Sony's Xperia Z Ultra – video and first look

Today I got the chance to spend a few minutes with one of the hottest mobile phones of 2013 – Sony’s monster sized Xperia Z Ultra.

Here are a few thoughts.

The screen – Yes it is huge and yes it looks amazing, The phone packs a 6.4inch screen which feels so much larger than the Samsung Galaxy Note and almost Apple iPad mini sized. Yet at the same time, like the Xperia Z tablet, it does feel very thin and surprisingly light. Sony has obviously invested a lot on the display shifting over technologies that have been developed for its Bravia TV range. It pays dividends too. As you can see from the video the images are bright, solid and incredibly colour rich. Of course in a dark cinema with specially created content it is going to look amazing. But I really think that it will be the screen that blows people away when they see the phone.

Size/handling – As I mentioned the phone feels light and thin, but thin enough to be housed in a jeans pocket? Well it just about fits, though it feels slightly odd as it is so skinny. It does fit neatly in the palm of one hand though.

Sound – Sony Xperia Z is one of the best sounding mobiles out here. This, which features Sony’s Clear Audio+ technology, sounds just as good.

Features – Well top marks for the waterproof feature. Obviously I didn’t test it but the phone apparently has a waterproof 3.5mm jack so you can listen to music on headphones in the bath. The other innovative feature is that you can control it using a pen, any old pen and not just its dedicated stylus.

Looks – I am not entirely sure I’d call it stylish. Because it is so big it just looks unusual, but it is a very attractive bit of kit. It is available in black, white and Sony’s new signature purple too.

Overall – If you want a very big screen phone this handset now sets the pace. It is way cooler and packed with many more features than the Huawei Ascend Mate and just feels smarter and larger than the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. It will be interesting to see how the Koreans, and the other makers too, respond.