Xperia Z Ultra Unboxing, Video Samples & Review! - Sony Xperia Z Ultra

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!

Related

Traded my Note 3 for Z Ultra impressions

Well i just done it and traded my Note 3 for this beautiful phone and here are my first day impressions
Build Quality : Solid, sleek, beautiful and classy.. Kinda like the White Iphone 4 i got when it was just released and not many people had it yet... i pulled this thing out in the public and people were either in awe or thought i was stupid.. im not sure yet but i notice people tend to look over. I saw alot of reviews saying because it was really thin it's hard to pick up, i tried and really found out they were being nit picky about that kinda stuff (like phones that rock when you touch them).. who cares its easy to pick up its not going to make your life harder.
Cons : As nice as it is, Samsung won me over with the removal back cover and replacement battery. One time i had no idea what was wrong with my phone, i called my friend up and asked him to swap batteries.. turns out my battery died from wiping my phone down with too much water lol. i would of wasted alot of money sending it in if i didn't swap batteries with my friend to see the problem. $15 to replace the battery. On the plus side the Z Ultra is waterproof so i can wipe it down as much as i want now.
Battery Life : Decent, compared to my Note 3 i surfed the net for an hr and a half and ended up with about %70 battery life on max brightness, if i did the same with the Note i would be around %80 and not need to set brightness that high and have even more battery saved.
Screen and Size : When i first saw the screen it didn't blow me away initially because i was used to the over saturated display of the amoled but non the less the more i looked at it the more i realized it was a Beautiful display panel, unsaturated colours bigger and better with better colour accuracy over the Note. It wasn't until i decided to see how good the blacks were was where it was a let down. I loaded up the movie Aliens and tried watching a few dark scenes, the colour skin tones and everything was nice and way better then the Note but the blacks in the dark scenes were not deep enough.. it made the movie feel washed out and faded and was not enjoyable as seeing the dark corners clearly takes away from the movie experience.. This is coming from someone who loves watching movies on projector i can't but notice that flaw..from my eye test it seems to have a 1000:1 contrast ratio which is not good. To the average user i would say the blacks are definitely sufficient for movies but to the trained eye it totally sucks and i was expecting more from sony on the display as i bought this phone only for media purposes. That being said it seems like a big trade off for me since the amoled has the best blacks of any phone and i'm sure their over saturated colours can be corrected with proper tools but can the blacks be fixed on the Sony Xperia Z Ultra? i'll have to see if there are tools for it but the limitations are likely within the panels itself.
Note 3 Display (Amoled) = Deep blacks really good for watching movies,
Cons = Over saturated inaccurate colours
Sony Xperia Z Ulta = Accurate colours,better tones, sharper better to look at
Cons = Blacks are a little washed out and faded (average users may not care or notice)
Games = I have yet to play a game on this but i can tell its going to kick some butt because the screen is so nice and large
Sound = The Speakers on this thing blows.. it sounds like my old Iphone 4 just louder.. and vs modern phones its far too quiet.. don't expect anything more
Pocket test, i'm 5'10 and a half wore skinny jeans with it, to my surprise it didn't stick out of my pocket like everyone. Pocketable for me
Camera = I don't take pictures not a deal for me
Speed = Although the Note 3 has 3 gigs of ram and faster mhz, the Sony felt snappier the moment i used it. Everything felt zippier and just faster overall. Likely due to Samsung touchwiz
Am i going to return/sell this for a Note 3? Probably not, i'll need a week or 2 to decide if i watch that many dark movies for the blacks to bother me enough. Everything about the screen is better except for the blacks as long as you don't mind then go for the SXU. I love big screens and if i could get the Mediapad X1 when it releases i'll buy that but for now the Sony Xperia Z Ultra seems like a fine phone to me.
anonapersons said:
Well i just done it and traded my Note 3 for this beautiful phone and here are my first day impressions
Build Quality : Solid, sleek, beautiful and classy.. Kinda like the White Iphone 4 i got when it was just released and not many people had it yet... i pulled this thing out in the public and people were either in awe or thought i was stupid.. im not sure yet but i notice people tend to look over. I saw alot of reviews saying because it was really thin it's hard to pick up, i tried and really found out they were being nit picky about that kinda stuff (like phones that rock when you touch them).. who cares its easy to pick up its not going to make your life harder.
Cons : As nice as it is, Samsung won me over with the removal back cover and replacement battery. One time i had no idea what was wrong with my phone, i called my friend up and asked him to swap batteries.. turns out my battery died from wiping my phone down with too much water lol. i would of wasted alot of money sending it in if i didn't swap batteries with my friend to see the problem. $15 to replace the battery. On the plus side the Z Ultra is waterproof so i can wipe it down as much as i want now.
Battery Life : Decent, compared to my Note 3 i surfed the net for an hr and a half and ended up with about %70 battery life on max brightness, if i did the same with the Note i would be around %80 and not need to set brightness that high and have even more battery saved.
Screen and Size : When i first saw the screen it didn't blow me away initially because i was used to the over saturated display of the amoled but non the less the more i looked at it the more i realized it was a Beautiful display panel, unsaturated colours bigger and better with better colour accuracy over the Note. It wasn't until i decided to see how good the blacks were was where it was a let down. I loaded up the movie Aliens and tried watching a few dark scenes, the colour skin tones and everything was nice and way better then the Note but the blacks in the dark scenes were not deep enough.. it made the movie feel washed out and faded and was not enjoyable as seeing the dark corners clearly takes away from the movie experience.. This is coming from someone who loves watching movies on projector i can't but notice that flaw..from my eye test it seems to have a 1000:1 contrast ratio which is not good. To the average user i would say the blacks are definitely sufficient for movies but to the trained eye it totally sucks and i was expecting more from sony on the display as i bought this phone only for media purposes. That being said it seems like a big trade off for me since the amoled has the best blacks of any phone and i'm sure their over saturated colours can be corrected with proper tools but can the blacks be fixed on the Sony Xperia Z Ultra? i'll have to see if there are tools for it but the limitations are likely within the panels itself.
