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.
Sony Xperia XA2 vs. Xperia XA2 Ultra
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.
Design
The Xperia XA2 Ultra is huge, there is no doubt about that. It's not everybody's cup of tea and far from the mainstream tall and bezel-less trend. It's also one of the largest and heaviest phones we've had around for a while. But we like it.
The third Ultra is taller than the original Mi Mix and only slightly narrower. It weighs 221g, twelve more than said Mi Mix. While its footprint looks kind of similar to the XA1 Ultra's, the new one is actually 2mm shorter, but 1mm thicker. Oh, and it's 33g heavier!
The XA2 Ultra is pretty much an oversized XA2. Sony has kept the loop design for yet another year but enhanced it that rounded back look. And we meant that with no offense implied - the bump at the back actually improves the grip and the overall feel and handling, so we began to dig it in time.
The frame is all metal - the left and right sides are curved as part of the loop shape. The top and bottom are thoughtfully made flat and the Ultra can stand solidly still without on its own.
The 6" screen lays frame-to-frame as seen on the XA2, but the chin and the top bezel haven't shrunk as much. Still, the curved front glass seamlessly continuing towards the curved frame, and the edge-to-edge screen make for a rather immersive effect. And we can forgive the lack of trimming because of that impressive selfie gear.
The back of the XA2 Ultra is bumpy, as we noted before, but in a rather pleasant way. Why some may genuinely think as if the battery has swollen, this design extravaganza probably allowed for the bigger battery and for sure made the Ultra grippy to hold.
The fingerprint scanner is now put on the back and is unlocked to work on every market. This means the previously huge and flat Lock key is now gone, replaced by the old and kinda iconic tiny and circular button. Around is also the two-step hardware shutter, but even though once we really appreciated this feature, now it's mostly obsolete as the hand pressure improves the chance of a blurry picture and pretty much everyone is now used to taking photos with a tap on the screen.
The XA2 Ultra we had is a single-SIM model, but if you get the dual-SIM one - it will come with a triple card slot for two nano-SIMs and a standalone bed for the microSD card. Nice!
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
The black Ultra easily attracts smudges, while this isn't a problem on the gold option. You should have that in mind when choosing a color.
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
Display
The Xperia XA2 Ultra is equipped with a 6-inch IPS display of FullHD resolution, making for an okayish 367ppi density. While far from a flagship-grade, 367ppi is enough to avoid pixelization and even if you try, you won't see individual pixels.
Sony promises 500nits of brightness and even before we put the XA2 Ultra through our display test, it looked very promising.
In our tests, the Xperia XA2 Ultra improved over the XA1 Ultra and demonstrated an excellent maximum brightness of 630nits. The black levels are deep enough and thus the contrast ratio is excellent at north of 1500:1.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.404 | 631 | 1562 | |
| 0.382 | 603 | 1579 | |
| 0.401 | 532 | 1327 | |
| 0.548 | 555 | 1013 | |
| 0.289 | 515 | 1782 | |
| 0 | 437 | ∞ | |
| 0.297 | 431 | 1451 | |
| 0.357 | 546 | 1529 | |
| 0.401 | 519 | 1294 | |
| 0.59 | 583 | 986 | |
Outdoor visibility is great, just like it was on the XA1 Ultra, edging out the iPhone 7 Plus in this respect.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Apple iPhone X
5.013 - OnePlus 5T
4.789 - Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
4.459 - Oppo R11
4.454 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Nokia 8
4.239 - Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update)
4.234 - OnePlus 3T
4.232 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
4.148 - Meizu Pro 7 Plus
4.147 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
4.096 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Google Pixel 2 (pre-update)
4.023 - LG V30
4.022 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.998 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
3.957 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935 - Lenovo Moto Z
3.931 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - OnePlus 5
3.914 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
3.842 - Sony Xperia XZs
3.818 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.812 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - LG V20 Max auto
3.798 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767 - Sony Xperia XZ1
3.765 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
3.729 - Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
3.725 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - LG G6
3.556 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
3.445 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.378 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Honor 8 Pro
3.341 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Archos Diamond Omega
3.305 - Honor 9
3.289 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 5
3.261 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
3.238 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Oppo F3 Plus
