Sony Xperia Z Ultra vs Sony Xperia Z

Is the Sony Xperia Z Ultra phablet a better alternative to the Xperia Z?

Sony’s Xperia Z re-defined the company’s design style and even introduced a new interface overlay for Android. It’s a 5-inch smartphone with a Full HD 1080p display, quad-core processor and a waterproof chassis.

The Xperia Z Ultra build on the Xperia Z with a larger form factor, a bigger display packed with new technology and a high-end Snapdragon 800 chip.

Sony Xperia Z: Key specs and features

The Xperia Z was the first phone to introduce a new design ethos at Sony. Not only does it feature a highly angular shape with some interestingly detailing and premium finish materials, but it’s also IP57 certified for water and dust resistance and is waterproof up to a depth of one metre.

The exterior design is rewarding to look at thanks to the Dragontrail glass front and back – which also offers extreme durability – sharply contoured corners, silver trim, matte finish polycarbonates and panelled detailing along the neatly shaped edges.

Picking up the phone is no less pleasing an experience, everything fits together nicely with a solid feel and materials which are suitably premium to the touch. It’s thin at 7.9mm and reasonably lightweight at 146g.

The Xperia Z is a very nippy device in terms of speed and performance thanks to a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor chip clocked at 1.5GHz with an Adreno 320 graphics processing unit (GPU) and 2GB of RAM. Android 4.2 is well-optimised here and the Sony UI works smoothly. You’ll get no lag while transitioning between screens and you can rest assured even the most demanding content on Google Play will run well with a wealth of choice from Google’s ecosystem too.

Sony continues to impress with its display technology. The 5-inch touchscreen packs a 1920x1080 pixel Full HD resolution at a super-sharp 440 pixels-per-inch (ppi) pixel density and is also powered by Sony’s Mobile Bravia Engine 2 for enhanced colour, contrast and clarity. It’s a phenomenal screen to behold with a highly cinematic almost 3D-like experience, making it ideal for watching feature length films, TV shows, YouTube clips in HD quality and flashy 3D games.

For connectivity the Xperia Z is well-stacked with 4G LTE, NFC, MHL TV-out, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DLNA and GPS. A microSD slot allows storage to be expanded by up to 64GB.

The onboard camera is a very competitive setup as it uses a 13-megapixel Sony Exmor RS sensor with an LED flash, HDR, panoramic capture, digitals stabilisation and 1080p video capture. A 2.2-megapixel secondary also provides decent self portraits and 1080p video calls.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra: Key specs and features

The Xperia Z Ultra is bigger than the Xperia Z in every sense of the word. While the form factor has been enlarged to accommodate a 6.44-inch display there’s very little about the exterior that’s changed. But, this is a very good thing, as mentioned above the Xperia Z’s styling, build and design are all top notch and combine to form a very slick product. The panelled detailing, glass front and back, silver trim and angular, thin shape all make a welcome return here. So too does the IP certification for dust and water resistance and waterproofing, this time bumped up to IP58 and without the need for fiddly port covers, though it’s still only good for up to a metre of water.

The larger 6.44-inch display sports the same 1920x1080 pixel resolution, which results in a slightly lower pixel density of around 342ppi, but this is still incredibly impressive for a screen of this size and you’d probably find it difficult to tell the difference.

It also benefits from some additional enhancements. All of the Xperia Z’s positives are here – enhanced colour, contrast, brightness, white purity and clarity, but they’re boosted even further by Sony’s advancement of these technologies. Instead of the Mobile Bravia Engine 2, Sony has tweaked things to look even better with what it’s now calling the X-Reality Engine. Equally as significant is the use of Triluminos display technology which creates more natural colours.

As well as a display upgrade the Xperia Z Ultra also packs a significantly boosted processor setup and it’s the first handset to be launched packing Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor clocked at a staggering 2.2GHz with an Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM. At present you won’t find a faster smartphone anywhere else.

Also of note is the fact that the Xperia Z Ultra supports stylus input. It does not come with a stylus, but supports third party pokey sticks and even will allow the use of a pencil, pen or other similar implement. This means it doesn’t use a digitiser and therefore can’t do things like adjust line thickness based on pressure, but for basic note taking and diagrams this is no real issue.

