Sony Xperia Z Ultra Pro Reviews

The Sony Z Ultra Google Play Edition puts stock Android on one of the most absurdly big, but undeniably beautiful and powerful smartphones around.

Initially I was very intrigued by Sony's decision to create a Google Play Edition of the Xperia Z Ultra, and by Google's choice to sell it. After analyzing the Z Ultra GPE, though, from many angles the device has sadly lost all its prospective appeal. Sure, this phone sports an excellent screen that paints imagery with a sharp and colorful brush. It's also breathtakingly thin and shoehorns powerful processing along with Android KitKat into a lovely design with sophisticated aesthetics. Still, as is the case with the HTC One Max, it's easy to overreach when crafting a product straddling the line between smartphone and tablet. I'm sorry, but 6.4 inches is simply too much screen to handle for a standard cell phone. I haven't even mentioned the unbridled guffaws I sparked among friends when I fished out the Ultra from my bag in public. Worse, though, is the Z Ultra GPE's sky-high unlocked price of $649, which is downright scandalously expensive. For this substantial bundle of cash I wholeheartedly suggest buying a $399 Nexus 5 instead and a Nexus 7 tablet. Then you can either pocket the extra $20 or blow it on apps, movies, or games for your shiny new mobile toys.

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is a nicely made device but doesn't represent good value for money. The phablet is extremely unwieldy and doesn't have a great camera. Sony would have been better off making this a 7in tablet rather than a 6.4in phone. Our recommended phablet remains the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is the biggest and baddest Android smartphone you'll find, but it takes things to such a ridiculous extreme that I'm not even sure it can qualify as a phone anymore.

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra leaves us with mixed feelings. Its components and performance are in line with the best phones we’ve tested so far; its screen is gorgeous and huge, making for great gaming and movie watching; it certainly looks and feels the part of a high-end smartphone or tablet; and it delivers unique features like a waterproof shell and the ability to use a pencil as a stylus. On the other hand, the screen is basically unusable in direct sunlight, and can be hard to see even indoors if you’ve got large windows or harsh overhead lights. The single speaker doesn’t get loud enough to deliver quiet movie dialogue reliably, and its placement on the bottom edge means your finger will often cover it during gaming, jarringly muting the sound. And then there’s the camera which, even if it had a flash, would be pretty awful for a high-end smartphone. These issues don’t make the Xperia Z a bad phone by any means. But as big phones go, the Galaxy Note 3 has similar specs, better battery life, a screen that’s still large, a pressure-sensitive S-Pen, and a similar price off contract. Or you can grab the Note 3 subsidized for a whole lot less if you’re willing to sign up for a new two-year agreement – something you can’t do in the US with the Z Ultra.

Sony delivers on its Big entertainment claim. The huge display is ideal to watch movies, browse the web or play games. All these activities are no problem for the high performance of the Z Ultra - the Snapdragon 800 can even decode Ultra HD videos (QFHD), and they are stunning on the 6.4-inch display. A clock of 2.2 GHz and 2 GB memory are future-proof. Sony also certified the Z Ultra according to the IP55 & IP58 standards (dustproof & waterproof). One small drawback is the camera. The Exmor RE sensor cannot really convince us: Pictures are overexposed and slightly out of focus. The display is very bright and well suited for outdoor use but the brightness distribution is just 81% and the black value could be lower. Our direct comparison shows that viewing angle stability and color reproduction are better on the Galaxy Note 3. The expandable storage is an advantage for the Z Ultra but the non-removable battery is a big drawback. The temperature development is very convenient and the energy consumption is also decent. Our battery tests showed that the combination of a smartphone and a tablet is quite enduring with more than 10 hours of web browsing. With all these possibilities, you can easily forget that this is a phone and you have to carry it around all day. This is not easy because of the sheer size, and operating the device with just one hand is a challenge, not everybody has large hands. If 5-inch smartphones are too small and you were already interested in the Galaxy Mega 6.3, we can fully recommend the Sony Xperia Z Ultra. It is currently available for around 600 Euros (~$821), which is significantly less expensive than the smaller Galaxy Note 3 (669 Euros, ~$915).

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is a lovely thing, but as a dedicated phone - if you like to lift a phone to your ear as you should - then it's just too big to be practical. We can't help but see it as more of miniature tablet. You'll know in yourself whether you're one of those people who want a larger-than-life phone experience or not, but the Ultra really pushes the limits to what we'd call a phone. For us it brings too many compromises when it comes to practical use. The problem for Sony is that by going up in size by just 0.6-inches you get to buy the very good Nexus 7 for a third of the price, or by going down in size by the same screen size you get the Galaxy Note 3, the current best-in-class device. You'll either love the concept of a phone bigger than your head or you won't, and that's the bottom line here. If you don't pick it up to makes calls then it makes a lot of sense. If it's the former then you won't be disappointed, but we just don't know how many people will fit into that category. The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is a marvel as a device, but it's equally niche and that marvel might be limited in appeal.

