Related
Hi Guys, new to XDA here. Would like to share my Xperia Z Ultra experience!
It's safe to say that the Z Ultra is one of the best Portable Mobile Entertainment Device I've ever used! Anything smaller would have made lying on the bed at night watching a movie, unenjoyable. And anything bigger would have reduced it's usage as a daily mobile phone device (which it's already at it's limit).
The Z Ultra's front and back sides are covered by shatter proof tempered glass, while the sides or mainframe is made out of tough polyamide glass. At first glance, the polyamide glass frame was even mistaken as metal by me as it felt very sturdy and solid on the hands. All this material combined and I felt like I was holding a really unique premium piece of equipment.
Here's my Unboxing Video of the Demo Unit, including a basic test drive!
Unboxing + Basic Test Drive
The Z Ultra is as snappy as a mainstream laptop today. Surfing the web and watching videos in YouTube is a breeze with no lag spikes at all. SONY has made the right decision in inserting Qualcomn's best available processor (Snapdragon 800 Quad Core 2.2GHz) into this beauty, making it a beast at the same time!
With the Z Ultra's Snapdragon 800 processor and the Adreno 330 graphics processing unit, Android 4.2.2 runs flawlessly while 3D Mark has met it's match, maxing out it's 1st and 2nd Benchmark Tests while attaining a score of 16.3k on it's ultimate test.
It's a good thing to see SONY implementing it's Bravia SmartTV's screen expertise into the Xperia Z ULTRA. The Triluminous Display works wonders, delivering really strong rich colors which beats my desktop's monitor. I sure hope SONY decides to produce their own line of Desktop Monitors in the future as I would definitely ditch my current one anyday for it.
Since the SONY ERICSSON days, I have cherished every moment with my W995 Walkman Non-Smartphone for it's irreplacable sound quality. When it comes to Sound Quality, SONY truly delivers what my ears desire. The Clear Bass technology works like a charm! Increasing low frequency without sacrificing the mids and highs, the result, a clean distortion free music experience with extremely strong bass. Audiophiles who are bass heads should definitely get your hands on a Sony WALKMAN certified device (if not this one) and max out Clear Bass, try it out for yourselves!
Battery-Wise, this beast is packed with a 3000mAh battery which is able to provide sufficient juice for at least 2 days on basic usage (In Stamina Mode) Watching a 1920x1080 Full HD 1 hour clip drained 10% out of the battery. I'd say the battery life on the Z Ultra is great, no complaints here.
The 8 Megapixel rear camera on this beauty isn't one to be replaced by DSLRs but is indeed a decent enough camera for casual shootouts. Here are some video samples I took at Gardens By The Bay's Cloud Forest.
Video Sample 1 (At Cloud Forest)
Video Sample 2 (At Cloud Forest)
As for it's waterproof feature, it's a sweet one but one that I will not want to risk. However, I definitely felt much secure holding the Z Ultra in the rain compared to my old W995 phone.
So I've listed the stuffs that were to my favour, this half beauty half beast has slight flaws to it though.
The Z ULTRA is far too big to be used as a phone. I've went around asking friends and relatives and most of them stated that although the bigger screen is pleasing, it's massive size was far too big for day to day usage (especially when tight fitted jeans equipped with tiny pockets are in the trend now). Getting the SBH 52 Bluetooth headset is decent enough workaround for those who really want the bigger screen over anything else.
While the Z Ultra produces superb sound quality through the 3.5mm jack, the built-in speakers are pretty much comparable with most other phones out there. Sound is flat, with little to no bass. It has a decent enough maximum sound ouput but that's as far as it goes. It will be great if SONY could add in dual front facing speakers as seen in the HTC One and perhaps a subwoofer in it's future devices? This would complete the term "Ultimate Mobile Entertainment Experience".
With the introduction of IPS Panels, SONY should definitely consider replacing their TFT panels with IPS ones to deliver better viewing angles and color accuracy, but still the 6.44" Triluminous Display on this beauty is not one to dissapoint.
