Sections
- Page 1 Sony Xperia 1 Review
- Page 2 Camera Review
- Page 3 Battery Life Review
- Page 4 Screen Review
- Page 5 Performance Review
What is the Sony Xperia 1’s battery life like?
- The Xperia 1 packs a fairly small 3300mAh battery with fast-charging via USB-C.
- Battery life is fine, but nowhere near as good as some of the competition.
- It will just about get you through the day without requiring a top-up.
I’ve been using the Sony Xperia 1 as my main work phone for the past three weeks. I’d class my usage as heavy: multiple hours of music streaming, plenty of calls and lots of social media/email activity per day.
Coming from the Huawei P30 Pro (a phone that can comfortably last two full days without a charge), the endurance of the Xperia 1 is disappointing – and more comparable with smaller handsets such as the Galaxy S10 and iPhone XS. This is very much a charge every night phone.
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Sony Xperia 1 battery performance: Video
The display is the biggest feature on the Sony Xperia 1. Being a 4K panel means that there are many more pixels to push around and, as such, it seems odd that Sony didn’t counteract this extra pressure with a more sizeable battery. This phone is great for media consumption, but that comes with a big strain on battery life.
Watching an hour of Netflix at 50% brightness took the battery down by 12% – which is double that consumed by the Huawei P30 Pro (6%) for the same content.
Sony Xperia 1 battery performance: Games
Gaming is a serious strain on a phone’s battery, even more so than video.
The Xperia 1 consumed between 18-22% per hour playing games such as Asphalt 9, and 14-16% in simpler titles such as Monument Valley 2 and Alto’s Odyssey. This is actually a much better result when compared to the P30 Pro.
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Sony Xperia 1 battery performance: Charging
Sony doesn’t have a proprietary version of fast charge, instead using the common USB-C PD standard. While this means speeds aren’t as fast as Super Charge on the P30 Pro or Warp Charge on the OnePlus 7 Pro, you can use PD charger to juice up the Xperia 1.
A full charge takes just over 90 minutes and you can go from 0-40% in half an hour. There’s no wireless charging.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.