Note 3 Display (Amoled) = Deep blacks really good for watching movies,
Cons = Over saturated inaccurate colours
Sony Xperia Z Ulta = Accurate colours,better tones, sharper better to look at
Cons = Blacks are a little washed out and faded (average users may not care or notice)
Games = I have yet to play a game on this but i can tell its going to kick some butt because the screen is so nice and large
Sound = The Speakers on this thing blows.. it sounds like my old Iphone 4 just louder.. and vs modern phones its far too quiet.. don't expect anything more
Pocket test, i'm 5'10 and a half wore skinny jeans with it, to my surprise it didn't stick out of my pocket like everyone. Pocketable for me
Camera = I don't take pictures not a deal for me
Speed = Although the Note 3 has 3 gigs of ram and faster mhz, the Sony felt snappier the moment i used it. Everything felt zippier and just faster overall. Likely due to Samsung touchwiz
Am i going to return/sell this for a Note 3? Probably not, i'll need a week or 2 to decide if i watch that many dark movies for the blacks to bother me enough. Everything about the screen is better except for the blacks as long as you don't mind then go for the SXU. I love big screens and if i could get the Mediapad X1 when it releases i'll buy that but for now the Sony Xperia Z Ultra seems like a fine phone to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your expectations were too high in regard to the black value on the ZXU. The Notes all have amoled, thus the pixels are nearly off when displaying black. Mind you, this is the only screen tech that offers that. Super LCD, IPS, Triluminos don't have that. It's a well known trade off. What you get back in return is better color reproduction, better sharpness, etc. The black value is by no means bad, not different from most televisions actually. A lot of reviewers call the ZXU a mini Sony Bravia TV and that is exactly what it is.
I reckon your eyes really need to get used to the ZXU display, which requires extensive time and movie watching. This makes sense if your eyes have been accustomed to the Note line for a long time now. I have the Note 2 as well and I find the greys/black not that good to be honest, as the contrast doesn't seem to work that well. A lot of times scenes are too dark compared to reference material.
The ZXU remains a marvel, I suggest you spend some more time with it and report back in a while :good:
anonapersons said:
Well i just done it and traded my Note 3 for this beautiful phone and here are my first day impressions
Build Quality : Solid, sleek, beautiful and classy.. Kinda like the White Iphone 4 i got when it was just released and not many people had it yet... i pulled this thing out in the public and people were either in awe or thought i was stupid.. im not sure yet but i notice people tend to look over. I saw alot of reviews saying because it was really thin it's hard to pick up, i tried and really found out they were being nit picky about that kinda stuff (like phones that rock when you touch them).. who cares its easy to pick up its not going to make your life harder.
Cons : As nice as it is, Samsung won me over with the removal back cover and replacement battery. One time i had no idea what was wrong with my phone, i called my friend up and asked him to swap batteries.. turns out my battery died from wiping my phone down with too much water lol. i would of wasted alot of money sending it in if i didn't swap batteries with my friend to see the problem. $15 to replace the battery. On the plus side the Z Ultra is waterproof so i can wipe it down as much as i want now.
Battery Life : Decent, compared to my Note 3 i surfed the net for an hr and a half and ended up with about %70 battery life on max brightness, if i did the same with the Note i would be around %80 and not need to set brightness that high and have even more battery saved.
Screen and Size : When i first saw the screen it didn't blow me away initially because i was used to the over saturated display of the amoled but non the less the more i looked at it the more i realized it was a Beautiful display panel, unsaturated colours bigger and better with better colour accuracy over the Note. It wasn't until i decided to see how good the blacks were was where it was a let down. I loaded up the movie Aliens and tried watching a few dark scenes, the colour skin tones and everything was nice and way better then the Note but the blacks in the dark scenes were not deep enough.. it made the movie feel washed out and faded and was not enjoyable as seeing the dark corners clearly takes away from the movie experience.. This is coming from someone who loves watching movies on projector i can't but notice that flaw..from my eye test it seems to have a 1000:1 contrast ratio which is not good. To the average user i would say the blacks are definitely sufficient for movies but to the trained eye it totally sucks and i was expecting more from sony on the display as i bought this phone only for media purposes. That being said it seems like a big trade off for me since the amoled has the best blacks of any phone and i'm sure their over saturated colours can be corrected with proper tools but can the blacks be fixed on the Sony Xperia Z Ultra? i'll have to see if there are tools for it but the limitations are likely within the panels itself.