Lastly, the Xperia Z Ultra has a very large battery pack rated at 3,050mAh, ensuring that you should be able to go for at least a day and a bit on one charge.

Direct spec comparison: Shootout

Device	Sony Xperia Z	Sony Xperia Z Ultra
Dimensions	139x71x7.9mm, 146g	179.4x92.2x6.5mm, 212g
Display	5-inch LCD,1920x1080 pixels,440ppi	6.44-inch Triluminos LCD,1920x1080 pixels,342ppi, X-Reality Engine
Camera	13-megapixel Exmor RS,LED flash,1080p video	8-megapixel Exmor RS,LED flash,1080p video
Storage	16GB,microSD up to 64GB	16GB,microSD up to 64GB
Processor, RAM, Graphics	1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4,2GB RAM, Adreno 320 GPU	2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800,2GB RAM,Adreno 330 GPU
Operating System,	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
UI	Sony UI	Sony UI
Connectivity	microUSB,Bluetooth,NFC,Wi-Fi,Wi-Fi Direct,Wi-Fi Hotspot,DLNA,4G,GPS,MHL	microUSB,Bluetooth,NFC,Wi-Fi,Wi-Fi Direct,Wi-Fi Hotspot,DLNA,4G,GPS,MHL
Battery	2,330mAh	3,050mAh

Points to consider: Practical use

The Xperia Z is a big phone, but 5-inches seems to have become an acceptable standard for flagships and it’s nowhere near the enormous size of the Xperia Z Ultra’s 6.44-inches. Although the Xperia Z Ultra is offering much more lovely screen real-estate to tantalise the eyeballs and make stuff like web browsing very enjoyable it may have crossed a threshold in terms of what’s a convenient scale for a phone.

Naturally in terms of build quality and design both handsets are on a par here as Sony has implemented the same ethos throughout. Likewise, both are equally well-equipped for connectivity options and both internal storage (16GB all round) and expansion via microSD cards.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor nestling inside the Xperia Z Ultra does tip the balance somewhat as it’s considerably more powerful than what the Xperia Z uses. But, with that said, you’ll find that both setups are packing more power than you currently need to run Android Jelly Bean, the Sony UI and any apps on Google Play with fast and fluid performance. The Xperia Z Ultra will remain competitive for longer though if future-proofing is a priority for you.

Battery life is very important when looking at these two devices. The Xperia Z does not have particularly good battery life as the excellent display and fast processor do take their toll on the 2,330mAh unit.

It remains to be seen how well the Xperia Z Ultra’s 3,050mAh setup fares, it should do better in theory, but we note that the Xperia Z Ultra has a larger display with more complex technology layers while the processor is more fearsome too. Potentially the processor could be more efficient, but I can’t say for sure just yet and if the increased spec in these areas really does impact on things significantly then the increase battery power might be nullified somewhat.

The display is a tough one to call. The Xperia Z has one of the best smartphone displays I’ve ever seen and the Xperia Z Ultra provides a larger touchscreen with enhanced iterations of the same technology which makes it so amazing, but at a loss of about 100ppi. Both are still well over the 300ppi threshold which makes things look nice and sharp though. In all honesty I think in this bracket quibbling over the pixel density and resultant sharpness is probably a moot point, but what remains unclear is if the use of the X-Reality Engine and Triluminos tech makes that much of a difference.

Conclusion

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is more up-to-date in terms of processor and display hardware, but aside from future-proofing it’s difficult to see what the advantages really are. If you’re after a huge display then of course you’ll do well with the Xperia Z Ultra but it will be more unwieldy in the hand. The main appeal for me is the increased battery size as the only thing putting me off the Xperia Z when it released was the poor battery life. But while the battery might be improved and the Xperia Z Ultra carries more clout in the engine bay I’m still not entirely onboard with a phone of this size when 5-inch screens serve perfectly well. Personally, I’m waiting to see what the Xperia i1 Honami is like as it sounds like it’ll introduce all the same boosts to hardware at the 5-inch scale.

