The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is Sony’s flagship tablet for 2013, and we checked it out in person at MWC 2013, where it launched.
With eye-catching calling card of being the thinnest and lightest 10.1-inch tablet to date, the Sony Xperia Tablet Z was one of the most important launches of the show.
In hand the tablet feels seriously slim. It’s under 7mm thick, and is unmistakeably very thin and very light. At a shade under 500g, it’s 100g lighter than most 10-inch tablets.
Its edges are pretty severe, though – the Sony Xperia Tablet Z doesn’t have hand-hugging curves. It also feels a little bit vulnerable, a bit like an iPad without a case in tow.
Design is clearly very important to the Sony Xperia Tablet Z. But, surprisingly enough, it offers weatherproofing too.
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z can survive being dunked in water, making it a perfect tablet to watch a film on while in the bath. If you want to see the tablet getting dunked, check out the hands-on video below.
Sony Xperia Tablet Z Specs
Its other specs are up there with the best currently available, aside from the camera, which has an 8.1-megapixel sensor when 13-megapixel ones are common nowadays. However, in our opinion a rear camera is one of the least important parts of any large tablet. Or any tablet, really.
Using the Sony Xperia Tablet Z for taking photos, or “playing” augmented reality apps will make you look ridiculous.
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z has a quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon Krait processor, 16GB or 32GB of internal memory and a microSD slot. This makes it commendably flexible as a portable media player.
Its screen will do justice to any vid you throw at it too. It’s a 1,920 x 1,200 pixel Bravia 2 Engine 10.1-inch display. The Bravia 2 tag is essentially marketing, but to our eyes the Sony Xperia Tablet Z screen looks like a good-quality IPS-style panel – the type used by the majority of decent tablets.
It all comes at a decent price too. The Sony Xperia Tablet Z starts at £399, making it a direct competitor to the Retina iPad. However, if you want the 3G/4G edition you’ll have to pay an extra hundred quid.
Is this Sony’s best tablet yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
