6" (and larger) device alternatives to replace our Xperia Z Ultra (10+ device specs) - Sony Xperia Z Ultra

6" (and larger) device alternatives to replace our Xperia Z Ultra (10+ device specs)
Let us make this the thread where all current and future devices with a screen at least 6 inches or more are discussed, so that when the day comes to choose a replacement for our beloved XZU, we will be ready.
List of Latest Contenders
1. Sony Xperia XA Ultra, 6.0", Mediatek Helio P10
2. Lenovo Phab2 Pro, 6.4", Snapdragon 652
3. LeEco Le Max X900, 6.33", Snapdragon 810
4. Xiaomi Mi Max, 6.44", Snapdragon 650
5. Zenfone 3 Ultra, 6.8", Snapdragon 652
6. Huawei Mate 8, 6", Kirin 959
7. Huawei P8 Max, 6.8", Kirin 935
8. Samsung Galaxy A9, 6", Snapdragon 652
I think phones such as Sony C5 Ultra are outmoded now. I would not consider buying a device with a processor less than Snapdragon 650 and I would very much prefer my new phone to come with Android Marshmallow.
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26 June 2016 UPDATE
Sony Xperia XA Ultra:
Screen: 6.0" 1080x1920 pixels
CPU: Mediatek MT6755 Helio P10
RAM: 3GB
Storage: 16GB, microSD upto 256GB
Status: Announced May 2016, Coming Soon
XDA forum:
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xa_ultra-8102.php
Hands on preview: http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xa_ultra_hands_on-review-1440.php
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13 June 2016 UPDATE
Lenovo Phab2 Pro:
Screen: 6.4" 1440x2560 pixels
CPU: Snapdragon 652
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB, microSD upto 256GB
Status: Expected September 2016
XDA forum:
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/lenovo_phab2_pro-8145.php
Engadget, Hands on: https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/09/lenovo-phab2-pro-hands-on/
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12 June 2016 UPDATE
LeEco Le Max X900:
Screen: 6.33" 1440x2560 pixels
CPU: Snapdragon 810
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64/128GB, NO microSD
Status: Released January 2016
XDA forum:
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/leeco_le_max-8054.php
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31 MAY 2016 UPDATE
Two latest phones announced just now, Mi Max and Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra!
Mi Max:
Screen: 6.44" 1080x1920 pixels
CPU: Snapdragon 650
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 32/64GB, microSD upto 200GB
Status: Released May 2016
XDA forum:
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_max-8057.php
Zenfone 3 Ultra:
Screen: 6.8" 1080x1920 pixels
CPU: Snapdragon 652
RAM: 3/4GB
Storage: 32/64/128GB, microSD upto 200GB
Status: Announced May 2016, Coming soon
XDA forum:
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/asus_zenfone_3_ultra_zu680kl-8130.php
(Bear in mind, though, Zenfone 3 Ultra is slated to weigh 233 grams, whereas Mi Max only weighs 203 grams. For reference, our XZU is 212 grams.)
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I have only included models that were released in 2015 (or will be released later). Hence I have not included such models as Huawei Ascend Mate7 or Asus Zenphone 6.
Sony Xperia C5 Ultra:
Screen: 6" 1080x1920 pixels, incredibly small bezel,
CPU: Mediatek MT6752
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 16GB, microSD upto 200GB
Status: Released August 2015
XDA forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-c5-ultra (No root yet)
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_c5_ultra-7463.php
Youtube reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v98TsyWS-Qk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLvU9qFfIEw (Compared to Sony Xperia M5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI8UjXEz8kA (Camera review)
There is a dual SIM version of C5 Ultra.
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
Screen: 6" 720x1280 IPS LCD
CPU: Snapdragon 400
RAM: 1GB
Storage: 8GB internal, microSD upto 32GB
Camera: 13MP still, 1080p video
Battery: 3000mAH Li-Ion
Status: Released May 2015
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_t2_ultra-5965.php
XDA Forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/t2-ultra
Youtube reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQQGezmMqYg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDT0cd8zpwU
Samsung Galaxy A9
Screen: 6" full HD Super AMOLED
CPU: Snapdragon 652
RAM: 3GB
Status: Released, 2016 January
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a9_(2016)-7641.php
