Bonjour, hola, hello - it’s time for another comparison piece between two phones that you’re wondering about.
What are the differences between the Xperia XZ2 and the XZ2 Compact? Has Sony really made them that distinct, or is it just that the Compact is, well, smaller?
Let’s take a tour over the key elements of the two - spoiler alert, it’s not going to take very long. These phones are very similar, although there are a few key differences worth highlighting.
Design and screen
OK, we promised that there wouldn’t be that many differences, but obviously when it comes to design there are a few worth talking about.
The first is to the materials used to make these: the Sony Xperia XZ2 is clad in 3D Gorilla Glass front and back, where the XZ2 Compact is using polycarbonate to ‘diffuse’ the light.
In terms of dimensions, the XZ2 comes in at 153 x 72 x 11.1mm, where the XZ2 Compact offers up 135 x 65 x 12.1mm, so it’s a little thicker to bulge out further into the hand.
It’s got a distinctly ‘early iPod’ feel to it, where the XZ2 is much glossier and slicker.
The larger model is 198g, but you can shave off 30g and get the 168g version if you go for the smaller XZ2 Compact.
The screens are identical in terms of spec, with both bringing a Full HD display but the larger being a 5.7-inch display and a 5-inch screen on the Compact.
Key features
There’s only one key difference here: the Dynamic Vibration System, which allows the phone to buzz merrily in time with games, movies and music. That’s available on the Sony Xperia XZ2, but because the Compact is, well, more compact there’s less room for that feature.
Done, move on.
OS and power
OK - this is where we’re going to get a bit quicker with the comparisons: both of these phones are running Android 8 Oreo out of the box, and both of them offer the new Snapdragon 845 CPU with 4GB of RAM from Qualcomm. Done!
Ah crap, wait - there’s a slightly different modem inside each, so you’ve got up to 1.2Gbps download speeds on the XZ2 (Cat 18), and only 800MB (Cat 15) on the Xperia XZ2 Compact. We say only… that’s still pretty rapido.
Camera
Oh, right, the cameras are also pretty similar: both of them have a single 19MP MotionEye sensor on the rear, and a 5MP snapper on the front.
However, with the XZ2 you’re getting an f/2.0 aperture and a 25mm lens, where Sony hasn’t confirmed the spec on the smaller variant - which always signifies that there are secretly lower specs on the tinier model.
Battery
OK, this is where things are diverging once more: the Sony Xperia XZ2 battery is a 3180mAh unit, where the Xperia XZ2 Compact offers only 2780 of those teeny mAh to play with.
But the other key difference here is the way you can get power into these phones: the XZ2 offers Qi wireless charging compatibility, where the XZ2 Compact doesn’t, thanks to that polycarbonate shell we mentioned earlier.
Takeaway
While we’re still waiting on price details for the two phones, your choice is based on the size of the device and your preference on how much smartphone you want to fondle. The Xperia XZ2 is larger, smoother and glossier, but the smaller version is the closest in spec to the flagship model we’ve ever seen from Sony.
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