Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
Sony is today almost the only manufacturer that takes into account those who do not want a large diagonal terminal. His Compact models have always been very well received but always with the feeling that the screen cut was not the only thing that was reduced in the terminal.
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact which we have already done the full review in Engadget starts a very interesting way to avoid thinking of him as a younger brother of Xperia XZ2 .
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Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact: a high-end pocket
After a few generations in which the last name Compact, as well as being almost unique in the market, meant reduction of performance despite having a price closer to the high range, Sony is right to propose a model that does not cut into the technical sheet except in dimensions .
The new Xperia XZ2 Compact is a high-end with a Snapdragon 845 at the head but that sits well in any pocket (and hand).
SONY XPERIA XZ2 COMPACT
| |
|---|---|
SCREEN
|
5.0-inch LCD
FullHD + 18: 9 HDR Gorilla Glass 5 |
PROCESSOR
|
Snapdragon 845
10 nanometers Adreno 630 GPU |
RAM
|
4GB
|
STORAGE
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64GB plus microSD
|
REAR CAMERA
|
19MP Motion Eye
Video 4K HDR Video at 960fps FHD |
FRONTAL CAMERA
|
5 megapixels
3D Creator |
BIOMETRICS
| NFC fingerprint reader |
BATTERY
|
2.870 mAh
Quick charge Wireless charging |
CONNECTIVITY
|
LTE cat. 15
WiFi ac / n / MIMO Bluetooth 5.0 USB Type C Without headphone jack |
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
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135 x 65.0 x 12.1 mm
168 grams |
OS
|
Android Oreo under Xperia Launcher
|
OTHERS
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DSEE HX audio, stereo speakers, IP68
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PRICE
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550 euros
|
The pleasure of having a "small" phone
As has happened with the larger model, the Xperia XZ2 , the most compact of the family, abandons the design language of previous generations to catch up on something that was already critical: the size of the frames . They still have room for improvement in that section, but as with Sony always, their pace is slower but safer (except in the adoption of water resistance, where they were at the head a few good years).
This change of mind has allowed Sony to offer an outstanding advantage especially in the Compact model of this generation: its screen diagonal reaches 5 inches and maintains a compact design virtually unique in the market.
The design change and reduction of frames in the Xperia XZ2 Compact allows you to offer more screen, 5 inches, with the same compact body that is so comfortable in hand and pocket
Without losing that Xperia air that Sony knows how to keep, the design innovations that we see in the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact are important. The best thing is that the changes included in the design benefit this compact model more . If the previous generations were very comfortable to handle by size, with this less straight and more curved design, Sony complements in an almost ideal way the comfort of using your latest phone. Especially for the pocket.
In practice it has been less successful because it is slippery (although without extreme danger because of how well we can hold it because of its size) as well as a thickness and weight quite high for what we are seeing in the market. With almost 170 grams and a thickness of more than a centimeter , it is a strange thing in hand right in the middle of 2018. Wanting to maintain benefits (including the battery capacity) of a larger terminal in a more compact format has consequences, but perhaps the price to pay It has been excessive. At the end of the day, the differences with the high range of less frames of the market, like the iPhone X, with more diagonal screen, effectively is not much higher or wider than this Xperia XZ2 Compact.
Another negative point if we refer purely to the design of the Xperia XZ2 Compact is that, despite its price above what we can consider mid-range (right now they are 599 euros ), the finish is in plastic, although the appearance is very careful thanks to a grinding treatment.
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact accommodates the USB-C port for charging, maintains the camera button that we like, as well as the dual slot for nanoSIM and microSD card up to 400 GB. It is not an ordinary slot because it has protection to offer IP65 / 68 profile. Speaking of protection, the screen comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
A surprise that we have not liked is that Sony has decided to dispense with the 3.5 mm audio port . If we want to use our own headphones we must take care and try not to lose the adapter included in the box. The snag, of entry, is the siemrpe: they do not allow us to recharge the terminal while we use them.
Compact model and rear fingerprint sensor: a "rara avis"
If the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact is a born winner in ease of use and one-hand operation, the decision to move the fingerprint reader from the side to the back does not work well in our tests. Not at least for all types of users.
In a terminal so short in height, placing the fingerprint reader right in the middle causes us to take a long time adapting to "find" naturally the fingerprint reader in the back
Sony places the rear reader almost half way up, away from the camera so that we do not touch it by accident, but too low so that even users with small hands, pose the finger to identify themselves naturally in that area.
