Is Sony z ultra still on sale. Sony Xperia Z Ultra: complete freedom of action. Sony Xperia Z Ultra - Review of an insanely large smartphone that I was afraid to redeem

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! We continue to cooperate with Sony. And today, at the next review of smartphones, we have a novelty in the field of large smartphones or small tablets (as it is convenient for anyone). Phablet(English phablet from PHone + tABLET; also flanchet or plafond from Russian. Tablet + TELEPHONE) is a term denoting a class of mobile devices with a touch screen with a diagonal of 5 to 7 inches. The phablet combines the qualities of a smartphone and a mini-tablet. Also known as "Tabletphone", which is more understandable for the Russian-speaking population. This name itself in the form of "Phablet" can already be considered the official designation of this kind of device. For those who are not yet aware of everything that is happening, I will only say that the screen diagonal of our "baby" is only 6.44 inches. In this review, I will try to call this gadget the old-fashioned way, namely "smartphone".

About SONY.

The year of Sony's founding is considered to be 1946, when former colleagues from the defense enterprise Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka met in Tokyo bombed by American planes. Friends drank sake, congratulated each other on the fact that they had survived the war, and immediately decided to organize some kind of production.

The initial capital of the partners was small: 84,500 yen, or 375 dollars at the exchange rate of the time, most of which Morita borrowed from his father, a successful distiller. This money turned out to be enough for the Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company, which employs 20 people (all of these people were former employees of the same defense plant) - to start working on the second floor of a dilapidated shopping center on May 7.

Telecommunication Engineering Company finally changed its complicated name in 1958. Akio Morita, who by that time became responsible for the promotion of the company's products, assured not without reason: “To gain a foothold in the global market, we need a different name - simple, short, easy to pronounce and memorable. And instead of hieroglyphs, you need to use the international Latin alphabet. " For example, Americans could not pronounce not only Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, but even the abbreviation Totsuko - and selling a product made by a company with an unpronounceable name in the United States would be, to put it mildly, difficult. At first, Morita and Ibuka wanted to shorten the name of their brainchild to three letters - TTK, but then problems would inevitably arise in the domestic market. After all, TTK is very similar to TKK, the Japanese railway company. And then, rummaging through the dictionaries, friends fished out the Latin word sonus - "sound", which, in their opinion, ideally reflected the direction of the company. After slightly modernizing it, Morita and Ibuka came up with the word sony, which was destined to become the international name of the company.

Sony is now one of the five leading brands in the world along with Coca-Cola, Apple, Gillette and McDonald's. All of these industrial giants, except McDonald's, were created either at the end of the last century or at the turn of the century. But the history of the Japanese corporation Sony is only 50 years old. The founding fathers of the company started with a small workshop in dilapidated post-war Tokyo. Today Sony is one of the fastest growing companies in the world; even during economic crises, its shares continue to rise in value, and experts estimate the value of Sony at $ 37.5 billion. Sony is America's No. 1 brand, ahead of Coca-Cola and General Electric, according to a Harris Statistics poll. Upon learning of this, Akio Morita said: "I knew that in the end Sony would become an American brand."

Technical characteristics of the device.

General characteristics.

Standard - GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G.
Type - smartphone.
Operating system - Android 4.2.2.
Case type - classic, monoblock.
Body material - metal, glass, plastic.
Construction - waterproof.
SIM card type - micro SIM.
The number of SIM cards is 1.
Weight - 212 g.
Dimensions (WxHxT) - 92x179x6.5 mm.

Screen.

Screen type - color TFT, 16.78 million colors, touch.
Touch screen type - multitouch 10 touches, capacitive.
Diagonal - 6.44 inches.
Image size - 1080x1920.
The number of pixels per inch (PPI) - 342.
Scratch-resistant glass - yes.

Calls.

Type of melodies - polyphonic, MP3 melodies.
Vibration alert - yes.

Multimedia capabilities.

Camera - 8 million pixels, 3264x2448.
Camera functions - autofocus.
There is a front camera, 2 million pixels.
Audio - MP3, FM radio.
Headphone jack - 3.5 mm.
Video output - MHL.

Connection.

Interfaces - USB, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC, Bluetooth.
USB-host - yes.
Satellite navigation - GPS / GLONASS.
A-GPS system - yes.
Internet access - WAP, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA +, email POP / SMTP, email IMAP4, HTML.
DLNA support - yes.

Memory and processor.

Processor - Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974, 2200 MHz.
The number of processor cores is 4.
Video processor - Adreno 330.
Built-in memory capacity - 16 GB.
The amount of RAM is 2 GB.
Support for memory cards - microSD (TransFlash), up to 64 GB.

Nutrition.

Battery capacity - 3000 mAh. Built in.
Talking time 16 h.
Waiting time 820 h.

Other functions.

Speakerphone (built-in speaker) - yes.
A2DP profile - yes.
Sensors - illumination, proximity, gyroscope.
Features protection level - standards IP55 / IP58.

Protection level.

All of Sony's latest flagships are IP55 / IP58 waterproof and dustproof, and ours is no exception.

