Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review. Sony xperia tablet

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review

Despite its reputation for producing high-quality devices, Sony’s three previous attempts at an Android tablet were less than impressive. Rather than standing out from the crowd, the Tablet S, Tablet P and Xperia Tablet S delivered a modest tablet experience in a fairly average package.

Sony hopes to change all that in one fell swoop with the new Sony Xperia Z, and it largely succeeds.

Hands-On Impressions

As the name would suggest, the Xperia Tablet Z is based on a similar design as the highly regarded Xperia Z phone. Perhaps the most notable deviation is a matte back in lieu of the phone’s glass finish, which makes for a pleasantly grippable surface.

Measuring in at 10.5-by-6.8-by-0.27 inches, the first thing you’ll notice is the razor-thin profile and very light weight. A tablet comparison with the Google Nexus 10 and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, both of which weigh in around 600 grams, reveals the Xperia Tablet Z to be very comfortable and feather-light.

Tablet Tour

Taking a trip around the Xperia, the top edge is mostly empty. There’s a small microphone and an IR blaster, but no buttons or ports. The right edge is similarly barren, save a speaker near the bottom.

The bottom edge houses another speaker along with a microSD slot hidden by a waterproof cover on the left, as well as another speaker and a covered micro-USB port. Along the left edge is where most of the action is. Yet another speaker is joined by a covered headphone jack, volume rocker, notification light and power button.

Compared to tablets with recessed buttons, the protruding buttons on the Xperia are a bit less comfortable.

Resolving the Details

At 10.1 inches and a 1920-by-1200 resolution, the Xperia Tablet Z cranks out about 224 pixels per inch. It doesn’t quite compare to tablets with ultra-high resolutions like the Nexus 10, but it far outpaces Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1.

Regardless of the pixel density, the Xperia’s panel simply looks good. Viewing angles are impressive for a tablet, and colors are bright and vibrant. The panel also features very good black levels, ensuring that blacks stay black except on the highest brightness settings.

Under the Hood

At first glance, the Xperia sure looks a bit dated. Its 1.5-gigahertz Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM processor, mated with two gigabytes of RAM, is far from the most impressive piece of technology in a tablet.

It delivers solid performance, however, and it handles most tasks with relative ease. In terms of battery life, the Xperia isn’t much more than average. Its 6,000 milliamp-hour battery is a sacrifice to keep the profile thin, but the results are still decent.

Tablet Roundup

The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is a fine device. Compared to tablets like the Nexus 10 and Galaxy Note 10.1, the comfortable, ultra-light design and excellent build quality make the Xperia very appealing.

While it lacks the sheer pixel density of the Nexus, the display is more than adequate and it easily outshines the Galaxy 10.1. Performance is relatively similar between all three, with the Nexus and Xperia again slightly outpacing the Galaxy.

All things considered, the exceptionally light and comfortable design of the Sony Xperia Tablet Z is probably its biggest advantage.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review

The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is among the finest Android tablets available, combining an incredibly thin and light design with top-notch performance.

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Pros

• Remarkably thin and light.
• Sharp and bright full-HD display.
• Fully waterproof.
• Blazing-fast performance.
• Built-in IR emitter for home theater remote control.
• MicroSD card slot and HDMI out through MHL.

Cons

With its latest flagship Xperia devices, Sony has carved out a foothold in the premium smartphone and tablet spaces with inspired designs and impressive performance. The Sony Xperia Tablet Z (499.99 direct) looks like a stretched out version of the admirable Xperia Z smartphone. It’s remarkably thin and light, packs in a sharp display, and pumps out top-notch performance thanks to its speedy quad-core processor. On top of that, you get a fully waterproof design, microSD expandable memory, and a built-in IR emitter for TV remote control abilities. The Xperia Tablet Z is among the finest Android tablets available, and is a worthy alternative to top-end tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, and even the Apple iPad.

