Ninetology U9Z1 VS Sony Xperia Z Ultra

I rarely do comparison when come to electronic stuffs. Everything has pros and cons and difference user has difference preference. Well, I am given chance to review this both phones and here, I am telling you which is better and why. For individual review, click on Sony Xperia Z Ultra Review and Ninetology U9Z1 Review.

For starter, lets begin with the spec. Assuming bigger, faster, thinner and lighter is better.

Display

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra definitely had advantages in terms of spec compare with the Ninetology U9Z1. The Z Ultra had bigger screen, beautiful Triluminos display with full HD resolution though people tend to said the 1080p and 720p won't have much difference. Well maybe yes maybe no. Here sample photos of comparison in terms of screen.

Processor, RAM and ROM

The Z Ultra gain advantage by equipping fastest processor at the moment, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 which running on cortex-A15 while the Ninetology U9Z1 using Mediatek mt6589 that features cortex-A7. Both quad core but definitely in real life Z Ultra will perform much better when come to heavy application and gaming. Not to mention 2GB RAM onboard help multitask smooth sailing. Xperia Z Ultra also come with expendable microSD slot.

Physical Design & Built Quality

With omnibalance design, Sony Xperia Z Ultra is made with 2 glasses on front and back with aluminium frame on side. It is definitely feel solid on hand especially the weight is a bit heavier than Ninetology U9Z1. Not to mention it is one of the slimmest full HD display smartphone with 6.5mm thickness. Meanwhile, I said before that Ninetology U9Z1 easily been mistaken as Samsung phone from front while back resemble alot HTC Sensation XL. The Ninetology back casing was built with aluminium too. I won't deny that the U9Z1 feel solid on hand too. Realistically, it is more practical to have Ninetology U9Z1 due to size and able to hold it with one hand than the giant size Z Ultra. But who can resist the sexy beast? :P


Camera

This is the part where Sony really did poorly. Megapixels is not everything but what Sony always lack on their smartphone is the better image processing hardware. The details easily get smudge and not sharp. No doubt Ninetology U9Z1 image is sharper (too much sharpening! and look abit artificial) and look much better than the Z Ultra.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra ISO Test (100% crop)

Ninetology U9Z1 ISO Test (100% crop)

Well not until when come to indoor shooting where the U9Z1 white balance tend to screw up and show warm color. Sony still manage to retain the neutral white balance but not the best too. Ninetology U9Z1 had advantages too on 5MP front camera to compare with Sony Xperia Z Ultra 2MP only. Unfortunately the front lens is fixed focus in the U9Z1. For more photos, click on Sony Xperia Z Ultra Review and Ninetology U9Z1 Review.

Video Playback and Speaker

Here I did a video for both phone. Personally, it is much better experience viewing on Sony Xperia Z Ultra due to the size and also Triluminos display.

Extra Features

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is waterproof smartphone rated IP58. The Ninetology U9Z1 came with wireless charging features.

Battery Life

The Z Ultra has larger battery life than the U9Z1. However both has come to the point where it can easily achieve SOT around 5-6 hours. It is pretty impressive for both devices. However Sony Xperia Z Ultra came with remarkable Stamina Mode that extended the battery life during stand by.

User Interface (UI) and Android Version

 

Both run Android Jelly Bean 4.2. Sony Xperia Z Ultra skinned with their very own Timescape UI while the U9Z1 is running vanilla Android with minor customization. Naturally, Sony Xperia Z Ultra provided more software features such as Walkman, Play Station and more eye candy themes while vanilla Android is just plain. Nothing much to shout.

Price

Not surprising, with impressive spec came with high price. Sony Xperia Z Ultra is one of the top notch smartphone when come to performance and the RRP fixed at RM 2,299. The U9Z1 is more on budget concious phone that come with high performance, if it is last year flagship that priced at RM 1,199. It is almost 50% cheaper than Sony Xperia Z Ultra.

Verdict

Both are very capable phone for your daily usage. Of course, if performances is much more important to you, Sony Xperia Z Ultra will be better choices. If budget is one of the reason to constrain, I have no reason to say why not Ninetology U9Z1?

Ninetology U9Z1 will have direct competitor such as Google Nexus 4, Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3, Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC Desire 600, Huawei Ascend P6, Huawei Ascend Mate, Alcatel One Touch Idol X and many mores. Sony Xperia Z Ultra will be facing current latest flagship such as Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note III, Sony Xperia Z1, HTC One and mores.

If you're interested on getting latest news on Ninetology, click the image below and sign up yourself a newsletter :)

In the same time, I also joined Ninetology's Wall of Pledge, the first initiative aiming to get the Malaysian online community to pledge for the support of Responsible Blogging 2013. By blogging ethically and responsibly, bloggers are able to build a good reputation and readers are able to gain accurate information about products. To know more about this campaign, just visit http://on.fb.me/10UNzoG.

