I don't use my wireless phone much to watch video and while it's great having a camera in it, the phone is not my primary still or video camera. For me, portability--fitting easily in a shirt pocket--is more important than having a huge, high resolution screen or the best camera. For that reason, the Ultra made sense. For me it was the perfect size--bigger than an Iphone or HTC One--but smaller than a Galaxy.
I went to the Verizon store intending to get a Droid Maxx based on reviews but decided that since I don't stream video and don't need to go multiple days between charges, my use didn't warrant the larger phyical size of the Maxx. I've found that I can get through a day of what is for me heavy use and still have 20% or so left. The Maxx also has more ROM but since I don't use my phone as a music player or to store video, that wasn't a factor. The same with cordless charging. It would be nice but wasn't a big deal for me.
I played a bit with the Galaxy and One before buying the Ultra but having had a Razr and Droid previously, I was familiar with the Motorola interface and decided that the advantages of the Samsung or HTC interfaces didn't justify having to learn a new one. All I really needed to do was become familiar with the new features like touchless control which allows you to train the phone to respond to your voice even when sleeping, and the slightly different way of accessing menus.
Two downsides of the Ultra are the slick back does show more smudges than the matte finish of the Maxx, and Verizon still insists on loading a lot of bloatware which can be disabled but not actually removed. Like all of the new Droid generation, it doesn't have a memory card slot which might be a consideration for someone who does use their phone as a music player.
I don't want my wireless phone to be an "everything" device. I have an Ipod to play music. I have still and video cameras for those functions. I have a Macbook Air for serious computing when I'm away from home. So I want my phone to be a highly portable means to do what these specialized devices don't, especially Gmail, Twitter, Facebook; provide good note, to do, shopping, and flight tracing apps; and tether to my laptop to provide Internet access when I'm away from wireless networks or don't want to pay for wireless in a hotel. And, oh yeah, to make phone calls and send SMS. I don't want my phone to substitute for a a television, a regular camera, or a laptop. So for me, the Ultra hit the sweet spot. The size is right, the camera and screen aren't the best available but are perfectly fine. The call quality is excellent. And being quad core, it is significantly faster than the Razr I had before. So I'm happy. We'll see what the long term brings but after a week, this is my favorite wireless phone of the 15 or 20 I've owned in the past twenty years.
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