3.218 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
3.19 - ZTE Nubia Z17
3.159 - Oppo R11s
3.153 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - HTC U11 Life
3.108 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - HTC U11
3.089 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Motorola Moto X4
3.012 - Sony Xperia XA1
3.012 - Sony Xperia L1
2.994 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - LG Q6
2.987 - Huawei P10 Lite
2.974 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Xiaomi Redmi 5
2.951 - Sony Xperia Z1
2.95 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Sony Xperia XA2
2.938 - Xiaomi Redmi 4
2.92 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - HTC One S
2.901 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Nokia 3
2.871 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Nokia 2
2.752 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
2.742 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
2.737 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Huawei Honor 7X
2.734 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Xiaomi Mi A1
2.689 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679 - vivo V7+
2.671 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite
2.654 - Oppo F5
2.653 - Doogee Mix
2.642 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
2.616 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2.561 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
2.556 - HTC U11+
2.556 - Lenovo K6 Note
2.544 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - BlackBerry Motion
2.494 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Meizu m3 max
2.447 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto)
2.417 - HTC 10 evo
2.407 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Vivo V7
2.404 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - HTC 10
2.378 - Oppo F3
2.376 - vivo V5 Plus
2.371 - Meizu m1 note
2.362 - Huawei nova plus
2.329 - Razer Phone
2.328 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Apple iPhone 4S
2.269 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - LG Nexus 5
2.228 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Meizu M5 Note
2.189 - Huawei Honor 6
2.169 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - LG Aka
2.145 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Xiaomi Mi 4S
2.095 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - vivo V5
2.059 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026 - Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996 - Sony Xperia E4g
1.972 - OnePlus One
1.961 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892 - HTC Butterfly
1.873 - Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772 - ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759 - Sony Xperia U
1.758 - Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68 - Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675 - ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659 - Jolla Jolla
1.605 - Motorola Moto E
1.545 - Sony Xperia M
1.473 - Samsung Galaxy S Duos
1.4 - Sony Xperia L
1.351 - HTC Desire C
1.3 - Meizu MX
1.221 - Sony Xperia E
1.215
It's color reproduction where the XA2 Ultra fails to impress. Its whites lean heavily towards cyan, to the tune of a DeltaE of around 10. The average DeltaE is an okay 5.7, but the whites you'll probably notice.
Sony has some options to basically make the colors punchy in pictures and videos. The option is within the display settings and you can opt for standard picture tuning or super-vivid.
Battery life
The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra is equipped with a 3,580mAh power pack - an impressive improvement over the 2,700 mAh backup of the XA1 Ultra, but merely 280mAh more than the XA2.
The phone supports Quick Charge 3.0, though our unit came with a 1.5A charger that fills 28% of a depleted battery in half an hour. Some regions might get the faster charger bundled. In our tests with a third-party QC 3.0 charger, the battery charged from 0% to 40% in 30min.
As on all its other phones, Sony has equipped the XA2 Ultra with Qnovo Adaptive Charging and Battery care to help prolong the life of the built-in power pack by carefully controlling charging parameters.
The XA2 Ultra aced all of our endurance tests and posted a respectable score of 100 hours.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Loudspeaker
The speaker on the Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra scored a Very Good mark in our loudness test, the same as the XA1 Ultra. The sound is rich and crisp, with good bass and clean high notes.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 67.1 | 66.2 | 68.1 | Average | |
| 61.7 | 69.7 | 71.8 | Average | |
| 67.2 | 71.1 | 80.7 | Good | |
| 66.5 | 73.1 | 79.6 | Very Good | |
| 68.7 | 72.7 | 78.3 | Very Good | |
| 68.3 | 71.6 | 81.0 | Very Good | |
| 69.2 | 70.6 | 81.6 | Very Good | |
| 67.8 | 71.0 | 84.5 | Very Good | |
| 68.8 | 73.9 | 80.8 | Very Good | |
| 78.4 | 71.7 | 79.2 | Excellent | |
Audio quality starts on the wrong foot, improves with headphones
The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra wasn't as bad as its smaller XA2 sibling when working with an active external amplifier, but its frequency response still left plenty to be desired. Intermodulation distortion was very high too, and generally the output was far from ideal. Worse yet, its output was just as quiet as the XA2.