The IP rating (Ingress Protection) has been adopted by the IEC-International Electrotechnical Commission. It consists of two numbers and defines the ability of a computer or new device to resist the penetration of solids and liquids. The first number indicates the level of protection against the ingress of dust and other solids, the second number indicates the level of protection against the ingress of liquids.

Protection against the ingress of solid particles (first digit).

0 - No protection.
1 - Protection against the penetration of solid particles with a size of at least 50 mm (hand).
2 - Protected against penetration of solid particles with a size of at least 12 mm (fingers).
3 - Protection against the penetration of solid particles with a size of at least 2.5 mm (tools, cable).
4 - Protected against the penetration of solid particles with a size of at least 1 mm (thin tools, wire).
5 - Protection against the ingress of dust in quantities that do not affect the performance of the product.
6 - Complete protection against dust penetration.

Protection against penetration of liquids (second digit).

0 - No protection.
1 - Protection against vertically falling drops of water (condensation).
2 - Protection against water drops falling at an angle of no more than 15 ° from the vertical.
3 - Protection against rain drops falling at an angle not exceeding 60 ° from the vertical.
4 - Protected against splashing water from all directions.
5 - Protection against water jets from all directions.
6 - Protection from waves.
7 - Protection against water penetration when immersed to a depth of 1 m.
8 - Protection against water penetration during prolonged immersion under pressure.

According to this table, it can be judged that Sony Z Ultra can withstand water jets from any side and direction, as well as immersion in water to a depth of 1 meter and no more than 30 minutes. Immersion in seawater is not recommended.

Packaging, equipment.

The smartphone comes in a white cardboard box. Moreover, all the packaging is the same size as the smartphone itself. On the front side there is a picture of the smartphone in color, and on the back side there is a brief technical information. Opening the box, you can see that there is a shipping film on the screen. The rest of the package is at the bottom of the box.

A story from life. I have a friend who really wanted this device, but there was no money for a new one. I decided to buy a flea market on the Internet for 19 thousand rubles. Upon examination, it turned out that the back of the smartphone was badly scratched. The seller, represented by the girl, lamented the lack of covers when buying a smartphone. As a result, the price was easily reduced to 15 thousand rubles. The seller did not know that the scratches were only on the protective film. It's just that the film is glued so perfectly that it is simply invisible in everyday use.

Equipment.

1. The smartphone itself.

2. Charger.

3. USB cable.

4. Docking station.

5. Warranty card.

6. Quick start guide.

In general, a bad tradition has recently gone on not to equip top-end smartphones with at least the most elementary headphones. You feel strange after buying a device for 25 thousand rubles. and not finding the included headphones. It feels like something was stolen from you. If it goes on like this, then soon only the smartphone itself will be sold and nothing else. The package bundle looks especially poor against the background of the Sony Xperia Sola. A distinctive feature of almost all smartphones from Sony is the presence of factory-glued protective films on the smartphone screen. In our case, the film is glued to the front and back.

Appearance, design.

It's Sony Style, baby! There are not so many companies on the market that monitor the appearance of their products. Sony is one of them. Ultra continues the uniform style of all the latest flagships of the company. How is this unified style expressed? And everything is very simple! No matter how you pick up a Sony Tablet Z, a Sony Xperia Z smartphone and a Sony Xperia Z Ultra smartphone, they do not differ at all in appearance, this is the same style in everything. The front and back parts of these devices can be said to be exactly the same, and only perhaps the camera's peephole, and the other colors give slight differences. Let's say the black Sony Xperia Z Ultra looks exactly the same from all sides. This is a strict and elegant line of the body. No round corners or protruding body parts. A business device if you like. The thickness of the smartphone is only 6.5mm. and it is the thinnest smartphone in the world considering the size of the FullHD screen. Ultra looks great with a business suit, or is perfect for the role of an image gadget at a corporate meeting, this is not the kind of smartphone that you can carry in slippers or trekking. The screen size is 6.44 inches, which can hardly be called comfortable for one-handed operation. Even if you hold it with one hand at the very base, then the maximum where you can reach with your thumb is the middle of the screen, the rest of the area remains inaccessible. With the release of this device, the company has closed the entire size scale.

There is a 5-inch smartphone, a 10.1-inch tablet and a sweet spot in the face of our smartphone. First of all, this smartphone is suitable for those who are not 5 inches, and 10.1 is already a lot, and believe me, there are a lot of these people. The frames around the perimeter of the screen cannot be called thin. On the right and left sides it is 6mm., From the bottom 17mm. Such a wide framework in our case is not for nothing. As already mentioned, the thickness of the smartphone is very small, but it was necessary to place the "iron" part somewhere, so I had to go this way. However, you get used to this aspect pretty quickly.

Various colors are available: black, white, purple:

Manufacturing materials.

Well, as they say, everything is in chocolate! No plastic whatsoever. And only the volume rocker is made of plastic. The smartphone has an all-aluminum base painted black. This base is in the form of a metal edging along the entire perimeter. Even plugs for connectors and those made of metal. The back part as well as the front part is covered with protective glass. The type of glass is the company's own development and its name does not appear anywhere officially, although many argue that it is nothing more than Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The power button remains unpainted and contrasts quite strongly against the general black background. Here we actually have such premium materials used in the manufacture of this smartphone. Few people on the market use this combination of materials to make flagship devices. For this indicator, of course, the company should be praised. But keep in mind that glass and metal do not tolerate drops on a hard surface very well, the likelihood of breaking the back or front is high. However, at the moment, there are already many different cases for this smartphone on sale.

