Sony launches 6-inch Xperia T2 Ultra phablet for Rs 25,990 in India, is it worth a buy?

After introducing Xperia Z1 Compact, a mini version of its flagship Xperia Z1 smartphone for Rs 36,990 last month, Sony is at it again. The company has now launched a 6-inch phablet in the Indian handset market. Christened Xperia T2 Ultra, the device was first unveiled in Jan this year. While the company had announced both a single-SIM as well as a dual-SIM version of the device, only the latter has hit the Indian market.

Here is a quick look at the specifications of the device.

The phablet features a 6 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display (1280×720 pixels resolution) and runs on the Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) operating system. It is powered by a 1.4 GHz Qualcomm MSM8928 quad-core processor and has 1GB RAM. The device offers 8GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card.

It has a 13MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash that can record full HD videos (1080p) at 30 frames per second. The camera is built with the very same components as Sony's digital cameras, and features an Exmor RS for mobile image sensor and HDR for both pictures and videos. In addition, there is a 1.1MP front facing camera for video calling that can also record HD videos. On the connectivity front, the device has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi (with Wi-Fi Direct), 3G, & 4G LTE, and it also has a microUSB port & a microSD card slot.

Xperia T2 Ultra measures 165.2mm x 83.8mm x 7.65mm and weighs 172 gm. Sony has added a 3,000 mAh battery in the device, which it claims will provide up to 24 hours of talk time, 10 hours of video playback time and up to 1,071 hours of standby time. The phablet also comes with Near Field Communication (NFC), FM radio with RDS, and GPS (with A-GPS support). It comes with dual-SIM capability and is available in black, white, and purple colours.

A battery 'STAMINA Mode' has also been provided in the device, which recognises when users are not using their display and automatically turns off the functions they don't need, while keeping the notifications they want. As soon as you press the power button to wake up your screen, everything is up and running again. Note that with battery STAMINA Mode, Wi-Fi and data traffic are disabled during standby, but you still receive incoming calls, texts and alarms. However, you can customise which apps you want to receive push notifications from even in standby mode.

In terms of it's pricing, as well as its screen size (5.5 inch and above), Xperia T2 Ultra will compete with the likes of Gionee Elife E7 (Rs 25,479), Huawei Ascend Mate (Rs 24,000), Lenovo K900 (Rs 24,790), Nokia Lumia 1320 (Rs 23,499), HP Slate 6 Voice Tab (Rs 22,790), and Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 (Rs 23,390), among others.

While Sony had drastically over-priced the Xperia Z1 Compact smartphone, we feel that this time around it has learned from its mistake. At Rs 25,990, users looking for a decent phablet can definitely give Xperia T2 Ultra a try.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)