The Sony Xperia 1 Review: A 21:9 Take of the World
by Andrei Frumusanu on July 26, 2019 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Sony
- Smartphones
- Xperia 1
Battery Life - Meagre Results
Battery life results of the Xperia 1 is among one of the biggest questions for the device. With a 3330mAh battery capacity, the battery is a tad lower than what we’d find in other devices of the same device footprint this year. Sony managed to keep the size and weight of the phone in check, but it’s still quite on the lower end of capacities we’re finding on the market.
There’s also the big question of as to how then 4K resolution screen will behave. As mentioned on the previous page, the display implementation for the 4K might not be done in the most power efficient way, and the phone did showcase idle full screen black base power consumption of 538mW which is quite high compared to the ~400ish mW we saw from Samsung and OnePlus. As such, I’m heading into the battery results with a bit of pessimism as to how the Xperia 1 will end up.
Unfortunately my fears were validated and in our web browsing test the new Xperia 1 performed well short of its competition. The double-whammy of a smaller battery and more efficient screen isn’t a great combination and the device longevity visible suffers from this.
If one would simply scale up the result and normalise it for a 4000mAh battery, the phone would still largely lag behind at around 10.3h, but at least it’d be in line with other phones such as the OnePlus 7 Pro.
In PCMark the phone is also lagging behind by a tad, although the display’s inefficiencies here are less amplified as on the web browsing test.
Overall, the Xperia 1’s battery life isn’t too fantastic. It falls in line with the LG V40 which also suffered from an inefficient display, and I made the remark on that device that it was a deal-breaker, so I have to be fair and also say that it’s also a massive negative for the Xperia 1.
The display’s 4K resolution and less efficient DDIC is just a big trade-off to make, but to also have a competitively smaller battery really represents a double-negative for the phone which is very unfortunately given its price-range.
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FunBunny2 - Saturday, July 27, 2019 - link
"I use it whenever I can, especially when I'm at work where i need to keep the phone charge."As I understand it, these sorts of batteries are limited by the number of charge cycles, irregardless of how much charge is made each time. IOW, repeated teeny charges chew up that limit long before the battery is really dead.
cfenton - Saturday, July 27, 2019 - link
That's not correct. A charge cycle is made up of 100% of the capacity of the battery. It doesn't matter if it's one 100% charge, two 50% charges, or ten 10% charges. Each of those count as one charge cycle. That's a bit of an oversimplification, but what's important is that a series of small charges are not each an entire charge cycle.s.yu - Sunday, July 28, 2019 - link
Wow, I didn't realize some people still use "irregardless".s.yu - Sunday, July 28, 2019 - link
You're doing it all wrong. Well the tech tree's grown in the wrong direction thanks to Apple's greed too. There's supposed to be two C ports, keep a magnetic adapter plugged in one and use headphones in the other, or if you actually just use BT then keep the C port plugged with a magnetic adapter and use magnetic cords, they work like Magsafe only they also transfer data. Hold the adapter close to the cord and it attaches automatically, you could charge your phone, use it in your hand, and hold that toddler with the other.That I can't give up the magnetic charging is a major reason why I won't consider any device without a headphone jack, the C port is always occupied and pulling the magnetic adapter out then inserting a C-3.5 adapter is ridiculous and unacceptable.
flyingpants265 - Monday, July 29, 2019 - link
That sounds OK, but wireless charging PLUS two ports sounds even better.s.yu - Wednesday, July 31, 2019 - link
Yup, and I'd like a kitchen sink too.khanikun - Monday, July 29, 2019 - link
If it has wireless charging, guess what else it has? Plugged in charging too. It's not a one or the other, it's both. You get the option of both. Just because you don't use it, doesn't mean it's a useless feature. Just useless to some ppl.I don't care much about the camera in the phone, as I have a better point and shoot. So quality of it doesn't matter to me, but doesn't negate that other people want a good camera in the phone. So of course, some ppl will grumble about it.
flyingpants265 - Monday, July 29, 2019 - link
No, it's so you can charge the phone with one hand, it takes only 1 second, as opposed to 3-5 seconds plugging and replugging my cable each time. Phone is basically at 100% all the time. and not need to plug the cable in, wiggle it around, and eventually bust the USB-C port. Those ports and their internal assemblies are quite fragile. It also doesn't need to add any thickness, as the wireless charging pad can be inside an external case, wired to the phone through a contact pad like on an older Xperia.No babbling about how you've personally never broken one, please. USB port is one of the most common fixes, apart from screen. Anandtech users are supposed to be power-users, yet you keep spending $900 on phones lacking basic features.
yacoub35 - Friday, July 26, 2019 - link
lol @ no headphone jack. what a failure for a device with a resolution so clearly intended for movie watching.UtilityMax - Thursday, August 1, 2019 - link
This makes choosing the next phone so much easier. Galaxy S10 for the high end, or Pixel 3A for less money.