In Use
Luckily the device also does not disappoint when it comes to real world use .The integration of the beautifully sharp 1920×1200 may not be up to Retina standards, but it’s still good enough to wow the man in the street with its crisp, clear image quality and responsiveness. The quad core 1.5 GHz processor is no slouch either and coupled with the 2GB of RAM (plus 16 GB of internal storage) and the solid performance of the 3G wireless network (and WiFi when available of course) make the whole things a pleasure to use.
As you can see from the video review below, we had no problems with any task we threw at it, from watching full screen HD video via 3G in the middle of a park, to GPS, gaming and more. It eats it up.
GPS syncing is reassuringly fast, so location based apps are always on tap as long as you have a solid signal, and the Vodafone based model we tested was rock solid in just about every location we tried. The 8 megapixel rear camera too, while suffering from typical small lens low light degradation, is easily as good as anything we’ve seen before on this class of tablet computer, and the Sony firmware does seem to make a difference in quality where it counts. Images come out crisp and sharp, although the sensor does throw a wobbly with complex, heavily saturated colors.
If we do have a quibble, and yes we must, it’s to say that we would prefer a more robust back coating on the casing. We found that the brushed black metal on the test model was too easily scratched on rough surfaces, and forcing us to use a cover or case for this beauty would be a travesty.
We also found charging to be a little problematical. It was too easy for the USB charging cable to fail to register and even when plugged in correctly, the battery seemed to take a huge amount of time to charge to full capacity. It was only when we discovered a secret tweak that it seemed to work much faster. It appears that to charge at the optimum speed you need to put the tablet into Aircraft Mode to switch off all the radios, which we suspect reflects the fact that the SIM card is constantly registering position with the nearest antenna and thus using battery power.
Speaking of the battery, we found the 6000mAh Li-Po battery easily capable enough to power us through some intensive computing during a day. Our day spent roaming with it around the famous Kew Gardens used up just 40% of the available power, and we were streaming video, running GPS mapping and browsing on and off during the time. Oh as well as capturing videos and still images with the camera. At the end of the day we still had lots of juice left.
Things we would like to see improved include a more substantial Getting Started Guide, as we found it quite tricky at first to work out where all the water-tight ports were located and how to insert the micro SIM properly. Oh and the waterproofing is a riot, and so cool. The idea of a mainstream tablet computer which can run happily underwater for up to 30 minutes (and down to a metre in depth) is mind-boggling. If only we could think of a reason to really get the value out of the feature (apart from the obvious beach and pool side frolics).
Conclusion
The Sony Xperia Z 4G Tablet is a cracking product in so many ways. For one thing it breaks the mould of boring off white rounded corner tablet computing that everyone seems to want to emulate nowadays, and does so in a bold and elegant way. It’s a pleasure to carry around, ultra lightweight, and yet manages to perform with gusto under just about every real world application.
It may not beat the benchmark scores of some of the other high end tablet computers, but we’ll happily trade that for a robust WiFi connection over longer distances, great 3G (and we assume 4G as soon as it arrives) performance when out and about. In the UK you can pick up this particular Vodafone model for just £99 on a monthly contract of just £32 (with 2 GB data, including tethering), which is a great option.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to test it with 4G wireless network speeds, due to the lack of availability in our area, but we’ll try and take a look again later and post back if we find anything else worth mentioning. For now we’re just going to say that this is, in our opinion, the best Android tablet computer we’ve come across so far and we’re totally smitten. If you’re looking for a tablet right now, this is definitely a product you should put on your evaluation list, check it out and compare, it’s a cracker.
Highly recommended.
Specifications
Display
10.1-inch Full HD touchscreen, LCD Reality Display
Resolution
HD 1080
Chip
1.5 GHz quad-core processor
Storage
16GB
Cellular data
Quad-Band, 2G EDGE, 3G HSDPA, 3G HSUPA, 3G Handset, AMR Voice codec, GSM Quad Band, 4G LTE, Mobile Hotspot, WCDMA Quad Band, WLAN, WiFi (inc Protocol)
Wireless data
802.11 /b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology
Main Camera
8MP photos and 8 video recording
Secondary Camera
2 MP photos and 2MP video recording
Battery
Non-removable Li-Po 6000 mAh battery
Up to 110 music play time
Up to 9 hours of video call time
Dimensions
10.47 inches by 6.77 inches by 0.27 inches
266 mm by 172 mm by 6.9 mm
Weight
495 grams
Price (SIM Free, without contract)
$499.00
£400.00
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