Phablets are becoming fury. They are too big to be a smartphone, and too small to be a tablet, but they definitely fill the niche that people crave to get. With their latest version in the Xperia lineup, Sony recently released the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, and we managed to get one. Here is our hands-on overview of the device.
Rating
pros
- display
- can be used with a stylus
- performance
- water resistant
Cons
- bad camera
Sony Xperia Z Ultra design and build quality
Sony Xperia Z Ultra huge compared to a regular smartphone: almost 18 centimeters in length and 9 centimeters in thickness. Moreover, despite its large size, it still remains quite compact when it comes to its thickness, which reaches a decent 6,5 mm.
One of the biggest things we discovered when we first tried the Xperia Z Ultra is that using it with one hand, despite its reduced thickness, is extremely difficult. You can barely drag your finger across the screen if you hold it in the “traditional” maneuver of the smartphone with one hand. And when you take it with both hands, your initial inclination is to keep it in landscape mode, as if it were a tablet.
The shape and design of the device meets the Sony Omnibalance criteria found in most of their devices. While the corners have the same design and have a softer curvature, as well as excellent assembly and design, the device loses some of its ergonomic pizza due to its size.
Finally, the Xperia Z Ultra is water resistant to a depth of one meter (for 30 minutes) and is dust resistant. The microSD, microSIM, and microUSB card slots have plastic covers, but the audio output and the dock connector are not.
Display Sony Xperia Z Ultra
With a screen size of 6,4 inches, of course, there are no complaints about its size. It seems that Ultra Z with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 makes it easy to view multimedia and web content on a Full HD LCD screen. The resolution itself is on the upper scale, and it is 342 ppi. However, as with most Sony devices, colors can be more vibrant and have a slightly sharper contrast, but it definitely depends on the taste.
The brightness is not so great, but this is enough to see well even on the street. One of the biggest flaws I found with the display is that the viewing angle is not very good for the Xperia Z Ultra: the more you tilt the device, the worse the display contrast.
The Xperia Z Ultra does not come with a home-made stylus that is very similar to Samsung devices, but is compatible with most third-party styluses. In addition, you can even use pencils, pens, or just a finger to act as a stylus if you need to. Just keep in mind that not all of them work the same way as pencil tests, which do not actually give good feedback results.
And although the frame is very small (usually good), it gets in the way a little when you're trying to write on a device, not on a flat surface. If you hold it while trying to use the stylus, you may accidentally press a button and inadvertently change the screen.
Sony Xperia Z Ultra Software
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra comes preloaded with Android 4.2.2 and is likely to be updated to Android 4.3 in the coming weeks. The interface is about the same as we saw on the Sony Xperia Z with several pre-installed Sony applications.
One convenient feature that makes it easy to use this bulky phablet with one hand is that you can move the keyboard to the right or left of the screen.
Performance Sony Xperia Z Ultra
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 is inside and powers this hippo. Memory-intensive applications and games run with ease, and we have never experienced any signs of delay in the rigors of the Xperia Z Ultra. In the performance test that we conducted for the device, he took first place in the ranking.
Sony Xperia Z Ultra Camera
One of the most interesting features, or lack thereof, is the camera on the Z Ultra. With an 8-megapixel camera located at the back, without a flash, we assume that Sony simply did not understand that the phablet is a type of device that needs a little more when it comes to separating the camera.
With photos taken with the Xperia Z Ultra, everything is fine, but, of course, not at the level of other cameras of Android devices. Colors, although not very natural, look sharper (provided that the lighting settings are good). Anything else, and you'll find yourself taking photos with a low level of contrast and a mediocre zoom level.
Sony Xperia Z Ultra Battery
With a 3050mAh battery, the Xperia Z Ultra is definitely up for use throughout the day. With a fixed time of 14-15 hours, he quite easily coped with our use, even when we used the Internet, played games and took pictures all the time. The widespread use of GPS or network data will significantly reduce battery life, but we had no problems. However, when it comes to batteries, the Galaxy Note 2 is still the king of the castle.
Technical specifications Sony Xperia Z Ultra
| Dimensions: | 179x92x6,5 mm |
|---|---|
| The weight: | 212 g |
| Battery size: | 3050 mAh |
| Screen size: | 6,4 in |
| Display technology: | LCD |
| Screen: | 1920 × 1080 pixels (344 ppi) |
| Front-camera: | 2 megapixels |
| Rear camera: | 8 megapixel |
| Android version: | 4.2.2 - Jelly Beans |
| User interface: | xperia UI |
| RAM: | 2 GB |
| Internal storage: | 16 GB |
| Removable storage: | microSD |
| Chipset: | Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 |
| Number of Cores: | 4 |
| Max. clock frequency: | 2,2 GHz |
| Communication: | HSPA, LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 |
The final verdict
Needless to say, device size should be the first thing you should consider if you are considering buying a Sony Xperia Z Ultra. Given that you cannot easily control it with one hand, the device finds a place somewhere between a smartphone and a tablet.
Performance surpasses any device of comparable size, and the display hits the closest competitor, the Galaxy Mega, out of the water. The only real flaw for us? The camera is below face value and the price is above average (over 650 dollars).
