My Review of the XZ2 Compact

[Wildo6882]

Does anyone have some good case, screen protector, and rear protection for the XZ2? I want to get one but I’m SUPER anal about this stuff. Thanks!

And sorry for kind of hijacking this. I guess I probably should have just made a new thread

 

[1901Madison]

Two questions on the XZ2 Compact.

First, how is the haptic vibration motor? Is it too much of an explosion or does it have a nice vibration motor dampener so that it's more smooth?

Second, does the screen have an oleophobic coating?

 

[libra89]

@Alex_Hong I love seeing your reviews, so thank you for posting! I have been on the fence on if I should pass or not on this, because of the camera. Also thank you for sharing some low light side by side shots of it vs the ZX1C in your review. As someone who does use cameras in low light occasionally (i.e. concerts are the big one for me), that was very helpful. You have me feeling slightly less on the fence since it seems like the processing for both cameras has improved.

I'm thinking I might give it a try, thanks to you, but I need to see what's going on with the SE2 refresh. I can wait, but your review is super helpful!

 

[Jonathanmr7]

Love this compact! i want it! but its so expensive ( since a time ago just buy midrange or premiun mid range) so i have the XA2 and also its so sweet! love the size!

 

[Alex_Hong]

It's sort of somewhere in the middle? It's definitely not as good as good as phones with Apple's taptic engine, or the LG V30, but it's not that rough too. it's very run of the mill I would say.

 

[amr ashraf mostafa]

Since it's pretty quiet here (understandably so considering Sony's presence in the US), I thought I'll share my review of the phone here. In particular the XZ2 Compact. No need to watch the video if you don't want to, i'll do a quick summary here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8KM1cY8o2M

Basically, this is the best compact phone you can get, if you're in the android camp. Which I'm going to assume you guys are since this is AndroidCentral.

Anyway, this is the Compact series with the least amount of compromises so far. Compared to the regular XZ2, the front camera is the same too, same storage capacity, ram, processor, screen resolution at FHD+ (HDR support), same hybrid dual sim/microsd card slot. It's only missing the dynamic vibration system and wireless charging, both of which are not a big deal. In fact the XZ2 Compact is better in some other ways like the easier to reach fingerprint sensor, and better screen density.

So kudos to sony here.

I have no complaints about the hardware at all.

• The screen is LCD, but it's one of the best LCD panels i've seen with very nice colours and contrast.
• The dual speakers sounds really good.
• The performance from SD845 is top notch, battery life too.
• The cameras all performs admirably with noticeable improvements over XZ1 Compact
• The phone feels nice in hand with a nice heft to it.

Okay, but I do have to make this clear, the phone isn't the best at anything in particular. But it just does almost everything well, and almost nothing badly. Like the software experience is still better on Pixel 2 of course, but Sony's experience is really good too. Just as fast and smooth. I only took points off for a few removable bloatware, and the lack of unlimited google photos uploads. Having used a few of their devices over the past year, they are pretty okay with security patches too.

The cameras are not as good as the Pixel 2 too, but it's not as bad as it was before, and has its strengths too. The same can be said for pretty much about the various aspects of the phone.

Overall it's just a really well-rounded phone that does almost everything well. and all that in a smaller, and slightly cheaper package. My personal preference is towards phones with good software experience, good hardware, good one-handed ease of use, and good value. To me the XZ2 Compact hits the right spot for me.

My all time favourite is still the Pixel 2 because of the google photos upload, timely updates, and that insane camera. But the XZ2 compact comes second for me. It's also a great option for anyone who likes the pixel 2, but need expandable storage or dual SIM capabilities.

But too bad it probably won't sell well anyway. Smaller phones are sort of a niche market these days. :/

Congratulations on your review
But i wanna ask about the battery life of the compact while using mobile date.
Some say it is great and some say it is not good
I need an honest reply please because I'm wanna buy this phone and the battery lfe is very important to me ..

 

[1901Madison]

Congratulations on your review
But i wanna ask about the battery life of the compact while using mobile date.
Some say it is great and some say it is not good
I need an honest reply please because I'm wanna buy this phone and the battery lfe is very important to me ..

The battery life is fantastic on mobile data and WiFi.

 

[krazyatom]

The battery life is fantastic on mobile data and WiFi.

I heard that last generation xz1 compact had better battery life due to low resolution 720p.

 

[libra89]

I heard that last generation xz1 compact had better battery life due to low resolution 720p.

In my experience, this is true, but I would say that the battery life went from excellent to great. To me, the difference is there but thankfully, it didn't go to complete trash. It's still good but being one of the few that had both, I instantly notice.

 

[vladi]

Here's a side by side comparison. The bezels are bigger on both the top and bottom.

It's the screen electronics that don't allow slimmer bezels, it's the same XZP screen and thus the same bezels as on XZP. XZ2 and XZ2C displays are new and they are designed with slimmer top and bottom bezels in mind but they still do require some side space unlike XA2 screens. LCD is harder to package compared to OLED but I would always take JDI state of the art LCD over any Samsung OLED small panel. LG is also behind in small OLED compared to their world leading TV OLED panels.

What amazes me in this image comparison (that I deleted to avoid triple posting the same thing) is the amount of width you have that just adds to screen space for comfortable long workload. I dream of 16:9 or 16:10 screens with small bezels because type is so much more comfortable to read when there is width. Also 2:1 screens scale down the screen in order to show the exact same amount of content as 16:9 but if you enlarge it you actually loose content compared to 16:9.

IMO XZ2 Compact should have been something like this, minimizing side bezels instead of top and bottom