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.

Sort by:

  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • vV5
  • 14 Mar 2018

Wow Sony has improved their battery life on flagship device

    • D
    • AnonD-741540
    • a3i
    • 14 Mar 2018

    I don't find any smartphone "beautiful" per say but Damn this thing is ugly!

      • D
      • Danny
      • 2T0
      • 14 Mar 2018

      I mean damn.
      The design is unique and interesting...not super into it though
      But the camera and the new Snapdragon chipset may have just taken me back from Samsung and back to the Sony.
      I am extremely excited for what Sony brings up next with the dual cameras.
      Go Sony!

        Something that people here who don't know should come up to their senses now, in the battery section they said, "Still, like we've repeatedly said in the past, it's not about the amperes, but rather how well you make use of them" and I agree to this, well said, this is what I always say to those relying on the battery test. The battery test is a basically of course, a battery test, but the types of test they put in it is DIFFERENT from our real day to day routine of using a smartphone, looking at the test just show a rough idea on how the battery of the smartphone will perform if it were in that case scenario. But, still some people just cannot understand this fact. Like the GALAXY S9, seen some people complain why it scored lower than the GALAXY S8, and said the battery is crappy, how immature. Does that few hours show what u will get in real life day to day usage battery life? A worse battery life in the GALAXY S9 compared to the GALAXY S8? If that is what u think, please, wake up. U can get a good or bad battery life on ANY smartphone, because u are the one who decides how u will make use of the smartphone's battery...

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • r7b
          • 14 Mar 2018

          I do not like redesign. XZ1 was much better. And despite good wireless audio, latency is too much and there was 0 reason to remove jack. Please fix these issues and I will consider buying. That is, when they'll put their act together and sell it here, at a decent price (only Xperia phone on sale here is midrange XA Ultra and sells for S9+ price)

            • D
            • AnonD-743635
            • LEx
            • 14 Mar 2018

            Anonymous, 14 Mar 2018So you must buy and carry a tripod with you to get decent p... moreYou forgot to buy the fast charger too ( oh Sony, it's a expensive phone, don't be so miserly, treat your customers well... )

              Sheera, 14 Mar 2018So better carry a tripod plus the adapter for jack earbuds,... moreGSMArena said the camera works better with a tripod, just as many other cameras do. Handheld shots of the XZ2 are on par with the S9, if not better.
              This is the comparison of handheld low light shots from the S9 and XZ2, and we can easily tell which one is superior when you look at the heart on the bottom left.

              https://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=5&idPhone1=8966&idPhone2=9081

              -If no audio jack is passable to Apple, it should be for Sony, too.
              -In terms of resolution, yes it has downgraded, but the S7 had it in 2016 and no one was complaining about it. Hmm, I wonder why simple good things become a bad thing when they're found on Xperias.
              -Artifacts? I inspected the sample shots and I saw nothing but flagship quality images with no major problems. It even beats the S9 in low light, how 'bout that?
              -I prefer it thick because of increased durability. If you want paper thin phones that can cut your fingers, then it's good.
              -Sony does provide one in the box, some are just unlucky, or maybe because the price of the phone in those regions are lower than the standard.
              -At least there is one. You can basically do fast charging directly with the phone, so you should stop nitpicking.
              -I do agree, but US people are suffering from the lack of it, hence the need of reposition.
              -It's 40 Euros cheaper than the S9, while being better in many ways and slightly worse in some. Sony's prices drop quickly. The XZ2 will be available for $500 in the next 6 months, where the S9 would still be $700.

                • A
                • Actually, it's not
                • JKN
                • 14 Mar 2018

                AnonD-744396, 14 Mar 2018As expected I guess, on tripod the camera is actually very ... moreI've just downloaded these photos for the sake of comparison as I'm bored enough.

                If you scale the 19mp to 12mp to make it kinda fair to S9 pictures, the amount of detail is nearly the same, in some parts of certain pictures actually a bit more on XZ2's, while admittedly more noise, due to higher ISO.

                Now, if you take into consideration that pictures here are zoomed in more because of higher resolution, lack of OIS, smaller individual pixels, smaller aperture (2.0 on XZ2 vs. 1.5 on S9) and triple the ISO in all low-light photos on XZ2, I really don't see how is raw quality of S9's pictures better. In fact if XZ2 did pull this much on triple ISO with "worse" specs, it would easily top the competition under same ISO values, which is actually apparent in studio shots. Though it does have bigger sensor, but not much.