In our tests the sensor would work located just under the camera and raising the two elements in the back of the terminal. Where it is now placed forces us to a modification of the position to reach the sensor that seems unnatural and forced. In part, the reason for this feeling is that we have grown used to much higher terminal sizes.
After a few days with the Xperia XZ2 Compact as a diary phone, our brain was already associating that backward movement of the finger more naturally. I understand that for those who buy it as the main terminal, that situation of the fingerprint reader will end up being less problematic, something that we can verify more faithfully with our review after a month of use.
Also face recognition
Sony is no stranger to the trend in the high-end Android with the inclusion of a second biometric identification system. The identification by footprint is accompanied by the one of faces.
After registering our face in the traditional way, we are ready to start joining this identification with any other system, either the fingerprint reader or a PIN, pattern ... As I have done in other high-end terminals tested in the latest weeks, my preference has been to keep the two systems (fingerprints + face) to make that identification more secure in the system.
Face recognition on the Xperia XZ2 Compact is fast but it does not seem so for the simple reason that you need two gestures to enter the system: activate the screen and then slide the lock once the padlock has been opened. This combination of two gestures is not new, but it seems to me more practical when after activating the screen, if the system has recognized you in a satisfactory way, you should not also slide the screen.
Good screens look better with less inches
I imagine that, because it is what happens to me, the advantages of having a compact terminal at the level of comfort of use, transport and others are well received by many users. Where is the red line? Clearly in the experience with the screen. Many users, especially the intensive ones, have become accustomed to large diagonals that give us a lot of visualization space. In this Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact we lose something diagonal but almost nothing of a good experience .
A screen of quality and zero commitments regarding a terminal with more inches make that even those of us who are convinced of big smarpthones miss the comfort of a compact phone after trying the Xperia XZ2 Compact from Sony
The counterpart to the loss of diagonal screen (remember that this XZ2 Compact offers us a 5-inch) is in the density of pixels. The Compact model no longer commits the serious error of cutting its panel in resolution so here we have a FullHD + panel (the format is 18: 9, with a resolution of 1,080 × 2,160 pixels) that gives us a fantastic experience at the level of sharpness .
Technology is the one that dominates Sony: LCD with its own improvements for contrast and color reproduction (X-Reality and Triluminos), as well as HDR. Overall, the screen of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact gives us a high-level color reproduction, especially the contrast when we play multimedia content, but also in brightness and reduction of reflections, which translates into a more than correct outdoor visibility . However, LCD technology is already behind the OLED in global terms when the organic panel is of quality.
From the screen we can not miss the appointment with our comments on the functioning of the luminosity sensor. In these test days we have not found relevant failures, although perhaps in the response and adaptation to new ambient light conditions, the Xperia XZ2 is somewhat lazy but at least, successful.
The multimedia experience with this HDR screen in compact format is very well matched by the sound, aspect that we have to thank Sony that has always been among its main priorities. We have already said that we are not happy with the absence of the headphone port, but if we focus on the sound of the speakers, the results convince us.
In the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact we have stereo sound coming from the two speakers located in the upper and lower front of the terminal. The sound we get is powerful, with bass reinforcement achieved thanks to there is space inside the team and quite clear.
If we connect a headset, something we must do via USB-C adapter (or wirelessly), we can customize the experience with a series of improvements and adjustments that show that Sony has always taken care of the sound of their phones, although currently not leading that section. Among the improvements we find the DSEE HX system that only works with cable headphones and activates the improvements for high quality sound, ClearAudio + or the classic but always welcome equalizer.
For the power does not matter the size of the terminal
The Snapdragon 845 is the element that clearly marks the range of this Sony Xperia XZ2. If we add to this processor that represents the high range of 2018 the 4 GB of RAM and the internal memory UFS of 64 GB (expandable with microSD), the experience of use can not be more satisfactory.
The applications fly in the Xperia XZ2, there are no bottlenecks, or tasks, games or uses of the terminal where we have found a glimpse of laziness or lag in its operation. If we stick to the synthetic tests, also very good figures, with tests like Antutu where only the Galaxy S9 + is ahead.
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact comes to the market with Android 8.0 andSony's proprietary coating . Here there are not many notable news: own applications that duplicate the Android series, restrained bloatware (AVG and Amazon apps, which can not be uninstalled) or a single possibility of organizing apps in drawer mode.
Having a reduced screen terminal makes moving through options and interface strange. Everything seems tremendously small. It is something that you notice just turn it on with the keyboard, which seems almost toy. However, the screen is very precise in the tactile part and there is no greater problem to get used to and be fast also writing.
