Initial Xperia Z Ultra impressions

Here comes some of my initial impressions and pictures including photo and video samples from the Sony Xperia Ultra.

Build quality and impression

The device feels extremely solid and luxurious - in fact even better than the Xperia Z. The aluminum sides makes a noticeable difference and the lids feels more sturdy and reliable. Sony improved the design, which is good since there has been reports about leaks on the Z (like wet SIM card despite closed lids). Another interesting thing is that the weight is perfectly balanced, which makes the device easy to hold without showing any tendency to tip in any direction. The 212 grams feels light because of the large size so there's never any impression of heaviness either.

I am completely satisfied with the build and design of it. The Sony omnibalance design is just great.

Screen quality

The screen is absolutely magnificent. It offers a very realistic color reproduction with a warm and natural color balance. It is an improvement over the Z even if I am perfectly happy with that screen (I just don't get the complaints about it even if I made comparisons with the HTC One and Galaxy S 4). Nevertheless, the Ultra is an improvement with a more natural, warm color balance and great whites (white backgrounds are really white without getting any blueish hue). The size of the screen also makes it great for reading books, magazines and documents. Portrait mode is useable with this screen estate, unlike smaller devices where landscape is must in order to get an adequate text size.

Camera quality

The new 471 firmware is an improvement when it comes to picture quality. I notice sharper, more detailed pictures compared to the older 461 version. Before I bought the Ultra, I was skeptical about the camera but it has been satisfactory to me. The Xperia Z takes better pictures with the latest ROMs, especially with the leaked Honami camera apk but the Ultra still hold its own well (from now on, the Z will be my main camera and the Ultra takes care of the rest). The Superior Auto mode seems to work good on the new device and can take some pretty nice pictures even if I think that manual is even better when the settings are adjusted for a better result.

The only thing I noticed is that it can be tricky to compensate for the sunlight, the pictures has a tendency of becoming to dark at times when attempting to get the blue rather than white sky in place. My impression is that the Z handles that part better, it is easier to compose pictures with a clear sky without ending up with everything else being very dark.

Having a huge screen is very nice when photographing and it makes it easier to get the composition in place.

Sound quality

I have tested the sound quality with Grado PS1000 direct connected to the Ultra and later with RS-2 through the SBH20. It sounds very good in both cases and can drive those headphones well. The sound is clear with good detailing and balanced frequencies. PowerAMP sounds great with different kind of music.

My general impression is that it sounds similar to the Xperia Z in most cases.

Battery life

Since I got the device three days ago, the battery isn't run in yet but my initial impression is pretty good. I managed to get 1 hour and 23 minutes out of it when it showed 20% two days ago. Exact measurements hasn't been taken yet since I want to put it through some charge cycles before making any judgments but I think it holds up well for now. I was afraid that it would suffer from short life but I think it copes well with high demands like downloads over WiFi, browsing etc.

The Stamina mode seems to work well too. It has been sitting with 67% for two hours and 18 minutes now and is absolutely cool. The heat problem that affects the Z (that I avoided on my device through UV) seems to be solved. The Z Ultra doesn't heat up that much even with prolonged use. I guess that the aluminum sides etc improves the situation and helps to dissipate some of the heat. I don't feel an acute need for undervolting yet even if I will do it when custom kernels become available.

Software

Personally, I prefer to use custom ROMs (especially PAC) so I don't go into detail when it comes to stock ROMs, especially not with the phone mode. I look forward to the day when I can put the Ultra into phablet mode with apps in tablet mode - that will be the day when I feel that it is ready for prime time. Now, the screen estate is wasted by the phone mode.

Beside that, the Sony apps (Album, Walkman, dialer etc) is great and nice additions.

The stock ROM seems to be very stable, which is promising but it isn't exciting compared to PAC, a ROM which I think is absolutely great with decent customization options that make the device much more efficient.

I am not very much into reviewing stock ROMs, it is necessary to get root and Xposed Framework with App Settings before I feel that I want to judge it.

Where I bought it

I bought my C6802 at AtGSM, Bowery Street, New York. It is the store that provided me with the Xperia Z back in March.

Unpacking pictures

The package.



The back of the package.



Open box.



Charger, cable, headset. I expected the SBH52 here.



The device itself. I think the white version is better in the case of the omnibalance but the black one fits my black cases I usually have (wallet or flip) and was in stock so I got it rather than waited for the other one. I think it looks great in black too.



The Ultra seen from the rear.



Device comparisons and photo samples with the 461 ROM

Side by side view of the Xperia Z and Xperia Z Ultra.





They run my usual configuration based on Nova Launcher, Beautiful Widgets etc. The Z runs the PAC ROM, 0726 build.



A side shot that shows the viewing angles.



Xperia Z Ultra compared with Xperia Z, Xperia X1, P910i and HD2.



A comparison of the thickness between those devices. Even if the Ultra is thin, I think it is easy to hold it with a safe and steady grip.



Visiting Android Central. I think the Ultra works perfect with my hand size.

Here are some photo samples taken with the old 461 ROM.







Those pictures are taken at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab, NYC.





Two street views.

A small picture comparison between the Xperia Z (PAC) and Z Ultra (461) is here.

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/834/ac5x.jpg/] [/URL]

This picture of the Commodore PET 2001 is taken with the Ultra.



This picture of the PET 2001 is taken with the Xperia Z with PAC 0726 ROM.

