Sony Xperia XZ2 review

14 March 2018
You don't really have to look any further than the new Xperia XZ2 and its little Compact sibling for proof that Sony is evolving even if slowly. The 2018 flagship is different in a number of ways, some of which more controversial than others.

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  • AnonD-731491
  • iD3
  • 14 Mar 2018

Anonymous, 14 Mar 2018Low light shots are worse than galaxy note 4, let alone S9 ... moreYou can wake up from your dream

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    • AnonD-246723
    • KSE
    • 14 Mar 2018

    Anonymous, 14 Mar 2018Low light shots are worse than galaxy note 4, let alone S9 ... more10.times speaker? Lol making numbers out of thin air . If Want to lie please make it plausible .

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      • AnonD-731491
      • iD3
      • 14 Mar 2018

      Anonymous, 14 Mar 2018With this price point, sony should include fast charger in ... moreyour note 4 is an obsolete garbage , Xzp and xz2 destroys it only at 10%

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        • Satsuki
        • KZ8
        • 14 Mar 2018

        XtremE16, 14 Mar 2018 Sony’s FAQ on the headphone jack on the Xperia XZ2 an... moreNow remove that USB Type-C port as well.

        Lame excuses ever. By the way, ambient flow design is ugly on that 11.1 mm thick rear.

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          • Satsuki
          • KZ8
          • 14 Mar 2018

          Ever great Omnibalance and Loop Surface designs will be remembered forever.

          Ugly Ambient Flow design has caused me ditching Sony from the book of smartphones consideration list.

          No more an elegant flat back and premium looking Loop Surface design, No buy.

          Heed that Sony!

            AnonD-246723, 14 Mar 2018Nobody talk about anturu . 1080p off screen is the fairest... moreFor benchmark numbers and SoC compares yes, but real performance lies in the onscreen 1080p numbers.
            Shows how a phone actually performs in real life usage.

            Anyways, its that first guy that mentioned the synthetic antutu benchmarks, not me.

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              • Levy
              • pHT
              • 14 Mar 2018

              XtremE16, 14 Mar 2018 Sony’s FAQ on the headphone jack on the Xperia XZ2 an... moreLies. Business, cheaper manufacturing, an attempt to promote the use of expensive wireless earbuds with non replaceable batteries = planned obsolescence or pay expensive maintenance at the official service when their batteries flaws.

              They new design language implies downgrade and worse selfie camera without autofocus, lower display resolution, lack of audio jack, cameras without OIS, their hi-res audio adapter doesn't support quick charging and the reviewed versions since now comes without quick chargers, and other flaws.

              The only positive things is the natural evolution of the SoC, some improvements in the camera software and a good speakers but this is a flagship and expensive phone, so you expect a lot more for that price.

                Cassy O, 14 Mar 2018XZ2 https://m.gsmarena.com/showpic2.php3?sImg=reviews/18/s... moreThose are both equally great lowlight shots.
                XZ2 seems brighter due to higher ISO, but this time without losing detail at it.
                If you pixelpeep, yes, you will find some more noise on XZ2 one, but also more brightness and details to the shot in overall too...

                Look for ex at the snails detail on the down left up close, or the trees, in these two:
                XZ2:
                https://m.gsmarena.com/showpic2.php3?sImg=reviews/18/sony-xperia-xz2/camera/gsmarena_021.jpg&idReview=1735&idPage=6#
                S9:
                https://m.gsmarena.com/showpic2.php3?sImg=reviews/18/samsung-galaxy-s9/camera/gsmarena_024.jpg&idReview=1734&idPage=7#

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                  • Anonymous
                  • kxg
                  • 14 Mar 2018

                  XtremE16, 14 Mar 2018 Sony’s FAQ on the headphone jack on the Xperia XZ2 an... moreDesign over function...too bad. Well, even that design is not a good one.

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                    • Anonymous
                    • kxg
                    • 14 Mar 2018

                    taghack, 14 Mar 2018A little clarification on the matter of chargers, since rev... moreWith this price point, sony should include fast charger in every box for every region. No excuse. Samsung include a fast charger in every box for every region since note 4. Well, to be honest XZ2 has no advantage over galaxy note 4. Similar day to day performance(although XZ2 may win in benchmarks, my old note 4 runs very smooth and fast and lag free), similar battery life. And galaxy note 4 has removable battery, audio jack, better camera, better screen(amoled), productive S pen, better durability, better ergonomics and include fast charger in the box. There is no suprise sony phone sales are declining.




                      Sony’s FAQ on the headphone jack on the Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact

                      Why did you remove the headphone jack on XZ2 and XZ2 Compact?