Source: Knowyourmobile

Posted by Unknown

on Friday, June 28, 2013

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Xperia C gets posted at Sony Mobile: dual SIM 5-incher with MediaTek processor

Sony flaunted the Xperia C during its grand unveiling of the Z Ultra phablet in Shanghai, but now we have the dual-SIM handset pictured officially on the Sony Mobile website, too.

It's to be released in China, and lets you use two SIM cards at once, making it one of the handful of brand-name Android handsets with such capabilities. Dual SIM phones are never spec demons, and the Xperia C doesn't stray away from that trend.

It sports a 5" 540x960 pixels display, a quad-core MediaTek chipset, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of storage and microSD slot, and has an 8 MP Exmor RS sensor on the back. Still not too shabby, and the handset is due to arrive in white, black and purple at China Unicom as exclusive for now, but will be available in other markets further down the road, says Sony.

Source: SonyMobile via phonearena

Posted by Unknown

on Friday, June 28, 2013

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Sony Xperia ion finally gets its serving of Jelly Beans

The Xperia ion is the latest Sony smartphone to get its serving of Jelly Beans as part of the new firmware, version 6.2.B.0.211.

The device will get all of the benefits this version of Android packs, including Project Butter enhancements that would make things run faster, Google Now and actionable notifications. In addition, I would assume some of Sony’s own apps would also get few tweaks here and there to further improve the experience.

If you own the Xperia ion, head over to “Settings” -> “About phone” and find your way to the update menu from there. Just make sure your battery is fully charged and that you’re connected to a fast Wi-Fi network to make this a seamless process.

Source: XperiaBlog via Intomobile

Posted by Unknown

on Thursday, June 27, 2013

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Sony Rolls out Android 4.2.2 Upgrades for Xperia Z

Sony Mobile has finally kicked off the deployment of the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system update for the owners of Xperia Z devices out there, recent reports suggest. 

The new software release arrives on smartphones as firmware version 10.3.A.0.423, the same as it did only last week on the Xperia ZL handsets. 

At the moment, the update is available for the unlocked Xperia Z (C6603) model in Hong Kong, Spain, and Ukraine, as well as for carrier-branded devices in Austria, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.

According to XperiaBlog, the new software release can also be downloaded and installed on the HSPA+ version (C6602) of the device in Taiwan. 

Users interested in downloading and installing the new OS upgrade will be able to do so via the Sony PC Companion software, which means that they will need a Windows PC for the operation. 

Some of the changes packed inside the new platform release include updated Sony media applications, complemented by the addition of a remote phone location app. 

Furthermore, there is a new Functionalities widget for the lock screen and homescreen, along with support for microSD memory cards that offer 64GB of storage space.

At the same time, the update is said to bring along a new customizable navigation bar with quick settings, as a recent post on Android Policenotes. 

The Android 4.2.2 builds for the Xperia Z models mentioned above are already available for download online, it seems, and those who would like to grab them should head over to XperiaGuide for that. 

Sony hasn’t provided specific info on the new OS upgrade for the time being, but it should announce it in the near future. Furthermore, it is expected to start pushing it out to all unlocked Xperia Z units later this week or the next, so keep an eye on this space to learn more on the matter.

Posted by Unknown

on Wednesday, June 26, 2013

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Alleged picture of the Sony Xperia ZU phablet leaks before announcement

If you have been wondering how Sony's first phablet and the phone with the largest screen ever will look like, you don't have to wait until tomorrow, as what claims to be photo of it leaked out. 

The pics show a pretty large bezel top and bottom, which, if the phone is indeed with a 6.44" screen, would be a big hurdle to portability and manageability, explaining why it appeared serving as a kitten holder recently. Also, in line with the rumor that it will sport a screen tech that allows you to doodle with a regular pen or pencilon it, instead of a dedicated stylus, the hand in the picture seems to be drawing on a Post-it note stuck to the display, instead of on the actual screen.

The other leaked handset in the pictures that Sony is supposed to unveil tomorrow, is said to be the Xperia SP for China, with quad-core MediaTek processor and dual SIM capabilities. Sony is also said to unveil a smartwatch of its own, so tune in tomorrow when all mysteries will be cleared.

