The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is meant to be a phone – but with a 6.44-inch screen it’s pushing the boundaries of what a smartphone can really be.

It’s a huge device, there’s no doubt about that, but at 6.5mm thick it sits more comfortably in the hand than you might expect and the full HD screen really impresses too.

Spec-fans will be unable to contain their excitement at the thought of the first smartphone with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 chip, a quad-core processor clocked to 2.2GHz.

It’s also got a magnetic charging port on the side to facilitate, well, magnetic docks that allow charging – it’s odd that it takes up so much of the design though, where it’s usually more discreet.

The waterproof element to the Sony Xperia Z Ultra is obviously one of the high points, and as such the little doors that seal in the ports are back in force. However, they’re intriguingly not used on the headphone jack, with Sony working out how to make it so the water gremlins won’t destroy your sound.

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The design of the Sony Xperia Z Ultra is something that is as much of an acquired taste as the Xperia Z before it. It has the same sharp design, which makes it slightly more difficult to hold in one hand but the rubber exterior does mitigate this to some extent.

The CPU speed certainly shows in general use, as it’s as snappy as anything we’ve played with – both flicking between apps and browsing the internet over Wi-Fi were lightning fast. It’s getting to the point where smartphones are faster than you’d ever need them to be, but we’re still impressed by the performance here.

The screen quality is definitely improved, with the Triluminous technology at work to improve colours saturation levels in key areas, increasing the palette for a fairly stunning-looking picture. It’s also helped by the X Reality engine that’s been developed for mobile, which fills in missing pixels in standard definition pictures.

As we mentioned, the videos included to demo the technology are impressive, but overall the screen doesn’t live up to the hype bestowed upon it by Sony. It suffers the same as the Xperia Z, in that it has a slightly washed-out tint to it, which is especially telling as it was mentioned as being ‘closer to Samsung’s Super AMOLED technology’ by one of the Sony representatives.

The camera could be improved as well in our eyes, although this could be pre-production sampling getting in the way. The pictures we took were rather grainy and lacked definition, as you can see below.

Sample images

Let’s hear it for the battery though: a 3000mAh power pack is what we expected in a phone like this, and we weren’t disappointed. Sony is still crowing about its slightly dubious Stamina Mode being a real benefit here, so we’re expecting to see big things from the Ultra when it lands for a full review.

Early verdict

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is a phone that wants to be a tablet. While many will look at the Ultra and recoil in horror at its larger dimensions, those that want the larger screen won’t be able to help but desire this handset.

Is it going to win over more of the smartphone market? It’s a definite possibility as the power and size combination are currently unique. More importantly for the long-term future of Sony Mobile is that this handset shows that the Japanese brand is keen to show it’s at the forefront of technology.

We honestly can’t see this being a mainstream device, but it bridges the gap between phone and tablet, both decent devices, marvellously.

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