Build quality.

Sony is also very responsible in the manufacture of its products. This smartphone is protected from moisture and dust, which naturally imposes certain moments during manufacture. The body is completely monolithic and non-separable. At home, it is impossible to disassemble a smartphone without damaging it. Naturally, there are no creaks, backlash or gaps, and even more so. If you want to imagine what a perfect build looks like, then the Ultra certainly meets this standard.

Compared to Huawei Honor and Samsung NOTE II:

Functional connectors on the device body.

And so let's see what connectors the manufacturer has equipped his device with:

1. An additional microphone is located at the top.

2. On the right end in the upper part there is a 3.5mm headphone hole. For the first time in smartphones, this connector is not covered with a cap. The contacts are brought out to the outside of the connector. Slightly below is a plug under which there is a slot for a memory card (hot-swappable) and a slot for a Micro-SIM card. Power button and brightness control button.

3. There is a lace hole in the bottom right corner. Many manufacturers have already forgotten an element so important for some.

4. The main microphone is located at the bottom end.

5. On the left side there is a Micro USB connector hole and a contact pad for installation in a docking station.

6. On the front side: distance sensor, light sensor, front camera lens, status indicator, Sony logo. Touch control buttons are placed on the screen itself. Both speakers are also located on the front side.

7. On the back of the main camera, NFC detection area, Sony and Xperia logo.

Functional elements.

Screen.

As mentioned above, in our case we have just a giant 6.44-inch screen. TFT-IPS capacitive with support for 16 million colors. Full HD, 1920 x 1080 pixels. But since the smartphone control buttons use part of the unused screen area, the true resolution is 1836x1080 pixels. The pixel density per inch is 342 ppi. However, even with this value, individual pixels are not visible on the smartphone screen. Multi-touch up to 10 touches.

This type of screen supports the ability to enter information with any metal object. You can use a fountain pen, paper clip, or nail if you like. The viewing angles are maximum possible.

In the sun, the picture practically does not fade and the information can always be read. It just so happened, but the quality of the screen is better than in the same Sony Xperia Z, there is no obvious transition to gray tones when you change the position of the screen tilt. This type of screen has no air gap, which contributes to even better color reproduction, the image is as if right at your fingertips. X-Reality technology noticeably improves the image quality, although this is noticeable only when viewing any content on the screen itself. Very good contrast, the colors themselves are quite natural, you can even say such as they are in nature. As it seemed to me, there is not enough brightness at the maximum value. However, we still have one of the best screens on the market.

Camera.

Main camera Exmor R 8MP. The company deliberately limited the module so as not to compete with the already released Z and Z1 smartphones, and in fact, Ultra loses to them in terms of image quality. This module is nothing supernatural. There are some minor flaws with the white balance, and even in low light, noise in the frame is very noticeable. Taking pictures in the dark will not work as there is no flash. There is autofocus and digital stabilization. The maximum resolution for photos is 3264 x 2448 pixels and video is 1080p @ 30fps. The camera is very fast, pictures are taken and saved almost instantly. The pictures themselves are still of good quality, sharpness in the frame is present. The camera interface is not overloaded with settings, everything is very accessible and understandable. The only thing I thought was that the camera was overdoing it with the HDR mode in the "Best Auto Adjust" mode. The front camera has a 2MP resolution. and naturally only suitable for video communication. Working in Skype did not cause any problems.

Examples of pictures:

Video example:

Android OS and interface.

Ultra runs on Android 4.2.2 operating system.

A well-known proprietary interface from Sony is installed on top, everything from the dialing window to the color of the main menu has been redesigned.

An update to 4.3 is on the way. The main menu is built according to the 5x6 formula; these are two desktops with installed programs.

Widgets were removed from the main menu and now they are activated by a long press on the main screen, wallpapers and themes are also concentrated there.

The bottom line for the most frequently used applications can accommodate 7 icons. The most important innovation is the ability to use the smartphone completely horizontally both on the main screen and on the application screen. This is true if you use a smartphone while it is in your docking station. The interface itself works very smooth and fast, there are no hints of lags or brakes, the sensor instantly reacts to your touch.

Traditionally, let's quickly go through the most significant applications in a smartphone:

Walkman.

Actually branded and one of the best music players. Displays your music collection. You can sort by artist, track, album, or create your own list.

Sony Select.

Games, apps, music and videos - all the best just for you. Sony Select selects only the best apps and services so you can easily access them. What's more, Sony Select only shows you the apps and services that are guaranteed to work on your Xperia device. A kind of alternative to the Play Store, if in one word.

Smart Connect.

What happens when you connect your Xperia smartphone to another device? With the free Smart Connect app, you decide for yourself. Any device you connect to your smartphone - whether it's a SmartTag, a headset, or a charging dock. Smart Connect will activate any apps or functions that you have specified for a specific accessory. You can choose one or several actions. When you plug in a headset, Smart Connect launches the music player. When you connect your Xperia smartphone to the charger late at night, the Smart Connect app puts it in night mode - activates the alarm and silent mode.