Design and Features The first time I handled an iPad mini. I marveled at its thinness and lightness. I had a similar reaction when I first picked up the Tablet Z ( at Amazon) (Opens in a new window). At 0.27 inches thick and 1.09 pounds, it’s remarkably thin and light for a 10-inch tablet. For comparison, the full-sized iPad is 0.37 inches thick and 1.44 pounds, while the Note 10.1 is 0.35 inches thick and 1.31 pounds. That nearly half-pound difference is significant and makes the Tablet Z more comfortable to hold than other 10-inch tablets. Its slimness makes the tablet feel a bit delicate, though. It’s well built, but you can feel it flex when you twist at either end. On top of that, I noticed some LCD rippling at the edges when I applied pressure along the bezels.

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The back is made from rubberized plastic, a departure from the glass-clad Xperia Z, but the curved corners and flat edges mimic Sony’s smartphone design. The Tablet Z is also fully waterproof, with flaps that cover the 3.5mm headphone jack, micro USB port, and microSD card slot around the tablet’s perimeter. There are speaker grilles on the bottom two corners right where your palms naturally rest, making them easy to cover up. I dunked the Tablet Z in a bucket of water and it was completely unaffected, even playing a video while fully submerged.

The tablet’s 10.1-inch 1,920-by-1,200-pixel TFT LCD is surrounded by a somewhat large 1-inch bezel. The Full HD resolution and 224 pixels per inch means everything is incredibly crisp and detailed, on par with the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity (159.99 at Amazon) (Opens in a new window) and a big improvement over the 1,280-by-800-pixel display on the Galaxy Tab 10.1. The display also features inky blacks that give AMOLED panels a run for their money, without the blue tint to whites. Viewing angle is excellent, but the screen doesn’t get all that bright—outdoors, in bright light, the screen is barely discernible behind the fingerprint-magnet glass.

This is a Wi-Fi only tablet that connects to 802.11b/g/n networks on both 2.4 and 5GHz frequencies. Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC are also on board. Sony offers two models, a 16GB for 499.99 and a 32GB for 599.99, and our 32 and 64GB SanDisk microSD cards both worked fine.

Performance and Android The Xperia Tablet Z is powered by a quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with 2GB RAM. This is the first tablet we’ve tested with this setup, and it didn’t disappoint—the Tablet Z scorched our benchmarks, recording some of the highest scores we’ve seen across the board. The 20,218 overall Antutu benchmark score handily beat the 16,604 notched by the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (398.98 at Amazon) (Opens in a new window) and approached the 23,000-25,000 marked by the Samsung Galaxy S 4 (399.99 at Amazon) (Opens in a new window) and HTC One, which use Qualcomm’s even newer Snapdragon 600 processor. High Browsermark and Sunspider JavaScript scores confirmed anecdotally speedy Web browsing performance during day-to-day use, while GLBenchmark frame rates were among the best we’ve seen. From rapidly switching between multiple running apps to playing graphically intensive games like Real Racing 3, the Tablet Z handled everything we threw at it easily. Sliding between widget-loaded home screens and scrolling down media-heavy websites was smooth, with very rare choppiness. This is one seriously fast tablet.

Sony’s Android skin falls somewhere between Asus’s minimal modifications and Samsung’s heavy-handed skinning. Luckily, beyond the cosmetic adjustments, there are some genuinely useful additions here. On the home screen, you’ll notice two major differences between Sony’s version and stock Android. The first is a bar along the top that holds four customizable shortcuts, a Google search and voice command shortcut, and an app drawer launcher. I really like the shortcuts along the top, as they allow me to keep my home screens a bit less cluttered, while always keeping my most important apps on hand. The second modification is Sony’s multitasking ‘small apps.’ These run in little Windows on top of whatever current app you’re running, and include a browser, calculator, notepad, clip manager, timer, recorder, and remote control. You can download more Sony-compatible small apps, from clients to camera apps, and also turn any widget into a small app. I found the small apps pretty useful, though they fall a bit short of the split-screen multitasking you get on the Galaxy Note 10.1.

Multimedia and Conclusions

The built-in remote control app and small app make use of the Tablet Z’s IR emitter to control TVs, DVD players, audio receivers, and even cable set top boxes. I tested the tablet with a Sharp HDTV, Sony audio receiver, and Time Warner Cable set top box, all of which were easily controlled using the Tablet Z. Curiously, Sony’s TV SideView app was not pre-installed on our Tablet Z, but was easy to find in the Google Play app store. TV SideView works as a graphical program guide, showing tiled pictures of current programming, and also shows extra info like cast names and episode summaries. You can record the show you’re watching, but you can’t access your DVR or set up recordings for another time.