Ninetology U9Z1 Review

If you're looking for premium looking smartphone but with low budget yet made in local, well not exactly, then you're looking for Ninetology! Over the year, Ninetology had been working hard building their own port folio in Malaysia. So for those who are still not aware of them and interested to know more, click my previous post when Ninetology launch the U9 series smartphones. Of course, here I mainly reviewing one of their latest smartphone in U9 series, the U9Z1.

To recap, here the Ninetology U9Z1 Key Specification :

• 5.7″ IPS HD display with 1280 X 720 resolution
• 1.2 GHz quad core MediaTek MT6589 chipset processor
• PowerVR SGX544 GPU
• 1GB RAM
• 16GB Internal Memory with expandable microSD
• 12MP back facing camera
• 5MP front facing camera
• 2,600 mAh
• Android 4.2
• 161 X 82.5 X 9.3 mm
• Come with Black / White colors
• Wireless Charging
• Price : RM 1,199

As usual, I will go on my review with different section.

Design & Built Quality

Earlier, I just mentioned premium isn't? When come to premium one to expect a great looking and good material to built the smartphone. Ninetology U9Z1 back housing was built by full aluminium while the front, plastic of course. On first glance, one could easily mistake it as one of the Samsung phone or the back actually resemble alot on HTC Sensation XL. Well, I don't expect much originality on design for company that lack of design or creative team. Just my assumption k?

However, I still admit it look and feel solid when you hold it when I am putting the design aside. The power button is located on right side while volume rocker on left side. On top, the 3.5mm jack phone can be found while the micro USB connector located at bottom. The speaker is placed at back like most of the phones manufacture.

The Ninetology U9Z1 come with dual sim slot and also microSD slot. The slots can be reveal once take out the top part like the picture.

Beware of putting any key or coin in your pocket with the phone as the back aluminium casing easily get scratch. I gotta praise the great IPS display in the phone.

User Interface (UI)

Nothing much to shout on the user interface. It is exactly like vanilla android (Nexus devices) with a minor custom customization by Ninetology.

It has all the features you can find in Vanilla Android Jelly Bean such as home screen widget, user control panel and the photo gallery.

Camera

The Ninetology U9Z1 come with 12mp back facing camera that also capable in recording 1080p video @ 30fps.

The camera UI is straight forward. All shooting mode is located on left side while shutter button on right. One of the mode that worth mentioning will be beauty mask which it also works on it's 5MP front facing camera. Bet alot girl gonna love this. My personal opnion, it is too smooth for my liking.

Here some photos sample of Ninetology U9Z1.

Disclaimer : All shot are captured using auto mode. No editing is done on the photos except resizing.

The U9Z1 focus speed is not impressive. It is slow and focus hunting. What worst is it couldn't focus at all during lowlight. I am force to turn on the flash to act as assist light for it focus. The white balance is not balancing at all. It tend to change from warm to cold (most of the time it'll pick warm). However on daylight and outdoor, it perform excellently eventhough the AF speed still slow.

Video & Song Playback

I have no complain watching video in Ninetology U9Z1. The IPS screen perform impressively with color look natural. Not to mention the 5.7" screen size contribute a better viewing leisure.

I am not a serious audiophile. For me, Ninetology U9Z1 perform quite well for the speaker. It is loud enough to get your attention when your phone ringing or when you're listening to song. However, I guess I am still spoiled by HTC One Boomsound.

Battery

Packed with 2600 mAh battery I can safely say the Ninetology U9Z1 can survive whole day with average usage. The SOT can easily achieved around 4-5 hours with continuous web browsing, social apps and some gaming.

Verdict

GOOD	BAD
Large 5.7" with IPS display technology Decent camera output Good battery life	No LTE Non user-replaceable battery Camera unable to focus on lowlight No ground breaking features RM1199 price tag.

It is a phone created with budget concious. But the price wasn't speak so. For me, RM 1,199 price tag is a bit too steep as consumer tend to add abit more to get others brand that already has good profile. Not to mention, there are alots more China phone Android that came with higher quality and spec but lower price tag than this. Ninetology U9Z1 definitely not the only budget phone that come with low price. You can easily grab Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 or Huawei Ascend Mate which only cost a little bit more. Not to mention Galaxy Mega 6.3 come with LTE. I guess Ninetology need to work hard on revising their strategy and pricing.

Ninetology official launch U9 series Android Smartphone - X1, Z1 and Z1+

Last few weeks, Ninetology officially brought out three brand new Android Smartphone, known as U9 series to the market. These new device – called X1, Z1, and Z1+ – are scheduled to be out in the market starting from mid of August. It is design with budget consumer mind. All three smartphone share almost similar spec and also powered by the MediaTek MT6589 chipset which features 1.2GHz quad-core CPU and PowerVR SGX544 GPU. This trio come with dual sim support too.

Here are the trio Ninetology U9 series that launches on that day.

