Sony XZ1 Compact vs iPhone 8 Comparison + Review

This October, Sony released a smaller variant of their flagship phone the XZ1 Compact. And today we’re here to see what it has against the Apple iPhone 8 when it comes to camera, specs and performance. Find out which compact phone is for you, the $600 android? or the $700 iPhone.

Design

The XZ1 Compact is a slightly smaller variant of their flagship phone the XZ1, and shares almost the same look as its upgraded counterpart being different in only minute details. Meanwhile, The iPhone 8 is paying homage to their older models giving the new iPhone an all-glass back finish compared to the matte back of the XZ1 Compact.

The XZ1 Compact’s build like most of the Sony phones are OmniBalance which has a straight edge and a box like design compared to the thinner build and curvier edges of the iPhone 8, either way both phones are lightweight and are an easy fitting to hold.

Display

Both phones display doesn’t stray far from each other with the XZ1 Compact’s 4.6-inch IPS LCD display while the iPhone 8’s a bit higher 4.7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD display. Same goes with their resolutions at 720 x 1280 for XZ1 Compact compared to the iPhone 8’s 750 x 1334. Both still being visible at direct sunlight with brightness level up to 600 nits for the XZ1 Compact and 625 for the iPhone 8. Differences in display quality are almost indistinguishable even though the iPhone has higher specs on paper.

Camera

The handsets rear cameras also produce great quality photos with the XZ1 Compact’s 19MP camera and the iPhone 8’s 12MP camera. The XZ1 Compact produces brighter quality photos than that of the iPhone 8 which has more realistic colors, sharper quality and well-balanced exposure. Selfies however are more detailed on the iPhone 8 compared to the XZ1 Compact which is less sharp and has more noise.

Videos on both phones can also record up to 4k resolution the only downside on the XZ1 Compact is that it can’t go up to 60fps unlike the iPhone 8. Either way, both can record videos on good detail.

Chipset/Processor/Rom

The XZ1 Compact is powered by Snapdragon 835 with 4GB of RAM running on Oreo while the iPhone 8 has an A11 Bionic chipset with 2GB of RAM running on iOS 11. Using the following benchmarking tools, we received these results in the process:

Gaming on the other hand has better quality on the iPhone 8 but is locked only up to 30 fps compared to the XZ1 Compact which supports gaming on 60fps. In this case it’s up to the user whether to sacrifice quality over framerate.  Another bonus from the XZ1 Compact is that its dual speakers are located in front of the phone, meaning your hand wouldn’t cover the speakers when playing unlike the iPhone 8.

Finger print scanners are at par at speed, the XZ1 Compact’s fingerprint scanner on the other hand needs to be pressed to work unlike the iPhone 8 which works with a slight touch.

Battery

Through our ManilaShaker Battery Rating, we can confirm the following overall lifespan of both devices:

Audio

Loudspeakers on the XZ1 Compact are located in front of the phone compared to most handsets today which are located often at the bottom like the iPhone 8. The dual speakers on the XZ1 Compact are a delight since you can hold the phone without muffling the audio. Both speakers are also clear as day.

Price

Both the Sony XZ1 Compact and Apple iPhone 8 are available in local and online stores with the XZ1 Compact retailing at $599.99 or ₱26,500 while the iPhone 8 at $699.00 or ₱44,500, although prices will differ in countries after taxes. So, what’s the best compact phone for you? Are you more into the OmniBalance design language of the XZ1 Compact? Or the sleek all-glass front and back of the iPhone 8? Let us know in the comments section which compact phone you prefer.