Gadgetory

roughly a year ago I reviewed the Sony Xperia Z ultra and I wasn't all that impressed so why did I buy one a few weeks ago I'm Taylor Martin this is PocketNow and this is why one year later I'm actually happy with the Z ultra a few weeks ago I picked up the Google Play edition Z ultra vise Oni yeah I know it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense I reviewed its next of kin the Xperia Z ultra about a year ago and let's just say it wasn't the best phone I'd ever reviewed it was plagued with issues namely touch screen sensitivity problems it wasn't running the latest firmware either because it wasn't available for that specific model yet meaning it was missing the ex reality engine the software to make the display really pop and worst of all it was the International model which did get HSPA+ on AT&T and t-mobile but switched to edge the majority of the time I used it in other words I had to carry the biggest smartphone on the market around for roughly one week it barely fit in my pocket or stuck on 2g most the time and my Scrolls were mistaken for taps or vice-versa it's difficult to express exactly how frustrating it is to try to get an honest opinion on a smart phone when it only works a fraction of the time and takes five minutes or so to refresh Facebook needless to say my experience with the Xperia Z ultra was far from favorable and I never felt like we had a fair chance together I've never felt like that about any other phone I've ever reviewed no other time have I hit publish on a review and immediately wanted another week to make sure everything I said was accurate and for the record and never second-guessed what I said about the Xperia Z ultra I just didn't want it to be true I wanted to like the phone but in those conditions it was never going to happen for starters I've never been a fan of Sony's custom software it's never brought much the table and it's not all that pretty it's just kind of they're not great and not terrible and it was a missed opportunity on the Z ultra an opportunity to put true tablet software on a smart phone Sony dropped the ball and reused its small apps feature a half-measure at best the entire time I was reviewing the Z ultra I was thinking this thing would be so much better with stock Android and I know we say that a lot outside reviews but it's especially true with the Z ultra the hardware was great some of the best at the time and so few versions of Android went as smoothly I the see ultra Snapdragon 800 and 6.4 inch 1080p display were begging to be set free that's why as soon as the Google Play edition Z ultra was announced just a few months later I had to talk myself out of buying one at six hundred and fifty dollars plus tax and shipping the price simply wasn't right I talked myself out of it again when Google slashed $200 off the original price tag I'm not usually the type to buy an already aged phone but when the third-party retailer expanses started selling the Z ultra with a case and screen protector for just three hundred and fifty dollars I couldn't say no anymore I bought it because every time someone mentioned the phone it reminded me of how much I wanted to like it before I reviewed it and how tainted my review period was I bought it because I remembered how it's a better fit for the dash of my car than the Nexus 7 I bought it because over the last 12 months its aged really well the snapdragon 800 2 gigabytes of RAM and 3050 milliamp hour battery are more than enough so far I've been very pleased I don't regret buying it at all and I was right from the start it's so much better with stock Android on board the only things I can't help but feel it's missing our true simultaneous am signs multi window feature and a better speaker after using the m8 for so long the Z ultra speaker is a joke but hey water resistance right it's still ridiculously large and it barely fits in my pocket it requires two hands to use at almost all times and I still don't like the button and port placement but I can live with all those because right now the Z ultra fits my needs better than just about any other phone I can install this in the dash of my car and still carry it as my daily driver something I couldn't do with the Nexus 7 gaming watching movies and reading or what it's built for and I'm really going to appreciate that on my flight to Germany next week and pulling a six point four inch phone out of your pocket always gets tons of questions so there's that either way I'm satisfied with my purchase and I finally have that feeling of resolution after how last year's review ended folks thanks for watching and supporting pocket now if you enjoyed the video and would like to help us out even more click the thumbs up button below and subscribe to the channel follow us around the web Twitter Facebook and Google+ at pocket now I'm Taylor Martin you can find me on twitter at casper tech and i will see you next time