Sony Xperia XA Ultra hands-on: First look

17 May, 2016
Big-screen lovers rejoice! Meet the 6-inch Sony Xperia XA Ultra, the replacement for the popular Xperia C5 Ultra.

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  • AnonD-510275
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  • 19 May 2016

Tann Hauser, 19 May 2016Christian please....dont patronize me with basics. I don... moreYes, Sony's EIS is better for video. OIS is also good, but too shaky for video. Maybe that's why they give OIS only on the front camera.

    Christian, 19 May 2016"And the fact remains Sony does without OIS what others nee... moreChristian please....dont patronize me with basics.

    I dont have anything agains OIS for photoshooting but...
    OIS has one grave downside....wobble effect in video stabilization. And it cant physically be avoided.
    I personally cant stand wobble effect in video, its really annoying...
    In good light photo, no difference, except better detail due to higher 23 mpx
    Nightshots without OIS...if no need to crop up to 200%( dont know what nut and how often would do that and for what), grain is not visible and shots are as excellent as with OIS, even sharper looking.

    So yes, overall I prefer Sonys EIS way of doing things, cause they do wonders with it.

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      • AnonD-331984
      • utp
      • 19 May 2016

      AnonD-4254, 18 May 2016A phone with 1 camera instead of 2, with just a motorised s... moreNec already tried that a century ago and it was innovative at the time, again it will be nice to have that powerful rare cam for selfies but then, oems(most users included) really don't see the need as It definitely will compromise build quality. Just like all these detachable, twisting neck laptops, U never see a top performance and build laptop with such unnecessaries.

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        • AnonD-538945
        • tDR
        • 19 May 2016

        cool!

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          • Mike
          • tEr
          • 19 May 2016

          Very Nice device, Sony is the best Smart Phone, but I hope Sony does the true thing,like'; Camera Lens must be with mirror glass protector, no plastic cover it, I need your system improvement, and hope your Camera Pixel no need to always upgrade to the higher, just keep the same or refuse some Megapixel, I think 23 Megapixel is enough, and must improve the Len and image pixel clearer. And one thing is, just one touch and it appear quickly as Iphone does and when we go back to that app it run quickly again no need to wait. Thank Sony, Love SONY.

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            • Christian
            • 0U@
            • 19 May 2016

            Tann Hauser, 18 May 2016No it doesnt, you just proved Sony has best camera results.... more"And the fact remains Sony does without OIS what others need OIS for"

            And again you Tann Hauser with your (almost)profesional deffence on Sony imaging.
            Well dont know how many times should i say this(am not paid for this unlike you),but OIS is ireplacible for any camera.In a way that it allows the cam to slows the shutter speed if necesarily to achive better exposure.You know this right?!?
            Aperture,shutter speed and light sensitivity(aka ISO) are the three interwowen factors when it comes to exposure.Since the phone cameras had fixed aperture,only way is to adjust the shutter speed and ISO.But shutter speed cant go very low in handheld!And the only thing left is to crank up the ISO (more noise).Here comes the OIS very handy as it allows the shutter(if needed) to slows a little bit more without raising the ISO.And you may dear friend seems to not understand any of this....as you continue to spread your profecy.

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              • AnonD-442781
              • pJm
              • 18 May 2016

              AnonD-4254, 18 May 2016A phone with 1 camera instead of 2, with just a motorised s... moreIt doesn't reduce the space requirement though. Just look at the size of the bezels.

              And I don't think people want that sort of thing, they may see it as inconvenient, and they may feel the design has been compromised.

              Don't get me wrong, I think its kinda cool, but I don't see it becoming mainstream. People prefer not having a rotating camera.

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                • Davood
                • FeG
                • 18 May 2016

                Tann Hauser, 18 May 2016No it doesnt, you just proved Sony has best camera results.... moreI loved your professional talk about noise and detail and photo proccesing...,I guess only unprofessional photo shooters will choose processed photos over a natural capture.... But as once a professional photographer said SONY is the only camera manufacturer who dares denying photo proccesing

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                  • AnonD-4254
                  • XNw
                  • 18 May 2016

                  AnonD-100398, 18 May 2016Correct but then that smartphone will cost a fortune. A phone with 1 camera instead of 2, with just a motorised system of turning the camera, and with good build quality is going to cost more... I don't think so.