Samsung Galaxy S7+ (Did not materialize)
Rumored to be the 6 inch version of the latest Galaxy device.
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/exclusive_samsung_galaxy_s7_to_come_in_three_sizes_51_55_and_6-news-15757.php
Huawei Mate 8
Screen: 6" full HD IPS-NEO LCD
CPU: HiSilicon Kirin 959
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 32GB internal, microSD card slot
Camera: 16MP still, 1080p video
Battery: 4000mAH Li-Po
Status: Released November 2015
XDA Forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-8
Oppo R7 Plus
Screen: 6" 1080x1920 AMOLED
CPU: Snapdragon 615
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 32GB internal, microSD card upto 128GB (There is also a version with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage)
Camera: 13MP still, 1080p video
Battery: 4100mAH Li-Po
Status: Released May 2015
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/oppo_r7_plus-7237.php
Gionee Marathon M5 Plus
Screen: 6" 1080x1920 pixels AMOLED
CPU: Mediatek MT6753
RAM: 3GB
Storage: 64GB internal, microSD card upto 128GB
Camera: 13MP still, 1080p video
Battery: 5020mAH Li-Po
Status: Released December 2015
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/gionee_marathon_m5_plus-7830.php
Unboxing and Quick Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpAvkW8CX1Y
Huawei P8 Max
Screen: 6.8" full HD LTPS IPS LCD (1080x1920)
CPU: HiSilicon Kirin 935
RAM: 3GB
Storage: 64GB internal, microSD card slot
Camera: 13MP still, 1080p video
Battery: 4360mAH Li-Po
Status: Released July 2015
XDA Forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/p8max (Root probably not available)
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_p8max-7200.php
Some youtube videos:
Hands on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COilfGGStZk
Benchmark comp w/ Lenovo Phab Plus&Samsung Galaxy Mega: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur8-iCCjRZs
Comparison w/ Lenovo Phab Plus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFec3m2ffh4
Huawei Mate 8 vs P8Max: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPO9XQ6Dwnc
I have had a chance to use Huawei P8Max that belongs to a friend for a few minutes. It looks great and only slightly larger than our Xperia Z Ultra. The screen is very nice, the phone is quite responsive. THough my friend complained a bit about the phone taking a very long time to charge. My only concern with Huawei devices is the lack of root access&almost no ROM development. P8Max has Kirin 935 CPU which sits one level below the current flagship Kirin, 950.
Huawei MediaPad X2
1200x1920 Pixel, 7" Screen
16 or 32 GB internal SD
Three variants, GEM-701L (European), GEM-702L (International), GEM-703L (Chinese)
Only the chinese Version get's proper upodates, but the community ports them very fast to the other models, especially with the KangVIP ROM. Variants have different software installed (chinese variant without GApps), only the european variant supports LTE Band 20.
2 GB RAM (16 GB variant) / 3 GB RAM (32 GB variant)
HiSilicon Kirin 930 octa core CPU / GPU Mali-T628+ i3 co-processor
13 MPixel main camera / 5 MPixel front camera
5000 mAh battery
Dual-SIM
Mainly build as a tablet, but full phone functionality, no headset nessesary.
Reference: http://consumer.huawei.com/en/tablets/tech-specs/mediapad-x2.htm
Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk3S2K9zVIY
Status: Already available
Lenovo Phab Plus
Screen: 6" 1080x1920 IPS
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 615
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 32GB internal, microSD card upto 64GB
Camera: 13MP still, 1080p? video
Battery: 3500mAH Li-Po
Status: Released October 2015
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/lenovo_phab_plus-7557.php
XDA Forum: Does not have own forum yet. However, this discussion in XDA XZU subforum about Phab Plus is quite informative:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z-ultra/general/xperia-ultra-z-successor-lenovo-t3190652
Phone Arena youtube review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uRDkGeQ79s
LeTV Le Max Pro (Not materialized?)
Screen: 6.33" 2560x1440 IPS
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 32GB/64GB/128GB internal, microSD card slot NOT AVAILABLE
Camera: 21MP rear camera with OIS, 2MP Ultrapixel front camera
Battery: 3400mAH
Status: Pricing and availability not announced yet
Comes with USB Type-C connector& Android Marshmallow (6.0)
Android Authority: http://www.androidauthority.com/letv-le-max-pro-first-look-666454/
(Hat tip Definingmomentz)

