Sony Xperia Z Ultra LTE vs Google Play Edition...which is more preferable?

ssnova · May 22, 2014

As far as I can tell both are the same as far as bands go.

However, my question lies in, which is more favorable to get in terms of user experience? Which would you prefer? I hear the "bloatware" that Sony includes is actually pretty useful in the Sony version and rather unobtrusive. But at the same time, I thought that the Google play edition was supposed to be more easy to load custom roms. I also understand that the Google play edition is supposed to get the updates faster, but is it really that bad with Sony?

If you had the choice between the two, which would you go for? They are both about the same price, so it's not an issue, it's just a matter of which would be more preferable out of the box.

From Sony Store

http://store.sony.com/xperia-z-ultr...atid-All-Unlocked-Phones?vva_ColorCode=000000

Or...

Google play edition:

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=sony_z_ultra

adfurgerson · May 22, 2014

ssnova said:
As far as I can tell both are the same as far as bands go.

However, my question lies in, which is more favorable to get in terms of user experience? Which would you prefer? I hear the "bloatware" that Sony includes is actually pretty useful in the Sony version and rather unobtrusive. But at the same time, I thought that the Google play edition was supposed to be more easy to load custom roms. I also understand that the Google play edition is supposed to get the updates faster, but is it really that bad with Sony?

If you had the choice between the two, which would you go for? They are both about the same price, so it's not an issue, it's just a matter of which would be more preferable out of the box.

From Sony Store

http://store.sony.com/xperia-z-ultr...atid-All-Unlocked-Phones?vva_ColorCode=000000

Or...

Google play edition:

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=sony_z_ultra

I have the GPe but ordered it before Sony dropped their price. The GPe ROM has been ported over to Sony so if you get Sony you can run that. From what I have seen they can both be unlocked and rooted fairly easily. As for the update I would expect it to be ported to Sony rather quickly. Lots more Roms for Sony but there is work going on with a tool to convert Sony Roms to GPe. I would lean towards Sony but get as many opinions as you can before deciding.

canarycny · May 22, 2014

I also have the gpe and would've preferred the xperia version. All the native xperia apps are missing obviously and the Google alternatives aren't that great IMO.

blazta · May 22, 2014

Get the cheapest one and root it (maybe even unlock it) and try the rom that fits you.

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk

ssnova · May 22, 2014

adfurgerson said:
I have the GPe but ordered it before Sony dropped their price. The GPe ROM has been ported over to Sony so if you get Sony you can run that. From what I have seen they can both be unlocked and rooted fairly easily. As for the update I would expect it to be ported to Sony rather quickly. Lots more Roms for Sony but there is work going on with a tool to convert Sony Roms to GPe. I would lean towards Sony but get as many opinions as you can before deciding.

First, thanks for all the replies from everyone guys.

Second, @ adfurgerson, in order to port the GPe ROM over to the Sony, I"d have to root and unlock right?

I find it interesting that ROMs for the Sony won't work on the GPe. I was under some impression it'd be practically the same, and that the GPe version would be easier to root and unlock, but didn't know the real story behind it.

I whisked through some threads on here that gave me the impression that rooting and unlocking and loading custom roms was quite challenging on the Z Ultra, is this true?

Because of this, I thought I'd just keep it headache free and stick with stock.

On that note, how is the Z Ultra stock? Or is it really that desirable to root/unlock/load custom rom? FOr example, I have an ASUS Transformer TF700, stock, the thing is frustratingly slow/laggy/buggy, IMO, you MUST root/unlock/load custom ROM on that device to make it "functional"/ really appreciate the machine. Another example is the GS3 and GS4, I know plenty of people who are ok with stock.

THanks again to all. Looks like I'm leaning towards the Sony edition, the two grips I had with the z Ultra in general were: lack of LED flash(I like having a "flashlight" on my phones), and perhaps the "small" battery for such a large device.

E90 Commie · May 22, 2014

The Sony Edition is the best option in this case.

The problem with the GPe is that the partitioning has been changed, something that make it very problematic to cross-flash between GPe and Sony and no solution has been offered as of yet. The result is that the ROM selection for the Sony Edition is much better.

Since the GPe ROM has been ported and there are a couple of options including Sony based ones to choose from, the best route is to go with the Sony Edition. Even if you decide to run the GPe ROM (like I do for now), the better selection of ROMs such as Paranoid Android, PAC, SlimKat, CarbonROM etc favors the Sony Edition.

It is also worth to mention that the Sony Edition came out a couple of months before the GPe - the availability of it is also superior since it is being sold worldwide while the GPe can be sourced only from Google in the US. This means that more developers and users have the Sony version, hence more development of ROMs.

