SONY XPERIA XA1 ULTRA

‘’BIG DESIGN FOR BIG MOMENTS’’. This is Sony’s slogan for Xperia XA1’s bigger brother, the Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra. Released a month after the XA1, in May 2017, the Ultra, just like the XA1 is a conventional mid ranger that can be easily mistaken for a flagship device were it put side by side with the so far released flagships of 2017 like Samsung’s Galaxy s8/8+ and the LG G6. This is so far Sony’s ‘GIANT’ device given the screen sizes of other Xperia devices. However, let the 6.0 inch screen not fool you, this phone is amazingly easy to navigate around as will be descried down below. Let’s take a look at what the Ultra has to offer.

Build and Design

At 165 x 79 x 8.1 mm the Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra weighs 188g. And just like the XA1 the Ultra has an identical body language with a plastic back and an all rounded metal frame which gives it a stunning look. Sony refers to its edges as borderless which well, is quite true, an up close look at it will surely show the expertise involved in designing this phone all round. All buttons available on the Xa1 Ultra are on the right side. That is the volume rocker, the power button and a dedicated camera button which Sony must just include, we’ll talk about this shortly.

Basically, the design linguistics of the XA1 and Ultra is the same given that the Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra is the bigger package of the XA1.

Display

Now, Sony took a great step which I appreciate. Testing the waters with a phablet, a 6.0 inch display Xperia phone. Something Sony has done for the first time ever. We’d expect this to be a flop since its Xperia’s first time to make a gigantic phone. On the contrary, the 6.0 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen is surprisingly very easy to operate and navigate. The phablets sits very comfortably in the hand. It comes with quite a number of functions like the in-built one handed operation that allows you to shrink your display to a size you can easy use with one hand.

With a 1080 x 1920 pixels (367 ppi pixel density) resolution, colors are sharp and viewing angles are also great. Viewing in direct sunlight is also with ease.

You get a scratch resistant glass protection on the LCD screen it comes with. A plus for me.

Camera

Now, back that dedicated camera button. Sony- the King of camera’s on phones. This is a crown Xperia has kept for years now. A 23MP rear camera with electric image stabilization and a 16MP front facing selfie camera with optical image stabilization and laser auto focus. What can I say? This is probably the one of the best cameras out there. Exceptional pictures is what this camera will give you. Like the XA1 it has a manual mode, a wide selfie camera to fit in all your friends and wonderful shots both in daylight and at night.

Video recording is also top notch. Its camera records up to 1080p with quick auto focus.

Platform and Memory

Xperia Ultra has Android Nougat 7.0 straight from its package. It rocks a Mediatek MT6757 Helio P20 chipset, an Octa-core (4×1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.6 GHz Cortex-A53) CPU and a Mali-T880MP2 GPU.

Its 32GB of internal memory can be expanded using an SD Card up to 256GB and runs on 3GB of RAM which works seamlessly while multi-tasking.

Connectivity and Network

Connectivity:-

The XA1 supports WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11, dual band, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS with A-GPS GLONASS, NFC, an FM Radio, and a USB 2.0, type C 1.0 reversible connector and USB Host. The type C charger allows for Sony’s (Pump Express+ 2.0) quick charging

Network:-

The XA1 has GSM / HSPA/ LTE technology. It also has GPRS and EDGE. Also to note, the XA1 is a dual SIM phone and HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps speed.

Other Features

Battery

The XA1 has a Non-removable Li-Ion 2700 mAh battery. Now this may seem really small on paper given its 6.0’’ display. Tests see the Xperia Ultra reach an endurance duration of up to 68h with 708h/3G on standby and 12h/3G talk time. You wouldn’t expect such benchmarks on a 6 inch phablet. It will see you last a full day.

Sound

It has Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones alert types, loudspeaker, 3.5mm jack, and active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic. Its audio quality is great and the speaker gets quite loud. Which is a good thing.

You love the XA1 and are looking for a bigger phone, well, the XA1 Ultra is the phone for you. I would recommend it to users who want a flagship feeling phone but are on the market for a budget phone. The Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra is next to premium.

It comes in four colors White, Black, Gold and Pink.

Check out XA1’s official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6swXexz_Oco

Official website: https://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-xa1-ultra/