Sony has discovered its smartphone niche.
If the company can keep cranking out solid, mid-range phablets like the new Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra, it may yet get its groove back.
It's no secret that the Japanese manufacturer's smartphones don't attract anywhere near the amount of fanfare as its gaming and TV hardware.
This despite the Xperia range's powerful cameras and high-res displays, which in the case of the £649 XZ Premium goes up to stunning 4K.
At £379.99, the XA2 Ultra retains some of those perks and sheds others.
You get a solid 23-megapixel rear snapper, with 4K video recording, and slow-motion video at 120fps.
Gone are the AI camera tricks (like the XZ1's 3D Creator tool that lets you make shareable cut-outs from your pics), and the insane 960fps slo-motion video.
Regardless, you're still left with a superior rear camera for a mid-range device (that's especially good at taking low-light photos).
Daytime snaps, on the other hand, require fiddling with the brightness even in the default Superior Auto mode. And, if you switch to manual, you'll find a plethora of settings that can assist with your outdoor and nighttime shots.
Here's a tip: try enabling HDR mode to add some sharpness to those pics.
But, Sony's reserved the best for its front-facing snapper, adding not one but two cameras: there's the regular 16-megapixel 80-degree wide-angle option, plus an 8-megapixel 120-degree ultra-wide camera.
The latter lets you cram even more mates into your group selfies at the expense of some resolution, meaning you can leave that lame selfie stick at home.
Add in 4K video recording with 120fps slo-motion capture (which lets you remix the pace of your action clips in edit mode) and you've got a quality package.
Design-wise, it's the same-old from Sony. The Xperia range isn't known for its looks, and the XA2 Ultra, with its big borders that add even more phone on top of an already huge 6-inch display (which is larger than the £999 iPhone X's screen), does little to change that.
And, at 221g, the handset is heavier than the latest phablets from Apple, Samsung, and Google.
To ease the pain, there's a fingerprint sensor positioned below the rear camera that instantly unlocks the phone the majority of the time.
Of course, that ginormous, 1080p full HD display, is great for entertainment purposes. Turn it to landscape mode, and you're in for an immersive YouTube, Netflix, or gaming experience (for a smartphone, anyway).
And, all the while, its surprisingly solid Snapdragon 630 processor (paired with 4GB of RAM) is working away in the background, keeping things running smoothly.
The icing on the cake is the robust 3,580 mAh battery that lasts more than two days on a single charge.
Out of the box, the XA2 Ultra comes with 32GB of storage and Android Oreo, with Sony's skin layered on top.
VERDICT
Between its solid Xperia compacts and its new mid-range phablet, Sony is releasing phones that we never knew we wanted. The Xperia XA2 Ultra is in a league of its own. You can pony up a bit more for the OnePlus 5T if you're after more resolution and processor power. But, in the sub-£400 category, this is the best big phone you can buy right now.
Rating: ★★★★☆
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKynZpOke7a3jq2cnKBfaoNygZBraGirn6PGbsTPnqmimV2trnN51KWrq5ldp7K3tcSwZg%3D%3D