Sony Xperia Z Ultra Goes Pure Android on Google Play

By Marcus Yam
published

Go with KitKat 4.4 on Sony's phablet.

It was a big day for the Google Play Store's device section, as the Sony Xperia Z Ultra is now available as a Google Edition phone and the LG G Pad 8.3 as the first Google Edition tablet. Essentially, it's the same Xperia Z Ultra that we've talked about before, but this time it's running that oh-so-sleek stock Android 4.4 KitKat.

The Xperia Z Ultra packs a 6.44-inch full 1080p HD Triluminos display at 326ppi and, similar to the Galaxy Note, is actually better described as a phablet as opposed to a smartphone.

The device measures 6.5mm thick and packs a 2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of on board storage, microSD card support for expansion of storage, an 8-megapixel camera, support for 4G LTE, and a huge 3,000mAh battery. Of course, you couldn't call it an Xperia Z without the waterproof feature. As such, the Xperia Z Ultra is also waterproof to 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes, and is dust resistant, too.

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Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • patrick47018
    Awesome! Now how much..
    Reply
  • knowom
    Display makers piss me off 1080p on a 6.44 inch screen for a phone and yet they can't innovate desktop display resolutions afford-ably?
    Reply
  • southernshark
    12159083 said:
    Phones have come full circle... they started out huge and you looked stupid talking on one. Now we're back to huge and you'd stupid talking on one.

    I loved my old giant Motorola handset. That thing rocked in 1989.

    The new big phones are nice, but a brick battery would be a nice option to have, along with a giant rubber antennae.
    Reply
  • itchyisvegeta
    ARG! Where is a new up to date Xperia Play?
    Reply
  • schultzter
    12162353 said:
    We don't hear much about Sony Ericsson nowadays anymore, do we. Their market share is pretty much none.

    Umm, yeah, 'cuz Sony bought out Ericsson's share and it's folded into Sony now.

    I had an Xperia Arc before and that's the phone that got me hooked on Android. They make some really nice phones, and I never understood why they didn't leverage their retail network (Sony stores and other retailers) to sell their phones directly and unlocked (like Apple does).
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    I saw that thing at the Sony store in Costa Mesa - the sheer size of that "phone" is ridiculous. There's no way it could fit into the standard male pants pocket. You might as well use a Nexus 7 as a phone.
    Reply