Note 3 Display (Amoled) = Deep blacks really good for watching movies,
Cons = Over saturated inaccurate colours
Sony Xperia Z Ulta = Accurate colours,better tones, sharper better to look at
Cons = Blacks are a little washed out and faded (average users may not care or notice)
Games = I have yet to play a game on this but i can tell its going to kick some butt because the screen is so nice and large
Sound = The Speakers on this thing blows.. it sounds like my old Iphone 4 just louder.. and vs modern phones its far too quiet.. don't expect anything more
Pocket test, i'm 5'10 and a half wore skinny jeans with it, to my surprise it didn't stick out of my pocket like everyone. Pocketable for me
Camera = I don't take pictures not a deal for me
Speed = Although the Note 3 has 3 gigs of ram and faster mhz, the Sony felt snappier the moment i used it. Everything felt zippier and just faster overall. Likely due to Samsung touchwiz
Am i going to return/sell this for a Note 3? Probably not, i'll need a week or 2 to decide if i watch that many dark movies for the blacks to bother me enough. Everything about the screen is better except for the blacks as long as you don't mind then go for the SXU. I love big screens and if i could get the Mediapad X1 when it releases i'll buy that but for now the Sony Xperia Z Ultra seems like a fine phone to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, Gideon is pretty much straight on here. I came from a Galaxy Note so I was used to an AMOLED panel, and let me tell you that I was quite shocked. Deep blacks (in the dark)? Nope. Aaand that's pretty much it. The Note display was darker and more saturated, and I was pretty much surprised when I got the Ultra, except I wasn't.
AMOLED displays do not have a backlight, so black will actually be black. Black will be turned off.
LCD panels do have backlights, so black will still have a backlight, only the light will be dimmed. It's the same thing as your TV. The Ultra uses LED. So yeah, the Ultra is pretty much a Bravia TV.
Audio, yeah... It's not very good. Don't forget that the Ultra is waterproof so the speakers have a membrane that makes it waterproof.
Camera: No flash so it won't take great photos in the dark or even inside your home, bit it's not that bad once you're outside in the daylight.
Overall, the Note 3 is a more "all arounder", but you're paying a lot for a luxury item that doesn't feel like it's what it is. It feels like a plasticy...thing. The Sony is a luxury item that does a lot, but it also feels like a luxury item. It's incredible big, but you also feel that you've paid for a quality glass and aluminium product.
- Note 3: Big plastic phablet
- Z Ultra: Huge glass and metal phablet
Sent from my Z Ultra
I just sold my note 3 and ordered zu gpe I loved the phone but locked bootloader killed it for me cant wait to try this phone!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
gtshiftin6 said:
I just sold my note 3 and ordered zu gpe I loved the phone but locked bootloader killed it for me cant wait to try this phone!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just dumped my day one note2 and ordered stock sony version last night Samsung was driving me crazy with the knox crap lol.
bryce850 said:
Just dumped my day one note2 and ordered stock sony version last night Samsung was driving me crazy with the knox crap lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here... Love the big screen on this beast.
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
I, too, traded in a Note 3 for a Z Ultra, but I bought the Google Play Edition (and of course I bought it a little over a month before they dropped the price to $449). I couldn't be happier with this thing. My only real gripes are:
1. The camera sucks in low light.
2. The headphone jack is on the side. That placement makes it awkward sometimes when I put the phone in my pocket while going out for a walk.
3. I absolutely HATE that anti-shatter film that's on the front and back glass. For starters, it scratches if you look at it (just like any screen protector does), and the oleophobic coating that they put on the front rubs off within the first 3 or so weeks. I would remove it, but I don't really care enough to waste the time, plus you need a razorblade to do it and I don't like getting razorblades anywhere near my phone. This also says nothing of the fact that removing the film also voids your warranty.
These are all pretty minor complaints in the grand scheme of things, at least when I consider my own needs in a phone. When it comes to the important stuff, this phone excels. The hardware is top shelf, it's fast, stock Android runs amazingly well on it, the screen is gorgeous, and it's really the perfect size for me. :good:
oldblue910 said:
I, too, traded in a Note 3 for a Z Ultra, but I bought the Google Play Edition (and of course I bought it a little over a month before they dropped the price to $449). I couldn't be happier with this thing. My only real gripes are:
1. The camera sucks in low light.
2. The headphone jack is on the side. That placement makes it awkward sometimes when I put the phone in my pocket while going out for a walk.
3. I absolutely HATE that anti-shatter film that's on the front and back glass. For starters, it scratches if you look at it (just like any screen protector does), and the oleophobic coating that they put on the front rubs off within the first 3 or so weeks. I would remove it, but I don't really care enough to waste the time, plus you need a razorblade to do it and I don't like getting razorblades anywhere near my phone. This also says nothing of the fact that removing the film also voids your warranty.
These are all pretty minor complaints in the grand scheme of things, at least when I consider my own needs in a phone. When it comes to the important stuff, this phone excels. The hardware is top shelf, it's fast, stock Android runs amazingly well on it, the screen is gorgeous, and it's really the perfect size for me. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If Z2 Ultra is indeed an oversized Z2, all your complaint will be gone (except maybe the camera, but 13mp one would not hurt just like T2U) then that would really ring my bell..
about headset placement, actually i think i like it on the side. Because the device itself is longer than any general pocket available, so when the jack comes in, it might very well be outside the pocket. Plus when you play it landscape, nothing protrude from the side, hence easier handling. Plus some Bluetooth Companion wouldn't hurt (in fact such device is promoted from the start to be used with XZU)
I came from a Note 1 (GT-N7000) and at the time it was basically price between note 3 and z ultra. The ultra was $100 cheaper and I had a buyer for my N7000 so I went ahead and got the Z.
I agree with the following:
1. Amoled is a superior display, no doubt. However, the 6.4" vs 5.7 makes up for it.
2. Unlocked - I have changed carriers twice since owning this phone. If I bought the t-mobile Note 3, i'd be out of luck (the model I was previously leaning toward), or at the least, had to pay a fee to unlock it.
3. Camera is an absolute joke. I don't take many pictures like the OP, but the ones I do take are just horrid in low light.
4. There are issues with sony software. I get crackle in my text messages, and the phantom touch issue is there sometimes. However, i'd rather have these issues than be faced with KNOX. Plus, I know sony will address the issues eventually.
