Sony Xperia Z Ultra launched in India for Rs 46,990

As expected, Sony has launched the Xperia Z Ultra, the company’s biggest-ever smartphone, in India. India is one of the first countries to get the Xperia Z Ultra and it’s official price is Rs. 46,990. The phone will be available starting August 2.

Just like the Xperia Z and Xperia Tablet Z, the Z Ultra is also dust and waterproof, coming with IP55 and IP58 certifications. You can use any regular pencil or pen as a stylus to navigate or draw on the screen.

As we had noted in our specifications review of the phone, the standout feature of the device is the 6.4-inch full-HD display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. It is the first smartphone display using Sony's Triluminos LCD panel, which supposedly eliminates the problems with the TFT LCD used in the Xperia Z. Despite the massive display, the phone is sleek at 6.5mm thick, and 212 g heavy. The display comes with Sony’s X-Reality engine for mobile, and the OptiContrast technology to enhance image quality.

Available in three colours

Another first for the Xperia Z Ultra is that it’s powered by the top-end 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC, which also has the latest Adreno 330 GPU. The SoC has 2GB of RAM for company and there should be very little things in the Android world that will require more raw performance. The Ultra comes with 16GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 64GB via microSD card.

The one area where the Z Ultra could be found lacking is the camera. The 8-megapixel Exmor RS sensor-equipeed rear camera sounds just about decent, but might not be able to hold a candle to some of the more recent cameras on flagship smartphones. The 2-megapixel front-facing camera should be perfect for casual video calls and selfies.

Connectivity-wise, there’s very little missing. Ultra comes with LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, 3G, DLNA and Bluetooth connectivity options. It has a 3,050mAh battery that Sony has rated for up to 16 hours of talk time and 820 hours of standby time on 3G, and 14 hours of talktime and 870 hours of standby time on 2G.

Massive display is perfect for viewing HD videos

In addition to Sony’s multimedia apps, the Indian models will have Sony LIV which lets you catch up with TV shows and the Sony Music Jive app for music streaming. Sony will also bundle in a month's free access to BigFlix and the full version of the Asphalt 7 game. Among the accessories announced for the Z Ultra is a stereo Bluetooth headset, which acts as secondary calling and media control handset. There’s also a magnetic charging dock and a cover with an extra battery.