Plugging in a pair of headphones once again restored the accuracy of the output and even if it did nothing to improve the volume the performance was much better here. Stereo quality was decent for the case too so as long as you never hook the XA2 Ultra to your home or car stereo, you should be reasonably happy with its output.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +2.78, -1.18 | -67.7 | 79.3 | 0.0026 | 16.764 | -92.7 | |
| +0.03, -0.04 | -92.9 | 90.8 | 0.029 | 0.015 | -59.6 | |
| +68.12, -25.56 | -92.8 | 79.3 | 0.0026 | 16.764 | -87.8 | |
| +0.05, -0.02 | -93.0 | 88.8 | 0.039 | 0.033 | -57.6 | |
| +0.02, -0.01 | -92.6 | 92.6 | 0.0021 | 0.012 | -94.4 | |
| +0.17, -0.03 | -92.0 | 92.1 | 0.0023 | 0.092 | -52.8 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -92.1 | 92.2 | 0.0038 | 0.0085 | -90.0 | |
| +0.30, -0.07 | -91.7 | 91.8 | 0.022 | 0.206 | -72.4 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -92.8 | 92.8 | 0.0032 | 0.031 | -92.3 | |
| +0.23, -0.15 | -92.1 | 91.8 | 0.013 | 0.223 | -77.3 |
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Android Oreo and Xperia launcher
The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra runs on Android 8.0 Oreo. Despite the latest Android OS, don't expect a radical change in the UI of the device compared to the XA1 series as most of the changes the new OS brings are under the hood.
The Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra have been added to the company’s Open Devices program. Sony is happy to provide developers with the resources to build aftermarket ROMs for all participating devices. So, users unhappy with the stock ROM should be able to use third-party ones, eventually. But most importantly, this means that a manufacturer-approved stock Android ROM is available for flashing on this phone.
Anyway, long-term Sony fans should feel right at home with what is essentially the same Xperia launcher and overall light level of OS customization.
The homescreen appears unchanged from previous Xperia generations. This includes the swipe down gesture, which shows a screen of the apps you use most along with recommendations for new apps to install. The search field is highlighted so you can start typing the app's name immediately.
Xperia launcher
The traditional app drawer is present, and you'll find a number of proprietary apps pre-installed. Sony takes great pride in the A/V prowess of its devices, and the multimedia apps are all custom and feature-rich - Album, Music, and the Video app.
App drawer • Album • Music • Video
Themes are available (both free and paid) that can customize the look and sound of the Xperia XA2 Ultra. Some themes are even interactive, with their wallpapers reacting to your touches. Besides themes, the Xperia launcher also offers wallpapers, grid settings and various transition animation options.
Themes
The notification drawer and the task switcher are very similar to the vanilla Android ones. There is also a Split Screen feature available to a limited number of apps.
Notifications • Toggles • Task Switcher • Split Screen
Finally, in addition to the fingerprint unlock, you can setup Smart Lock. It gives you conditional security - trusted nearby devices, locations, faces, or voices can allow you to skip the security protocol that you may have set up on the phone.
Benchmarks and performance
The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra, just like the XA2, uses the new mid-range chipset by Qualcomm - the Snapdragon 630. It is replacing the widespread and very efficient Snapdragon 625 that was the heart of a lot of smartphones throughout 2017.
The Snapdragon 630 chip offers a classic octa-core Cortex-A53 processor now clocked at 2.2GHz (up from 2.0GHz in S625). The GPU in charge of graphics is Adreno 508. The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra also comes with 4 gigs of RAM, 1 GB up from the XA2.
GeekBench is where we go first, and the Xperia XA2 Ultra scored the same as the U11 Life and Moto X4. This is a bit odd as those numbers are on par with the slower 2.0GHz CPU available on the Snapdragon 625 inside the Xiaomi Mi A1 and Redmi 5 Plus.