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Huawei MediaPad X2
1200x1920 Pixel, 7" Screen
16 or 32 GB internal SD
Three variants, GEM-701L (European), GEM-702L (International), GEM-703L (Chinese)
Only the chinese Version get's proper upodates, but the community ports them very fast to the other models, especially with the KangVIP ROM. Variants have different software installed (chinese variant without GApps), only the european variant supports LTE Band 20.
2 GB RAM (16 GB variant) / 3 GB RAM (32 GB variant)
HiSilicon Kirin 930 octa core CPU / GPU Mali-T628+ i3 co-processor
13 MPixel main camera / 5 MPixel front camera
5000 mAh battery
Dual-SIM
Mainly build as a tablet, but full phone functionality, no headset nessesary.
Reference: http://consumer.huawei.com/en/tablets/tech-specs/mediapad-x2.htm
Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk3S2K9zVIY
Status: Already available

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What about this http://m.gsmarena.com/huawei_mate_8-7239.php
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk

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http://www.gsmarena.com/lenovo_phab_plus-7557.php

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Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact SGP621
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z3_tablet_compact-6633.php

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Huawei P8 Max
Screen: 6.8" full HD LTPS IPS LCD (1080x1920)
CPU: HiSilicon Kirin 935
RAM: 3GB
Storage: 64GB internal, microSD card slot
Camera: 13MP still, 1080p video
Battery: 4360mAH Li-Po
Status: Released July 2015
XDA Forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/p8max (Root probably not available)
GSM Arena: http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_p8max-7200.php
Some youtube videos:
Hands on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COilfGGStZk
Benchmark comp w/ Lenovo Phab Plus&Samsung Galaxy Mega: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur8-iCCjRZs
Comparison w/ Lenovo Phab Plus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFec3m2ffh4
Huawei Mate 8 vs P8Max: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPO9XQ6Dwnc
I have had a chance to use Huawei P8Max that belongs to a friend for a few minutes. It looks great and only slightly larger than our Xperia Z Ultra. The screen is very nice, the phone is quite responsive. THough my friend complained a bit about the phone taking a very long time to charge. My only concern with Huawei devices is the lack of root access&almost no ROM development. P8Max has Kirin 935 CPU which sits one level below the current flagship Kirin, 950.

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Hows the camera and performance if compared to z ultra....

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martin132014 said:
Hows the camera and performance if compared to z ultra....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, in my opinion the camera on our phones is well I can't put it nicely, it's a ****ty camera in my opinion.
My gf had a huawei p7 and the camera was way way better then the camera from my xzu.
Gesendet von meinem C6833 mit Tapatalk

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LeTV Max Pro
6.33" display
2k resolution Display
Snapdragon 810(on eBay) \ new one has 820
4 GB ram
32gb/64gb/128gb
No microsd slot
21 MP camera

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It's Mobile World Congress in a matter of weeks, so I am hoping there will be more phablets announced, in particularly a Z5 or Z6 Ultra.

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I just ordered the mate 8. I got the Z5p but its too small, so I guess I'll be sacrificing ip68 for a while.