Sketch.

Quite a good and functional application that allows you to use your smartphone as a drawing tablet.

OfficeSuite.

The program provides creation, viewing and editing of Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on a mobile device. OfficeSuite includes support for Microsoft Office files. The program works great with text editors, providing opening and viewing DOCX files, editing Microsoft DOC files and RTF, TXT formats.

Xperia Privilege.

Not so long ago, Sony introduced its unique application that can be used exclusively on devices of the Sony Xperia line. The purpose of this program is simple - with its help, each owner of these gadgets will be able to access the most diverse and unique content. The Xperia Z1, Z Ultra and Tablet Z offer an exclusive entertainment package with great movies. Enjoy them through the Xperia Privilege app, which can be found on the app screen of your smartphone or tablet, or downloaded from the Google Play store.

In work, testing.

CPU. The smartphone has the most top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 central processor. There is of course a more recent version of the 805, but smartphones based on this processor are not yet on sale, so we consider our processor to be the best at the moment.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC is designed for flagship smartphones. According to the creators, it provides 75% more performance than the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro. The Snapdragon 800 uses 28nm technology. The main elements of the Snapdragon 800 are the quad-core Krait 400 CPU up to 2.3GHz and the Adreno 330 GPU. The latter has twice the performance of the Adreno 320. The SoC supports dual 800MHz LP-DDR3 memory chips with a maximum memory bandwidth of 12 , 8 GB / s. The single-chip platform includes a Hexagon V5 digital signal processor, an LTE modem that provides data transfer rates up to 150 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth wireless modules, a USB 3.0 controller and a radio receiver. Supports video playback and recording with UltraHD resolution. Thanks to the presence of two image processors, the single-chip system is compatible with cameras up to a resolution of 55 megapixels. The Snapdragon 800 supports DTS-HD and Dolby Digital Plus audio processing technologies, and can display images on screens with a resolution of 2560 x 2048 pixels. This processor also supports 4G data transmission and is compatible with Russian standards. We buy a SIM card with a 4G tariff and more.

Needless to say, at the moment this is an ideal solution if you use a smartphone for games. At the moment, there are simply no games that could put this smartphone on the shoulder blades. All tested games starting from N.O.V.A. 3 and ending with Dead Trigger 2, as they say, just fly on this tablet. There is one small drawback. During the game, the area with the touch buttons is not removed from the screen and therefore false presses take place, which leads to the exit from the game. Considering the huge screen and prohibitive performance, it is a pleasure to play on this smartphone.

Synthetic test graphs:

Memory.

The main memory in the smartphone is 16GB. When the system and all applications are loaded, 11GB remains for free use. Installation of games and applications on the memory card is not provided. Supported work with cards format MicroSDXC. RAM 2GB. and after downloading 1.2GB remains. Oh, when such a bright moment will come when the developers of top-end smartphones will understand that the presence of 16GB. memory, but in fact less is too little for this kind of devices.

Wi-Fi works perfectly, did not reveal any problems during operation. Naturally, the smartphone itself can act as a Wi-Fi access point. Wi-Fi Direct has not gone anywhere either - allowing devices to connect directly to each other without an additional intermediate link in the form of a router. There is also Wi-Fi Display - provides wireless transmission of image and sound from one device to another, located nearby, using a simple and secure procedure for detection and connection. For example, a web page opened on a PC can be displayed on a nearby TV, and a picture viewed on a smartphone is simultaneously visible on a smartphone screen.

GPS / GLONNAS.

Simultaneous support of two navigation standards of the American GPS and the Russian GLONASS has been implemented. As a result, a cold start takes about one minute. It is impossible to select the GPS or GLONNAS mode separately, they work in pairs, such a tendem provides a large detection of satellites or more accurate positioning on the ground. In my case, 22 satellites were displayed, which is a very good indicator and a new record for the entire time I tested smartphones with the GPS / GLONNAS function.

Speech quality.

The smartphone has two microphones, which naturally only had a positive effect on the quality of transmitted and received speech.
Moreover, the design of the latter is made very well, they do not overlap with hands and have a large area of ​​sound absorption. The interlocutor is very well heard, as well as you. The earpiece speaker is just as great. No complaints were found on this aspect. I was pleased with a fairly strong vibration signal given the finite dimensions of the smartphone.

Video.

Out of the box, the smartphone perfectly digests all known video formats, so you won't need to install a third-party player for the first time.

Sound.

But according to this parameter, the smartphone upset me. The sound is quiet, and very quiet. Even at maximum volume, the sound is easy to miss and you don't even need to be in crowded places for this. So, I advise you to select melodies with the maximum bitrate. Moreover, the state of affairs is not saved by any software enhancers. This is the payback for the protected case of the smartphone. Otherwise, the sound quality is good enough. Since there were no headphones in this package, this item was left aside in the tests.

USB-OTG.

The smartphone supports the connection of various peripheral devices. So, you can connect without any problems: a mouse, keyboard, USB flash drive, joysticks, etc. For example, in Dead Trigger 2, the joystick from the PS4 works great.