The Galaxy A8 is superior here, as it achieves this score with two A73 cores instead of four A53s.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
4418 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
4309 - Sony Xperia XA2
4215 - Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
4198 - HTC U11 Life
4140 - Motorola Moto X4
4136 - vivo V7+
3912 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3807 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3779 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite
3603 - Huawei Honor 7X
3535 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2445
Looking at some GFXBench onscreen graphic scores, the Adreno 508 inside the XA2 Ultra is on par, or slightly better, with the same GPUs inside the XA2, Moto X4 and U11 Life rivals. It is noticeably faster than the previous Adreno 506 (Xiaomi's phones), and Huawei's mid-range choice of Mali-T830, but closes to Samsung's most recent Mali-G71 inside the Galaxy A8.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- vivo V7+
17 - Motorola Moto X4
15 - Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
15 - Sony Xperia XA2
15 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
14 - HTC U11 Life
13 - Oppo F5
11 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
10 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
9.9 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
9.4 - Huawei Honor 7X
8.3 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite
7.9 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
5.1
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- vivo V7+
13 - Motorola Moto X4
11 - Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
10 - Sony Xperia XA2
10 - HTC U11 Life
9.6 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
8.7 - Oppo F5
6.8 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
6.7 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
6.4 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
6.2 - Huawei Honor 7X
4.7 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite
4.6 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.3
With comparable CPU performance and superior graphics results, it's no wonder the Xperia XA2 Ultra does great in the compound BaseMark OS benchmark. It's beaten only by the Galaxy A8 (2018), which has a better processor.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
2007 - Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
1548 - Sony Xperia XA2
1545 - Motorola Moto X4
1532 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite
1408 - Huawei Honor 7X
1398 - HTC U11 Life
1342 - vivo V7+
1290 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
1226 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
1163 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
1107 - Oppo F5
424 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
349
The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra delivers great performance for its class, and the new mid-range GPU looks very promising. The XA2 Ultra has balanced performance across the board, and we didn't experience any hiccups with the most popular games, social and office apps.
On another positive note, the XA2 Ultra won't get hot under pressure, won't need to throttle the performance to prevent overheating, and will keep its cool for long periods of running at full speed.
A 23MP that fails to impress, but that's not why you are here
It's a tradition to start our camera inspection with the main a.k.a. rear snapper(s). But if you are here for the star of the show - the selfie rig - feel free to scroll down.
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra, just like the Xperia XA2 and the entire XA1 series, comes equipped with a 23MP camera on its back. The sensor should be the in-house IMX300, which sits behind a familiar a 24mm-equiv. f/2.0 aperture lens. This year, though, it's gotten the complete set of features that the flagship Z5 series got back in the day such as 4K video recording, 120fps slow motion video, ISO 12,800 and hybrid auto focus with phase detection.
Depending on whether you shoot in 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio, different portions of the sensor are used; you get either 22.8MP or 20.1MP images, respectively, and never the full 25MP. Hence the official 23MP designation. Among the benefits of having such a multi-aspect sensor are the similar field of view in both modes (measured diagonally), and higher-res 16:9 shots than what you'd get by cropping from a regular 23MP sensor which has a 4:3 aspect ratio.
Sony's camera app has been polished over the years, but the Xperia XA2 Ultra, just like the XA2's, doesn't come with the latest version found on the XZ1 phones. This means if you want to shoot 4K video, you'll have to find it in the extra camera modes drawer, instead of the video-recording tab where you'd expect it to be.
Superior Auto is the default mode and it will try to adjust image parameters to better match the scene by recognizing among some two dozen different scenarios. It can also engage HDR for you (Backlit scene it's called), which isn't available as a toggle in this mode - it's only found in Manual mode.
Other than HDR override, in Manual mode you get access to full range shutter speed selection (1/4000s - 1s), exposure compensation, ISO, white balance, and a manual focus slider.
Camera app
The Xperia XA2 Ultra captures some very detailed images in bright light. There is, inevitably, visible noise in areas of uniform color, but not as much to impact the otherwise excellent quality.
Superior Auto does a good job of recognizing the scene and dials up the saturation in landscape scenarios to achieve pleasingly vivid output. It does the same for HDR scenes, too.
Dynamic range is decent. There's a hint of corner softness, but it's inevitable with such a wide-angle lens and it's in the extreme corners, so you shouldn't worry.
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra 23MP samples
HDR mode can only be enabled manually in, um, Manual mode, but Superior Auto has you covered with Backlit scene mode, when it recognizes that it's a difficult high-contrast scene. Manual HDR tends to produce super-saturated over-the-top images. For comparison, check out the shots below.
