Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact battery test shows they outlast your average 2018 flagship

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Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact go through our battery test
The new Sony Xperia XZ2 (see full specs here) and the XZ2 Compact (see full specs here) have just gone through our battery life test and the results are in.

Sony phones have traditionally performed very well in battery tests, so we were curious to see how long the company's newest devices can last, especially considering that both the XZ2 and the XZ2 Compact have slightly larger batteries than their predecessors, the XZ1 and XZ1 Compact.

So let's bring the Xperia XZ phone and a couple of other popular phones, and see how each of them performs in our battery test.

Battery Test Results

The XZ2 and XZ2 Compact perform above your average 2018 flagship phone

Battery life(hours)Higher is better
Sony Xperia XZ28h 54 min(Good)
Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact9h 13 min(Good)
Sony Xperia XZ17h 44 min(Average)
Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact11h 19 min(Excellent)
Apple iPhone 88h 37 min(Good)
Apple iPhone 8 Plus10h 35 min(Excellent)
Apple iPhone X8h 41 min(Good)
Samsung Galaxy S97h 23 min(Average)
Samsung Galaxy S9+8h 5 min(Average)
OnePlus 5T8h 51 min(Good)

The flagship Xperia XZ2 lands an excellent score of almost 9 hours, more than your average 2018 flagship.

The smaller XZ2 Compact does even better with a score of 9 hours and 13 minutes, again beating most of the competition with a good margin.


Interestingly, when we look at last year's XZ1 and XZ1 Compact, the new XZ2 outscores its predecessor, but the XZ2 Compact did not quite catch up to the XZ1 Compact which still holds one of the highest battery scores in our rankings. This is likely due to the higher resolution screen: the XZ2 Compact features a 5-inch 1080 x 2160-pixel display, while last year's model had a 4.6-inch 720 x 1280-pixel display.

But compared to most other flagships - phones by Apple and Samsung - the XZ2 family looks great: it outlasts the pack (other flagship phones average around 8 to 8 and a half hours).

Charge Time Test

It takes a long time to recharge the new XZ2 series

Full Charge(hours)Lower is better
Sony Xperia XZ22h 25 min
Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact2h 24 min
Apple iPhone 82h 28 min
Apple iPhone 8 Plus2h 58 min
Apple iPhone X3h 9 min
Samsung Galaxy S91h 47 min
Samsung Galaxy S9+1h 45 min
Sony Xperia XZ12h 29 min
Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact2h 33 min
OnePlus 5T1h 33 min

Another important part of the battery experience is the time it takes to recharge a phone. After all, when you run out of battery, when you have a fast-charging phone you can just plug it in for a few minutes and get that much needed battery boost to last through a longer day.

Unfortunately, the XZ2 and XZ2 Compact are not among the fastest-charging phones out there. In the box with the phones is a Quick Charge 3.0 compliant Sony wall charger, but it still charged the phone very slowly.

It took around 2 hours and 25 minutes to fully charge the XZ2 and XZ2 Compact from 0 to 100%. This is especially bad when compared to phones like the OnePlus 5T that charges for just 1 hour and a half.

One neat extra that the XZ2 has is wireless charging. Sony does not provide a wireless charger in the box, so you need to purchase one separately, and charging speeds with it will be slower than wired charging, but it is a nice convenience to have. The XZ2 Compact lacks such an option.

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