                      This is part of the shift to our new Ambient Flow design language. In order to create the beautiful seamless design, our designers needed to remove the headphone jack. Plus, we’re aware of the major market trend toward wireless headphones over wired headphones.


                      But can I still use wired headphones with XZ2 or XZ2 Compact?


                      Yes absolutely, both new smartphones come boxed with an adaptor. This will also support Hi-Res Audio.

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                        • Anonymous
                        • kxg
                        • 14 Mar 2018

                        Hayaan Mo Sila, 14 Mar 2018Because it creates a lot of distortion in videos, something... morePixel 2 xl has better camera than old pixel because it has OIS.

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                          • Anonymous
                          • kxg
                          • 14 Mar 2018

                          phinch88, 14 Mar 2018only 4gb of RAM....... yet is still topping a lot of bench ... moreOptimised for benchmark apps

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                            • Anonymous
                            • kxg
                            • 14 Mar 2018

                            AnonD-258449, 14 Mar 2018Sony Xperia XZ2 busts the new galaxies, save for the head ... moreLow light shots are worse than galaxy note 4, let alone S9

                            S9 has the best camera on earth

                            Battery life is worse than S9 duo

                            S9 is faster than XZ2 because it has highest score(among androids) on single core benchmark which is most important.

                            Audio of S9 is 10x better than XZ2 with harman and dolby atomos techonology whereas XZ2 has non and it has quiet speakers(only good in loudness test) although sony claims 20% improve output

                            Sony's software is full of bugs and they need to push out bug fixes every month. So, for some users, it seems like sony is fast in upgrades.

                            1080p @ 960 fps video is useless because no one has that high reflex to record the right moment in 0.1s. In this case, with S9, world's most intelligent AI engine will shoot in auto when the moment comes. You can even edit super slomo videos and save as gif or set as live wallpaper which is very neat.

                            Qnovo smart charging is a useless feature. There is absolutely NO proof that it works as advertised. Don't fall into the trick of that small company(qnovo).

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                              • AnonD-246723
                              • KSE
                              • 14 Mar 2018

                              Tann Hauser, 14 Mar 2018Im not so certain about antutu. Its v7 now, XZ2 tops it ev... moreNobody talk about anturu .
                              1080p off screen is the fairest test as it force all device to render in same resolution .

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                                • Lex79
                                • gL@
                                • 14 Mar 2018

                                Hayaan Mo Sila, 14 Mar 2018My sister has an iPhone 7 Plus and I highly disagree. The ... moreThe best camera phone of 2016 was largely agreed to be the Pixel....Google followed this up by adding ois to the Pixel 2.

                                This suggests that Google themselves might disagree with you here.

                                In any event, the 'best' is always so subjective as to be pointless, plus when you say 'shaky' I assume you mean in video? I was referring more to stills.

                                Besides, I have the Pixel 2 and it's video is as smooth as I have ever seen from a smartphone. This despite the 'hindrance' of ois.

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • vV5
                                  • 14 Mar 2018

                                  Hayaan Mo Sila, 14 Mar 2018But this time, the camera now prefers to shoot with slower ... moreGood to see that you were corrected by one of the staff here. Be less presumptuous and less stubborn. Sony's camera is not the best in all conditions. On tripod, maybe it is, looking at the studio samples here. Under normal handheld conditions, without OIS, it is definitely not the best.

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                                    • phinch88
                                    • 3DR
                                    • 14 Mar 2018

                                    Anonymous, 14 Mar 2018One more mediocre offering. Giant bezels (for the time),... moreonly 4gb of RAM....... yet is still topping a lot of bench mark scores, must be their great optimisation, there is also going to be a 6gb variant so I imagine that will definitely top nearly everything speed wise

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • kxg
                                      • 14 Mar 2018

                                      Worst design
                                      Worst erginomics (14mm thick with case on)
                                      Worst durability (that curved back glass is very very very prone to cracking)
                                      No audio jack
                                      No OIS
                                      Poor camera both in good light and low light
                                      Poor selfie camera only with 5MP and fixed focus
                                      Poor LCD display with light bleed around edges
                                      Poor fps placement
                                      No useful features
                                      No fast charger in box
                                      Cheap(bad) earphone in box

                                      Simply the worst phone of 2018

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                                        • IV%
                                        • 14 Mar 2018

                                        Great phone, if this has a 3.5mm jack it will be perfect
                                        the camera is amazing if you ask me, having those kind of iso performance in a smartphone camera is a feat by itself, if Sony(please) consider OIS in their phone, it will nailed the lowlight shot with lower iso and shutter speed
                                        I still gonna wait for what Sony gonna offer in IFA, otherwise this in my list(alongside the s9 cause the speaker, and the mi mix 2s)

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