Among the customization options of the system, attention should be paid to the size of the texts and elements . Try several to see which one you end up feeling most comfortable with. In my case, and given that as I have indicated, the screen is very precise at the touch level, I chose the most reduced size mainly to have the greatest number of elements and information on the screen, something I have missed compared to the screens of 6 inches to which I have already become accustomed.
As we have indicated, the system moves with complete fluency and there is no problem with multitasking.
One of the novelties that come in this Xperia XZ2 Compact, associated with the software, is a kind of assistant but by chat: Xperia Assist . Here the interaction is acquiring different options that the assistant himself gives us, and he is fully focused on knowing the system and some of its peculiarities and options. It is not a bad alternative to a manual or FAQ and that maybe some users use and benefit from it.
Very thick, standard battery
One of the reasons why one thinks that the thickness of this Xperia XZ2 Compact exceeds the centimeter with a good margin is for the battery. But it has not been quite like that.
The autonomy of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact does not make the terminal shine if we abuse the screen, but it is one of the best terminals in standby mode
The battery of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact is wide, 2870 mAh, but Sony think it has lost an opportunity to give an extra value to return us to the legendary Sony batteries of two days of autonomy.
In this Xperia XZ2 Compact we can not go beyond the day of use if we give a high activity, especially the screen. The 17-18 hours of average use have been with an average of no more than 4 hours of screen. Where it seems that the Xperia XZ2 Compact stands out in the behavior in standby mode, and all without activating any of the energy saving options that are not lacking in this Sony Xperia.
Regarding the load, a 5V / 1.5A charger comes standard in the box, which allows us to reach 50% in 58 minutes (from 1% and with active connectivity), reaching the total load in 129 minutes. Counting on QC 3.0 , a pity that a compatible charger does not come standard with the price of the terminal.
A single camera that continues to improve
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact has taken it easy with the choice of its photographic module. In this terminal we find the 19 MP Motion Eye sensor and its theoretical good configuration: 1 / 2.3 inch size, 1.22 μm photoreceptors and f2.0 aperture. The bad news is that it follows the absence of an optical stabilization .
With this sensor already mature in the market and that is not accompanied by any other to offer us a combination of dobel sensor, the results have surprised us very pleasantly. Sony already seems clearly on the right track at the processing level , and we have noticed. We only have a priori one fault: it has room for improvement in the speed of operation of the camera, where we still appreciate some laziness at the time of shooting, which we hope will be solved soon in an update of the system because of the modes of burst and video recording, we know that we are not precisely in front of a slow camera or little capable of managing data in a massive way.
With good light the camera of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact more than meets thanks to a good color reproduction, not much suffering with the dynamic range but above all a good level of detail that is not overshadowed by the processing as in previous generations.
That extra detail by having a 19 MP sensor is noted right away in the close-up photos and macros, where the Xperia XZ2 Compact looks on many occasions.
The great step forward of Sony in the treatment of the images we obtain with their own sensors I have noticed especially in the night scenes, where both color reproduction and especially level of detail and sharpness have taken a leap of important quality , although without eliminate the appearance of "watercolor" in certain situations.
At interface level almost no change with respect to the latest smartphones of the company that we have tested in Engadget. The modes are clear, there are full manual controls (especially interesting the shutter speed between 1/4000 and 1 second) but we still do not understand that a practical mode like the HDR is only available to activate / deactivate in the manual mode (in the automatic mode is the system that decides whether it is used or not). It is true that placing all those controls in automatic we get the same, but it can be confusing for some users who do not want to enter thoroughly in the camera interface. A dedicated button would not hurt either.
In any case, it is advisable to spend time with the manual mode and to modify different parameters quickly and easily until you find the winning combination.
Of the aid to the photography of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact I am left with the predictive capture, which should be active, as well as the object tracking, which works quite well.
Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact, the opinion and note of Xataka
Being practically the only manufacturer that still takes care of the models of reduced diagonal in the high range is already an achievement to score for Sony. The Xperia XZ2 Compact is the best representative of this saga, and not only for being the most current but because, unlike its predecessors, does not cut benefits. So we have a truly compact high range .
Maybe it's a little late because the reduction of frames in the high range has made the differences between its 5 inches and almost 6 of its rivals, not so much. In any case, it is visible in the hand and it is appreciated, although there is a lot of room for improvement in dimensions , especially in weight and thickness.
That we are facing a high range is evident, in addition to the price, the quality of the screen, the power and even the camera, which improves substantially although it also has room for evolution with noise. With a decrease in price or offer, a recommended purchase for those who take into account the size when choosing a smartphone.
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