Sony Xperia Z Ultra

Overview

Best in Class Smartphone

Sony Xperia Z Ultra is a revolutionary phone by Sony. It is also called as Sony Xperia Z Ultra HSPA+ C6802, Sony Xperia Z Ultra LTE C6806, and Sony Xperia Z Ultra LTE C6833.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra Design and Build Quality

The phone is all glass and is water and dust resistant. The screen is a massive 6.44 inch. The phone is a giant smartphone. The back of the phone is smooth and shiny. It is available in three colours black, white, and purple. The phone’s dimensions are 179.4 x 92.2 x 6.5mm and the phone weighs 212grams. Overall, the phone looks gorgeous. The almost edge-to-edge screen displays bright, crisp, and crystal clear colours. The battery talk time has an average of 12 hours, which no other smartphone in this range has been able to achieve.

User Interface and Comfort to Use Sony Xperia Z Ultra

The phone runs on the popular Android 4.2.2 Jellybean software. The UI is smooth and the phone’s response to touch and commands is a breeze. Multitasking is effortless. The phone has a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and a 2GB of RAM. Even the games run smoothly with multitasking. Despite its size the phone, it is very comfortable to hold in hand and even the typing on the on screen keyboard is very easy to handle after some practice. One of the amazing features of the phone is that its screen is based on the X reality engine, which means that even the videos with low resolution are displayed with clarity on the screen. This cuts down on the cost of downloading HD video all the time.

Telephony and Phonebook

The phone supports 2G, 3G and 4G operations. The call quality is excellent and you can easily hear the caller voice even in mildly crowded areas. Voice calling also works perfectly on the phone. Phonebook is easy and simple to use and does not ask for much.

Messaging and Emails

You can read complete long emails on the phone easily. The SMS, MMS, and IM integration on the phone works effortlessly.

Gallery, Photo Viewer and Video Player

Watching movies, playing games and reading books on the phone is a pleasurable task. The photo viewer supports zoom and the large screen of the phone makes photos appear very clear. Video player supports MKV, H.264, Xvid, VP8, WEBM, 3GP, AVI, M4V, 3GPP, MP4, H.263, Full HD formats. This means that you can play any video with ease without having to download an extra application.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra Music Player and FM Radio

Walkman like music player is one of the high points of the phone however, the loudspeaker volume disappoints. The sound is clear when you place the phone near your ears but even on the highest volume, the sound from loudspeaker does no match the music quality. The music player comes with various features such as Clear Audio+, Dynamic Normalizer, Music Tones, PlayNow Service, WALKMAN Application, xLoud Experience, Noise Reduction, and 3D Surround Sound. FM radio is present on the phone.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra Camera and Image Quality

The phone has an 8MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera. The rear camera does not have flash but comes with the Exmor R sensor. The photo quality is not good and there is a lot of noise and over saturation of colours in the photos. There are many features in the camera that you can use, these include Auto Focus, Burst Mode, HDR for Pictures and Movies, Face Detection, Geo-tagging, Image Stabiliser, Object Tracking, Picture Effect, Quick Launch, Scene Recognition, Self-timer, Send to Web, Smile Shutter, Superior Auto, Sweep Panorama, Touch Capture, Touch Focus, and White Balance.

Video Camera and Video Quality

The phone is capable of recording full HD videos with ease. When shot under good lighting conditions the video turn out to be good.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra Connectivity Options

The connectivity options on the phone include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi hotspot, NFC, USB, GPRS, 3G and DLNA. The connectivity when established works smoothly and does not pull down the performance of the phone.

Organiser and Other Utility Tools

The phone comes with a pre-installed document viewer, which lets you view and save your documents with ease. Other tools include Alarm, Calculator, Calendar, Setup Guide, Tasks, Timer, SensMe, One-touch (Sharing, Listening, Mirroring, Backup), DRM Support for eBooks, Google Voice Search, Face Unlock, STAMINA Mode to save the battery, Throw, Sensor-on-lens, TV Launcher, Reader Mode, Sony Entertainment Network, Handwriting Recognition, Screenshot Capturing, 3D Games ANT+, NeoReader Barcode Scanner, and TrackID Music Recognition.

Web Browser and Applications

Android and Google chrome browser are present on the phone. Since the stylus support works on the phone, emailing becomes easier. You can read and view pictures on the websites with ease. Applications on the phone include Google Play, Google Search, Facebook, Google Talk, Twitter, Gmail, YouTube, Instant Messaging, Bookmarks, Twitter, Note taking, Socialife, and Sketch.

Google Maps and GPS

The phone supports A-GPS and GLONASS, with Google Maps. Navigation locks in within seconds.

Distinctive Features of Sony Xperia Z Ultra

The screen of the phone makes you feel like you are holding a small theatre in your hand. There are many features on the screen such as TRILUMINOUS Display, Pixel Reproduction, Texture and Utline Improvement, Gesture Input, Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2, 10 Fingers Multi-touch Supported, Colour and Contrast Enhancement. On the other hand, the screen is prone to condensation and takes it as a touch input, which can sometimes make it difficult to use the phone outside.

Value for Money

The phone is priced at INR 45000 (approx., may vary) in the Indian market.

Verdict

We would rate the phone 4.2 out of 5 stars.