Finally, here's my review (8 days after I received the unit)
Final Review
Is it worth the penny!? If you ask me, it's definitely a yes! Especially if you're one who would go for bigger screens at the cost of slight portability issues, go for it! Not only is the Xperia Z Ultra a beast packing high end technology with a beefy 3000 mAh battery, it's slim and in fact the slimmest phablet device yet. Else, there's always the Xperia Z1! But I'll save that review for later since I wouldn't want to get off topic.
In short, the Xperia Z Ultra is A Hybrid of a Beast & Beauty!
At present I have a HTC one and an Xperia Z Ultra. Wondering whether to get a htc one max and sell my other phones or sell both and get a note 3 or keep the Xperia z ultra and sell the HTC one. I'm unsure does anyone have some advice other suggestions etc please help.
just my opinion
If you prefer performance, then keep ZU or sell for Note 3
If you are not really care about performance, just choose your ideal phone
There are so many factors can change your mind, it could be performance, screen size or phone body, etc.
Read by my HTC One max itself
nathlynn22 said:
At present I have a HTC one and an Xperia Z Ultra. Wondering whether to get a htc one max and sell my other phones or sell both and get a note 3 or keep the Xperia z ultra and sell the HTC one. I'm unsure does anyone have some advice other suggestions etc please help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keeping in mind that I'm heavily One Max biased, This is an extremely capable device. Gorgeous fullHD screen + front facing stereo speakers (sound is to die for!) = Mini Home Theater. Runs super smooth, never hiccups. My battery lasts a full day. I thought having only SD600 and 2GB RAM was going to be an issue for me but it's totally not. I beat on her and she's snappy enough for me... and nothing's snappy enough for me! Oh and I love my camera, pics are great, a million times better than my last phone.
Note 3 was what I was originally going to buy. I played with it a lot while waiting for One Max to be released. Beautiful device, super fast, Day-Glo screen LOL. It's... well... it's a Samsung Galaxy (It should be noted that we own 5 Samsung Galaxies) Clunky UI, TouchWiz , insane bloatware, SuperAMOLED screen. I am personally not a fan of Samsung screen tech. Colors over-saturated and unnatural. The Note does have some cool and unique capabilities, like It's S-Pen and Multi-app.
To be perfectly honest I have no hands on experience with Z Ultra. It's gorgeous, glass, waterproof, great specs, I'd have one for fun if I was rich.
Also for your consideration is the recently launched LG G Pro 2. 5.9" 1920x1080... Equally comparable in specs to the Note and the Z Ultra, It's also equally as pretty.
Good luck deciding!
AA181891 said:
just my opinion
If you prefer performance, then keep ZU or sell for Note 3
If you are not really care about performance, just choose your ideal phone
There are so many factors can change your mind, it could be performance, screen size or phone body, etc.
Read by my HTC One max itself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right so many factors haha. There's a constant battle going on in my head for past couple of weeks. To be honest I just chucked the note 3 in there as another phone. Although I like the idea of some of there stuff the ui is horrible. And still don't like the design that much. The xzu is a powerhouse it is so smooth. The ui is great best I've seen but to me it is other parts letting it down. The screen is stupidly sensitive to the point if the screen is abit dirty from fingerprints (it is a fingerprint magnet) then the screen can go crazy with phantom touches etc it's installed with a factory installed anti shatter film which also scratches quite easily. There's no ir blaster. And the thing I hate is its such a big phone they for some reason couldn't incorporate a god damn flash. Plus the Sony throw (dlna) is pretty ropey to say the least with my HTC one it would play one video then play the next without having to mess around. With the xzu it can be a night mare and that's if you even get it to work. Sometimes I have to turn off wifi on phone then back on or even turn off the phone completely all while turning off TV to get a connection. It can be a frustrating phone to say the least. @neodiver the water proof isn't all that you have to compromise for sound quality. But it is a luxury device. But for luxury the price for accessories is crazy, for the xzu power case it's about £110... But again while I sent the xzu off for repair last week. I hugely missed the phone. I was using my HTC one and was not impressed having to use it. I'm not sure if that was small screen phobia or what haha. But it was lacking. It may have been the rom I was on. It was great to have a good camera phone back but still. If you guys could give me advice. I don't mind how biased you are towards the phone.I had a demo on the phone over weekend. At the moment the power is in your hands haha. What is the camera like? Is it same as htc one? Does the sd600 let it down I'm any way. What is Dev support like. Is it rootable. I may even try a gpe rom is the one available. I guess it has xposed bit can you use the toolbox.apk. Which is on htc one on the max? What do you guys think of the HTC accessories if you have them or even if there are any out... I haven't yet checked. Does it work with the Sony smartwatch 2 I don't have 1 but may give it a go at some stage. Etc. Thanks if you do manage to read my long ramble.