In the end, i'm glad I got the z ultra over note 3.
Z Ultra
Well, I also just bought the Xperia Z Ultra and as soon as I finished updating and arranging most things, I came here for some extra search for extra work that needs to be done with this device! I am also an owner of the Xperia Z (yuga/C6603) for more than a year and since I had enough to complain issues with it, I was a little bit puzzled about how the big brother Ultra was going to perform! As it has been mentioned, and that's the reason I am posting in this thread, I was between 3 devices including Samsung's Note 3 and LG's G Flex! The reason I didn't go with the Note 3, despite the perfect screen and the faster and bigger RAM, and among the 4K camera capabilities, was that as soon as I hold it in my hand I knew it wouldn't even compare to the Z's quality I've been using for quite long! The plastic leather-alike back cover was quite a lot slippery after you have used the device enough to sweat your hand! Also a drawback I could also see was that its 5.7" display looked tiny next to the G Flex and the Ultra for me, so as to be consider a phablet! It actually felt more like a normal phone like anything else with a little bit oversized screen. And then came G Flex which also astonished me with its design and curved build but I could spot a huge difference in the 720p display next to the Note 3 and the Ultra! I adored though the design and the 32gb built in storage but those couldn't be enough for me to purchase it! I also didn't like so much the coating on the back cover, which also feels and is slippy straight out of the box, although I think it is supposed to be some kind of self healing coating to help with shallow and/or light scratches. After some minor tests I was able to make in a store that had them all for customers to see and play with, when I reached the Ultra and hold it in my hand I knew it was the device I would after all buy since its build quality and its exceptional slim design made me looking around like a retard :laugh: !! So, to end up with, after experiencing these three phabs the weight up of pros and cons for each had come and despite all the camera capabilities both G Flex and Note 3 had over the Ultra the price tags pointed which deserved to be bought, considering what it offered and it could't be anything else than the Ultra! For the records, I bought it in purple(cuz i couldn't find yuga back in 2013 in purple and i was craving for it ) in the awesome price of 325 euros with the G Flex costing 425 euros and the Note 3 being at the price of 460 euros! As it is obvious, I could't even a second think for a reason to spend over 100 euros forone of the other two! After 4 days of heavy usage and insanely lots of recharges I am extraordinarily amazed to find out that Sony has done everything that hasn't for the yuga! No more lags, no more UI glitches, no more stuttering animations and no more scrolling problems within every day apps like Chrome! The only cons I was able to notice that do disappoint me are:
1. Sound quality or at least one more speaker like the one it is already on device would be perfect! (I am searching for sound mods now, hope to find sth good)
2. The camera sensor could have been the same with the Xperia Z (13MP) with a LED (though I wont be taking any pictures with any phablet for now)
3. I would expect a bigger battery, although it has convinced me to be fair enough despite its small, for the screen's size, capacity
4. The phantom touch issue is a bit annoying from times to times
5. The screen should be a a little more dimmer for outdoors use
To conclude with, I'll always find it a lovely device, with great network speed, excellent performance, excellent build quality and excessively excellent and gorgeous design! I hope I made a good choice to choose the Ultra over the other two, but even if I didn't I am still more than a hundred euros richer to consume on accessories!
PS: I was amazed to find out the time I was unboxing that the magnetic dock DK30 was included in the box for free! I really didn't expect that and I was really pleased to find out that Sony saved me about 25 euros for spending on sth else!
I came from the Note 3 and the Note 2 I had before that.
I agree with the removable battery thing, but honestly, battery life is able to last me throughout the day unless I'm heavily using it, so I haven't really been in a bind yet in that regard.
I also agree with the speaker. Flash the sound boost mod, it's mandatory IMO. I've attached it for you. It's like night and day, honestly, but I've found it's a louder boost on 4.3 than it is on 4.4, which is one reason I haven't updated to KitKat. But, if you are using the ZU mainly for media consumption, what are you doing not using a bluetooth speaker!?!? I waited a long time to get one and shouldn't have waited. I researched a lot, pick up an Arctic S113BT off Amazon. It's aptx, got NFC, louder than the Jambox, and 3x less expensive ($40). Only thing that's annoying is the BT audio/video syncing that's always a bit off 90% of the time you first turn it on. Needs some closing of programs and going back to the homescreen to get it to sync up sometimes. I just have the speaker next to me when I'm watching my shows now, it's made everything more enjoyable.
Your gripes and analysis pretty much echoed mine, you'll really get to love the device after a little more time (I should be a rapper, mad rhymes).
