In order to validate the performance of phase retrieval wavefront sensor (PRWS), an experimental setup based on the PRWS method comparing with Zygo interferometer is built. The liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM) is utilized to produce single aberration and random aberration, and the ability of PRWS measurement for any aberration is validated. The experimental results demonstrate that agreement is obtained among the errors distribution, peak valley (PV) value and root mean square (RMS) value of Zygo interferometer. The measurement precision of wavefront is 3λ/1000 (RMS). Therefore, the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed method can be confirmed.