Oh I will have a search for that LG. Might not be available in UK yet as haven't heard much of it.
neodiver said:
Keeping in mind that I'm heavily One Max biased, This is an extremely capable device. Gorgeous fullHD screen + front facing stereo speakers (sound is to die for!) = Mini Home Theater. Runs super smooth, never hiccups. My battery lasts a full day. I thought having only SD600 and 2GB RAM was going to be an issue for me but it's totally not. I beat on her and she's snappy enough for me... and nothing's snappy enough for me! Oh and I love my camera, pics are great, a million times better than my last phone.
Note 3 was what I was originally going to buy. I played with it a lot while waiting for One Max to be released. Beautiful device, super fast, Day-Glo screen LOL. It's... well... it's a Samsung Galaxy (It should be noted that we own 5 Samsung Galaxies) Clunky UI, TouchWiz , insane bloatware, SuperAMOLED screen. I am personally not a fan of Samsung screen tech. Colors over-saturated and unnatural. The Note does have some cool and unique capabilities, like It's S-Pen and Multi-app.
To be perfectly honest I have no hands on experience with Z Ultra. It's gorgeous, glass, waterproof, great specs, I'd have one for fun if I was rich.
Also for your consideration is the recently launched LG G Pro 2. 5.9" 1920x1080... Equally comparable in specs to the Note and the Z Ultra, It's also equally as pretty.
Good luck deciding!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
Thread closed
Comparison threads are not allowed
Ghost
Hi everybody, I am hesitating between the LG nexus 5 and the sony Xperia Z2.
I know the nexus 5 is a great deal but the Z2 waterproof and 20.7mp camera just make me hesitate for a 300$.
Is the camera of Z2 is superior to te nexus 5 to make a very big difference?
Somedoy have test the two? what is your review?
Thank you!
LeGenDz R3DeaDz said:
Hi everybody, I am hesitating between the LG nexus 5 and the sony Xperia Z2.
I know the nexus 5 is a great deal but the Z2 waterproof and 20.7mp camera just make me hesitate for a 300$.
Is the camera of Z2 is superior to te nexus 5 to make a very big difference?
Somedoy have test the two? what is your review?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i found that the quality of the Z2 camera is much better than almost all other flagships of this year
the LG had extremly acurate focus but quality was poor and was only good in daylight, other than that the ui is quite nice and movies and games looks super sharp with that 2K display however that 2k display looks terrible sometimes and battery life isnt exactly stable, sometimes i can go days and some i can go hours, other than that its built nice and feels nice
the nexus 5 was quite good but wasnt amazing all around, literaly just android, nothing special aside the build quality and being the first to get android as it is a google nexus
The Z2 was quite good, the only problem i found was 4k recording has only ever hit 31mins ( avarage of 15 mins)
the Z2 although this damndable camera heating issues which SONY said they were working on fixing is quite anoying however the camera is great to play with and alows me to spew out near profetional quality shots
other than the camera the Z2 has style, a great firmware and a useful theme engine, aswell as also looking quit elegant, aside that the only other thing is that realy vibrant screen
take note i have the Z2 and also take note that the Z2 has faced majour manufacturing issues so the first 7 batches were terrible, (acording to sony they are fine now)
I'm well aware of the specs and I have been wanting to get a Z ultra for quite some time but I have waited until now.
Hands down, I like the bigger screen on the Z Ultra and the price of it makes it even more enticing. Where as the Z2 has faster/newer internals(CPU, etc.), better camera, and a flash(I'm so annoyed by the ZU not having a flash! I used the led flash as a flashlight all the time), but at a more expensive price.
