Sony Xperia Z Ultra hands-on an preview

Introduction

Sony just dropped a real bomb on the phablet market - a 6.4" monster that threatens to flatten the competition. The Sony Xperia Z Ultra the first officially announced device to be powered by Snapdragon 800 and it's also the thinnest device with a 1080p screen.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra official images

The list of tricks the Sony Xperia Z Ultra knows is almost too long to fit on even its sizable screen. Seriously, this thing is both massive and packed to the rafters with cool features. It slots between the Xperia Z and Xperia Tablet Z, using the same sleek OmbiBalance design and philosophy - "glass is good, thin is even better".

Sony Xperia Z Ultra official images

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra profile measures just 6.5mm, the slimmest 1080p device and close to slimmest overall. We were quite impressed with the Tablet Z and this undercuts it by a fraction. Unlike the Xperia Tablet Z, however, this uses the latest chipset and Android available - Snapdragon 800 and Android 4.2 respectively.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra at a glance

• General: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, penta-band UMTS/HSPA, 100 Mbps LTE
• Form factor: Ultra-thin water-resistant touchscreen phablet
• Dimensions: 179.4 x 92.2 x 6.5, 212 g
• Display: 6.4" 16M-color 1080p (1080 x 1920 pixels) capacitive touchscreen TFT Triluminous display with X-Reality and OptiContrast
• CPU: Quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400
• GPU: Adreno 330
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
• RAM: 2GB
• OS: Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
• Memory: 16GB storage, microSD card slot
• Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with face detection; Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps with HDR, 2MP front-facing camera with FullHD video capture
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port with MHL and USB host, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC
• Misc: IP58 certified - dust-sealed and water resistant beyond 1 meter; Shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass for the front and the back panel, metal frame on the sides

This is a no-mercy pre-emptive strike against the Samsung Galaxy Note III and all other high-end phablets that might crop up. So far we've only heard that this or that device will use a Snapdragon 800 chipset, but this one is the first to really go for it. And the attractive design and thin body are bound to win many proponents - they did for the Xperia Z and Tablet Z.

Same goes for the water resistant certification - IP58 means it can go deeper than 1m of water, unlike the sissy Xperia Z and Samsung Galaxy S4 Active.

Nokia Asha 501 features an preview

Introduction

With a refreshed design and software, the candy-colored Nokia Asha 501 turns a new page for the Finnish feature-phone lineup. Low-end Android smartphones continue to be the main target but, for the first time the Ashas, which Nokia has always insisted on calling smart, are walking the walk.

No more of the cheap gloss of the older generations, the hardware call keys are gone too - the styling is simple but finally looks relevant and up-to-date. Touchscreen is in charge and the single Back key under the display is a major feature of the new look and feel - even if it plays a very small part in the actual navigation.

Nokia Asha 501

The Nokia Asha 501 is premiering the Asha platform 1.0 - the redesigned interface is heavily swipe-driven - a trend that goes back to the previous Asha generation, but with the right bit of polish and fluency.

Nokia Asha 501 at a glance:

• General: GSM 900 / 1800 MHz; GPRS up to 85.6 Kbps, EDGE up to 236.8 Kbps
• Dual SIM support: Optional, GSM 900 / 1800 MHz, dual SIM standby, EasySwap
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 99.2 x 58 x 12.1 mm, 98.2 g
• Display: 3" 256K-color QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) TFT capacitive touchscreen, 133 ppi, scratch-resistant glass
• OS: Nokia Asha software platform 1.0
• Memory: 128 MB of inbuilt storage, microSD card slot, 4GB card in the bundle
• Still Camera: 3.15 megapixel fixed-focus camera
• Video Camera: QVGA (240 x 320) video recording at 15fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth 3.0 with EDR, microUSB port, 3.5mm audio jack
• Battery: 1,200mAh
• Misc: Built-in accelerometer, proximity sensor, FM radio, exchangeable covers

The version of the Nokia Asha 501 we have for this quick hands-on is the one with dual-SIM support. There's no side-mounted SIM compartment this time around, but there's still a hot-swappable SIM and a dedicated SIM manager that can remember the settings for up to five cards.

Long battery life, Wi-Fi, a reasonably stocked app store and exchangeable covers make this a compelling package, and a very affordable one at that. It's a nice little phone that looks fresh both on the outside and inside.