Source: eprice

Posted by Unknown

on Monday, June 24, 2013

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Sony Xperia ZL Beats Xperia Z to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

The Sony Xperia ZL Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update is rolling out now, making it Sony’s first Android 4.2 Jelly Bean roll out and meaning the Sony Xperia ZL has beaten the Sony Xperia Z  to an Android 4.2 update.

Earlier this year, Sony promised that it would roll out Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean powered Sony Xperia Z and Xperia ZL shortly after launch. Both devices arrived back in February and unfortunately, until today, the updates hadn’t seen the light of day. In the case of the Xperia Z, that remains the case though for Xperia ZL owners, there is good news afoot.

The Sony Xperia ZL Android 4.2 update has begun rolling out to owners in Europe, something that has been confirmed by XperiaBlog. The update is available for both the LTE and HSPA+ versions of the device which means that owners of both of those devices, including the C650X, C6503 and C6502 variants and owners appear to be able to update manually through the Sony PC Companion should they choose to.

The update not only brings the goodies that come along with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean but it also brings some enhancements that should have Xperia ZL owners excited.

Sony has included a new myXperia application that should improve security on the device while also adding support for 64GB microSD cards, something that wasn’t supported prior to the update it seems.

While this is great news for Xperia ZL owners, it’s partially bad news for Xperia Z owners who have been beaten to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean by their non-glass sibling. Partially, because it means that an Xperia Z update is likely coming sometime soon.

Australian carrier Telstra says that it expects to deliver the update next month which means that a roll out to unbranded Xperia Z handsets is likely in the cards for the near future.

So while the Xperia Z did not get Android 4.2 Jelly Bean today, it will likely be joining the Xperia ZL at some point in the near future.

source: Gottabemobile

Posted by Unknown

on Friday, June 21, 2013

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Sony Xperia Z Ultra screenshots emerge, confirm specs

Alleged screenshots, taken from the upcoming Sony Xperia Z Ultra phablet have emerged, thus confirming the previously leaked specs. Codenamed Togari, the large-screen device is expected to break cover next month, on July 4.

The screenshots confirm that the Sony Xperia Z Ultra features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 chipset with 2.2GHz quad-core CPU, and Adreno 330 GPU. There's 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in memory on board, which can be further expanded via microSD card slot. The OS version is Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

The display's resolution is listed at 1080 x 1824 pixels. The remaining pixels up to 1920 are likely reserved for the trio of virtual buttons. The listed pixel density of 342ppi on the other hand, confirms that the unit sports a 6.4" diagonal.

Source: gsmarena

Posted by Unknown

on Thursday, June 20, 2013

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Sony Xperia i1 Honami spec leaks online

More details have leaked online of the Sony Xperia i1, also known as the ‘Honami’, which is expected to be Sony’s next smartphone flagship.

The leak comes via svartling.net and the main thrust of said leak is a picture alleged to be of the Xperia i1, however, it’s ridiculously blurry, to the point where we’re wondering about the authenticity of the leak as a whole. The specs leaked alongside it are believable though.

According to the source the Xperia i1 will be the first handset officially under the ‘One Sony’ ethos the company is taking with its new products – the idea that there is a unified design style and a set of complimentary functionalities across its product portfolio.

The report claims it will feature a 5-inch Triluminos display with a 1920x1080 pixel Full HD resolution, as well as OptiContrast and X-Reality Engine technologies, the latter of which is the successor to Sony’s Mobile Bravia Engine 2.

Allegedly, the front will be coated with a layer of shatter proof glass which is ‘toucher than Xperia Z Dragontrail glass’.

For the processor we’re told it’ll have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core chip (MSM8974) clocked at 2.3GHz with 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 graphics processing uni (GPU). Onboard storage will be 32GB and there will be a microSD slot for expansion – no word on the maximum capacity but we’d guess 64GB.

The camera is listed a little strangely as a 20/13-megapixel setup, suggesting the tipster does not have a completely accurate set of information on this subject. It’s also said to have a 2/3-inch Exmor RS back-illuminated (BSI) sensor with a ‘Sony G’ lens.