The tablet comes with a range of stores, including Google Play and Sony’s own media stores, Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited. Unfortunately, Video Unlimited only delivers SD content to the Tablet Z, which doesn’t do the display justice; stick to other retailers. Sony also preloaded its well-designed Walkman, Album, and Movies apps, which I prefer over the stock Android alternatives. In a nice move, Sony allows you to uninstall most of these preloaded apps.

Обзор Sony Xperia Tablet Z

Dig into the settings and you’ll find a few more Sony customizations. Under Display, you can jack up the color saturation, which may or may not appeal to your aesthetic sensibility. There’s an Xperia tab in the settings menu that walks you through pairing the Tablet Z with other Xperia devices, and even lets you easily pair a PS3 DualShock 3 controller for gaming. Sony also included two power management settings; Stamina mode disables wireless radios when the screen is off, while Low Battery mode disables unnamed functions in order to save power when battery is low.

In our battery rundown test, which loops a video with screen brightness set to max and Wi-Fi turned on, the Xperia Tablet Z lasted 4 hours, 41 minutes. That’s disappointing compared with the Transformer Pad Infinity’s 7 hours, 17 minutes and the Galaxy Note 10.1’s 5 hours, 42 minutes on the same test. During testing, I also noticed the Tablet Z seemed to charge slower than competing models, and the micro USB port, which is covered by a protective flap, was finicky and disengaged charging a few times when I didn’t pay attention to how I put the tablet down.

Media playback is solid with the Tablet Z and it breezed through anything we threw at it, including MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, Xvid, and WMV files at resolutions up to 1080p.

There are two cameras on board here, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The rear camera disappointed in my tests, with noticeably grainy images in both indoor and outdoor settings. Images are moderately sharp, but the Tablet Z struggles with dynamic range, blowing out highlighted areas and losing detail in shadows. You can record video at 1080p resolution, but I’d use it as a last resort—video is shaky and riddled with image noise. The front-facing camera is serviceable for Skype calls, but not much more. This, however, is pretty typical of most tablet cameras.

Conclusions The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is a truly impressive tablet. It’s supremely thin and light, exceedingly fast, and has a sharp full-HD display. Throw in extras like waterproofing, a built-in IR-emitter, expandable memory, and PS3 controller compatibility and you have a seriously loaded Android tablet.

Consumer tablets are really differentiating themselves now, and each of the leading ones have different strengths. The Transformer Pad Infinity has an optional keyboard dock that turns the tablet into a veritable laptop replacement. The Galaxy Note 10.1 has a pressure sensitive stylus and dual-screen multitasking. Microsoft’s Surface RT has Microsoft Office, and no other tablet can touch Apple’s iPad when it comes to offers a range of truly tablet-optimized apps, games and educational content. If you want the thinnest, lightest, and arguably fastest Android tablet on the market, the Tablet Z is the way to go, but you’ll pay a premium and miss out on some unique features offered by the competition. Our Editors’ Choice award remains with the Note 10.1, as its stylus and multitasking features make it more useful than any other tablet we’ve tested.

Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet review

Does Sony‘s latest high-end offering manage to stand out among the sea of Android tablets out there? We find out, in this Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet review!

Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet

Sony manages to introduce another fantastic high-end device to the Android tablet market, which checks all the right boxes, with its sleek and elegant design, gorgeous display, excellent performance, smooth and snappy software, and great audio experience. Add Sony staples like dust and water resistance into the mix, and what we have is an extremely compelling device in the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet.

What we like

large, bright, high resolution display

IP65/68 certified against water and dust

What we don’t like

Only one storage capacity

Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet

Sony manages to introduce another fantastic high-end device to the Android tablet market, which checks all the right boxes, with its sleek and elegant design, gorgeous display, excellent performance, smooth and snappy software, and great audio experience. Add Sony staples like dust and water resistance into the mix, and what we have is an extremely compelling device in the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet.