SonyMan7 said:
Well, I also just bought the Xperia Z Ultra and as soon as I finished updating and arranging most things, I came here for some extra search for extra work that needs to be done with this device! I am also an owner of the Xperia Z (yuga/C6603) for more than a year and since I had enough to complain issues with it, I was a little bit puzzled about how the big brother Ultra was going to perform! As it has been mentioned, and that's the reason I am posting in this thread, I was between 3 devices including Samsung's Note 3 and LG's G Flex! The reason I didn't go with the Note 3, despite the perfect screen and the faster and bigger RAM, and among the 4K camera capabilities, was that as soon as I hold it in my hand I knew it wouldn't even compare to the Z's quality I've been using for quite long! The plastic leather-alike back cover was quite a lot slippery after you have used the device enough to sweat your hand! Also a drawback I could also see was that its 5.7" display looked tiny next to the G Flex and the Ultra for me, so as to be consider a phablet! It actually felt more like a normal phone like anything else with a little bit oversized screen. And then came G Flex which also astonished me with its design and curved build but I could spot a huge difference in the 720p display next to the Note 3 and the Ultra! I adored though the design and the 32gb built in storage but those couldn't be enough for me to purchase it! I also didn't like so much the coating on the back cover, which also feels and is slippy straight out of the box, although I think it is supposed to be some kind of self healing coating to help with shallow and/or light scratches. After some minor tests I was able to make in a store that had them all for customers to see and play with, when I reached the Ultra and hold it in my hand I knew it was the device I would after all buy since its build quality and its exceptional slim design made me looking around like a retard :laugh: !! So, to end up with, after experiencing these three phabs the weight up of pros and cons for each had come and despite all the camera capabilities both G Flex and Note 3 had over the Ultra the price tags pointed which deserved to be bought, considering what it offered and it could't be anything else than the Ultra! For the records, I bought it in purple(cuz i couldn't find yuga back in 2013 in purple and i was craving for it ) in the awesome price of 325 euros with the G Flex costing 425 euros and the Note 3 being at the price of 460 euros! As it is obvious, I could't even a second think for a reason to spend over 100 euros forone of the other two! After 4 days of heavy usage and insanely lots of recharges I am extraordinarily amazed to find out that Sony has done everything that hasn't for the yuga! No more lags, no more UI glitches, no more stuttering animations and no more scrolling problems within every day apps like Chrome! The only cons I was able to notice that do disappoint me are:
1. Sound quality or at least one more speaker like the one it is already on device would be perfect! (I am searching for sound mods now, hope to find sth good)
2. The camera sensor could have been the same with the Xperia Z (13MP) with a LED (though I wont be taking any pictures with any phablet for now)
3. I would expect a bigger battery, although it has convinced me to be fair enough despite its small, for the screen's size, capacity
4. The phantom touch issue is a bit annoying from times to times
5. The screen should be a a little more dimmer for outdoors use
To conclude with, I'll always find it a lovely device, with great network speed, excellent performance, excellent build quality and excessively excellent and gorgeous design! I hope I made a good choice to choose the Ultra over the other two, but even if I didn't I am still more than a hundred euros richer to consume on accessories!
PS: I was amazed to find out the time I was unboxing that the magnetic dock DK30 was included in the box for free! I really didn't expect that and I was really pleased to find out that Sony saved me about 25 euros for spending on sth else!
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Click to collapse
Very nice post, and welcome!
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
Thanks
LordManhattan said:
Very nice post, and welcome!
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Thank you a lot my friend! Nice to be in such a community, although I am not quite new as of time concerned! On the contrary, it is such a complete this community I really hadn't to create an account to participate! Everything I ever searched for from the times of galaxy ace back to the '06s! Awesome work from anyone here! ??
SonyMan7 said:
Thank you a lot my friend! Nice to be in such a community, although I am not quite new as of time concerned! On the contrary, it is such a complete this community I really hadn't to create an account to participate! Everything I ever searched for from the times of galaxy ace back to the '06s! Awesome work from anyone here! ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you're a lurker becoming a poster. Good stuff!
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
LordManhattan said:
So you're a lurker becoming a poster. Good stuff!
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try!

[Q] One Max vs Xperia Z ultra

Dear All Help
I want to buy one the big devices available
I narrowed Down my choices to 2 Phablets only
HTC One Max
Xperia Z Ultra
I worried that I might regret getting either one because of the following
- HTC one Max
- CPU Performance ( Snapdragon 600 Vs 800 in Z Ultra ) kind of future proof my investment
- Camera ( 4 Mega pixle only with Flash)
- Update to Android L... ( Bad experience from HTC regarding this )
- Z Ultra
- Screen Technology ( TFT)
- Horrible 8 MB camera ( With No Flash )
- Glass Might break
noting that my usage will be normal usage... such as facebook, twitter, bla bla bla
and lots of back camera shooting because i Have 2 kids
thank you
My requirements are similar to yours and I have been using Max for past 6 months. My observations:
For Facebook,Twitter,browsing etc 600 is good enough performance wise. But, games are one area where it might become laggy in future. Also 800 specific features(UHD recording?) may never be possible in this phone.
UltraPixel camera:
Zoes, continuous shooting are some features that are especially helpful when u try to shoot kids as they don't know to pose. I noticed some noise while shooting indoors ( rooms lit by tubelight).
Also, need to be careful while taking shots of book pages etc. as the words will blur easily when you zoom the taken picture because of 4 mp quality.
Only one real problem I faced with this phone as the daily driver - it's heavy and adding a decent case will make it heavier. My hands pain sometimes after prolonged usage.
Regarding updates, it's been good so far - got kit Kat & sense 6 on decent timeframe ( in India). Hope HTC maintains the same pace with L too.
I haven't used Sony ultra, so can't really comment on that.
I have had the one max Sprint version for several months now and I love it, the processor has been excellent for me, I'm running Viper rom 2.0 on kitkat with sense 5.5, sense 6 only added wifi calling, and according to htc, the one max all variants doesn't support it...
As for games, I have a ps3 controller and the clip mounted to an otterbox clip, and I have ps1, GBA, snes, and Nintendo ds emulators on it, and play them regularly, and everything works flawlessly for me.
The speakers and large screen of the phone are amazing for emulated games, I love my one max.
I really hope they release the htc one max (prime/plus) here soon, would love to have this phone with better camera.