When it comes to Sony Editions, I would go for the C6802 (no LTE) or either C6806 or C6833 depending on location and the importance of LTE bands. I have the C6802 since I consider US LTE to be of no importance to me. If I would be in Sweden, I would take the C6833.

The reason for my LTE stance is the fact that decent data plans are cheaper in Sweden than in the US. I don't see any benefits of having 2 GB of LTE data since Internet browsing etc works great on the HSPA+ network of AT&T. I would not start going on Netflix etc with 2 GB of data.

blazta · May 22, 2014

ssnova said:
First, thanks for all the replies from everyone guys.

Second, @ adfurgerson, in order to port the GPe ROM over to the Sony, I"d have to root and unlock right?

I find it interesting that ROMs for the Sony won't work on the GPe. I was under some impression it'd be practically the same, and that the GPe version would be easier to root and unlock, but didn't know the real story behind it.

I whisked through some threads on here that gave me the impression that rooting and unlocking and loading custom roms was quite challenging on the Z Ultra, is this true?

Because of this, I thought I'd just keep it headache free and stick with stock.
And for more controll rom i Installed App Ops

On that note, how is the Z Ultra stock? Or is it really that desirable to root/unlock/load custom rom? FOr example, I have an ASUS Transformer TF700, stock, the thing is frustratingly slow/laggy/buggy, IMO, you MUST root/unlock/load custom ROM on that device to make it "functional"/ really appreciate the machine. Another example is the GS3 and GS4, I know plenty of people who are ok with stock.

THanks again to all. Looks like I'm leaning towards the Sony edition, the two grips I had with the z Ultra in general were: lack of LED flash(I like having a "flashlight" on my phones), and perhaps the "small" battery for such a large device.

Im using the Sony ultra (c6833) stock and rooted with unlocked bootloader . After i tried almost all of them rom i got back to stock sony rom and installed xposed and changed some stuff

. I even have the DooMKernel kernel on it and works awsome

adfurgerson · May 22, 2014

@ssnova the GPe was very much usable stock and I tried to convince myself to leave it that way. Unlocking , rooting and recovery was easy enough. I must admit I am unsure on which methods are current for Sony so won't comment there. I plan to do more testing of this over the weekend, if it works it would take one factor out of the equation.
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2746562

ssnova · May 22, 2014

E90 Commie said:
The Sony Edition is the best option in this case.

The problem with the GPe is that the partitioning has been changed, something that make it very problematic to cross-flash between GPe and Sony and no solution has been offered as of yet. The result is that the ROM selection for the Sony Edition is much better.

Since the GPe ROM has been ported and there are a couple of options including Sony based ones to choose from, the best route is to go with the Sony Edition. Even if you decide to run the GPe ROM (like I do for now), the better selection of ROMs such as Paranoid Android, PAC, SlimKat, CarbonROM etc favors the Sony Edition.

It is also worth to mention that the Sony Edition came out a couple of months before the GPe - the availability of it is also superior since it is being sold worldwide while the GPe can be sourced only from Google in the US. This means that more developers and users have the Sony version, hence more development of ROMs.

When it comes to Sony Editions, I would go for the C6802 (no LTE) or either C6806 or C6833 depending on location and the importance of LTE bands. I have the C6802 since I consider US LTE to be of no importance to me. If I would be in Sweden, I would take the C6833.

The reason for my LTE stance is the fact that decent data plans are cheaper in Sweden than in the US. I don't see any benefits of having 2 GB of LTE data since Internet browsing etc works great on the HSPA+ network of AT&T. I would not start going on Netflix etc with 2 GB of data.

Thanks, your post clears up a lot from a technical standpoint. I'd probably go with the C6806 since I live in the US and we have LTE in my areas.

Ended up stumbling upon this, thanks to your post.
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2451590

I guess the Sony edition it is.

blueether · May 22, 2014

As a person learning to develop android I would choose the GPe, as a consumer it's 50 / 50.

The Sony stock firmware is quite good and the only thing that lags in 4.4 seems to be the live wallpaper, and blote is a minimum - and usefull.

Unlocking either is exactly the same, the only difference ifs if you want to keep your TA partition (DRM keys). You can only do this on the Sony version by doing the downgrade/root exploit/backup dance.

As for ROMs for the GPe there is CM, Carbon, LiquidSmooth and Slimkat, and I believe that if someone would test the flashable zip I wrote we could convert any (I even think stock) ROM to run on the GPe - but no one wants to have developers making thing for their phone by the looks*

* this could easily develop into a rant so I'll stop there

ssnova · May 25, 2014

blueether said:
As a person learning to develop android I would choose the GPe, as a consumer it's 50 / 50.

