Abstract: For phased array ultrasonic testing, multiple elements are used to synthesize inspecting sound field with timing excitation and reception. Theoretically, this technique has a better inspection capability in near field area because of strong controllability based on interference effect, which is different from conventional ultrasonic testing, where far field area is preferred for quantitative inspection. This paper focused on the above differences by considering the focal law frequently-used in actual inspection and using simulation method to analyze the sound field characteristics of near field and far field area in phased array ultrasonic testing. The detection sensitivity, resolution and quantitative error of near field focusing and far field focusing in phased array ultrasonic testing were analyzed quantitatively. The selection principles of near field focus and far field focus were summarized and some advice for phased array ultrasonic quantitative testing was suggested.