Sent from my HTC0P3P7 using XDA Free mobile app
I've got and currently selling the max (by other means) and also had the xperia z ultra. Although the ultra was pretty great. It was pretty flimsy. It is abit faster then the max, but not crazy faster. The camera is crap. It has no flash. It doesn't have a ir blaster. The waterproofness doesn't always last as the seals bugger up for a past time. Umm it is easy to smash the screen by the looks of it. I never did but still. The HTC one max is soo much better in regards with build quality, it feels very sturdy and stable. Although it isn't water proof atall. The camera is way better it does have flash. And an ir blaster. Both can use micro sds. Umm dunno what else. The ultra does seem nicer when its naked as the glass front and back is nice. But it does flex if bent and a lot of people complained that it all of a sudden cracks with slight warping. Sorry if you can't understand the rubbish I've written its all the points just spread out haha.

Should I get a Z2 or the Z Ultra?

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.
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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.

Sony C5 Ultra - After One Week

Please note this is my opinion and experience with the phone. I love trying all kinds of smart phones.
I wanted to love this phone...
Being a heavy google apps user and a lover of customization and android, I recently switched back to android from the iPhone 6 Plus (previous phones as well include Blackberry Passport, Note Edge, Note 3, LG G3, Oneplus One, Xperia Z1, Sharp SH-03G (Docomo), Ascend Mate 7 to name a few). The C5 Ultra caught my attention with it's good looks, 6" screen and Sony's boasting of it's great front and rear facing 13mp cameras. Both cameras sounded perfect for me to take photos of my 2 year old and family selfies with the front camera. After a week of use here are my thoughts:
Pros:
- Beautiful design - very sleek with edge to edge (sides have little to no bezel) glass on the front making this a tall looking phone
- Dual Sim - great when I travel overseas
- Separate MicroSD card slot - some manufacturers force you to use the second sim slot but not Sony
- Unlocked
- GPS accurate
- Wifi reasonably strong
- Call quality good
Cons
- Screen (Innolux) lacks contrast and does poorly with blacks, colours are dull and washed out. There is screen backlight bleeding especially around the bottom edges.
- Camera Images - What a disappointment. Perhaps mine is a dud but colors are dull, photos over exposed, highlights blown out, photos are not sharp, even taken in daylight.
- Camera Performance - It doesn't matter how beautiful photos are a camera CAN take if it CANNOT catch the moment. The lag on the phone is terrible. Camera app slow to open. Focus slow to acquire. Shutter terribly slow. After focusing on an object which is slow to do, I press the shutter and the camera tries to focus again then shoot taking more than a second to do so. Because of this I keep missing the moment even outside in broad daylight.
- Camera Software - Slow, occasionally crashes. Doesn't stay on the last setting you used if you reopen the app.
- Battery life - very disappointing. I am not a heavy user. I take maybe 10-15 photos, read some email, browse the web. Rarely watch videos or listen to music and the phone struggles to make it 12-13 hours. Charges very slowly whether plugged in via usb or directly into a wall.
- The iPhone 6 Plus battery and Blackberry Passport I previously had blow this away when it comes to battery.
- Phone performance - Occasional lag or stutter opening apps, swiping between home screens
- Auto brightness is very inconsistent, in an evenly lit room, it is constantly adjusting up and down brightness.
In case anyone is interested benchmark numbers here (It's the Non-verified score)
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Bottom line:
Visually a beautiful phone. Functionally a huge disappointment. The hype of a higher end or top mid range phone but not the same performance to back up the hype. Perhaps a lot of this, like the camera performance and the battery life and some OS performance can be tweaked and fixed with software updates. I love Sony products, and my house is full of Sony goods. Sony has a great name and reputation here in Japan but at the end of the day, Xperia phones still let me down and I end up going to solid phones from Samsung and LG. LG G4 on the way...
I feel u bro.
scpion said:
I feel u bro.
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Click to collapse
I thought about it a bit and I think it may be that I expected too much... ie coming from many so called "flagship" models I expected the C5 Ultra to perform like one (since it's pretty pricey), but it obviously didn't.
I'm going to ride with it for the rest of the week, trying some 3rd party camera apps and seeing if I can optimize the setup (or wait for a root and custom rom) to see if it would improve performance and battery life.
On the contrary, personally I feel it's punching above its weight.. It's relatively cheap here on contract. Other than the irritating problems I mentioned in my other thread, I think it's pretty ok. Battery have been great for me and performance decently fast. I never had high hopes for the cam anyway though I was hoping for a surprise this time round. Let's not forget the C series had always been a mid ranger.
It's a shame, really. The C5 is the best looking phone I've ever seen. If only the screen was better and the battery was larger I'd consider buying it.
It's even better looking than the Xperia Z5 series and has less bezel.
I'd love to put the hardware of the Z5 into the C5 ultra then it'd be the perfect phone.
I really hope developers will take up interest in this phone. As of now, there are basically nothing on the Web regarding this phone.. No reviews, not even accessories..
The Z5 range has recently been published on gsmarena. I was shocked to see the C5 looks WAY better than the expensive flagship Z5. Issue with the Z5 it looks the same as the Z2 and Z3, too much bezel.
I'm thinking of getting the C5 ultra for it's sexy looks and ultra thin bezel!
I hope a developer/modder can soon release a mod to make this phone output stereo sound. We just need output from the top speaker grill which will then give us true stereo speakers/sound.
The sound from this phone is pretty loud with audio+. Tweaking the white balance gives pretty decent colours as well. The colour just sucks straight from factory.
scpion said:
The sound from this phone is pretty loud with audio+. Tweaking the white balance gives pretty decent colours as well. The colour just sucks straight from factory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good! I currently own the Sony Xperia Z3 D6633. The screen I have is better, sound is stereo, ram is 3Gb, camera is 21MP/video 4k and battery is more (3100mAh) vs 2900...
