From the time Samsung Galaxy Note hit stores, it has set the standards for smartphones and phablets alike. But the market is always full of surprises and some contenders are rising up to the challenge. With the pending release of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, tech giants like Sony are stepping up. The Sony Xperia Z Ultra can put the Note 2 to shame according to announced specs.

It was just a few years ago that smartphones featuring 4.3 inches were considered huge. These days, those smartphones would be called smaller looking at the range of products on the market. Especially with the release of Note 2 and Xperia Z Ultra, the standard for huge smartphone displays has changed completely.

Display

Xperia Z Ultra is setting a new standard for phablets . Imagine a 6.4-inch Full HD display on a phone. It has a pixel density of 344 ppi. Galaxy Note only has a 5.5-inch display. Resolution offers 267 ppi. This is lower than Xperia's HD offering.

Dimensions

Sony measurements include 179.4mm x 92.2mm x 6.5 mm. it weighs 212grams. Samsung Galaxy Note, on the other hand, measures 151.1mm x 80.5mm x 9.4 mm. It weighs 183 grams. These measures make Sony taller than Galaxy note by 19%. It is also wider by 14% and slimmer by 31%.

Processor and Power

Galaxy Note 2 runs on quad core Exynos 4412 processor clocked at 1.6GHz. It has 2GB of RAM. The Sony Xperia runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad core unit clocked at 2.2GHz. It also offers 2GB of RAM.

Storage

The Xperia Z Ultra has limited storage. It is also available in 16GB edition with 11GB remaining for the user. There is a microSD slot offering up to 64GB capacity. The Galaxy Note 2 has three versions: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. There is also an expandable memory with the microSD for 64GB.

Camera

Most smartphones today have 13 megapixels. The Xperia Z Ultra only has 8 megapixels plus 2 megapixels for the front camera. Samsung has an 8-megapixel camera as well. The front camera is 1.9 megapixels.