Since the launch of the incredibly pop Google Nexus 7, the x-inch Android tablet market has taken the backseat to smaller form factor devices. The more compact tablets are seen equally less cumbersome, more attractive options for many users who just want to play a game or browse the web. In that location are a plethora of companies competing to steal the spotlight in the cheap 7- or 8-inch Android tablet market, while the Apple iPad mini continues to sell well in the higher stop.

Those who adopt bigger tablets aren't left out in the common cold though. Android OEMs similar Sony continue to release loftier-quality products like the Xperia Z2 Tablet – which I'g taking a look at today – to pair with their flagship smartphones, but they still face up tough competition from the iPad, and also from flexible and powerful hybrid Windows 8.1 devices.

The Xperia Z2 Tablet is a successor to last twelvemonth's Xperia Tablet Z, and like what we're seeing in Sony'due south smartphone range, the device is an incremental update to what came before. Similar the Tablet Z, the Z2 Tablet is fully water resistant, packs a 10.1-inch WUXGA display, and is under 7mm thick. The near significant update is the specification bump to Qualcomm'south latest Snapdragon 801 SoC, plus there'south an improved photographic camera and a sizable weight reduction.

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet: $499 - $639

  • x.1", 1920 x 1080 IPS LCD brandish (224 ppi)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC
  • two.3 GHz quad-core CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, 3GB RAM
  • 16/32 GB internal storage, microSD carte slot
  • 8 MP photographic camera, 1/four" sensor, f/2.four lens, 1080p video
  • IP58 water resistant
  • half-dozen,000 mAh, 23 Wh battery
  • LTE (optional), Wi-Fi a/b/g/due north/air conditioning, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
  • Android iv.4 'KitKat'
  • 439 grams, 6.4mm thick

So is the Android 4.four-powered Xperia Z2 Tablet worth the $500 asking price, or is it another largely-forgettable 10-inch tablet?

The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet used in this review was provided by Expansys. Cheque them out for unlocked, off-contract devices at nifty prices, with fast shipping around the globe.

Design

The highlight of the Xperia Z2 Tablet is definitely the design, which could be the best I've seen on an Android tablet to date. Sony has largely used the same design language as seen on their Xperia Z smartphones but adapted for a larger and thinner class cistron, and information technology works to perfection.

Click on whatsoever photo to enlarge

The thinness is striking from the moment you take the Z2 Tablet out of the box. At only vi.4mm thick, the device is beautifully crafted and feels fantastic in your easily, complemented by a light (439 grams) construction that keeps the tablet portable. Compared to a automobile similar Microsoft'due south Surface 2, the Z2 Tablet looks slender and unquestionably fantastic.

Build-wise, the Xperia Z2 Tablet is as fantastic as I've come to wait from Sony'southward high-stop devices. The front panel is an all-glass matter that makes the screen a breeze to utilise, while the dorsum turns to a soft-touch plastic to protect the internal hardware. On Sony's smartphones we've seen a glass back panel that looks smashing, only this doesn't make as much sense on a tablet due to the fragility and weight of the material, so I'm perfectly happy with the plastic used.

Unlike some plastic implementations (looking at yous, Samsung), the Xperia Z2 Tablet's rear panel doesn't look awful, in fact it fits in well with the residuum of the slate. Unfortunately it's a massive fingerprint magnet in black that's tougher to clean than the front, but its minimalist pattern looks good and it feels great to caress. Around the edges in that location'south silver brushed metallic highlights, which add visual appeal to the package.

One matter I'm non a huge fan of is the sizable bezels around the 10.1-inch display, which make the screen look smaller than information technology is. There'southward plenty room on the front to fit a 12-inch console, admitting with no bezel, so Sony could easily have added an 11- or ten.half-dozen-inch brandish in an platonic configuration. The bezel is peculiarly large width wise, far larger than what's necessary to keep palms from interfering with the touchscreen.

In keeping with Sony'due south by few devices, the Xperia Z2 Tablet is fully IP55 and IP58 h2o resistant, indicating information technology's protected against low pressure water jets and capable of withstanding submersion in 1.5m of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. Information technology'south also protected against the ingress of dust, for what it's worth.

Like all waterproof devices with a capacitive touchscreen (eg. the Samsung Galaxy S5), information technology's impossible to utilise the touchscreen when the tablet is fully or partially submerged in water. This significantly reduces the usefulness of this feature, especially when considering how it's unsafe to submerge the tablet in table salt h2o due to the risk of corrosion.