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loudog3114 said:
I just ordered the mate 8. I got the Z5p but its too small, so I guess I'll be sacrificing ip68 for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once it arrives, could you compare your Mate 8 to XZU? It would be interesting to have an XZU owner's perspective. And according to the Mate 8 XDA forums, it has been rooted succesfully.

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Sure

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http://www.androidauthority.com/letv-le-max-pro-first-look-666454/

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Interesting to find this thread. I been using my G Flex for a while and couldn't find a replacement for it. Most of the phones listed I've been looking at and haven't found a suitable replacement yet. The M5 Plus I would get but can't find 1 place to order it from.

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Huawei P8 Max
I have just bought the Huawei P8 Max to replace my beloved Z ultra (the screen broke by itself !!). Initial impressions are positive - screen is bigger and brighter, very well built , superior camera with flash and what really impressed me in addition to the mammoth battery is the speaker volume, this thing is VERY loud, something we all missed with the ultra.
Having said that, you need to put the following into consideration if you are planning to migrate to the P8 Max:
- Huawei implementation of android cannot be compared to what Sony offers. I know it is a personal perspective but not having an application drawer and blocking applications notifications is too much.
- Forget the lovely 320 DPI where the screen accommodated everything you wished for - Huawei stupidly implemented a 480 DPI interface , everything apart from main menus (games, applications ... etc) just looks too big and ugly. (Hopefully it receives the marshmallow updates where the DPI can be customized like the mate 8).
- Slow updates from Huawei and very small community online.
Other than that, the device is very good, it has everything a phablet lover might ask for - but if Sony releases an Ultra successor I would jump into it.
Cheers

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szaim said:
Once it arrives, could you compare your Mate 8 to XZU? It would be interesting to have an XZU owner's perspective. And according to the Mate 8 XDA forums, it has been rooted succesfully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been using the mate 8 for a few days and I am loving it. For me, 6" is the best screen size. I absolutely love using the XZU at home, but walking around trying to use it with one hand is damn near impossible, and it looks ridiculous in dress pants for work. So until sony comes out with a 6" device, I am going with huawei for now. Here is my more thorough mate 8 review;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-8/general/im-calling-best-android-device-money-buy-t3310899

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tshafeek said:
I have just bought the Huawei P8 Max to replace my beloved Z ultra (the screen broke by itself !!). Initial impressions are positive - screen is bigger and brighter, very well built , superior camera with flash and what really impressed me in addition to the mammoth battery is the speaker volume, this thing is VERY loud, something we all missed with the ultra.
Having said that, you need to put the following into consideration if you are planning to migrate to the P8 Max:
- Huawei implementation of android cannot be compared to what Sony offers. I know it is a personal perspective but not having an application drawer and blocking applications notifications is too much.
- Forget the lovely 320 DPI where the screen accommodated everything you wished for - Huawei stupidly implemented a 480 DPI interface , everything apart from main menus (games, applications ... etc) just looks too big and ugly. (Hopefully it receives the marshmallow updates where the DPI can be customized like the mate 8).
- Slow updates from Huawei and very small community online.
Other than that, the device is very good, it has everything a phablet lover might ask for - but if Sony releases an Ultra successor I would jump into it.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you could try to use adb to set density to 320 though.

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for those of us who need the extra storage, are there any cases that include a mSD slot? like some cases include a battery? at least this way the lazy manufacturers can make their little phones with no expandable storage but we could put them in a phone with an SD card that would mount on our phones?
side note, another one here looking to get rid of his Z ultra (on original since oct 2013) and am bored. haven't flashed it beyond 4.1.2 and as samsungs out of the running, am looking elsewhere

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hansip87 said:
you could try to use adb to set density to 320 though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the hint, already did that and was struggling to find the sweet spot. After several trials, setting the density to 288 and using a 3rd party launcher was perfect. However, the only minor issue I am facing is that the typing cursor disappeared in some applications like whatsapp and chrome.