With the addition ‘Ultra’ in your name, you naturally expect a device with the necessary options and features, in a hefty package. This is what we saw from Sony in 2013, with the Xperia Z Ultra. We discuss this phone today in ‘The forgotten smartphone’.
Sony Xperia Z Ultra
In 2013, the Xperia Z series was released. In our column, we previously discussed the Sony Xperia Z, but now we take a closer look at the Ultra model. The Sony Xperia Z Ultra was a heftier size than the regular model, and was truly huge for the time. The dimensions of the device were 179.4 x 92.2 x 6.5 millimetres. This did make it the thinnest device with a Full-HD screen that time. By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2 millimetres. So it was very thin, but really huge. It was a competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Mega, and even that was a lot more compact.
Sony provided the Xperia Z Ultra with a 6.4-inch screen, which offered Full-HD resolution. There was a Snapdragon 800 chipset, along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. This memory could be expanded with a memory card. Interestingly, the device came with an 8-megapixel camera. This while the regular model came with a 13.1-megapixel camera. In addition, the device had no LED flash, and hence no torch. On the front, there was room for a 2 megapixel front camera.
Things like WiFi, Bluetooth, an FM radio, NFC and a 3050 mAh battery were all present on the Sony Xperia Z Ultra. The battery was no longer swappable. The smartphone was available in black, white and purple. The smartphone's design consisted of glass and aluminium. Due to its small thickness, the device was found to be somewhat fragile. The screen could be operated with a kind of metal pen, but of course also with the fingers. The device came with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and was updated to Android 5.1 Lollipop.
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra was released at a price of 719 euros.
Sony Xperia Z Ultra summarised in 3 points:
- Huge size
- Only 6.5 millimetres thick
- Camera had no flash