Photo samples taken with the 471

First is two sample videos in 1080p I took.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW9sjAYOabA&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfKXiPX7syE

Here are the pictures:





















I think the S 4 ad is funny. "The ultra-advanced S 4" - I wonder where that leaves the Xperia Z Ultra? Mega-Awesome-Ultra-Advanced??

Stylus compatibility

I have played with the digitizer today and found a graphite pen that works great for jotting things down, drawing etc. I like this feature very much and the ability to use different pens are great. The only thing that should be implemented is palm rejection. It is necessary to avoid touching the screen while using a stylus since it can cause the drawing of some very strange lines.

The Sony Sketch works very well and I took some notes today, which worked great when I found the proper way.

I will post more information when everything develops (root etc).

Root status

The Ultra isn't rooted yet. I cooperated with DoomLord on getting root on my device but we failed. The only response was a blank screen when root kernels and packages was flashed. It is obvious that more work has to be made here.

I unlocked the bootloader in order to try the rooting; I would have done it regardless since I want custom kernels and ROMs like PAC on it later on. Keeping the bootloader locked is therefore no options for me. The screen is so great that I don't even miss Bravia Engine either. It looks great when I view pictures in QuickPic or videos with BsPlayer.

Size

To me, the size is perfect and I can carry it on my pants without any problems. It just fit their pockets and it was the first thing I checked when I bought it. I was a bit worried about taking such a big jump upwards when it comes to the size but it went very well.

gunblazer said:

Absolutely awesome post, and impressions. Thanks for that, I also agree with you on everything.

Also glad you got a black ZU too, what lead you to that decision? Is it because you had a white Z?

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The black Z Ultra was selected because the store (AtGSM) didn't have the white in stock and I realized that the flip case I ordered will be black so the color is more practical. Otherwise, I think the white color is better for this "omnibalance" (what Sony call this design) since it accentuates it more.

Now I must say that I like the black design more than I did before. It looks really high tech and sophisticated.

The fact that I have the white Z also played a role, especially since I am going to use it as my main camera further along the road.

When root (at least) is out for the Ultra, I am going to reflash the Z with Monxdified and make it my main camera (I have a lot of stuff on my memory card so using the Z for picture and video shooting solve a problem to me) and I think it looks great in white. So the need for a white Ultra isn't present.

darthmaul40 said:

Thank you so much this is very informative. I would like to know whether you have any experience of using the NOTE with a stylus and how the stylus input compares to that?

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I had the Note N7000 and a Note N7100 is here with me. I think the Z Ultra works great and I actually prefer the Sony concept with flexibility compared to the S-Pen. Writing works well for me but takes a little bit of training before the proper technique is applied.

The S-Pen on the Note is nice to use but it is too proprietary to my liking and too heavily tied to TouchWiz.

I bought mine from AtGSM in their store in Bowery Street. They charge $769 and with sales tax, it ended at $837. They have it in stock and when I bought it, they were expecting more devices the day after.

I also bought the Xperia Z there and I can recommend the store. The staff is nice and knowledgeable, they have a great selection of devices and the shopping experience is a bit particular since the store is an office. It is on the 4th floor in the building and it is really an office. There's no device displays, just regular office furniture. You tell them what you want and they will go and get the device for you.

It is different and great in my opinion.

Then there are MobileCityOnline in Walker Street. Also a great store but they are slow with the Ultra, it is not in stock since they are waiting for the C6806. AtGSM is usually much quicker when it comes to carrying new devices. They are also a bit cheaper but MobileCityOnline is still recommended.

LordManhattan said:

I know it's way to early, but where on a scale from 1-10 would you rank the ZU as a whole?

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 4

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Yes, it is early but I would rank it 10/10. The reason is that it is excellent in all areas I want it to excel in. It is fantastic for watching movies, reading documents, browsing the Internet, playing games, using apps etc. It is a great mini-tablet simply put.

The only thing I don't like right now is that the UI is in phone mode and I look forward to being able to change it into tablet mode.

I will now put some more photo samples up.

Here is a picture taken with manual settings and white balance sunny (it was sunny but with clouds when I took it).



This picture is taken with the Superior Auto mode.



A close up shot. I can't find a macro mode when I check the camera settings.



Now follows three pictures taken with Superior Auto for reference.

Hardcore73 said:

Do you know if the new version that comes out in September with LTE will be supported on AT&T's network for LTE?

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The C6806 should have full support for AT&T LTE with the 700/1700/2100. The C6833 offers the 1700/2100 but not 700.

The LTE bands are as follows:

LTE 700 / 850 / 900/ 1700 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 - C6806
LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 - C6833

T-Mobile customers can buy the C6833 while AT&T customers that wants the 700 MHz band need the C6806.

Europe will get the C6833 while North America (USA/Canada) and some other markets will get the C6806.

I took some test pictures in low light conditions now.

Some of them is taken with Superior Auto, others are in Manual mode.

With and without Superior Auto:













The lack of a flash is evident.

On the other hand, in order to take decent shots in darkness, a xenon flash is necessary. I would say that the best option for darkness is to get a Sony DSC-WX300 camera that can be connected to the Xperia Z Ultra through WiFi and Sony PlayMemories, something that means that pictures can be taken with the camera, controlled by the Xperia. I.e. you use the Xperia screen as the viewfinder and shutter control so it is like the camera is the integrated one.

Personally, I am considering that option but my plan is to use the Xperia Z reflashed with Monxdified as my camera.