Ninetology U9X1 Key Specification :

• 4.8″ Super AMOLED Plus HD display with 1280 X 720 resolution
• 1.2 GHz quad core MediaTek MT6589 chipset processor
• PowerVR SGX544 GPU
• 1GB RAM
• 16GB Internal Memory with expandable microSD
• 13MP back facing camera
• 2MP front facing camera
• 2,200 mAh
• Android 4.2
• 137.8 X 69.9 X 10 mm
• Come with Black / Red colors
• Price : RM 1,099

Ninetology U9Z1 Key Specification :

• 5.7″ IPS HD display with 1280 X 720 resolution
• 1.2 GHz quad core MediaTek MT6589 chipset processor
• PowerVR SGX544 GPU
• 1GB RAM
• 16GB Internal Memory with expandable microSD
• 12MP back facing camera
• 5MP front facing camera
• 2,600 mAh
• Android 4.2
• 161 X 82.5 X 9.3 mm
• Come with Black / White colors
• Wireless Charging
• Price : RM 1,199

Ninetology U9Z1+ Key Specification :

• 5″ IPS HD display with 1280 X 720 resolution
• 1.2 GHz quad core MediaTek MT6589 chipset processor
• PowerVR SGX544 GPU
• 1GB RAM
• 16GB Internal Memory with expandable microSD
• 12MP back facing camera
• 5MP front facing camera
• 2,000 mAh
• Android 4.2
• 144.5 X 73 X 9.0 mm
• Come with White color
• Price : RM 1,299

No offence but on first glance U9X1 do look very much like Galaxy Nexus while I am still scratching head why the same spec for Z1 and Z1+ has such price tag? I mean U9Z1+ wasn't mean big screen nor battery power but it is selling higher price than U9Z1. I guess both Z1 and Z1+ should swap price tag LOL

However, with MediaTek MT6589 Cortex A7 chipset on board, it makes the trio U9 series a decent mid range Android Smartphone. Obviously it came with Vanilla Android with a minimal Ninetology own customization and custom apps. Sadly no LTE as well with current competitor is rising up with more and more budget LTE smartphone. Well, I am interested to see more interesting smartphone from Ninetology in future where I wish they could have their own style on their phone.

For more information on Ninetology U9 series smartphones, check out Ninetology website at http://www.ninetology.com/u9/ or Ninetology Malaysia Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/NinetologyMalaysia

Courtesy of Ninetology Malaysia as well, we bloggers not only invited to the trio smartphone launch, but also to join their Blogger's Review Program – “Tech Kaiju Arena”. Well sound interesting isn't? Don't worry it has nothing involve with monster. One of the main purpose on this program is to promote transparent blogging as part of Ninetology’s yearlong ethical blogging initiative that will go hand in hand with sharing the latest gadget information, both Ninetology and other competitor brands. In simple word, Ninetology wish to see us, Bloggers to have more creative single blog post when reviewing their phone and also another competitor.

Interested? Now you been asking me how to join isn't? Here are your process :

1. Register with Samuel Lee – email contact: samuellee@ninetology.com
Required Details:
• Name, Blog URL, Email, Contact Number and the units which you wish to loan; 1x Ninetology Device + 1x Other Latest Mobile Brand available

2. Wait for a call from Ninetology to confirm the collection venue of the loan units which will ONLY be within Klang Valley.
Note:
• Do keep in mind that you are only allowed to hold onto the loan units for a duration of a week

3. During the collection day, you are required to sign a T & C Loaning form which requires you to be liable for any lost or damage of the units.
4. On the day to return the loan units, you will also be required to submit your blogpost(s) URL to be fully eligible to participate in the contest.

To be eligible:
• A ‘Combined Product Review Blogpost’ must also have an embedded Ninetology Banner.
• A write-up of 200 – 250 words
• Min. of 3 photos and/or images

Rewards:
1. By the end of the campaign date, we will select three bloggers who drove in the most subscription via their post and will be rewarded as follows:
a. Grand Prize: A Ninetology’s Latest Device and RM3000
b. 1st Runner-Up: A Ninetology’s Latest Device and RM2000
c. 2nd Runner-UP: A Ninetology’s Latest Device and RM1000

2. Every month, within the campaign period, Ninetology will be having different themes for blogging contents for the ‘Combined Review Blogpost’, the monthly themes will be announced as a surprise every 30 days.

a. The Rewards will be in the form of a range of items which can be Ninetology’s devices, vacations, movie tickets, other mobile brand’s devices and so forth.

3. There’s more, we are even rewarding your readers! Monthly, we will be allocating from RM15,000 to RM20,000 worth of Ninetology E-Vouchers just for the 1st 100 readers who subscribes to our newsletter via the banner. The vouchers will enable them to purchase our products at a discounted price.

I know your tech and geek blood are boiling now :D So don't hesitate and join the review! Give yourself a chance to try out Ninetology product!

Thanks to Ninetology again for the events as well as Rouge Communications.