Just like we saw with the Samsung Galaxy Mega, your decision to purchase the Xperia Z Ultra depends mostly on its size. The Z Ultra doesn't offer any unique traits that would make people want to deal with its massive frame if they don't want to, and the price is going to scare off shoppers who are on the fence. For those dead-set on a larger smartphone, however, this is definitely the best 6-plus-inch device you can buy. Sony designed a sleek and good-looking handset with a few tablet tendencies, and you'll absolutely love the display and over-the-top processing power contained within its chassis. Without a doubt, its size and price are the two most critical factors, and you've probably already made up your mind without even using it. In short, your decision to buy (or not buy) the Z Ultra should be a quick one: you'll either love it or hate it, but you won't stay neutral for long.

At more than £600 unlocked, the Ultra is far from cheap, though compared to a 64GB iPhone 5S it’s a steal. Price aside, the Z Ultra is now the definitive VLP. The screen is vast and visually stunning, the battery capacious, the media apps an object lesson in excellence, and the physical design impressive. And it’s waterproof, a first in class. Downsides? No LED flash and a rather mediocre camera, a fixed battery and a rather puny loudspeaker. Not everyone will think it worth close to twice the price of a Galaxy Mega 6.3 but if money is no object or you judge value on the Apple scale, you are unlikely to be disappointed.

Well, we’re torn. Our time with the Z Ultra was slightly sullied by what we believe to be a unit with a defective touchscreen. Yet as far as performance goes, there’s quite literally nothing to complain about. Sure, the battery life could be better, but it’s offset by the fact that the Z Ultra charges quickly. The display is far from the best, but it’s by no means bad. And the phone is dust-proof and water resistant, something every smartphone should be … but is not. But when you get to the size argument, there’s no practical way to be entirely objective. Put simply, it’s too big for the average person. It’s a niche device. Still, we’re quite fond of extra large smartphones and smaller tablets – two categories that this phone straddles. The lines between smartphone and tablet are as blurred as they’ve ever been. The problem with the Xperia Z Ultra, however, is that it tries to be both, yet it’s not perfect at being either. This device carries very little resemblance to its smaller foes – it looks and feels more like a small tablet than a phone. But it still carries the price tag of a high-end smartphone. A comparable small tablet, like the Nexus 7, is much cheaper with a better display and not all that much larger. At the end of the day, we’re simply not sure where the Z Ultra fits into our lives, because it certainly doesn’t fit in our pockets. And as a smartphone, it will likely spend too much time in our bags – rather than our hands and pockets – to be a primary device. Ultimately, as great as the Xperia Z Ultra is, it’s too big for comfort.

There goes the Xperia Z Ultra, more a tablet than a phone. A bit unwieldy for sure, especially compared to Samsung's Notes. But it sure shows the Japanese have hit the form of their life, unafraid to experiment in a segment they debut in. 6+" diagonal must've been too much for Samsung. They are playing it safe there with an expendable midranger, the Galaxy Mega 6.3, instead of pushing the Note III to its limit. The Xperia Z Ultra is a seriously cool looking gadget, although an extra millimeter around the waist and another 1,000mah of juice might have been a smart move as well. Still, Sony's phablet has demonstrated unmatched performance - the browser loads everything instantly, apps are bullet-quick - and it also has the best screen on a phablet yet. Of course, it may soon lose this or that advantage to the likes of the LG G2 or the Galaxy Note III, but even then it will be a force to be reckoned with for quite a while. And a phablet to be proud of. So, keep them coming, Sony.

Ultimately I can’t recommend this phone over Samsung’s Galaxy Note range, especially with the Galaxy Note III on the horizon, because it lacks an overall polish that you need from a large, note-taking-cum-multimedia device. In some respects the Sony Xperia Z Ultra is wonderful, but it’s the critical areas where it falls behind the mark.

Sony's first phablet leans farthest to the tablet side of that made-up word than any competitor out there. If you aren't worried about pocketability or one-handed operation, you won't be disappointed by the rest. The Xperia Z Ultra is an engineering marvel, with very thin and premium waterproof design, which is the only thing saving it from being called unwieldy. It is also incredibly fast at everything it does, so once you go past the huge size, interacting with the phone is a rather pleasant experience. Granted, you'd better be the type that uses hands-free kits and has baggy pants or a purse, else talking on the phablet and simply carrying it around will be a nuisance not many can accept as a daily driver. Out of all phablets out there, the Xperia Z Ultra is undoubtedly the best-equipped to meet what the future holds. The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 and the Huawei Ascend Mate 6.1 can be considered direct competitors in the 6+ category, but they aren't nearly as fast and premium as the Z Ultra, plus the Mega 6.3 is not that much cheaper to boot. The Galaxy Note II has the advantage of a stylus silo, instead of looking around for a pen or pencil, but is not waterproof and overall its screen is inferior, while the diagonal now puts it in the light phablet category, compared to the 6”+ monsters this year. When the Note 3 comes out, it would be a better match. A closer to the 6” mark competition is the LG Optimus G Pro with its 5.5” Full HD display, which also has a fast processor and sports infrared sensor, but is nor waterproof, though it will be slightly easier on your pocket, literally and figuratively, than Sony's enormous slab. The Z Ultra towers above all those phablets not only in screen size, but in specs and design, too, so if you've thrown out ergonomics and pocketability with the decision to get one anyway, you might as well do the full song and dance. If you can afford it, that is, as Sony's first phablet will run you more than most current flagship phones at launch.