While there are quite a few good Android tablets around, many of them lean towards the budget-friendly, and therefore, mid-range side of things. As good as some of these devices may be, it’s been some time since we’ve gotten our hands on a truly compelling Android tablet. Sony is attempting to change all that with their latest high-end tablet offering, the Xperia Z4 Tablet. This device certainly seems to check all the right boxes on paper, but does it manage to meet, or even go beyond, our expectations? We find out, in this comprehensive Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet review!

Design

One of the highlights of the high-end Sony tablet line has always been how sleek and light these devices are, and that is something that continues with the latest addition to the series. With a thickness of just 6.1 mm and weighing 393 grams, the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet is an absolute pleasure to hold, and you almost forget that this is actually a rather large device. While featuring a plastic construction, the build quality certainly doesn’t feel cheap, and the textured matte finish of the back panel allows for plenty of grip as well.

The rectangular shape, silver trim, and somewhat angular design, with signature elements like the large silver power button, are all very true to Sony, but its overall simplicity can understandably be mistaken as being bland, rather than elegant. The bezels up front may also not be the most aesthetically pleasing design element, giving the tablet the look of a picture frame when looking at it head on. It does serve a purpose functionally though, as the large bezels make for great resting points for your thumbs when holding on to the device.

When holding the device in the landscape orientation, the power button and volume rocker are found on the left side within easy reach. This placement that makes complete sense, given that a large tablet such as this is primary designed for use in this manner, and it is actually quite surprising that not a lot of tablet manufacturers do this when it comes to their large tablet offerings.

The remaining ports are in their typical positions, with the microUSB port on the right, the headphone jack up top, next to a large plastic flap that covers the microSD card slot and the SIM card slot, of course, with the latter available with the 4G LTE-enabled version of the device. Up front are the usual sensors, a front-facing camera, and a multi-colored notification LED, but of note is the dual front-facing speaker setup, denoted by tiny slits that are very inconspicuous to maintain the simplistic elegance of the Xperia Z4 Tablet.

Display

The display of the Xperia Z4 Tablet is one of the main attractions of the device, with the 10.1-inch IPS LCD screen (2560 x 1600 and a pixel density of 299 ppi) being an extremely sharp display that provides everything you’d expect from a device of this caliber. The display is bright, vivid, with great viewing angles, and good color saturation, allowing for a fantastic experience regardless of what you are using the display for, be it web browsing, reading, keeping up with social networks, gaming, or watching videos.

Given that this is a Sony device, you can also take advantage of Sony’s X-Reality engine for clearer, sharper, and more natural images, and there is also a Vivid mode that really increases the saturation for a more vibrant image with photos and video. granular controls are also available, allowing users to make adjustments to the white balance, but it has to be mentioned that the default white balance and color temperature are already quite accurate, so you likely won’t have to make a lot of changes in this regard.

Performance

Under the hood, the Xperia Z4 Tablet packs an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, clocked at 2 GHz, and backed by the Adreno 430 GPU and 3 GB of RAM. This processing package, despite some well-documented issues, is still one of the best out there, and that is easily seen when it comes to the performance of this tablet. The overall experience has been very fluid, with hardly any instances of lag or stutters. Opening, closing, and switching apps, multi-tasking, and navigating around the various elements of the UI have all been extremely smooth, and gaming on the Xperia Z4 Tablet is of no concern either.

Of course, the big question that will be on everyone’s mind is with regards to the known overheating issues that come up with the Snapdragon 810, but fortunately, this problem hasn’t come up with this device thus far. Given that tasks that usually generate a lot of heat, such as gaming and watching videos for a while, is what this tablet was primarily used for, the Xperia Z4 Tablet has done surprisingly well with keeping its cool.

Hardware

The Sony Xperia Z4 comes with 32 GB of on-board storage, which is further expandable via microSD card by up to 128 GB, and comes with a standard suite of connectivity options, including the availability of a 4G LTE-enabled version. Everything is kept protected from the elements as well, courtesy of its IP68 rating from dust and water resistance, which means that the device can be submerged in up to 1.5 meters of water for as long as 30 minutes without a negative impact on performance and usability.

There is also a big emphasis on audio with the Xperia Z4 Tablet, with device featuring built-in Hi-Res audio support for reduced distortion digital noise cancelling technology, that is capable of reducing exterior noise by up to 98%, when paired with DNC headphones. The Xperia Z4 Tablet can also optimize audio specifically for your ears, no matter what pair of headphones or earbuds you use, and all of this does make for a fantastic audio experience. The audio enhancements are applied automatically, but you do have the option to play around with the manual equalizer controls and surround sound effects to cater the listening experience exactly to your liking.