                  See, all we need is a 180* revolving camera in each phone, and Oppo N3 is already an example... This will reduce space requirements and thus improve our cameras... :)

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                    • Davood
                    • FeG
                    • 18 May 2016

                    If SONY wants to start the camera game I am not sure which company can keep up with it.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • LC8
                      • 18 May 2016

                      Jason melling , 18 May 2016I'm sure it's a good phone but it is so so ugly !! Why do m... morenot true it goes for lg g5

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                        • Gon-j
                        • th1
                        • 18 May 2016

                        Sony stated they'll be focusing on xperia x series(XA,X & X Perf.). This means they'll be using these 3 as base(budget, mid & flagship respectively) and from there they'll insert the compact, premium or ultra versions or w/e. Am I right?

                          Tann Hauser, 18 May 2016No it doesnt, you just proved Sony has best camera results.... moreWell at least until now, some details in shots were processed so much they even ceased to exist. It's not that I hate a bit of noise, it's just that there is too much noise in xperias and it feels so unnatural that you won't want to see details, like zoom-in shot of faces. To process again every photo because of that is too much of trouble. But from what they said on face-to-face you can shoot then in resolution that look best on your screen, but nobody does that, right? That is also reason for using auto 8Mp mode until now, also not allowing better zoom in gallery, autocorrect Manual settings when shooting. And with camera UI similar to apple, just what's the reason for more Mp? Even banning 4K, that in Z line looks horrible(see it here with gsma tools). Every their move is for you to shoot simply, fast and in lower resolution. Do not joke that you want to process shots through noise filter after they destroy it with their processing - it's the exact opposite what they intended in that phone. But as fan I guess you got no choice, my condolences.

                            vrvly, 18 May 2016It huuurts. But true: sony wouldn't win even with 100Mp. Wh... moreNo it doesnt, you just proved Sony has best camera results... ;-)
                            Its your personal prefference to have less detail for less noise, as is mine to have more noise with more detail
                            But Sonys shot gives most of the three
                            You can remove noise with photoprocessing app if it bothers you, on this 200% crop, but you cant add more detail. ;-)

                            And the fact remains Sony does without OIS what others need OIS for

                              Logic, 18 May 2016I have a blackberry and I can filter images as much as I wa... moreI'm not sure if X series got better processing(meaning - not destroying details), but XA Ultra selfie got a way less noise as seen in xperia main cameras. Still, to call it best cam, when camera UI is apple-like and hard to manually control(not like LG,Lumia,samsung) and its not even full manual control(not sure even if raw there is). Even my old Lumia520 got more reliable&easy manual camera. Also with the look of X line I don't think its such leap to be a lot better than Z line(no 4K,QHD,size,battery and so on), so I don't think somebody made them look bad, because they are very sony-like - more details&noise. If you look back to Z1-Z5 you can see them getting better, but other brands went for 5Mp-from-Lumia1020 feeling - meaning less noise, and while sony lead with most Mp, you don't have such control of camera like V10. Hardly you can call it best camera. You could call it best camera hardware instead.

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                                • AnonD-527248
                                • tRg
                                • 18 May 2016

                                c'mon man, whoever said big screen phones can't have flagship specs? been waiting for a 6"+ with SD820.. but noooo!!!!.. not Samsung A9 pro, Oppo R9 Plus, Xiao Mi Max, and now Sony XA Ultra? WTF??? looks like i'm sticking to my Huawei P8Max until something decent comes along

                                  AnonD-404798, 18 May 2016resolution isn't everything in photography...you obviously ... moreI didn't say resolution is everything, but I did say better resolution should be of better quality than in sony xperias. What the **** you want?

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                                    • Logic
                                    • nC2
                                    • 18 May 2016

                                    vrvly, 18 May 2016It huuurts. But true: sony wouldn't win even with 100Mp. Wh... moreI have a blackberry and I can filter images as much as I want . what I'm trying to say there are a lot of filtering apps to play with the clearance of images. Someone could have made x perf shots look bad. Xperia Z5 got the best camera of 2015, and Xperia X perf got upgraded better one, isn't it?!

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                                      • AnonD-404798
                                      • d%{
                                      • 18 May 2016

                                      vrvly, 18 May 2016Actually if photo got less noise it looks better, no matter... moreresolution isn't everything in photography...you obviously know nothing , like I said you are hopeless ...

                                        AnonD-404798, 18 May 2016yeah there is noise so what ?? other two have less noise bu... moreActually if photo got less noise it looks better, no matter how many details have other one, since it's painful just to watch. Even bigger difference can be seen in 4K from sony vs. other brands. And 2x resolution should be 2x better, if not then its such %$*&!? sensor like in sony. As example you can compare Z5's shots with motoXforce(with SONY sensor(older!), no ois, same aperture) here in gsma(shots/videos).