The Sony stock firmware is quite good and the only thing that lags in 4.4 seems to be the live wallpaper, and blote is a minimum - and usefull.

Unlocking either is exactly the same, the only difference ifs if you want to keep your TA partition (DRM keys). You can only do this on the Sony version by doing the downgrade/root exploit/backup dance.

As for ROMs for the GPe there is CM, Carbon, LiquidSmooth and Slimkat, and I believe that if someone would test the flashable zip I wrote we could convert any (I even think stock) ROM to run on the GPe - but no one wants to have developers making thing for their phone by the looks*

* this could easily develop into a rant so I'll stop there

Sounds like you're pretty close to making it work for the GP-e, only a matter of time and testers,

I guess I'll lean towards the Sony edition though, since I'll be using it more than developing, though I do play around once and a while.

Slightly astray, but what makes the Google play edition better for learning to develop on android?

blueether · May 25, 2014

nothing really, although I believe it has a much better bootloader/recovery

christcentric · Jul 18, 2014

blueether said:
nothing really, although I believe it has a much better bootloader/recovery

Just to confirm
1) if we use the GPE rom on a Sony, will we be able to restore the TA partition and still use the Xperia-specific display enhancements?
2) Even though the partitioning is different, one can flash specific partitions and not the entire ROM, yes? Or are the wires truly crossed: for instance, the bootloader located is in boot?

LordManhattan · Jul 18, 2014

christcentric said:
Just to confirm
1) if we use the GPE rom on a Sony, will we be able to restore the TA partition and still use the Xperia-specific display enhancements?
2) Even though the partitioning is different, one can flash specific partitions and not the entire ROM, yes? Or are the wires truly crossed: for instance, the bootloader located is in boot?

1. No, we can't restore the partition while on a custom kernel, but we still get the image processing without the DRM keys intact (aka TA partition) on KitKat builds.

The DRM keys are only important to have in case you have to send your device in for repairs.

2. You can flash the GPe ROM on the Xperia Ultra. You can't run a dully functioning stock Sony ROM on the Ultra GPe (yet), due to partitioning issues and what not. You van flash "everything" on the regular Ultra, not on the GPe, which makes the regular Ultra a better device if you plan to flash a lot of ROMs and you want the option to cross-flash between Sony ROMs and GPe (AOSP ROMs).

appleknight · Jul 18, 2014

Bought mine from Sony, best stock firmware I've ever used, of course mod the hell out of it, but I am very pleased

Sent from my C6806 using Tapatalk

krumbs · Jul 19, 2014

I have multiple Bluetooth devices with Apt-X baked in. GPe does not support it, and I don't think that is going to change anytime soon.
So for me, stock is the only option. Not even CM.
I have tried out most of the alternatives, but keep coming back to stock - the audio quality improvement with apt-x is noticeable. Especially while listening to FLAC, using a player like Neutron.

billyliem · Jul 21, 2014

I prefer gpe, because it feel smoother, simpler, less batt consumption. But yes the gpe is very limited at features and option.

LordManhattan · Jul 21, 2014

billyliem said:
I prefer gpe, because it feel smoother, simpler, less batt consumption. But yes the gpe is very limited at features and option.

Sure, but the GPe ROM is available for the stock Xperia Ultra.

billyliem · Jul 21, 2014

LordManhattan said:
Sure, but the GPe ROM is available for the stock Xperia Ultra.

Yes i use gpe rom 4.4.4 at my 6802, i like it.smoother than gpe 4.4.2. And more responsive too. How about the price on the hardware? Stock sony vs the gpe? Is it different?

blueether · Jul 21, 2014

billyliem said:
Yes i use gpe rom 4.4.4 at my 6802, i like it.smoother than gpe 4.4.2. And more responsive too. How about the price on the hardware? Stock sony vs the gpe? Is it different?

only ~$10 in it
http://www.expansys-usa.com/sony-xperia-z-ultra-c6833-unlocked-lte-16gb-purple-251965/
http://www.expansys-usa.com/sony-z-ultra-google-play-edition-unlocked-lte-16gb-black-263504/

Hell, can even get the GPe in nz now http://www.expansys.co.nz/sony-z-ultra-google-play-edition-unlocked-lte-16gb-black-263504/

Sony Xperia Z Ultra LTE vs Google Play Edition...which is more preferable?

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Account currently disabled

Senior Member

Account currently disabled

Senior Member

Similar threads

Top Liked Posts