We’ve heard talk of the Honami being associated with CyberShot before and the spec sheet says there will be a ‘Cybershot Camera UI’ as well as a camera shutter key (not sure if just a dedicated camera button or a mechanical shutter) and, oddly, ‘interchangeable lenses’.

The camera flash setup gets its own bullet point as it has both Xenon and dual-LED setups with Mobile BIONZ image processing.

A front-facing secondary camera is listed as a 1080p Exmor R sensor rated at 2.2-megpixels.

Moving away from the impressive camera specs, connectivity includes NFC (with facilities for ‘one touch sharing’, Wi-Fi, Miracast, Infrared blaster, Bluetooth and 4G LTE.

The handset also has an S-Master MX Mobile Audio Amplifier and dual stereo speakers, while the battery pack is rated at 3,000mAh and is said to feature an improved stamina mode.

Android 4.2.2 is the operating system of choice here and it is layered with a custom Sony UI. Previously Sony re-branded its UI from TimeScape to simply ‘Sony UI’ but now this report cites it as a new ‘Xperia UI’.

The body shell will be a mixture of glass, metal and carbon fibre and it’ll be IP55 and IP58 certified for dust, water and impact resistance, allegedly there won’t be a flap on the audio jack.

Many of these specs sound like what we’ve heard before, but do go into more detail. We think something close to this setup is quite likely given the correlation between leaks and the fact that it’s a broadly similar sounding spec to what has repeatedly leaked regarding the Xperia Z Ultra phablet.

Obviously certain aspects do raise eyebrows – the blurriness of the photos and the impreciseness of listing both 13-megapixel and 20-megapixel sensor options suggests to us this may just be elaborating on previous leaks, rather than someone having ‘exclusive access’ to the device.

If that were the case we’d expect pictures which could at least be positively identified as a Sony device.

For now we’re taking this with a pinch of salt, but as we said, it’s close to what we’ve seen before and even if the fine detail turns out to be wrong you can likely expect the Xperia i1 to be similar to this line-up.

Here's the full spec in bullet-point form:

•  5.0-inch 1920x1080 Triluminos, OptiContrast, X-Reality Engine, 2000:1 + Contrast Ratio

•  Snapdragon MSM8974 2.3 ghz, Adreno 330

•  2 GB RAM

•  32 GB Internal, microSD expansion

•  2/3" 20/13 MP Exmor RS camera with Sony G lens, Cybershot Camera UI, Camera shutter key, Interchangeable lenses

•  Xenon + Dual LED Flash, Mobile BIONZ Image processing

•  NFC, One Touch Sharing, WIFI Miracast

•  BlueTooth 4.0

•  S-Master MX Mobile Audio Amplifier

• 1080p Exmor R front camera 2.2 Megapixel

• Dual Stereo speakers

• Android 4.2.2, new Xperia UI

• 4G LTE

• Tough Shatter proof Glass on front ( Tougher than Xperia Z Dragontrail glass)

• 3000mAh battery, new improved STAMINA mode

• Glass + Metal/Carbon Fiber body

• IP 55/58 dust, water resistance, shock resistance. No flap on audio jack

• IR Remote

 Source 

Posted by Unknown

on Monday, June 17, 2013

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Sony Xperia ZU benchmark result shows fastest smartphone on the planet

An AnTuTu benchmark result shows the Sony Xperia ZU is the fastest smartphone on the planet

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra, aka the Sony Xperia ZU, has cropped up in benchmark results showing its Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip to be the fastest mobile setup to date.

Sony’s 6.4-inch phablet handset, which is expected for launch on June 25, scored 32173 in the AnTuTu benchmarking app. The score is higher than leaked results for an alleged Samsung Galaxy S4 variant sporting the same hardware, which clocked up a score of 31491 in the same app.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that like-for-like processor setups in rival devices have outperformed Samsung’s use of Qualcomm chips. The HTC One had the same Qualcomm 600 as the current Samsung Galaxy S4 and clocked 200MHz slower at 1.7GHz compared to the Galaxy S4’s 1.9GHz, but Samsung’s scores still came at lower.

Of course, in each case the difference is largely negligible, the end user is still going to experience blindingly fast speeds.