The great audio features continue with the dual front-facing speakers that the Xperia Z4 Tablet rocks. While you aren’t able to take advantage of any of Sony’s audio enhancements through these speakers, the quality even without it is still quite good, and significantly adds to the media-consumption experience. The speakers get loud, and everything remains crisp and clear throughout, with no signs of distortion even at the highest volume. This is easily one of the best speaker setups you can get a tablet right now, and this is one aspect where Sony, with its Xperia Z4 Tablet, is far ahead of the competition.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z. стильный и самый тонкий. Первый обзор

The Xperia Z4 Tablet features a large 6,000 mAh battery that has allowed for some quite impressive battery life. Using the tablet primarily for playing games and watching videos, the tablet still managed up to 6 hours of screen-on time in the 24 or 30 hours since being taken off the charger. The usage is significantly heavy in this case of course, and more casual use will provide a drastic increase in these numbers, so battery life is another area which should be of no concern to users.

Camera

Cameras have historically never been a standout feature of a tablet, and have always sort of felt like an afterthought, especially when compared to the cameras available with smartphones. The Xperia Z4 Tablet doesn’t do much to change the status quo, but does pack a decent camera package, with its 8 MP rear camera, and a 5 MP front-facing shooter.

The camera software is as you would expect from Sony, with its minimalist and user-friendly interface. Apart from standard modes like Superior Auto and Manual, there is also a bunch of novelty shooting modes included, like face in picture, sweep panorama, multi-camera, and AR effect. The usefulness of some of these modes is questionable, but they can be a lot of fun if you do choose to use them.

The picture quality, however, is exactly what you would expect from a tablet camera. Some decent shots are possible, and this camera should do fine in a pinch, but you’re in for some disappointment if you’re hoping to be able to replace your primary mobile photography device, be it a point and shoot camera or your smartphone. Lighting conditions play a big role in this case, with the best shots possible in well-lit environments, and with the level noise and loss of detail increasing as the lighting situation worsens.

Software

On the software side of things, the Xperia Z4 Tablet is running Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with Sony’s Xperia UI on top, which remains one of the best Android skins out there. While there are some noticeable differences from stock Android, such as the color scheme and the customizable application drawer, a lot of Material Design elements are intact, and together makes for a smooth and snappy software experience.

Many of Sony’s staple software add-ons are available here as well, such as Small Apps that allows for easier multi-tasking, and is a lot more useful on the large screen of a tablet with the additional real estate available, rather than on a much smaller smartphone. The Lifelog application is also included, which is great not only for tracking your fitness data, but also your general overall lifestyle, to see how much time you’ve dedicated to certain activities, like sleeping or listening to music, throughout your daily routine.

Like many other Sony mobile product, the Xperia Z4 Tablet also comes with Playstation integration, allowing users to remotely play PlayStation 4 games directly on the tablet. This is definitely a huge selling point for PlayStation 4 owners, and is something that is very unique to Sony, which gives this device a huge leg up in the gaming department when compared to other tablets.

Pricing and Final Thoughts

The official availability of the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet in the US is yet to be announced, but the device is available via Amazon, with the price points currently at 699 for the Wi-Fi-only version, 729 for the 4G LTE version, along with another option that comes with an included Bluetooth keyboard, priced at 759, but keep in mind that these do tend to fluctuate.

So there you have it for this in-depth look at the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet! Sony manages to once again tick off all the important boxes, with the device featuring a large beautiful display, thin and light design, fast performance, excellent software experience, Hi-Res audio, and Playstation integration. Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect product, but Sony does come close with the Xperia Z4 Tablet. As mentioned, it has been a while since we’ve seen a truly compelling Android tablet in the market, but this device manages to go even beyond our expectations, which is very exciting. Granted, the price is towards the higher-end of the spectrum, but the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet is certainly worth it.

