We review the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet!

Sony wowed everyone when they unveiled the Xperia Tablet Z with its almost impossibly thin body, great design and awesome hardware. That’s probably the reason why the company opted to go with the same general design with its successor, the Xperia Z2 Tablet, injecting a few refinements to the design along with the requisite hardware update. Of course, being a Sony tablet, the Xperia Z2 is mighty expensive, coming in at Php 34,990. Does the Xperia Z2 Tablet have the performance to go along with that hefty price tag?

 Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet specs

• 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor
• 3GB of RAM
• 10.1-inch full HD Triluminos display, 1920 x 1200 resolution
• 16GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 64GB
• 8.1-megapixel camera
• 2.2-megapixel front camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
• 6000mAh battery
• Android 4.4 KitKat

The slimmest Android tablet on the market today

The Xperia Z2 Tablet actually holds the tie of being the slimmest Android tablet available today. At just 6.4mm, it just narrowly beat Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S by .2mm. It’s also pretty light for a tablet its size, and unlike Samsung’s offering, it’s also water resistant, able to take on water as deep as 1.5 meters for 30 minutes without any adverse effects.

If you’ve seen the Xperia Z Tablet, chances are you have a good idea what the Xperia Z2 Tablet looks like. The Xperia Z2 Tablet uses Sony’s Omni-Balance design principle, which is focused on creating balance and symmetry in all directions. A metal band runs on the side of the tablet, while the back of the device sport a matte black finish. While the Xperia Z2 Tablet is undoubtedly slim and sleek, we’re not digging the enormous bezels on the tablet, especially when compared to its main rival, the Galaxy Tab S.

The volume rocker and power button for the Xperia Z2 Tablet is located on the left side of the device, while the microSD card slot and the USB port are both located on the top, protected by flaps that ensures the tablet’s water resistance. The 3.5mm jack is located on the bottom, along with contacts that pair up with Sony’s charging dock accessory. Sony has also relocated the speakers to the front, which improves sound quality dramatically especially when you’re watching a movie or playing games compared to the old model, which had a tendency of being covered by your palms.

Really good display, just don’t take it outdoors

After the mess it faced with the much maligned display on the first Xperia Z tablet, Sony has learned its lesson with the Xperia Z2. The 10.1-inch, full HD IPS panel uses the company’s Triluminos screen technology, and coupled with their X-Reality image processing engine, makes the display really pop out, producing vivid colors and nice, deep blacks. Of course, AMOLED panels will still trump LCD panels every time, but considering what the Xperia Z2 Tablet is working with, it does a very good job.

But like anything, there’s a slight wrinkle. One of the most annoying things that we noticed about the display on the Xperia Z2 Tablet is that it just reflects light sources like crazy. Take the tablet outside, and it’s a glare bonanza, making the Xperia Z2 Tablet challenging (to say the least) to use. It’s a bit ironic considering that the Xperia Z2 Tablet is supposed to take the elements head-on yet is almost unusable outdoors.

Really good performance out of the Snapdragon 801 processor

While the outside of the Xperia Z2 Tablet has only slightly been tweaked, the insides tell a different story. Powering the Xperia Z2 Tablet is Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 801 processor, paired with 3GB of RAM. This combination meant that the Xperia Z2 Tablet is quite a speedy beast. Navigation through the UI is wickedly smooth and fast, without any hint of lag whatsoever.

Speaking of UI, the Xperia Z2 Tablet has Sony’s proprietary UI layer underneath Android 4.4 KitKat. While some may be cringing at the prospect of navigating through a confusing UI layer, it’s important to note that Sony’s implementation is very light, compared to the efforts of other companies. Sure, there’s pre-installed software (read: bloatware) in the Xperia Z2 Tablet, but those things are easily uninstalled if you don’t particularly care for them.

 

As far as actual performance is concerned, the Xperia Z2 Tablet is certainly a speedy tablet, as its AnTuTu benchmarks show. It’s definitely an awesome tablet as far as multimedia and gaming is concerned, thanks to the speedy Snapdragon 801 processor and Adreno 330 GPU. Gaming is a very pleasant affair, as all the games we installed on it ran smoothly.

Serviceable camera

We’re not fans of using tablets to take photos of anything, since they’re usually unwieldy and extremely difficult to use for that purpose. Then again, there may be a time that the only decent camera you have on you is what you’re holding, and in that regard, the Xperia Z2 Tablet’s camera is good enough for pictures that you plan to upload to the social network of your choice. Anywhere else, and the flaws of the 8.1-megapixel camera start showing itself – grainy photos and general lack of detail is the norm.

Rather average battery life

The Xperia Z2 Tablet takes another hit, this time in battery life. While its competitors like the Apple iPad and the Galaxy Tab S can go for more than ten hours without needing a trip to the charger, the Xperia Z2 Tablet managed only around seven and half hours with moderate use before the battery became critical.

Verdict: if you want a fast, responsive and water-resistant tablet, this is for you

Sony has managed to create their greatest tablet yet in the form of the Xperia Z2 Tablet. Its slim, 6.4mm body, rather gorgeous screen and excellent performance (not to mention its water resistance) makes it one of the best Android tablets this year, though it still doesn’t beat out our current favorite, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S. It’s pretty pricey though, coming in at Php 34,990, but we feel that the price is pretty much justified considering what you’re getting.