Accessories.

Docking station DK30.

The package includes a docking station for charging the Sony Z Ultra. The complete charger has a power of 1.5A, which allows you to fully charge your smartphone in 3 hours.
The magnetic connector allows you to securely attach your smartphone to the docking station with one hand. The magnet directs the charging port of the smartphone to the dock connector and establishes the connection. Adapters included. With the included interchangeable earbuds, you can use the Xperia Z Ultra Smartphone Dock with or without a case. The smartphone installed for charging is located at an angle convenient for viewing. You can check messages or view the contents of your smartphone. Your Xperia Z Ultra is docked securely and snugly.

Headset Sony SBH52.

A rather interesting Bluetooth headset was also given for the review. You can make calls like from a regular phone, or listen to music and receive calls hands-free. When you receive a call on your smartphone, you can see who is calling you on the display of your headset. You can use the headset to view recent calls and make calls. You can move around by leaving your smartphone in your pocket, bag or other place within the Bluetooth range (up to 10 meters). You can connect the headset to your smartphone with one touch using the NFC module, just touch the back of your smartphone to the back of the headset. You can use headphones with a headset to listen to music. We just plug the headphones into the headset. You can see the artist name and song information on the display of your headset. Also, using the headset, you can read the received SMS message. The headset has a built-in FM radio that supports RDS (Radio Data System). The headset itself is splash-proof and can be used in the rain.

Autonomous work.

The capacity of our battery is 3000mAh. Considering the huge FullHD screen and a rather powerful processor, it will be quite interesting to test this parameter.

1. Work in the "just phone" mode, only calls. This is not the total talk time, but a certain number of calls - 57 hours.

2. Work in mixed mode: calls, Internet, video, games - 11 hours

3. MP3 file playback in headphones, maximum volume - 65 hours.

4. Video playback, sound and screen brightness for a maximum of 5 hours.

5. Work in 3D applications (games), sound at maximum, screen brightness 75% - 4 hours.

Conclusions.

This is a rather stylish and interesting device from Sony. I must say right away that the device is not for everyone. It is unlikely that this smartphone will look laconic in a woman's hand because of its size. During a week of testing, when I was talking on this smartphone, people look askance at you, especially when you put such a paddle to your ear. Before buying, you need to clearly understand why you need such a device. In principle, already this size can be attributed to the category of mini-tablets, but where else can you buy a mini-tablet with Snapdragon 800? If you use it as a phone, then I think the use of the above-described headset is simply necessary.

Who are the competitors? Yes, actually no one! If we take all the characteristics in one whole, then it turns out that this product has no competitors. To anyone interested, you can simply compare the size of the following products: Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3, Huawei Ascend Mate 6.1, OPPO N1 5.9, HTC ONE MAX 5.9, Nokia Lumia 1320 6.0. But none of these smartphones can match the performance and quality of the Ultra. And only Nokia Lumia 1520 with a 6-inch FullHD screen has the same processor, twice the main memory and the best battery, but it runs on Win 8, and it's not entirely appropriate to compare two different ecosystems ...

PROS:

1. High-quality screen.

2. Excellent workmanship.

3. Protection against water.

4. An abundance of various branded accessories from Sony.

5. Productivity for the future.

6. Docking station included.

MINUSES:

1. Lack of flash.

2. Very quiet speaker.

That's all ! Thank you all for your attention who have given their time to this review. Thanks to DNS for the review platform. Thanks to Sony for providing the smartphone for review.

If the dear reader thought that nothing would be worse than the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3, we hasten to disappoint, this is absolutely not the case. HE grew stronger, and it turns out that not only one manufacturer of smartphones. The company Sony, which has recently been making handy and cute telephones, has suddenly presented something that even the aforementioned Mega has to grow to.

The differences lie elsewhere: the Mega line of smartphones from the Korean manufacturer is, in general, a niche solution, which, apart from the size of the display, is not particularly remarkable. With "Ultra" the situation is completely different - not only does it have a hefty, we are not afraid to speak so sharply, the screen, but it also has one of the most perfect technical fillings at the time of publication of the article. In general, as you probably already guessed, the word "most" can be used often for the new Sony smartphone. Let's find out, in a good context or not.

⇡ Appearance and ergonomics

The smartphone is designed in the same style as the flagships of Sony of their time - Xperia Z / Z1 and Xperia Tablet Z. However, there is no question of blindly copying the same design, as one Korean manufacturer does - Ultra has its own chips.

If you are one of those readers who only look at pictures in reviews, then now you will not notice anything unusual

The front panel of the smartphone is covered with monolithic tempered glass. Its manufacturer is unknown to us, but this is definitely not Corning - it seems that it was unreasonable to overpay for the Sony brand. The Xperia Z Ultra is so big, in particular, because of the rather massive inserts under and above the display. Above is a standard set of elements - a front camera lens, an LED indicator of new events and eyes for light and proximity sensors. At the bottom there is nothing at all - the navigation buttons are touch-sensitive, they are located directly on the screen. In an amicable way, it was possible to make a device with the same display more compact without any problems - but for some reason the Japanese did not consider it necessary.

