Sony Xperia Z Ultra hands-on: First look

Sony Xperia Z Ultra accessories hands-on

Sony also showcased the new Magnetic Charging Dock, the DK30. It features a magnet that pulls the phone to the correct position, so you can plug the Z Ultra in it without even looking. The dock also keeps the phablet at a comfortable viewing angle if you need to use it while it's charging.

Sony DK30 magnetic charging dock

With such a large device Sony has thoughtfully added the Smart Bluetooth Handset as an accessory. It can be used as a Bluetooth headset or a mini phone depending on your taste and offers HD Voice (if your carrier supports it).

Sony SBH52 Smart Bluetooth Handset

Sony also brought out the new SmartWatch 2, which is a successor of the original SmartWatch and the Live View before it. It has updated features and looks much better than its predecessors.

Sony SmartWatch 2

It's more rectangular than the first SmartWatch, which aligns with the aesthetics of the current Xperia Z devices better. The glass front and metal sides and aluminum Power key on the side (where the crown would be) go especially well with the Xperia Z Ultra.

The SmartWatch 2 has a new 1.6" TFT display with 220 x 176 pixels resolution (previous models had 128x128) and thinner bezels, which also contribute to the improved looks - the watch face look sharper and aren't crowded by the bezel. You can choose between multiple watch faces too.

Just like regular watches, you can customize this one with regular 24mm straps. At launch there will be a genuine leather and a metal strap, but Sony plans to introduce more later on (or you can just grab a standard 24mm strap).

Sony SmartWatch 2 • the leather strap

It's slightly water resistant as well - according to its product page you shouldn't dunk it under water, but there's also an IP 57 certificate mentioned so getting it wet shouldn't be a problem.

But this is more than a regular watch - it uses Bluetooth 3.0 and NFC to pair with an Android phone so you can receive notifications without having to pull out the phone (which in the case of the Xperia Z Ultra might be a problem if you carry it in a backpack).

With a touchscreen and Android controls, you can easily control the phone too. You can use it to control the stock apps - show text messages and incoming calls as well as give you Facebook and Twitter updates, show calendar entries and act as a remote for the music player. Sony's open APIs should allow devs to hook up third party apps too. By the sound of it, it's compatible with current apps for the old SmartWatch.

The Sony SmartWatch 2 can function autonomously too with standard watch functions like timer or stopwatch along with a compass mode.

In terms of battery life, Sony is promising a week of light usage and four days of moderate use.