Google has just added the Sony Z Ultra phablet as its latest member of Google Play edition smartphones. It joins the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One in the Google Play Store.
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is the company's first phablet and was designed to go head to head with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The smartphone's 6.4-inch Full HD display towers over the Galaxy Note 3's 5.7-inch screen and it includes stylus support as well. Instead of offering a built-in stylus like Samsung, however, Sony decided to use special software and a scratch-resistant display on the handset that allows users to use a standard pen or pencil for stylus input without worrying about damaging the screen. Sony built the Z Ultra using premium materials such as tempered glass and a strong, durable metal frame. The handset also benefits from being both waterproof and dust-resistant, allowing it to be used in conditions other smartphones simply cannot handle.
The Xperia Z Ultra has made its way to the Google Play Store as a Google Play edition smartphone, which means it drops the Xperia UI and runs stock Android 4.4 KitKat. The Sony Z Ultra ships with a 6.4-inch 1080 x 1920 (full HD) TRILUMINOS display that is both shatter-proof and scratch-resistant and has a pixel density of 342 pixels per inch (ppi). The handset is powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and Adreno 330 graphics processing unit (GPU), as well as 2GB of RAM to provide a fast and fluid user interface.
The phablet comes with 16GB of internal storage and also has a microSD expansion slot with support for up to 64GB microSD cards. Sony has included an 8-megapixel rear camera with 16x Optical Zoom, LED flash, touch focus, and face detection and a 2-megapixel front facing camera. Both cameras can capture 1080p video at 30fps. The device's wireless connectivity options consist of a 4G LTE radio, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, and GPS. The phablet is powered by a large 3,050 mAh battery, its dimensions are 179 x 92 x 6.5 mm and weighs 212g. The Sony Z Ultra will run on AT&T and T-Mobile's 4G LTE networks.
You can purchase the unlocked Sony Z Ultra Google Play edition for $649.00 via the Google Play Store. The phablet is in stock, ships within 1 - 2 business days and includes free shipping for a limited time.