The all-time reason I can come up up with for wanting a waterproof tablet is that you can utilize it in the bath without fear of ruining information technology should you lot accidentally drop it into the water. Similarly, there's no fear of separate water or other liquids destroying the tablet. Withal, its lack of resistance to salt water makes it a bad decision to have the Z2 Tablet to the embankment, and it's substantially useless underwater.

Yes, you tin take photos underwater using the book rocker, merely you'll look pretty stupid using a tablet for any sort of serious photography.

The effort to waterproof the Z2 Tablet has some downsides to it, mainly the flaps along the height edge of the device that protect the microSD menu slot and micro-USB port from water ingress. These flaps are much harder to open than their smartphone counterparts on the Xperia Z1, which is abrasive whenever you want to charge the device.

The flap for the microSD carte slot is fairly large, and appears to also house a spot for the SIM card slot if this were the LTE-capable version of the tablet. As well along the top edge you lot'll notice the IR LED for controlling TVs.

Effectually the other edges of the tablet there's the circular power push button and volume rocker mid-way downward the left side, while there's nothing on the correct. The bottom sees the iii.5mm headphone jack tucked into the very left corner, and in the center is Sony'south typical magnetic dock connector.

Hidden along each side of the front panel you'll discover stereo speakers, which are acceptable quality for a tablet and capable of providing a decent book. Stereo speakers are actually critical on a media-centric tablet similar this, and I'm always glad whenever a company decides to include them.

Brandish

The Z2 Tablet packs a 10.1-inch IPS TFT LCD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200, branded equally "Triluminous" featuring the "X-Reality movie engine" and "Live Colour LED". Basically these marketing terms – which Sony has used before to describe their Xperia smartphone displays – refer to the panel's wide color gamut, software processing engine, and uniform LED backlight respectively.

The Z2 Tablet's display is essentially a larger version of the Xperia Z2's display, pregnant color reproduction and viewing angles are the same as their latest flagship smartphone. This results in a generally fantastic brandish that's great to look at, producing brilliant colors with a decent level of depth and dissimilarity.

The Live Colour LED backlight delivers an accurate white level and helps the display attain a wide color gamut. It appears the gamut of the panel is wider than sRGB, and so there will be some color stretching as Android lacks colour management tools, resulting in a slightly inaccurate image compared to a panel that displays the exact sRGB spectrum. That said, images on the Xperia Z2 Tablet look great and I don't remember accuracy will exist a huge concern for most consumers.

In terms of pixel density, the 10.ane-inch display with an area of 296 square centimetres and resolution of 1920 x 1200 boasts a density of 224 PPI, which is typical for a current generation tablet of this size. Holding the Xperia Z2 Tablet at a typical viewing distance makes information technology hard to distinguish private pixels, making text await crisp and clear. Higher resolution 10-inch displays do exist – we saw 2560 x 1600 on the Google Nexus 10 – simply I'm perfectly content with the Z2 Tablet'due south WUXGA panel.

With a resolution just larger than 1080p, y'all'll exist able to sentry Full Hard disk drive content natively with a small-scale amount of letterboxing, which is typical for an Android tablet. Factoring in the navigation bar at the bottom of most apps, the usable brandish resolution reduces to 1920 x 1128: just shy of standard 1080p.

The Z2 Tablet's display is vivid and somewhat readable outdoors, although the glossy glass panel tin can be reflective if you lot are trying to view the brandish directly in front of a strong light source. Luckily the viewing angles from the IPS-class LCD are very expert, with Sony conspicuously putting piece of work into an area of their displays that hasn't been a strong suit in the past.

The X-Reality engine is a software feature that y'all tin can enable in the Xperia Z2 Tablet's settings, boosting the color saturation, increasing contrast and sharpening images in certain applications. The implementation appears to be identical to previous Sony devices, whereby it only enhances images in the stock Gallery and Videos apps, and tin can occasionally give oversaturated results.

Turning the feature on does brand photos look better in some circumstances, but I tend to prefer accuracy and so I normally switch it off. I'd like to run across the 10-Reality engine accept effect over the unabridged operating organization when enabled, not but some first-party applications, but Sony is sticking with the usual implementation. On the other hand, the white balance setting (which is identical to the i found in the Xperia Z1 Compact) does affect the entire OS if you want to fiddle with how your display looks.