What's your guys' take on it? Waiting is kind of out of the question(I heard about the Z3X which sounds like my next phone after this one... I don't like paying premiums for new releases)... I prefer something stable and working decently out of the box(I know, this is xda).
Key points:
Z Ultra:
+Price is lower
+Bigger screen
-slower
-worse camera, no flash
Z2:
+Faster/updated internals
+better camera
-costs more
Also, I heard there was a decent note taking app from Sony for the Z Ultra, where you could use a stylus and take notes(sort of like the Samsung Galaxy Note series), is that app available for the Z2 as well(anyone happen to know?)?
Thanks in advance, I appreciate any input. What's your take on it? I think I could go either way, I hear about lag on both units(I'm sure rooting can help, but I might keep it simple for now and use it out of the box for rooting/modding).
I happens to have a Z2 here (it is not mine but I got the responsibility to configure it) and all I can say is that it is a great device BUT wouldn't dream about replacing my Ultra. My Ultra is very smooth (CandyKat at the moment with GreatDevs V1 and OC to 2.46 GHz) and the only benefit I can see with the Z2 is more or less the camera when I make the comparison.
I am not talking down the Z2 when I say this but the Ultra offer a great package with a screen that make it a tablet replacement. The Z2 on the other hand is a great device for a person that has a Z today (which I also have) and I would recommend it warmly... if there wasn't an Ultra in the house (or rather two).
Since I read a lot and browse the Internet and so forth, the big screen of the Ultra wins me over - hands down.
camera camera camera. if you want to take even one photo then z2. i own a ultra as a backup to my note 4. the camera on the ultra is really just sad. but everything else is great.
pushcush1983 said:
camera camera camera. if you want to take even one photo then z2. i own a ultra as a backup to my note 4. the camera on the ultra is really just sad. but everything else is great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is poor in poor light but otherwise is not that bad other than over sharpining of the jpg
a buddy of mine has the z2...
i bought a z ultra like 2 weeks ago since its even cheaper than the original z
he saw it today and now he wants to replace his z2 with an z ultra
he doesn't use the camera and also he doesnt game much
camera would be my only concern though
also the led flash, if you just wanna have a flashlight, you can the big screen, its decent enough for finding your stuff in the dark
cant talk about hickups since i dont run stock (and never will / or did)
both phones seem blazing fast to me, i really dont think the performance of the z2 is much better
my last phones were a htc magic and galaxy s-plus, just so u know
also i have to say, since i got the ultra, i don't want to use any smaller phone anymore.. they seem so small and bad to use
Thanks to everyone who responded!
Helps a lot. It seems like the more I hear from Z Ultra users, the more I hear about how they love the device despite it's shortcomings(ie: camera and no flash).
I agree, once you behold such a big screen it's hard to go back!
How is battery life? And just to throw it out there, what are some of the custom roms you guys recommend that may improve the battery life/performance?
I was slightly concerned that the slower cpu/gpu might affect performance, and I was going to try to avoid custom roms for the sake of simplicity, but haha, it seems to be unavoidable with most devices I get.
You can slash "Slower" right away. If you care about games, the Z ultra is better desipite having an Older SoC, simply because of its Size.
Besides, even in stock rom, I experience no lags, even with the stock launcher, im in 4.4.4.
Get the Z2 If you want relatively smaller phone, 5 coll isnt really "Small" but compared to the Z ultra, it is.
The camera in the Z2 is also better and has flash LEd.
You should ask yourself, do you want a one handed phone thats fairly recent and a good camera or a 2 handed one, which is amaizing for multi media and reading.
Considering the price of the ZU, you get a premium phone for an amaizing price, just dont treat this phone as a normal phone, it might not fit in the pockets.
I love my ZU.
I snooze I lose, I should've gotten a Z Ultra from the Sony store US site while I still had the chance for it's great price, now it's gone and taken off the site. Now, I'm only looking at the Z2, and behold, my waiting has resulted in the Z2 being back ordered. I could really use a phone by mid January. So I'm still open, but the ZU is probably a closed door for me unless I can find it brand new for a great price and with a warranty. I'm also looking at the LG G pro 2(but it's really pricey for the F530-US At&t compatible LTE) or even a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (the price has really fallen on that phone lately).
