Sony Xperia Z Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Just a few years ago, 4.3-inch smartphones were considered to be big. My, how things change. Somewhere along the way, having the biggest screen became a selling point, and thus began the great screen size arms race. Now we're to the point where we can have a gigantic phablet like the 

Size

Let's get this out of the way: the Xperia Z Ultra is a ridiculously large phone. Don't believe me? Look at the Note 2 next to the iPhone 5, then look at it again here next to the Ultra. Sony's device is basically a small tablet that happens to have cellular connectivity.
What's that, want percentages? Okay then: the Ultra is 19 percent taller than the Note 2. It's 14 percent wider.
Depth is the one area where the Ultra isn't gigantic. Quite the opposite, actually. The Xperia Z Ultra is incredibly thin, measuring only 6.5 mm thick. That's 31 percent thinner than the Note 2, and 14 percent thinner than the svelte iPhone 5.

Weight

All of that surface area in the Xperia Z Ultra is naturally going to register on the scale. It's 18 percent heavier than the Note 2.

Build

Like its progenitors, the Xperias Z and ZL, the Ultra has a backside made of glass. The Galaxy Note 2 is made of Samsung's favorite material, plastic.

Display

Here's another example of the Ultra's utter insanity. If you've ever used a Galaxy Note 2, you know that its screen is pretty huge. Well, it's only 74 percent as big as the Ultra's screen. Again, Sony's "phone" is basically a tablet that makes calls.
If you can live with a display that big in your pocket (if it even fits there), then the Xperia will reward you with sharper resolution. The Note 2 only gives you 44 percent as many pixels as the Ultra does.

Stylus support

Samsung's original Galaxy Note (re)popularized stylus use in mobile devices. But the Ultra takes that a step further, letting you use a pencil or pen to scratch notes on your screen. According to Sony, you can use any pencil, along with pens and styluses that have a tip diameter of over 1 mm. Can't say we've seen that before.
The Note's S Pen is included, but no styluses, pens, or pencils are included with the Xperia Z Ultra.

Processor

The Xperia Z Ultra should win this one hands-down. As one of the first handsets to run the Snapdragon 800, it will have a much newer and faster processor.
In the Note's defense, it's been on the market for close to a year now. The fairer comparison will be with the (as yet unannounced) Galaxy Note 3.

RAM

We're all even in the RAM department, with 2 GB a pop.

Storage

The Xperia Z Ultra will only be sold in one 16 GB model (Sony estimates that you'll have about 11 GB of usable storage). You can expand it (up to 64 GB) with a microSD card, but since Android no longer lets you install apps on SD cards, this could be too cramped for some people.

Wireless

No surprise here with both devices supporting speedy LTE networks, as long as your carrier lives up to its end of the bargain.

Battery

Battery capacity is pretty close, but there are too many other factors involved to jump to conclusions about the Ultra's battery life. The Note 2, a much more known quantity, will generally give you terrific uptimes.