Sony has produced a great tablet for both work and play, and a strong rival for the iPad too Tested at £499

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

At last, Android has a real 10in contender against the iPad

Pros

• Powerful, sharp, vibrant picture
• Excellent sound quality
• High-res music support
• Strong battery life
• Handy keyboard accessory

Cons

• – Build quality a little plasticky
• – Too much bloatware
• – Operating system could be better

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi?

Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a 10in Android tablet that could really be a convincing alternative to Apple’s iPad.

While the iPad mini has had its fair share of competition, the iPad Air has stood relatively unshaken for some time, with only Samsung’s four-star Tab S 10.5 coming anywhere close in our tests.

Having delivered an excellent tablet at the smaller screen size in the Z3 Tablet Compact, Sony has now thrown its hat into the ring for the 10in screen size. Bundled with a Bluetooth keyboard to make it quite the proposition for Android fans, all of a sudden the iPad’s throne is looking distinctly unsteady.

Design

Sony’s Z4 Tablet has the bragging rights of being the world’s slimmest, lightest 10in tablet on the market, with a slender 6.1mm frame and weighing just 389g (393g for the LTE version).

It has taken some design influences from Sony’s Z3 range, with a much-improved look and feel to its Z2 Tablet predecessor. Curved edges give it a much softer, more appealing design, and make it more comfortable in the hand too.

Bezels are thinner this time round, giving it a slicker, more desirable look, and its slim design is sturdier, without the worrying flex of the Tablet Z2.

It’s still largely plastic though, with a matte-touch back that makes it easy to hold, and metal capped edges to help guard it against drops and knocks.

Its lightweight plastic finish means it’s not the most premium feeling tablet on the market, particularly when compared to the iPad Air 2. If this is important to you, it’s a definite consideration – the iPad feels far more luxurious.

Of course its build comes into its own during use. Holding it for long periods of time isn’t as tiring on the wrists as the heavier iPad.

It is evident from the positioning of its buttons that the Z4 is designed for use in the landscape position. The power button and volume rocker are on the left hand side of the screen, with the headphone jack and microSD card slot along the top edge and the micro USB charging port along the bottom.

The Z4 Tablet is waterproof, one of Sony’s big USPs, and its IP68 rating means it can be used in depths of up to 1.5m for up to 30 minutes.

As always, it’s fresh water only, meaning you won’t be able to use it in the sea, but it’s all set for poolside hi-jinks, not to mention a Netflix session in the bath.

A first for this tablet, though, is the uncapped charging port, which has been waterproofed so it doesn’t require a protective cover. This means no more fiddling with covers to charge it up making it much more convenient.

Screen

The Z4 Tablet’s screen is 10.1 inches and packs a 2K, 2560 x 1600 display with 299ppi – a touch better than the iPad Air 2’s 264ppi.

It’s Sony’s first 2K screen on a tablet and it’s a beauty, offering crisp, detailed pictures that are vibrant but well balanced.

Skin tones are judged perfectly and though its colour palette leans towards the warm side of neutral, colours never look false or oversaturated. Viewing angles on the IPS screen are great too, so colours stay punchy no matter where you view them.

Contrast is strong, with dark, detailed blacks sitting happily alongside bright, if occasionally slightly bluey, whites.

There are manual white balance controls that you can play with to try to improve this, though we found it hard to find a better overall balance than the default.

If we’re being picky, there could be a touch more control and subtlety to the Z4’s white levels in the darkest scenes. Stars and bright lights can struggle to maintain their outline in the same way as you’ll see on the iPad.

This is a bright screen – the brightest 2K screen on the market no less – and even at half brightness, it’s considerably brighter than the iPad. This makes it great for use outside, but it also contributes to these slightly overblown whites.

As always, Sony has packed the Z4 Tablet with plenty of display technology garnered from its TVs. Most works to its credit, but we’d certainly recommend switching off X-Reality Pro in display settings as a matter of course. With it switched on, images are over sharpened and lines over etched, delivering a certain amount of unwelcome picture noise as a result.

Audio

When it comes to audio, Sony’s commitment to high-resolution continues with the Z4 Tablet, with support for file playback up to 24-bit/192khz.

Its DSEE HX technology returns too, promising to upscale the audio fidelity of lesser quality tracks to near hi-res. We’re still a little sceptical, but its performance is a strong one all the same.