Should I purchase the C5 Ultra, in many ways it indeed is a downgrade. However, the beautiful design and large screen/thin bezel is a win and I'm thinking of buying one.
The main thing that concerns me is the large 6'' screen and small battery of under 3000mAh. Sony really should of made the battery at least 3500 mAh to power the large screen.
I'd like, if possible more feedback from other users with regards to battery life. Also, how are the black levels and viewing angles of the screen?
How would the camera compare say to a Samsung Note 5/Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and the LG G4?
First up, I really have no problem with the battery. The 29xxmah battery may sound small, I have no problem lasting a full day. I try to post screen shots later. I feel that sony has one of the best optimised system around.
Screen needs some tweaking to get the colours right. Contrast still slightly on the lower side. Viewing angle is ok. No where near the shocking level of gen 1 xperia z. Colour shift at a acute angle similar to N4 if u know what I mean. To me, I think it's acceptable. And it's really bright.
I dun take a lot of picture.. But from my finding, superior auto is a disaster in this case. Manual gives me good results. Details are good and noise keep to a minimum in low light. Pics with flash turns out great as well, surprisingly. The other phones u mentioned are all flagship class so it might be a bit unfair to do the comparison. They can point and shoot and give good results. This, u have to point, tweak, shoot.... Lol. Results are not half bad. At least the last settings are retained so u do not go back to the superior auto by default.
Then again, do not forget this is a "midranger". And let's not forget there is no such thing as a perfect phone.
---------- Post added at 02:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:39 PM ----------
I am typing this from my Z Ultra. Seriously, if they carry on the Z line in the Z ultra's design and power, I think sony will do much better..
Here u go. these are 2 sets of battery usage. I am getting rather good results from it. Google sync on, Lte all the way. Staminal mode on. Manual screen brightness is at just 15% and its really bright indoors. Outdoors usually at just 40% or auto brightness. This is a really bright panel. On down side, battery charging is pretty slow. Using a 1.5a charger, it take me around 3-4hrs to charge from around 15%. I never tried the supplied 850mah one... maybe I should..
Hey! Theres one more thing that I want to mention for the screen. It FREAKING flickers whenever it tries to play a video for the first 1 sec. It should be a software issue. The display sets have this problem, the set i changed have this problem as well.
Just got c5 ultra. Was trying to connect my 1tb ext hdd, but it always shows "usb storage removed" as soon as i connect it.. However once it did got connected properly and i was able to access files on it but only once and after that i am continuously having the above mentioned problem.. Anyone else tried this? Also i am having some wierd clock ticking voice from my hdd after connecting.. It works fine though on my note 4 without such voice..
Sent from my SM-N910G using XDA Free mobile app
the usb port doesn't have enough power to power your hdd. better don't use it. you might force the hdd to keep reading and might damage the hdd
^ Thanks for the feedback bro. I'm currently living in Dubai, UAE. It seems, unfortunately the phone is not yet released here.
However, it should be released anytime soon. I'm going to call the Sony agent at Jumbo Electronics and see when the phone is due to be released.
As I said before, I'm seriously considering selling my several month old Sony Xperia Z3 D6633 dual sim and getting the C5 Ultra. In many ways it is indeed a downgrade.
That said, I'm also an ex owner of the legendary Sony Xperia Z Ultra which had the massive 6.44'' screen which was gorgeous. My current Z3 on the other hand has a much smaller screen of only 5.2'' and Although the screen is better and brighter, I'm not happy with the smaller screen. It seems Sony will not release a successor anytime soon for the Z Ultra so as of now the nearest option is the C5 Ultra. Though slightly smaller than the Z Ultra, it's the nearest phone to compare.
May I also ask, how does the C5 Ultra screen compare to the Z Ultra. Please tell me it's as good as if not better.
Unsure about you, but the best on screen time I've had with my previous Z Ultra was 5 hours and 44 minutes! Not bad for a phone having almost 6.5'' in size and a 3000mAh battery...
I think I would prefer the Z ultra's screen over this, at least for now. I personally like how much we can adjust the screen contrast and colour on the Z. Colour adjustment can be make to be very close to my Z but C5 still lacks the deeper colours.. Dpi is smaller as well so I can see more things. Think the C5 dpi is at 480. It's a waste of screen estate. We seriously need development on this to make it a great device.
Yeah, the device is still too new. I'm sure that with some development and custom roms, it'll be even better. Sadly it'll take some time...
At least they've improved the sound quality and finally the output is better than previous models.
Then there's front and rear flash which the Z Ultra completely lacked.
I've seen many brand new C5 Ultra's for just £250 in ebay, around 300 euros. For a 6'' mid range device the price is fantastic...
How does battery life compare to the Xperia Z Ultra? How is the quality/sharpness of the camera? Image noise low and under control?
I usually get around a full day with 3-4hrs screen on time with Z ultra. C5, that kind of timing is usually when I am at around 40%. I never finish my day with a flat battery for C5. I dun play games. Just lots of browsing, Facebook and YouTube. Cam is a mixed bag. Most of the time, details and colours are pretty good. Sometimes overly exposed. Superior auto is a disaster though. But overall, good pics can be achieved with manual without much trouble.
Finally bought my C5 Ultra last night! Overall I'm satisfied with it and there is more good than bad.
Screen is actually great AFTER calibration. By default the whites and colours are dead. For me, white balance is as follows; Red 38, Green 49 & Blue 40. Colour as well as the white and blacks are great and not far off from my Xperia Z3. So bear in mind the display does need a good calibration to get decent results.
