Can Sony's newly announced Xperia Tablet Z dethrone the iPad?
We see if Sony’s Xperia Tablet Z can challenge the latest iPad from Apple.
Form
iPad 4 - 241.2x185.7x9.4mm, 652g
Sony Xperia Tablet Z - 266x172x6.9mm, 495g
The Xperia Tablet Z is the third iteration of Sony’s Android tablet design, following the Sony Tablet S and the Sony Xperia Tablet S with a similar design but one which has been increasingly refined, smoothed and polished with each new model.
It’s the thinnest so far and must, at time of writing, be the thinnest tablet to date at a mere 6.8mm.
Considering it’s a 10.1-inch device it’s also remarkably light, having shed some of that extra bulk it’s moving closer to what we’d expect from a 7-inch or 8-inch slate at 495g, meaning it’s also probably one of the lightest 10-inch tablets you’ll encounter.
From the front, the Xperia Tablet Z has an extremely angular shape, the corners have had the sharpness taken off just a little and the evenly spaced bezel, which is neither too wide nor too narrow, surrounds a widescreen aspect ratio display to create an imposing appearance.
The Xperia Tablet Z quite rightly shares its name with Sony’s recent Xperia Z smartphone, but it’s not just the naming convention they have in common.
The previous Sony tablet design with its wrap around top edge is now gone in favour of something which, like the Xperia Z, is much plainer and more straightforward.
From press shots we’ve seen the Xperia Tablet Z appears to have the same panelled design along its edges and the same embedded buttons which look very neat.
We often describe mobile hardware as having a ‘slab’-like appearance but never was it truer than here. The Xperia Tablet Z is essentially one continuous slab of material with a display embedded in the front and it looks, clean, modern and minimalist, and it’s glorious as a result.
Admittedly we’ve only seen pictures so far, but it appears to have a matte finish, which historically is something Sony does rather well, and along with its usual high-grade level of build quality should mean the device is as satisfying to get to grips with as it is to look at.
It’s worth mentioning the Xperia Tablet Z follows the Xperia Z smartphone with full waterproofing and dustproofing and an IP57 certification.
Apple’s iPad 4 is, well, an iPad. There’s been little change to the design in the last two generations.
Depending on where your loyalty, aesthetic preference or attention span lies this may be a good thing or a bad thing.
Our two pence is awkwardly seated in the middle, in the sense that we can appreciate the carefully honed aesthetic qualities, signature style and impeccable build quality, but never found it swoon-worthy and are now more than a little bored by the familiarity.
We can’t fault it, we just don’t particularly enjoy it either.
Winner – Sony Xperia Tablet Z
Storage
With Apple you always know what you’re getting when it comes to storage: a full choice of either 16GB, 32GB or 64GB on the inside and no card slot, meaning there’s no chance of boosting this if you wished to.
Sony has gone down the simple single option route with 32GB but you do get a microSD slot which will take regular cards up to 32GB and high-capacity cards up to 64GB. There’s plenty of space and flexibility here, which we’d argue provides a better package.
Winner – Sony Xperia Tablet Z
Display
Apple’s reputation precedes it when it comes to the company’s display technology. The iPad 4 sports a 9.7-inch IPS LCD ‘Retina’ display with a 2048x1536 pixel resolution at 264 pixels-per-inch (ppi).
It’s incredibly sharp and bright with rich colours and delivers a satisfying experience that’s proven popular with millions of users.
Sony’s display appears to be on a similar level of quality, it’s a bit larger at 10.1-inches with a 1920x1200 pixel resolution at a slightly lower 224ppi pixel density. There’s not going to be a huge difference in clarity.
However, Sony has layered its new Mobile Bravia Engine 2 technology which boosts colour depth, brightness and contrast considerably. The result should mean a much punchier picture than its opponent, although it does come at the cost of decent viewing angles. For us this is an acceptable price to pay.
All said, we think these two are quite evenly matched.
Winner – Draw
by via Know Your Mobile
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