Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra review

Introduction

The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra upgrades the mainstream XA2 with a huge screen and a whole bunch of selfie-taking goodies such as a high-end dual-selfie rig, OIS, autofocus, and a front-facing flash.

The Xperia XA2 Ultra is also about the large-screen phablet experience. The side screen bezels are as minimal as it gets and Sony has made sure the XA2 Ultra has more RAM than the XA2 to properly utilize all that space with split-screen multitasking.

There is now a fingerprint scanner as well - positioned at the back, just below your index finger. And yes, the USA models won't have that locked away for good, as was the case until recently.

All the Xperia vibe is present, of course - the loop design, the high-res main camera, latest Android Oreo with Xperia UI and apps all over it, promising battery life, and notable FM radio and dedicated microSD slot for both single and dual SIM models.

Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra specs:

• Body: Aluminum frame, polycarbonate back; silver, black, blue, and gold color schemes.
• Display: 6" 1,080x1,920 IPS LCD, 367ppi pixel density.
• Rear camera: 23MP, 1/2.3" sensor size, f/2.0 aperture, 25mm-equiv. focal length. Hybrid (PD/contrast) autofocus. 2160p/30fps video recording.
• Front cameras: Primary: 16MP, 1/2.6" sensor size, 16:9 aspect, f/2.0 aperture, OIS; autofocus. Secondary: 8MP, 120-degree field of view; fixed focus. 1080p/30fps video recording.
• OS/Software: Android 8.0 Oreo, Xperia launcher
• Chipset: Snapdragon 630: octa-core 2.2GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, Adreno 508 GPU.
• Memory: 4GB of RAM; 32/64GB storage; dedicated microSD slot for expansion.
• Battery: 3,580 mAh (sealed); QuickCharge 3.0 fast charging.
• Connectivity: Single/Dual SIM; LTE Cat. 12/13 (600Mbps download); USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; GPS; NFC; Bluetooth 5; FM radio
• Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint reader; single speaker on the bottom; 3.5mm jack; two-stage hardware camera shutter release key.

While the Xperia XA2 Ultra is more of a niche device and most of the spotlight is reserved for the XA2, we won't try to hide we are more excited about the Ultra. It has a nice big screen fitted with zero frames left and right, there is a unique set of selfie snappers with flash and stabilization, and a respectable battery that coupled with the efficient Snapdragon 630 chip should do for some great power autonomy. Color us intrigued, so let's pop this Ultra out of the box!

Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra Unboxing

Hold those drum rolls, please, as the retail package of XA2 Ultra is probably the most trivial aspect of this whole review. Just like a bunch of Sonys to come before the Ultra, this one is bundled with a USB-C cable and a sluggish 1.5A plug, even though the phone supports QC3.0 fast charging.

That's it - no headphones or a case. Of course, as usual for Sony phones, the retail bundle will vary from one market to the other, so it's best to double check what you are supposed to get in the box in your own country.