HDR off • HDR on
The Xperia XA2 Ultra's camera handled the low-light scenes well. There is enough detail, though a lot of it was smudged in post processing by the noise reduction algorithm. While the night pictures are nothing impressive at 23MP, once downscaled at 5 or 8MP, they are quite nice.
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra 23MP low-light scenes
If you set the phone up on a tripod, the shutter speed in Superior Auto can go as low as 0.5s, at least in theory. You can slow it even further - to 1s - if you switch to Manual. We wish Sony allowed for longer shutter speeds (say, 30s) but long exposure shooting is a niche application for a phone camera anyway.
Here are two flagship-grade samples in quality shot at the slowest possible shutter speed of 1s. Oddly, those were saved in 8MP by the camera app perhaps in an effort to reduce noise.
Low-light samples shot at 1s shutter speed
Finally, the panoramic shots the Xperia XA2 Ultra produces have a height of up to 3,500 pixels. Width is up to you, though, since you can stop the capturing process at any time. The resolved detail is average, and the samples are quite soft, but there are no stitching artifacts, unless you shoot moving objects.
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra panorama
You can put the Xperia XA2 Ultra against other phones in our Picture Compare Tool. We've preselected the Xperia XA1 and the Z5.
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra vs. XA1 Ultra vs. Z5 in our photo compare tool
An impressive selfie setup
The massive screen may be what earns that Ultra moniker in the Xperia realm, but the Ultras also have had a specific fixation on selfie photography. The XA2 Ultra doesn't break that tradition. One-upping last year's model and staying on top of trends, this third generation comes with two front cameras - teaming up the 16MP unit of the XA1 Ultra with the ultra-wide shooter of this year's XA2.
The primary 16MP (16:9) selfie cam has a more conventional, yet still pretty wide, 21mm equivalent focal length (EXIF says so, hence about a 90-something degree diagonal FOV). It's f/2.0 lens got autofocus, unlike the 8MP one, and its optics are stabilized - that's a spec sheet fat enough to beat some primary cameras.
The secondary 8MP (4:3) cam is a 1/4" snapper with f/2.4 lens with an impressively wide field of view. 120-degree, or a 11mm equivalent should be enough even for the most ambitious group shots. There is no autofocus or stabilization for this one.
Unfortunately, the selfie image quality turned out subpar no matter which camera we used. There is below average detail, the photos are soft and look out of focus even when the 16MP snapper does come with AF.
Sometimes the soft skin effect smears fine detail to an extent where it makes the face look weird, so we'd generally suggest turning this option off.
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra 16MP regular selfies
On a positive note, the wide shots are quite impressive because of how much they fit in the frame. We are sure quite a few selfie fans will appreciate this lens.
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra 8MP wide selfies
We expected the optical stabilization and the autofocus to help when snapping selfies in low-light, but we were so wrong. The images are soft, noisy, and even the focus is not right. And we chose some of the keepers, as a lot of the night-time selfies came out blurry beyond salvation.
Low-light normal selfie • low-light normal selfie • low-light wide selfie
Having a flash helps, but we'd say it helped way too much for the night selfies. No matter which flash mode we tried, our faces came out zombie looking.
Low-light normal selfie + flash • low-light normal selfie + flash • low-light wide selfie + flash
Video recording
The Xperia XA2 Ultra's shooting modes include 4K with SteadyShot video stabilization and all the standards you would expect - 1080p/30fps and high-speed 1080p/60fps options. There is also a 120fps recording in 720p.
Shooting in 2160p/1080p at 30fps allows you to use the 3-axis Standard SteadyShot electronic stabilization. The feature reduces the field of view and does a good job stabilizing the image. While it's not the best we've seen, it's more than enough for the class. Here is a playlist for the EIS test:
4K clips are soft with average detail, but with great contrast, accurate colors, and decent dynamic range. The audio is captured at 96kbps and unfortunately, appears to be low in quality.