But now suspicions have crept into your head; Sony Xperia Z Ultra vs. iPhone 5

The thing that unwittingly draws attention to when you get acquainted with the Z Ultra is the thickness of the case. Despite its gigantic dimensions, the device turned out to be very thin - only six and a half millimeters. True, it weighs a lot (of course, given the scale) - a little more than 210 grams. On the other hand, many seven-inch tablets would envy such a mass a thousand times over - and in terms of "tablet comfort" the Z Ultra comes close to them.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra vs. iPhone 5 - 6.5mm vs. 7.6mm it would seem - only a millimeter, but the difference is obvious

The layout of the controls is typical for Sony devices. The on / off button is located approximately in the middle of the right side, right under the thumb - the location is good. Under it is a "rocker" for adjusting the volume: with a comfortable grip it is impossible to reach it, so you have to shift the smartphone in your hand - it's inconvenient. The obvious solution - to move the volume control button a little higher - is not suitable for the Japanese for some reason. Well, all that remains is to endure.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra - right side

Since the Xperia Z Ultra, like the other flagships of the company, is endowed with dust and moisture protection, all connectors are located behind plastic covers with a seal. The slots for MicroSD and micro-SIM cards are on the right side of the case, and the micro-USB connector (aka MHL) is on the left. Only the MicroSD flap is signed, confusion with the rest of the compartments is inevitable - since they will not be needed often, there is practically no chance of remembering what and where it is. The audio jack is located on the right side, it does not have a plug, which is very convenient - Sony took into account the mistakes made in the Xperia Z.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra - back panel and sides

The back panel of the smartphone is covered with the same tempered glass as the front one. This solution has a lot of advantages - it looks nice and reliable. The only drawback is that the "back" of the gadget gets dirty quickly, because it likes to collect fingerprints. The sides of the device are made partly of aluminum, partly of plastic disguised as metal. In any case, this is not the Xperia Z1 with its all-metal frame - in this case, the design is different.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra - full face

Assembled "ultraplafond" is not as reliable as we would like. Due to the small thickness of the device, the engineers were unable to achieve the required rigidity. Even with slight pressure on the body of the gadget, characteristic colored stains appear on the screen, and the smartphone itself literally bends. Handle your Xperia Z Ultra with care - it may not survive dropping onto a hard surface.

⇡ Specifications

What did not like

Built-in intrusive apps. Especially infuriates the file manager, which brazenly extorts money. It's a shame for a serious company like SONY to have such software partners.

What did not like

Camera. But I was ready to put up with the camera, because there are separate mirrors. In short, I bent it. I put my jeans in my back pocket and sat down somewhere. The corps gave chase. The rims cracked. But it works. I sell for 12 thousand and take the CD.

What we liked

Many. Very cool. Much has already been written.

What did not like

the battery is very weak (4-6 hours with constant use), the camera sucks, the screen is very easily soiled

What we liked

speed, clarity of the screen and the large screen itself, a large number of settings and applications, a good processor, a good camera for video conversation.

What did not like

a lie that you can swim with him yesterday fell into the bathroom now the monitor does not burn will have to be carried to the service

What we liked

excellent phone in functions but not in quality

What did not like

the main one is the workmanship, the device died a week after the end of the one-year warranty.

What we liked

Against the background of analogues, they are not.

What did not like

The set with the phone came with headphones, probably all the same it would be more correct to call them a headset, since it is simply impossible to listen to music in them. Quiet speaker.

What we liked

The speed and stability of work, build quality, the battery holds well for such a size, not bad enough pictures.

What did not like

The camera is terrible, no flash. Just a worthless camera. Dim display

What we liked

Large size, large high definition display. Slim, stylish design, although corners are too sharp for this size. Waterproof. High-speed performance.

What did not like

the price of repairing the rubber seal of the plug from the USB stroke is 2000 rubles.

What we liked

at first everything was fine, until the seal of the USB port plug broke.

What did not like

No water resistance, leaked as soon as Sony suggests shooting underwater? The display reacts to water by pressing everything .. To control the phone even with drops on the display is not possible, it self-presses on everything ..
IPX8. Protected against prolonged immersion in water (leaks immediately) Naturally with all plugs closed ...
One more problem!! When surfing the Internet, reading news and just browsing sites with simple text pages .. The device starts to warm up terribly and the battery runs out quickly.
(Most likely this is not the problem of the phone itself, but the problem of the snapdragon 800 chip.on Lg g2 and Sams. Nout2 the same problem.Internet surfing is the hardest task !!!)
Mediocre camera (strong graininess in low light)

What we liked

Nice thing, it fits perfectly in the hand. Everything is clear, fast and without lags ... There is practically no problem with heating. The display is really cool and this screen eats several times less than amoled. The battery is all right, the charge keeps excellent in movies, games .. in everything except Internet surfing.

What did not like

the camera is bad, but I don't think it's much worse than that of the samsung
but worse than the camera))
holds little charge - I have two days if only to talk and a little internet ..