                Samsung has always had heavy noise reduction, to the point of softening them too much, even at low ISO values, while Sony left more noise for the sake of salvaging detail, and that pays off finally with XZ2. This is a huge step forward, and they did heck of a job here, I'm just curious how did the GSMArena reviewers did not compare this deeper.

                  techperson211, 14 Mar 2018This new design is just plain BS. What's worst is removing ... moreThere's no need to refresh anything. What needs to change is your perspective and your outdated belief.
                  I can tell you're not seeing the efforts of Sony in providing a major change in this generation. Almost every single aspect of the XZ2 is way different and better than the predecessors, but this Apple and Samsung-crowded market has lured you into thinking that nobody's better than them.

                    Mitochondria, 14 Mar 2018"I dont care about headphone jack anymore!" Shocking for... moreAlso for a company that makes some of the best wireless headphones in the market.
                    Sony's LDAC is better than BT 5.0 and aptx HD, and according to the test, the audio quality of the XZ2 is excellent. Not the best but a major improvement over the predecessors.

                      Anonymous, 14 Mar 2018So you must buy and carry a tripod with you to get decent p... moreWho told you that you need to buy one?
                      GSMArena reviewers said that the camera will work better with a tripod, just as any other smartphone cameras or any camera in general will do.
                      So before you whine, complain, and all, why not use your brain before we consider it a "space-wasting feature?"

                        "I dont care about headphone jack anymore!"

                        Shocking for a company thats famous for its Walkman doesnt release a headphone jack.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • tAT
                          • 14 Mar 2018

                          Sheera, 14 Mar 2018So better carry a tripod plus the adapter for jack earbuds,... moreSo you must buy and carry a tripod with you to get decent photos.

                          Plus buy and carry the adapter for jack earbuds, lol.

                          Pay 800 euros for phone and then buy a tripod and adapter for jack earbuds.

                          How ridiculous is Sony ?

                            AnonD-744396, 14 Mar 2018if you read the review they indicate where they used a trip... moreThe photo in the comparison tool chart is with the use of hands. The phone will go up to 1s shutter time when it detects that it is on a tripod, otherwise, it will prefer to go with 1/8s shutter time.
                            iPhone X captures in 1/4s shutter time with handheld, so the XZ2 isn't anything inferior to the competition.
                            And in fact, the XZ2 beats the S9 in low light based on the photo comparison tool chart.

                            https://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=5&idPhone1=8966&idPhone2=9081

                              Anonymous, 14 Mar 2018One is fhd display, other is qhd. You realize that pushing ... moreS9 comes with FHD+ out of the box, and they left it the way it is. Pushing it to QHD will just push it down further, let alone the Always-On Display.
                              Besides, an OLED with Diamond PenTile arrangement isn't as sharp as IPS LCD with proper RGB arrangement. So the S9 is just as sharp as the XZ2 in QHD, with the disadvantage of higher power consumption.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • PIu
                                • 14 Mar 2018

                                Anonymous, 14 Mar 2018One is fhd display, other is qhd. You realize that pushing ... moreLOL...
                                than blame samsung for putting useless qhd display which
                                cause bad battery life...

                                  • s
                                  • sweaf
                                  • uE5
                                  • 14 Mar 2018

                                  That's their best effort in trimming the bezels? Lol. Bye-bye Sony.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • kAF
                                    • 14 Mar 2018

                                    Anonymous, 14 Mar 2018This prove galaxy S9 battery is pathetic than XZ2. Exyn... moreOne is fhd display, other is qhd. You realize that pushing twice the pixels have a toll on battery..

                                      • p
                                      • peachy001
                                      • myM
                                      • 14 Mar 2018

                                      AnonD-744396, 14 Mar 2018As expected I guess, on tripod the camera is actually very ... moreIf you are gonna carry a tripod, it defeats the object.

                                        • p
                                        • peachy001
                                        • myM
                                        • 14 Mar 2018

                                        We'll, they beat the Pixel for wireless charging, and stereo audio recording. But for heavens sake, no fast charger in the box, shambolic. Same old camera, and no ois. Some decision makers need to reach for their swords, and do the honourable thing. Come on Sony.

                                          21 of 22