Sony !! Next year I will decide between Z4 and HTC One M9.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 03:23
Reply

6. mr.techdude (Posts: 571; Member since: 19 Nov 2012)


I'm in love with my one m8 battery life, but the z3 is putting it on show. I'll wait for m9 and see what happens.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 03:28 13
Reply

7. vuyonc (Posts: 1062; Member since: 24 Feb 2014)


Their claims were spot on, it seems. 2 days without Stamina mode. 3 days with Stamina. 1 week with Ultra Stamina. Now trim down on your midrange budget and make like a lone SP successor for 2015 or something.

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 03:34 6
Reply

9. DogeShibe (Posts: 1116; Member since: 10 Jan 2014)


Z3 Compact is great.

posted on 05 Oct 2014, 15:36
Reply

119. milkboy54 (Posts: 39; Member since: 04 Oct 2014)


u got it

posted on 22 Sep 2014, 04:03 4
Reply

11. mokhtar (Posts: 405; Member since: 06 Jan 2014)


sony is the leader now in smartphone mobiles .. the best in camera departement ( dont tell me s5 he is only good in very good light , low light is a joke :) ) , best speakers ( watch the last video of z3 vs htc one m8 btekt channel they are in the same level , and much louder than z2 ) , gorgeous display and sexy design with amazing features as HIGH RESOLUTION AUDIO , noice concelling , camera features ... , waterproof , and now a phenomenal battery life .. a so happy z2 owner :)
ps : phone arena where is z2 cuz the battery life is amazing too and better than most of smartphones in your article

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