Japanese consumer electronics major, Sony, has finally launched the Xperia XA Ultra smartphone in India earlier today, after having unveiled it last May. The device has been priced at RS 29,990 ($450) and will be available for purchase at all official Sony Center outlets as well as major brick-and-mortar retail stores across the country. According to reports, the phablet will be offered in three different colors – White, Graphite Black and Lime Gold. As part of the launch offer, Sony is bundling RS 2,000 ($30) worth of free content with the device, including 3 months of free subscriptions each to Sony LIV and Hungama Play streaming services. While the first package is worth Rs. 299 ($4.5), the second comes with a price-tag of Rs. 750 ($112). The device also comes with Rs 1,000 ($15) worth of free e-books from Kindle.
The Xperia XA Ultra is a mid-range phablet from Sony that comes with a massive 6-inch 1080p display as its main selling point. That’s keeping in line with the whole host of giant phablets that are being launched by various manufacturers in recent times. While such devices continue to remain fairly niche, their popularity has been on the rise in recent times, what with media consumption on mobile devices increasing sharply with every passing year. Only recently have companies like Xiaomi, Lenovo, Asus and Nubia launched their latest mid-range phablets with massive displays of at least 6-inches and above. While Lenovo’s Phab2 Pro features a 6.4-inch display, Xiaomi’s Mi Max actually does one better by flaunting an even larger 6.44-inch screen.
As for the ZenFone 3 Ultra from Asus and the Nubia Z11 Max from ZTE, both come with relatively modest 6-inch display panels, much like the Xperia XA Ultra from Sony. The rest of the tech specs of Sony’s latest mid-range phablet include a MediaTek Helio P10 SoC, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a 2,700 mAh battery. Imaging options include a 21.5-megapixel primary camera with a Sony Exmos RS sensor, while the front-facing camera comes with a 16-megapixel Sony Exmor R sensor with Optical Image Stabilization, an 88-degree wide-angle lens and a selfie-flash. Connectivity features include 4G LTE, WiFi 820.11 a/b/g/n , Bluetooth 4.1, GPS and NFC, while on the software front, Android 6.0 Marshmallow will come preinstalled presumably, with Sony’s Xperia UI laid on top.