The Sony Xperia ZU will be Sony’s first ‘phablet’ device – a large form-factor smartphone with a stylus accessory. Reports indicate the display tech will be sophisticated enough that if you don’t have the stylus to hand you can still draw and write with a pencil, pen, cocktail stick – anything pokey or pointy, basically.

The rest of the spec is also going to be pretty premium in-line with the processor. It’ll have a 6.4-inch Triluminos display with Sony’s new X-Reality engine and OptiContrast technology.

Generally these added technology layers should mean colour is incredibly rich, contrast has plenty of pop, dark colours have loads of depth, whites are pure and overall everything should be incredibly sharp. It’ll boast a 1920x1080 pixel Full HD resolution at 342 pixels-per-inch.

According to leaked specs you can expect 16GB of storage to be onboard plus microSD support for cards up to 64GB, an 8-megpixel Exmor RS camera, NFC, MHL, a 3,000mAh battery pack and both dust and water proofing. We’d also expect 4G connectivity.

The invites for Sony’s next big event, taking place in Paris, France later this month, showed a stylus pen – pretty much confirming the Xperia ZU will launch at this time.

We’ll be reporting all the news and details on the Xperia ZU launch as it happens.

Posted by Unknown

on Monday, June 17, 2013

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Sony Xperia Tablet Z review and specifications

Sony's tablet and smartphone divisions struggled in 2012, falling victim to the seemingly unstoppable legion of Samsung devices sweeping the market. But, unwilling to throw in the towel, the Japanese giant has come out swinging in 2013 and unveiled a host of new top-end Xperia devices. This started at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, with Sony's Xperia Z smartphone, and continued in February when it unveiled the Xperia Tablet Z.

While the Z smartphone's poor battery life and less than stellar software additions hampered some of the device's more positive design and screen technologies, Sony promised that these flaws had been fixed for the Tablet Z. If true, the tablet could be a key competitor to Samsung and perhaps even Apple's iPad in the 2013 tablet market.

Design and build

The Z features the same OmniBalance design as its smaller sibling, the Xperia Z. This means the Tablet Z looks like a blown-up version of the Z smartphone, and features the same hard-lined, rectangular design. The back of the tablet is made of polycarbonate, while the front is made of Gorilla Glass. The use of polycarbonate is deceiving as it hides the Tablet Z's most interesting design feature, its IP57 certification. The certification means that, despite being built from polycarbonate, the Tablet Z is a very rugged device, being scratch, dust and water resistant.

For business users who travel regularly or work in industries that require them to be outdoors, the Tablet Z's IP57 certification is a definite boon. The Tablet Z's travel-friendly, portable nature is aided by its lightweight and ultra-slim dimensions; it's the thinnest tablet currently available, measuring 266x172x6.9mm and weighing just 495g.

Display
Sony has worked hard to market its recent Xperia devices' screens as key selling points, claiming its custom Mobile Bravia Engine 2 technology makes them markedly sharper, brighter and more vibrant than screens on competing devices. But, as with the Xperia Z smartphone, Sony's claims don't always ring true.

This is why we didn't have particularly high hopes for the Tablet Z's 10.1in, 1200x1920, 224ppi display, but there is plenty to like about it. While the low ppi count means the display isn't quite as crisp as the awesome 10in 2560x1600 resolution, 299ppi screen seen on Google's Nexus 10 tablet, it does boast decent colour-balance levels, so text and icons are still more than legible. The Tablet Z's display is, however, very bright and often needs manually turning down when using it indoors.

The only issue with the Tablet Z's display is that its Gorilla Glass front is prone to picking up dirt marks and stray light. The display will need to be polished every time it is used and the tablet's screen regularly catches the sun if used outdoors, making it hard to view.

Operating system and software
The Tablet Z runs on a customised version of Google's Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean operating system. This means that the OS is slightly different to the vanilla versions used on Google's Nexus tablets, featuring things like tweaked menu screens. But these are mostly superfluous and amount to little more than cosmetic changes. For example, Sony has made it so notifications appear at the bottom left, rather than top right of the user interface and has pushed the Back, Home and Windows buttons from the middle of the bottom edge to the far left.