What we liked

Beautiful) Slim, Waterproof, Large

What did not like

screen brightness, battery, quiet speaker, photo quality, can not be used in water

What we liked

Design, speed of work, wow effect

What did not like

Camera, battery, interface, overpriced, small viewing angle (but no one will spy on the subway :), heavy as an ax, with a cover you can't lift at all :), buggy, build quality.

Sony waited a long time before releasing their giant tablet phone (or Phablet, as they are commonly called), and finally the wait is over. We got the Xperia Z Ultra and, with a few exceptions, it falls into the high-end category. Now it remains to be seen whether it is worth paying that kind of money for a smartphone that is too big for most pockets, but too small to be on a par with 10-inch tablets. We hope our Sony Xperia Z Ultra review .

Benefits: Super fast. Great screen. Excellent design. 4G LTE support

Disadvantages: Expensive. Disappointing camera

In terms of aesthetics, to put it simply, the phone is amazing. At 179x92x6.5mm (HxWxT), the phone resembles a bar of chocolate, but it's too big for one-handed use, and Sony didn't bother with any of the software tweaks Samsung uses for its giant phones. such as where, for example, you can slide the keyboard and calculator to one side of the screen for easy one-handed use. Obviously, Sony expects you to accept the Xperia Z Ultra as it is, and is not going to make any size-related concessions. And although it is almost impossible to chat with one hand holding the phone, browsing the web or videos, reading e-books, or something similar is quite possible. The weight of 212 grams is not the smallest, but this is not a problem either.

The body is slightly enlarged to accommodate the giant 6.4-inch screen. In the upper part, the frame is about 1.5 mm wide, and a little more in the lower one. This width prevents your fingers from touching the screen if, for example, you want to play games in full screen mode on the Xperia Z Ultra with both hands. Sony has carefully crafted the narrow side edges of its phone. A laconic silver round power button protrudes slightly from the right panel, its location is very convenient. All other buttons are made entirely of black materials to make them invisible, except for the wireless charging slot - the volume rocker, headset connector, latch-closed slot for microSIM and microSD cards (right) and closed microUSB port (left).

Access to the battery is closed as the case is hermetically sealed - this is due to the fact that if you accidentally drop the Xperia Z Ultra in the bathroom during a gaming session, it will not be damaged, as it has an IP58 rating of protection against ingress of dust and water. We're already starting to get used to having this IP57 rating thanks to devices like the Xperia Z and countless other phones. However, the IP58 rating is less common. The first digit characterizes the degree of protection against dust: 5 - means that the described in this Sony Xperia Z Ultra review not completely protected from dust, but the amount of dust that can get inside will not affect the efficiency of daily tasks. The second digit characterizes the degree of moisture protection: 7 - allows you to safely immerse the phone to a depth of 1 meter for 30 minutes, and 8 - to a depth of more than 1 meter and more than 30 minutes.

The giant screen is one of the key features of the Xperia Z Ultra. Its 6.4-inch display has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and provides a density of 342 ppi. Compared to the Xperia Z, you feel fooled - its 5-inch screen with the same resolution has a density of 443 ppi. Although we shouldn't inflate the big problem out of this difference. The Full HD screen on the Xperia Z Ultra is very bright and crisp, with good image sharpness. When reading emails, books, SMS, or browsing the web, sometimes the text appears blurry.

The screen includes Sony Bravia engine 2 and Triluminos mobile technologies to enhance video playback. AMOLED, which delivers super bright images that some people like and some don't, have been replaced with less glaring colors. Yes, the video looks great.

One of the trump cards up the sleeve in his Galaxy Note lineup is stylus support. Sony has a similar but different trump card. You can write on the screen with anything - even with your finger, even with the tip of a pencil, or with your house key, whatever you want. Handwriting recognition is pretty good and fast. The phone has apps that accept keyboard input and there are preinstalled apps that handle handwritten notes, both of which work pretty well. There is also a drawing application.

The Xperia Z Ultra is powered by a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, the fastest in the new Qualcomm series. This 4-core processor is paired with 2GB of RAM for lightning-fast action. I doubt there is an application out there that would question this claim. The phone supports NFC (Near Field Communications), 4G connectivity, and the Ant + standard used by heart rate monitors and other fitness-related devices.

The available 8MP camera is a far cry from the Xperia Z's 13MP and lacks flash. The quality can be rated as average, and despite the fact that the video is recorded in 1080p, it is still not perfect.

The declared amount of internal memory is 16 GB, but after the introduction of the Sony user interface - Android 4.2 and all Sony widgets and applications, only 11 GB remain available. In general, this is a pretty decent amount, but remember that you will not be able to install applications on SD cards, and there are more and more applications over time. This device is capable of running several high quality games with a capacity of 1 GB or more.

The 3050 mAh battery does an excellent job with its functions - when testing the model ( Sony Xperia Z Ultra review ) I found that when using the phone in normal day-to-day mode, the charge lasted for about two days. Of course, if I were the owner of the Xperia Z Ultra, I would use all its capabilities much more intensively than with my current phone, and I believe that in this case the battery will last no more than a day.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra verdict

The Xperia Z Ultra is an expensive device, and its size means it won't be comfortable to carry around every day. But at the same time, the screen is not large enough to carry out all the functions inherent in a tablet. On the other hand, this Phablet is lightning fast and really reliable.

