Sony Xperia T2 Ultra Dual review: The inexpensive Ultra

 Phablets, which tried to bridge the gap between a smartphone and tablet, were as expensive as flagship devices once upon a time. Slowly and steadily, at least in India, phablets piqued the interest of buyers and created inroads into the market. This rise prompted manufacturers to shed some features and make their products more budget friendly. Many companies latched on to this opportunity early on, but Sony has joined this bandwagon only recently.

Sony's top-end phablet, the Xperia Z Ultra, now has a cheaper alternative in the form of the Xperia T2 Ultra. It is smaller, sleeker, accepts two SIMs, and has stripped down features. More importantly, this six-inch budget phablet faces the mammoth task of proving itself against the competition in a fairly crowded price band. Our review will help us find out if it manages that feat.

Look and Feel

Sony's design philosophy for smartphones underwent a change when the company parted ways with Ericsson. The primary reference for this is last year's flagship, the Xperia Z. A lot of critics praised the design and Sony seems to be going with the 'why fix something if it isn't broken' strategy. This unassuming black slab with clean lines is now typical of the style adopted for all recent smartphone and tablet releases.
The T2 Ultra Dual is available in three colours: black, white and purple. We reviewed the black one. All the colour options look quite classy and the choice will boil down to personal preference. The top and bottom edges of the device are bare. The right edge is crowded with buttons for power, volume and camera (kudos to Sony for including that). The placement of these buttons at the lower half of the right edge takes some getting used to, but the ease of use is unparalleled. The 3.5mm jack and two SIM slots can be found at the top of the right edge. The left edge has the microSD card slot and Micro-USB port for charging and data transfer. Right above the screen is the 1.1-megapixel front-facing camera, and below it is the microphone. The back has the really long speaker grille, rear camera and flash.