Listening to our playlist of test tracks, the Z4 offers a rich, engaging sound, with a clean, uncluttered midrange. It pips the iPad Air 2 for fine detail too, which now sounds a little closed in by comparison.

It’s an easy listen, but one with a good sense of timing and plenty of weight to give it a warm, full-bodied character. There’s plenty of dynamic know-how that shows the Z4 to be just as at home with classical music as it is with hip-hop.

Sony has made the good decision of continuing with the stereo speakers we saw on the Z3 Tablet Compact, which result in a much more direct sound when listening to movies or music out loud.

They lack a little weight in the low end and sound a little thin at volume, but are more usable than most, should you find yourself needing to listen without a pair of headphones.

Features

The Z4 features the newest, most powerful processor from Qualcomm – the 64-bit octo-core Snapdragon 810.

This processor hasn’t had the best reviews, with reports of overheating rife among devices that feature it. Though you get a heat warning the first time you fire up the camera, we didn’t find that to be the case with the Z4.

Instead it offers a solid performance that never shows any lag or stutters – multitasking works like a breeze and 3D games play happily without a misstep.

Speaking of gaming, as with previous Sony devices, the Z4 Tablet offers the same ability to play Playstation 4 games on your tablet via PlayStation 4 Remote Play.

All you need is your PlayStation 4 and tablet on the same Wi-Fi network – you can even use your DualShock 4 wireless controller if you wish.

On-board storage is 32GB with 3GB of RAM, but the built-in microSD card slot allows you to boost this up to an extra 128GB. This works out much cheaper than buying a bigger storage iPad.

As for battery life, the Z4 Tablet claims to offer 17 hours of use from its 6000mAh battery, and it’s certainly shown an impressive performance from our time with it.

During testing, we were losing around 20 per cent during a working day filled with sporadic music listening, game playing, web browsing and video watching, easily allowing us time for more at home without needing to charge it in between.

Sony’s Stamina battery saving modes are at your disposal, should you be caught short, but even power users would struggle to drain this from a full charge in a day.

The only problem is that it’s a slow battery to charge – at 60 per cent full, the on-screen menu suggests we still have four hours left until full charge.

Operating system

If there’s one thing that holds the Z4 back, it’s Sony’s operating system. While it’s clean and functional, it lacks any sense of real thought or innovative flair to make it stand out. It’s just a little dull.

It’s also too full of bloatware, most of which you are unable to delete. Sony could learn a few things from Samsung’s retreat on that front, and allow users to download the apps they really want to use, without apps being forced upon them.

Camera

Cameras on tablets are often a contentious issue, but Sony has tried to make the Z4’s a worthwhile endeavour, keeping the main camera at 8MP, with an improved 5.1MP wide-angle snapper on the front.

Unfortunately, while you have the full suite of Sony’s camera features at your disposal, the results are variable.

Good light snaps are largely fine, but autofocus is slow, the HDR mode can be inconsistent and images lack fine detail. It’ll do for quick snaps, but the cameras on Sony phones will easily outperform it.

Accessories

Something that makes Sony’s Z4 Tablet stand out from the Android crowd is the accompanying BKB50 Bluetooth keyboard, which comes bundled with the Z4 as standard.

With a dedicated slot for the Z4 Tablet to sit, the BKB50 allows the tilt of the tablet to be adjusted to suit, with the convenience of a full keyboard and touchpad for greater functionality.

This does make the 32GB Xperia Z4 Tablet a little pricey compared with its competitors at £499, but this accessory transforms the tablet from entertainment device to a real work companion.

The keys and trackpad seem a little small to begin with, but after a few minutes, our fingers get used to the placing of keys and we’re happily tapping away in the Microsoft Office software included.

This could easily be a more lightweight replacement for your laptop for simple on-the-go tasks, and really opens up the use of the Z4 Tablet.

Verdict

Sony has produced some excellent products of late and the Z4 Tablet is just the most recent in a series of home runs.

At this money, we’d like the build quality to feel a little more premium, and the operating system to be a little more inspiring, but these are small upsets for an otherwise great product.

With an excellent screen, superb sound quality and some excellently thought out features and inclusions, the Z4 Tablet is a great 10in option for Android fans and, at last, a real competitor for the iPad.

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