Smartphones are getting bigger and bigger today, but models with a diagonal of 5 inches are already called phablets or hybrids of a tablet and a phone. But where does the Xperia Sony Z Ultra belong? The 6.44-inch Full-HD display sits right between phablets and phone-capable tablets. In our article, we will consider how convenient the giant turned out to be, what advantages it provides in work. You can tell right away that surfing on it is fantastic, as well as watching movies. But will the smartphone cope with other tasks? We will talk about this in our article.

The smartphone / tablet hybrid measures a decent 179 x 92mm. Inside, modern hardware is used, three colors are available on the market (black, white, purple), but with only one amount of internal memory (16 GB, expandable via micro-SD).

Appearance, design, hardware

Visually, Sony decided to keep the style of the Xperia Z line, the differences are noticeable only in the details. Of course, the appearance can be called attractive, the software filling of the smartphone is in good harmony with it. Due to the large dimensions, the manufacturer managed to reduce the thickness to just 6.5 mm, which is impressive considering the hardware. Inside, a modern "system on a chip" Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 is used, the display has a Full-HD resolution, we add to this a battery of a decent capacity of 3050 mAh.

Of course, the battery is not removable. But the slim design also has its drawbacks: Sony's built-in camera is not impressive (at least on paper, but more on that later). The 8MP resolution of the Exmor RS sensor is not significant compared to (8.5mm thick), where the sensor resolution was 20.7MP, so the Z Ultra is unlikely to please us in camera tests, at least in theory. But megapixels are far from everything, as HTC's super-megapixel camera showed. The lack of an LED flash, which also helps focus, is also a bit troubling.

Interestingly, the phablet is IP certified, just like the Z and Z1 smartphones. In this case, we get IP55 / 58 certification, that is, protection against dust and moisture with immersion up to 1.5 meters (30 minutes). Expansion slots (SIM, micro-SD) are protected by caps, but no caps are provided for the headphone jack due to the new technology. It is also somewhat annoying that the 3.5mm headphone jack is located on the side end, so it is better to choose a headphone model with an angled plug. However, you are unlikely to carry a smartphone with a 6.44 "screen in your jeans pocket; it will also stick out of many pockets, so connecting a mini-jack of headphones will actually be less problematic than it might seem at first glance.

The back of the Xperia Z Ultra is made of glass and is not scratch-resistant, as we saw in our test device. The same goes for the touchscreen front panel, which Sony claims can be operated with any conductive stylus. In practice, any pen works just fine, you don't have to carry a stylus around with you all the time, as is the case with the Galaxy Note. At the same time, you will have to part with additional S Pen functions, such as pointing and gestures in the air, copying, etc.

But the nib should not be too sharp, let alone the metal tips: they will simply scratch the screen, even a protective coating will hardly help. By the way, about the scratches: they are very thin and are visible only when illuminated from the side, but scratches are hardly acceptable for a device priced at 30,000 rubles in Russia (600 euros in Europe).

In landscape orientation, the smartphone benefits from stereo speakers and a 16: 9 Full-HD display - given the display's diagonal, it does a great job of playing movies. Yet few other smartphones on the market are as good for multimedia as the Z Ultra. It's really nice to watch movies on the device, the sound is also good, since the speakers are positioned very reasonably, you rarely cover them with your hands. However, low frequencies should not be expected - this is due to the slim design and technical limitations.

Overall, the Xperia Z Ultra has a lot of positives. However, you should forget about working with your smartphone with one hand or carrying it in your jeans pocket - but this is not what the Z Ultra is designed for. If multimedia playback is your top priority, there are some trade-offs to be made. Working with any conductive stylus is fun at first glance, but we still don't get the full touch capabilities of Samsung's S Pen devices.

Ergonomics / at work

69.5% of the screen surface of the Xperia Z Ultra is occupied by the display - here the smartphone performs better, which we criticized for ineffective use of the bezel, in contrast to. Due to its size, Ultra Z is rather proportionally folded, although if you hold your smartphone to your ear during a call, it will all look a little odd. The density of 1.98 g / cm³ is relatively high. But it is connected with a very thin design, as well as a decent weight of 212 g. In any case, a large smartphone does not feel heavy.

The Xperia Z Ultra feels good in the hands, it is pleasant to work with the smartphone. But, as we said above, it is better to forget about working with one hand.

How about your competitors?

It is difficult to find direct competitors, most phablets on the market are more than 5 inches, but still less than 6 ". The size of the new Sony is close to 7-inch tablets with phone functions, but Sony is clearly positioning its product as a niche product, so it is certainly its target audience. Below we have summarized some of the premium competitors that the Xperia Z Ultra can compare to, as well as distinguishing features:

• Phablets (up to 6 inches): Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (S Pen with digitizer), Acer Liquid S2 (4K video recording)
• Phablets (6 to 7 inches): Huawei Ascend Mate, Samsung Galaxy Mega (both are not real competitors due to significantly worse hardware)
• Tablets with phone function (7 inches): ASUS Fonepad 7, (both significantly larger and heavier + noticeably worse display)