When shooting in 4K, the XA2 Ultra gives you a choice between H.264 or H.265 codecs. The latter has a smaller storage footprint, but pixel-peeping didn't reveal any potential differences in quality between the two. So, it's a safe bet to opt for the newer and more efficient standard, especially now that YouTube supports it. When you are not uploading your videos to the cloud but are checking them out on the computer, be aware though that H.265 requires a more powerful PC for playback compared to H.264.
1080p videos are sharper, with lots of detail, good contrast and decent dynamic range as well. The framerate is smooth no matter if you opt for 30 or 60fps.
You can download short untouched samples as well - 4K (11s, 56MB), 1080p at 30fps (10s, 27MB), and 1080p at 60fps (12s, 43MB).
Below you have the Xperia XA2 Ultra in out video compare tool as well.
2160p: Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra vs. Moto X4 vs. Xperia Z5 in our 4K video compare tool
We captured some day and low-light videos with the front cams of the XA2 Ultra. Just like the still selfies, the clips are nothing impressive contrary to our expectations. You can disable the optical stabilization for the selfie video recording, but no matter on or off - we just couldn't see much of a difference.
This is a playlist with all selfie videos we took with the XA2 Ultra:
The Competition
Sony may have secured an impressive selfie configuration and a massive screen for the Xperia XA2 Ultra, but that's a popular forward thinking and not an uncommon trend.
The vivo V7+ is equally big, but inferior in resolution and chipset. Its 24MP selfie shooter turned out one of the best front cams we've seen to date with superb image quality and nice bokeh effects. Even though it can't benefit from an OIS, or a secondary fisheye-like snapper, we somehow find it more likable than the Ultra's.
Huawei's Mate 10 Lite has four cams - 2 at the back and two at the front. It snaps promising images from both sides, does well bokeh shots, and have some nice low-light modes. The Mate 10 Lite screen is 6" big with the trendy 18:9 aspect ratio. It's cheaper than the Ultra but seems to be doing better in quite a few aspects.
Samsung's recently released Galaxy A8 (2018) is a very good match for the Xperia XA2 Ultra. It may lack the whole six inches of screen, but it's a SuperAMOLED one of the new wide kind. And everything else is better - more premium design, a water-tight body, better and brighter main camera, a way more impressive dual-cam selfie rig. The A8 (2018) is slightly cheaper than the XA2 Ultra and beats it in almost every round. It has an A8+ model, too, if the massive screen is a must.
Finally, if we are to match the XA2 Ultra current price, there is the OnePlus 5T sitting dangerously close. Sure, OnePlus had some trust issues lately, but there is no doubt about how good the 5T is - latest Snapdragon processor, 6" AMOLED screen, has a very nice 16MP selfie eye with EIS, and much more.
vivo V7+ • Huawei Mate 10 Lite • Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) • OnePlus 5T
The Verdict
The Xperia XA2 Ultra is doing great in its domain - a massive screen and an impressive selfie experience. If you aren't a grumpy old-school person, then there is a good chance you like to take selfies and share your face occasionally on the social networks. Sightseeing, dining, beaching, clubbing, hiking, biking, vlogging, or maybe even duckfacing (how about no! - ed.) - the Xperia XA2 Ultra is ready for any occasion but swimming.
Pros
- Bright and contrasty gigantic screen
- Fingerprint scanner on the back
- Very capable main camera with 4K video recording and EIS
- The selfie config is impressive
- Battery life is great
- Android Oreo at launch
Cons
- The produced selfies can't live up to the expectations
- Somewhat bulky design comparted to its competitors
- Rather expensive at launch
Here is the thing - the Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra is an excellent niche smartphone that should win both loyal fans and phablet users on its side. But it has been plagued by some issue, which Sony has been known for, and yet a resolution isn't coming. Sure, the always-bluish screen is hardly a deal breaker, as well as the limited low-light capabilities of the otherwise well-specked main camera. But there is no excuse for the lackluster selfie quality when so much hardware has been put in play.
The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra is a well thought out smartphone, you can tell that right away. It packs the power punch to succeed in the mid-range, throws a high-end 23MP camera in the mix, and that large 6" screen looks very tempting. Not to mention the stellar battery life.
The launch price is not working in its favor though, but we are sure it will settle down in a couple of months to more palatable levels. We only wish it really did deliver on the selfie promise. And is IP67 water- and dust resistance too much to ask in the upper midrange these days? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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