Sony Xperia Z Ultra is a recent entry in the phablet segment, its is no doubt one the most powerful phablet you will see in the market and it has a quite sensitive screen which can be used with object likes Pencil, USB flash drive and other sharp objects. It has a amazing thickness for a device like this which cannot be imagined and it comes with IP57 certification so just like the xperia z and z1 this one is also water resistant but not waterproof. In this review we tell you whether its worth the money and what kind of requirements it fills for the consumer.
Sony Xperia Z Ultra Quick Specs
Display Size: 6.4 inch Triluminos capacitive touch screen display with 1920 x 1080 HD resolution (~344 ppi pixel density)
Processor: 2.2 GHz Quad Core Krait 400 Snapdragon 800
RAM: 2 Gb
Software Version: Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean) OS
Camera: 8 MP AF camera – can shoot 1080p videos at 30 fps
Secondary Camera: 2 MP front-facing camera FF [Fixed Focus] – can shoot 1080p videos at 30 fps
Internal Storage: 4 GB
External Storage: Expandable up to 64GB
Battery: 3050 mAh battery Lithium Ion – Non Removable
Connectivity: 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, aGPS, 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
Others: OTG Support – Yes or No, Dual SIM – No, LED Indicator – Yes
Box Contents
Handset, User Guide, Warranty Statement, Quick Start Guide, Standard Headphones, Universal USB Charger, MicroUSB to USB 2.0 cable.
Build Quality, Design and Form Factor
It has one of the best quality we have seen on the material being used to manufacture a phablet device, it has glass at the back and front and its quite strong as it has Shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass on the front and back which means it wont break easily and if it does under extreme pressure it will not cause any harm to you. It is the most sleek and slimmest phablet we have seen till date at 6.5 mm thin, it weigh around 212 grams which is again fairly ok for a device of this much display size. It has also got the IP58 certified which makes it dust and water resistant with a condition of Water resistant upto 1 meter depth of water for 30 minutes and the headphone jack on this device is open unlike the covered one we have seen on Xperia Z but the headphone still can work with this device if it goes inside water, provided that you spill the water out of headphone jack by shaking the device. The form factor of the device is really bad as it heavy to hold in one hand and one handed usage of the device is also very low, you may not even hold it properly stable with one hand when you are using it, the thickness is good and weight also can be something which one can get used to but the size of display make is really non portable to carry it around without a case or flip cover which does not come in the package but you can buy one later on if you want to.
Camera Performance
The rear camera is 8MP could have been 13 MP considering this phone has the powerful snapdragon 800 chipset. The rear camera performance is good in day light but in low light it’s full of grains and noise in the photos we clicked, it does have tap to focus which works quite fast when used and it can also record HD videos from both front and rear camera. The front camera is 2 MP is quite good to do a video chat, but a closer look on the video streams shows grains which other person on the video chat can easily notice.
Camera Samples
Display, Memory and Battery Backup
We have got a Triluminos display at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 HD resolution with ~344 ppi pixel density which will show you real colors but they will be less saturated but this one is at least better than the one we have seen on xperia z previously and it has much better wide viewing angles as well, but color fading will happen at extreme viewing angles. The in built memory of the device is around 16Gb of internal storage out which around 11.79 Gb available to the user. You also have the option of expanding the storage with MicroSD card with 64 GB SD card which will be supported. Battery on this device is 3050 mAh which is quite good and gives around one day of backup with moderate usage which includes watching videos, voice calling and playing casual games etc.
Software, Benchmarks and Gaming
The software UI is heavily optimized but it snappy and lag free most of the times and it does provide a lot of custom UI widgets and theme with different colors which you may like. The gaming performance of the device is best we have seen in phablet till date and the huge display does add a plus in gaming and watching videos on this as it feels like a tablet in hands on while watching videos and playing games. The adreno 330 GPU performs really well on the graphic front as it can play any game you throw at it, including front line MC4, Nova 3 or Asphalt 8 etc. The benchmarks figures are given below.
Benchmark Scores
- Quadrant Standard Edition: 18928
- Antutu Benchmark: 32628
- Nenamark2: 60 fps
- Multi Touch: 10 point
Sound, Video and Navigation
The sound quality from the loud speaker is clear and loud but not too loud in the volume, the voice through ear piece is also crisp and clear on voice calls. The device can play HD videos at 720p and 1080p without any audio video sync issues. This device can also be used for GPS navigation and it will work the help of assisted GPS and GPS Locking is quick provided you are at outdoors and signal is not obstructed the building and other barrier much.
Xperia Z Ultra Photo Gallery
Xperia Z Ultra Full In Depth Review + Unboxing [Video]
Coming soon…
Conclusion and Price
Xperia Z Ultra is one of the best hardware spec phablet and is right now available for a price of Rs. 39500 which is quite right now for a device with the kind of hardware and experience it offers. One thing which we do not like about this is the slight dull colors but the touch screen on the other hand is really responsive and very sensitive to the finger touch and good thing is that it can be used with metal or any other object like pen, pencil however you can not like to use these objects to use your expensive Z Ultra.
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