Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact battery life test is done: hail the king of tablet endurance

24comments
Ah, Sony, how do you do this on a regular basis now? The Xperia Z3 has the best battery life amongst slim flagships, the Z3 Compact is the most enduring Android munchkin out there, and now we've tested Sony's 8" Z3 Tablet Compact.

Yep, you guessed it right - Sony's first small tablet is the longest-lasting slate we've ever had the privilege to benchmark the battery life of. It clocked the whopping 9 hours and 47 minutes on our demanding battery test, meaning that it should last you through the weekend with somewhat heavy usage, which would be 4-5 hours of screen-on time per day. This score is about 40% higher than the one its direct competitor - Samsung's Galaxy Tab S 8.4 - was able to muster, too.

Granted, as with the Z3 and Z3 Compact, the tablet exhibits extremely cold and inaccurate colors, but once you get used to those, you'll appreciate the almost 600 nits of peak brightness we measured, which is 50% higher than on the iPad Air 2, though Apple's tablet has very low reflectance ratio, so the two might be on par in terms of outdoor visibility. 

These bright, cold screens that Sony placed in the Z3-series, however, seem to done with power-sipping technology that nobody can match yet, given the incredible battery endurance they deliver. Let's not forget also that, despite its mere 0.25" (6.4mm) thickness, the Z3 Tablet Compact is waterproof at up to five feet, and still one of the slimmest and lightest tablets out there, so kudos to Sony's engineering prowess - its phones and tablets now occupy five of the top 10 slots in our battery benchmark database.

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.
hoursHigher is better
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5
7h 2 min(Average)
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4
7h 4 min(Average)
Apple iPad Air 2
7h 27 min(Average)
Apple iPad mini 2
8h 28 min(Average)
Apple iPad mini 3
6h 53 min(Average)
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
9h 47 min(Good)
Create a free account and join our vibrant community
Register to enjoy the full PhoneArena experience. Here’s what you get with your PhoneArena account:
  • Access members-only articles
  • Join community discussions
  • Share your own device reviews
  • Build your personal phone library
Register For Free

Recommended Stories

Loading Comments...
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless