Sony Xperia Z5 battery life experience

Jules

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I have the dual sim version of the Sony Xperia Z5 and overall I think this is a great phone. The waterproofing and dual sim (while still LTE compatible in the UK) make it unique and the reason I now have it.

However the battery life isn't anything like Sony claim. Even with Stamina mode activated (and GPS off), the standby battery drain is much higher than I would've expected. It will lose around 10% battery life just overnight.
Although I'm a fairly light user, I haven't made it through a single 12 hour day with more than 40% battery life remaining.

With a 2900mA/h battery, this is rather surprising. In contrast, my iPhone 6 plus (with the same size battery and larger screen) will lose only 1% (at most) overnight, and I can usually get through a light-use day with 70% battery remaining.

Even more surprising is that my Sony Smartwatch 3 easily out lasts it. Starting with both devices at 100% in the morning, the smartwatch 3 drains at about half the rate of the Xperia Z5.
In fact, the smartwatch 3 battery life is really rather impressive. I can get nearly 3 whole days out of it.

In truth, the Z5 battery life isn't a daily problem because it isn't as wimpy as the regular iPhone 6 and isn't likely to conk out before i get home, but it does need a nightly charge.

Sony's claim of 2 day battery life is definitely stretching the truth in my experience.

Other Z5 users, how is your battery life?
 
I have a Z5 Compact and it only loses 5% per night. During the day I don't usually use it a lot: answering phone calls or occasional web browsing/skype messages. If I don't play games in the evening the phone lasts 3 days. Otherwise 2 days (1 hour youtube or 3d gaming, or 2-3 hours browsing). But not less. If I give it to kids they manage to deplete the battery in 3 hours from 100% :) The other thing I noted is when I just bought it the battery was not as good as advertised. But later it got pumped up and now works as expected.
 
I must say mine has improved a bit.
I let it run down to zero so it shut down, and whilst this isn't supposed to be good for lithium ion batteries, it does seem to have made a positive difference in this case.

I can now get through a couple of days (just) before needing a recharge.
Still a fair way behind my iPhone 6 Plus in battery life though.
 
I must say mine has improved a bit.
I let it run down to zero so it shut down, and whilst this isn't supposed to be good for lithium ion batteries, it does seem to have made a positive difference in this case.

I can now get through a couple of days (just) before needing a recharge.
Still a fair way behind my iPhone 6 Plus in battery life though.
Actually I am of the opinion that discharging a lithium ion battery completely so the phone shuts down, followed by a charge for an hour or two beyond what should be full charge, is a maintenance necessity for this battery type - just not every charge cycle :) The phone battery meter becomes out of kilter with the battery voltage and this procedure 'resets' the battery meter. Apps may be available to do this - or claim to do this. Doing it yourself though is my preference. Edit - obviously I mean my preference is to do it myself. You can choose any method yourself :) point is this is not a bad thing for this battery type - it is tecommended to ensure any poor battery performance indicated by the phone battery meter is actually present. Deep discharges stress the battery as do full charges. If you can have battery cycles where you charge around 20% and stop charging at 80% or thereabouts, the battery should last longer. For most though this is a pain in terms of usability.
What is not so good is draining these batteries and leaving them so the voltage drops below their internal low voltage trip. Once tripped the battery will not charge. It can maybe be shocked back into action by a mega charger but for joe public it is dead.
 
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