After going through some high quality pictures and full HD 1080P movies and animated cartoons, colour is strong and black levels do actually look great, screenshots below of Shaun The Sheep Movie. Viewing angles are brilliant.
Speed. Generally the device is fast and responsive. It does at times pause and there is a slight delay. However, this should be fixed in a future update and when we get root access and recovery!
Looks. This was the key reason I bought the device. Specification is high mid range, a step above the Xperia Z Ultra, however, I wasn't bothered with the specification, it's gorgeous looks lured me into buying the device! As internet photos show, the left/right side of the phone literally has no bezel, the stunning display stretches out right to the edges. The top/bottom of the phone are still thin and the upper part is mostly taken by the huge 13mp camera with it's flash.
The bottom of the screen is still pretty thin and compared to my Xperia Z3, though a bigger phone, the bottom bezel of the C5 Ultra is still thinner!
As explained above, the screen by default is lifeless, colours are wrong and whites are more warm. You will have to calibrate the white levels in order to get decent looking whites and other colours...
Camera. I've not had the time to fully experiment, however, it is decent and photos are sharp and clear. Others have mentioned the camera is slow especially if selecting the memory card to store the images. Completely wrong. I took several pictures last night, one after the other and other than a split second delay, it was ready to take the second and the third picture. it's fast and responsive, no lag whatsoever when taking photos whether you select the memory card slot or the internal memory.
The flash is VERY bright and even when using the light/torch mode, the light was excellent, stronger than my Xperia Z3.
Gaming. Aside from Ski Safari, I didn't try any other game. However, colours were great, whites were excellent and there was no lag or delays at all. Nice and smooth.
Whether surfing the web, gaming or using the camera, there was no sign at all of overheating, in fact, the phone never even got warm when using for long periods! So no need to worry about overheating or getting warm.
Body/Build quality. Although the rear of the phone is plastic, it's a very high quality plastic, very strong and it's appearance is good. The sides of the phone are a solid aluminium and the front is entirely glass. Build quality is very sturdy and overall excellent. There are no gaps around the phone/bezel and the sides are well put together. So far the best design I've ever seen from Sony.
I was actually going to wait and purchase the Xperia Z5. Once I saw the design was VERY similar to the current Z2/Z3 series I thought why buy the Z5 when it looks too similar to my current phone? I wanted something different, unique and affordable. This is where the C5 Ultra fits in, perfectly...
Battery. Unfortunately, since I've only just used the phone for several hours, I'm yet to comment on battery life. In fact, I've still not even charged the battery, not even once. Battery was around 61% when the phone was first turned on. After around 2 hours of on screen time, some wi-fi, phone calls, sms messages and camera use, battery is still around 22% .
Speakers/sound - I'd say decent but not loud. My Xperia Z3 having dual speakers was around 25% louder. That said, we can only pray that sooner or later, a developer can release custom sound for louder, clearer audio having dual loud speakers when listening to music, watching movies, gaming or simply when making a phone call. We simply need audio output via the upper earpiece to give us stereo sound. Lazy Sony, unfortunately didn't bother doing this...
Verdict. Based on the above, I'd give the phone 8.5/10 for overall use/features/looks/battery, etc.
Some screen shots of the phone and screen:

My little experience with my new XA ULTRA vs sony x, z5 and z ultra

First at all, sorry for my english, i am spanish
I come from a sony xperia x, z ultra and z5, which has left me very good taste, a cell phone 5 inch good camera and good performance and screen, which I had is with the snapdragon xperia x 650.
Screen looking for something more than a phablet, especially good camera and good performance ...
3 days ago I bought my new Sony Xperia Ultra XA, user I was 2 years ago great xperia z ultra, and if I think I've won in all but water resistance and gpu.
First, the quality panel xa xperia ultra is excellent and with a lot of very good brightness, whites are pure white, blacks are good, that if, without being an AMOLED, has no side frames, is a big plus Please screen, for me, despite not having the Triluminous display technology is better than the ultra z.
As for cameras more of the same, both the front and rear they humiliate xperia z ultra, who only has 8 mpx without flash ... makes decent photos only during the day, with the ultra xa, thanks to flash and the optical stabilizer front camera, you make good pictures generally ....
As for the graphics and processor if, in graphic is below the mali T860 mp2 the Adreno 330, but has not given me any problems or hitches with any game, in terms of cpu, despite being eight cortex to 53, the develops mobile phenomenal, mediatek long ago makes and assembles good processors ...
As for audio, the other better, the speaker is more potent than xperia z ultra, with more and more serious force, like listening to music on the loudspeaker at half volume spare me ...
Then a paste, the ultra xa is not waterproof, but I do not usually wash in the shower with mobile ...
RAM up to 3GB of 2, the quality of materials in the ultra xa is very good, polycarbonate and metal, gives a sense of quality, also we won rapidad load thanks to the battery Qnovo ...
These days doing me about 5 hours and 25 minutes of screen is not my max in that sense, but do not see anything wrong.
In short, after coming xperia x, z ultra and Z5, for me is not a downgrade at all, I'd say this to the level of these, helium p10 processor is a high midrange performs very well, and not everything is processor, also this hand sony quality and optimization, and it shows.
a greeting and I hope you have served my great paragraph:good:
Agreed, the screen is the big winner on this unit, just wonderful.
The screen is indeed wonderful on this device. One of the best LCD I have layed my eyes on. It's just so uniform (my display is at least) and it has great black level and also good contrast as a result. I enjoy the screen too much to sell this phone even though it's not my main phone right now. Love the camera too it takes very fine images for the most part. This phone is excellent if you take it for what it is.

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