A lot of people are having this problem right now as ZU gotten much cheaper. First of all you should decide what's most important for you in your smartphone and how you're going to use it. Both are really great but designed for different kind of people. To help you choose, I'll give you some pros and cons of both devices.
Xperia Z Ultra (I own standard edition but this will mostly apply to GPE as well)
Pros:
- huge screen, which makes browsing the web and watching the movies very comfortable,
- excellent performance in applications and games, backed up by nicely optimized system and solid stock kernel,
- because of it's size ZU doesn't throttle, which is not common in most of the high end 5 inch +/- smartphones packed with Snapdragon 800+, including Xperia Z2, (actually ZU does throttle but just a little, which is not event felt in games)
- operating temperatures are acceptable during stress, which makes sure that battery and hardware will last a little longer (especially non replaceable battery),
- very solid stand by and calling battery life,
- excellent microphone which makes calls really great,
- it's very cheap, considering how premium it's.
Cons:
- lack of flash, this is a problem if you want to make a photos in bad lighting conditions or you need a lighter,
- still photos quality is decent, improved auto mode is kind of useless and makes photos with huge amount of noise. You can
make some of the nice photos during day out of the ZU using manual settings though, photos made in poor lighting conditions are out of question,
- it's too big to use single handed (unless you have huge hands) and you might have some problems putting it in your pocket, might be too heavy for some people,
- front camera is pretty bad,
- battery life is at best only decent, if you're using a lot of screen, you'll need to charge everyday,
- speakers could be louder.
Xperia Z2:
Pros:
- Excellent cameras, still photos and recordings have amazing quality, both selfie and back camera,
- Can record very detailed 4K videos,
- It's much more handy and can be used single handed without problems, it's also much lighter than ZU and easilly pocketable,
- Pretty great battery life, especially with screen on, in some cases almost 2 times better than ZU,
- Speaker is much louder and call quality is also very good,
- It has 3 GB of ram,
- Propably it will be updated to 5.0 faster than ZU.
Cons:
- it has updated specs but in real usage it's weaker than Z Ultra, especially in games because of bigger throttling,
- it's not that smooth, compared to Z Ultra, on 4.4.2 in Z2 i experienced a bit of lagging, opposite to silky smooth ZU on 4.4.4,
- has much smaller screen, which is not as comfortable as ZU screen to use,
- can get very hot during games,
- overheating problems during 4k recording.
Both are finely crafted devices, you can't go wrong with both of them. But keep in mind, that if you need a handy smartphone that can be used single handed then ZU it's not a good choice for you.
Hi
I would appreciate your suggestions, for im planning to depart my moto x style and move to moto z play or force. What I'm really interested of knowing is if there a really big difference between the force 2k screen and the play hd screen, all other specs of play are good enough for me, but resolution is quite important, having said that, force is much more expensive...
Thx in advanced for any help to make up my mind
Edit
my bad, got lost with all z models
I thought the xt1650 is the force, clearly it aint.
i wanted to know if there's a big difference with screen quality between the z and the z play..
the-light said:
Hi
I would appreciate your suggestions, for im planning to depart my moto x style and move to moto z play or force. What I'm really interested of knowing is if there a really big difference between the force 2k screen and the play hd screen, all other specs of play are good enough for me, but resolution is quite important, having said that, force is much more expensive...
Thx in advanced for any help to make up my mind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not the regular Z?
The Z Play isn't bad but there is a big difference between it and the Force. The reason I chose the Z over the Z Force is that I wanted a thinner phone and I wanted glass on front, while the Force has a plastic shatterproof front which is prone to scratches, causes distortion of the display and it has increased distance between the display and the finger when you touch the screen (it feels cheap-ish).
Again, I'd go for the Z if I were you and I seriously have no clue why you are asking about the Z Play and the Force on the forums of the Moto Z, both devices you are talking about have their own forums.