More important are the many custom applications and widgets loaded onto the Tablet Z. Most are fairly pointless, such as Sony's custom marketplaces that offer equivalent or sub-par versions of the services seen in Google's Play Store. One notable exception to this is the PSM store, which grants users access to an extended selection of old PlayStation and PSN game titles that are unavailable on the Play Store. While this isn't a direct boon for all business users – in fact it probably will hamper rather than boost productivity – it's a selling point for people who regularly have to travel for work, offering welcome entertainment on long-haul flights.

One sad consequence of running on Android 4.1.2, not the latest 4.2.2 version, is that the tablet doesn't boast the multiple user account option seen on the Nexus 10. This is bad as the feature is useful for business users, granting companies the ability to set up the tablet for use by multiple employees or create bespoke work and personal accounts. Luckily the tablet does still feature all Jelly Bean's other key selling points, chief of which is Google Now.

Google Now is a useful service that can be accessed by swiping up from the Tablet Z's on-screen Home button. It uses its owner's search, purchase and location data, to offer push updates on things like the nearest public transport station, decent restaurants in the area and deals on a product they were searching for online. While the service uses a lot of data to offer the updates, Google Now can be particularly useful for business travellers.

Performance 
The Tablet Z is powered by a quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 that's backed up by 2GB RAM. This means that in the current device landscape the tablet is mid-range on paper, which is fair considering its £399 price tag. Benchmarked on Antutu the tablet scored a reasonable 20,237, putting it on par with the Z smartphone, which scored an equivalent 20,674

In use the Z's performance matched the Antutu benchmark figure, generally running smoothly and running most apps issue-free, with webpages loading after a few seconds and video streaming seamlessly most of the time. There was the occasional software glitch, for example when trying to open an app the tablet could momentarily stall for a few seconds, and on a few occasions videos that had been streaming hassle-free could inexplicably stop loading, requiring us to refresh the webpage before starting again.

While these issues only happened very occasionally, they were annoying and are likely due to software clashes resulting from the changes Sony made to the tablet's Android OS.

Camera
The Xperia Tablet Z comes equipped with an 8.1MP, 3264x2448 rear camera and 2.2MP front snapper, however we wouldn't recommend using either of them to take photos. While images taken in regular lighting conditions are usable, they suffer from noise, colour balance and focus issues. The image quality is further damaged by the fact the Tablet Z's tap-to-focus service takes inordinately long to kick in, meaning that unless you're taking a still image you'll probably miss your shot. Image quality further deteriorates when shooting in low light; even when switching to the Tablet Z's HDR shot mode, images become so noisy they're almost unusable.

Battery and storage
Battery has been an ongoing issue for Sony devices and all its recent Xperia tablets and smartphones boast woefully short lives. On paper the Tablet Z ends this trend, with Sony claiming the non-removable Li-Po 6000mAh battery will last 10 hours off one charge, putting it on a par with other 10in tablets like the Nexus 10 and Apple iPad.

In a battery burn test that involved constantly looping a video stored on the device with the screen brightness set to auto, the tablet fell short of Sony's predicted life, dying after about seven-and-a-half hours. While the figure is short of Sony's projected life, it's still reasonable and longer than many cheaper tablets, such as Lenovo's Ideapad range, and the tablet should last a plane trip to the US.

The Tablet Z has 16GB of internal storage that can be upgraded to a maximum of 64GB using its microSD card slot, so users who want to load the device with lots of apps, music and movie files will have to shell out extra cash for a card.

Overall
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is a noble attempt by the Japanese firm to draw attention away from the more fashionable Samsung and Apple competition. The tablet's IP57 certification, lightweight and ultra-slim design, coupled with its entertainment and productivity services make it a compelling choice for any business user who is regularly required to travel for work. However, the Tablet Z's core offering is hampered by niggling issues such as poor software additions that can hinder performance and average battery life.

Specifications:

Processor: Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064
Display: 10.1in 1200x1920, 224ppi
Storage: 16GB internal storage options, expandable via microSD
Camera: 8.1MP, 3264x2448 rear camera and 2.2MP front
Operating system: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
Dimensions: 266x172x6.9mm
Weight: 495g

Posted by Unknown

on Thursday, June 13, 2013

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