If Android tablets are to have a shot at taking on the iPad, Sony's new challenger is the kind of thing they need.
The tablet market suddenly seems like a very different place since Sony last launched a 10-inch tablet. Where then the Xperia Z2 Tablet was a credible threat to the iPad in a new and exciting market, the Xperia Z4 Tablet has landed in a very different world.
Which is a shame, as it's a very capable device indeed, with excellent design and some thoughtful accessories to push it beyond the usual prison of a few metres around the sofa.
But according to many analysts, the tablet market has hit a plateau and the number of potential buyers has decreased... so can Sony still have a hit in a contracting market dominated by one player?
There's part of me that really hopes so. I still really want to see a credible threat to the dominance of the iPad from the Android world, and I think the war is far from over. Last year's Tab S from Samsung was a decent device with a fantastic screen, and Sony has picked up the gauntlet well with the Xperia Z4 Tablet.
The most obvious thing to note when picking up the tablet is the weight, or lack thereof. It's hitting the normal marks for a new tablet: make it thinner, make it lighter, make it more powerful... and it really works.
It lacks the premium hit you'll get from the iPad's brushed, ceramic-like exterior, but that doesn't mean it falls into the rubbery-plastic world that the Tab S created. It's more high-end polycarbonate, which feels grippy but perhaps not as expensive as you might hope.
Then again, that's been the way Sony has been making its tablets for years, and it helps with the waterproof/rugged design message it's been putting out there.
The weight of 396g seems almost pointless to mention, as by writing 'it feels so light the weight on the wrist is almost unnoticeable... this is a tablet that you can use for a long time in both portrait and landscape one-handed' I'll be saying almost the exact same thing I wrote a year ago.
It is really light though, somehow managing not to feel too flimsy at the same time, which is a neat trick from the Sony designers.
The specs of the tablet certainly stand up to scrutiny as well. The 2K resolution is crystal clear, and adds an extra clarity from the Xperia Z2 Tablet (which had 1920 x 1200 pixels) to help convey the premium message.
It's almost redundant at this 10.1-inch size to increase the sharpness too far, especially as Sony is very good at masking the fuzziness of text and pictures in a 1080p screen with its Bravia technology (as witnessed on the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact). I'm not saying that I think Sony has wasted its time though - it's a really clear and crisp screen.
The innards are strong too: a Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM and a minimum of 32GB internal storage (with a microSD slot to improve things further if you're after more movies or pictures). The battery capacity of 6000mAh is apparently good enough to last for 17 hours of video, with Sony working out that the worst case scenario of a user wanting to watch movies for an entire long haul flight is now covered.
Android 5 Lollipop is thankfully on board from the beginning, with likely upgrades coming thick and fast from Sony when they emerge.
In true Sony form, the Tablet Z4 comes with all the really good things that make Sony a top brand if you're looking to get involved in the mobile space (be it tablet or smartphone).
This means hi-res audio is present and correct (allowing you to playback the high resolution audio files that pretty much nobody has yet) which can upscale your tunes to make those MP3s you ripped in 2004 sound a little less tinny.
And PlayStation Remote Play is supported too, although I doubt you'll be able to clip a controller onto the bottom of this tablet and still hold it up. It's light enough, but might get a little unwieldy. Still, I can't wait to try some higher-power PS4 games on the 2k screen - it will be interesting to see how the quality holds up over a streamed Wi-Fi signal.
Tab-top
Sony's betting big on another element to its tablet range this year: making it into a laptop rival. Initially I was nonplussed by the idea - after all, the brand made the same device this time lat year, yet didn't actually launch it properly throughout Europe.
This time around things look like they might be a little different though, as the Xperia Z4 Tablet's OS has been imbued with something that, well, basically comes straight from Windows. (The old, good, version of Windows, not the multi-tiled confusion of Windows 8.)
Clip in the Bluetooth keyboard (the dock connector has been removed to help make it thinner, so it's all wireless here) and a taskbar springs up at the bottom of the display, with icons for the open apps making it easy to flip between tasks.
There's even a pop-up menu in the right-hand corner that lets you get to apps, with the most commonly used there too. You might even say it's a good menu to start with. A start menu. Wait...
To make it easier to open said apps (there's nothing worse when typing into a tablet than when you have to stop and tap the screen) there's a trackpad on the keyboard which brings a mouse cursor into the Android mix. However it's not the best in terms of quality feel - it's rough and feels rather plastic.
In fact, the whole keyboard doesn't really scream quality, and while I've not been given a price for either the tablet or the keyboard accessory, there's a worry that it's going to be rather expensive given how much they've been in the past (well over £100).
There's also the issue of balance. When placed on a desk the screen folds up nicely and the keyboard (which has a decent travel on the keys, if a little plastic-built again) is easy to use. But move it to the lap, which is where I use a lot of keyboard-imbued tablets, and the Z4 Tablet's weight causes it to topple backwards.
It's not a terrible accessory, and it's got the nice 'power-user' taskbar and start menu combo to make it really clean to use. Plus dedicated keys, such as directional buttons, a home key and an option to show all open apps really make it quick to use when you work out where everything is positioned.
Early verdict
The Sony Xperia Z4 tablet is a really great device. It's easily going to scream into second place in the race for best tablet, and will be streets ahead in the league table of best Android tablets.
It's got a lovely screen, lightweight design, all the Sony elements you'd look for and the right power combination to keep it at the forefront of slate technology for a few years, which is how long users will have it for.
The issue that it has to overcome - and there's not a lot Sony can do about this - is that Android still trails iOS for dedicated tablet apps. The ecosystem for the iPad is such that no matter how much stuff you can do with the Android version, unless there's something very specific you're looking for the Apple tablet is generally the better choice.
I like what Sony's doing with the 'business' interface with the keyboard - we need more things that help a slate be a real rival to the laptop. You'll have to download the Google suite of word processing / spreadsheets apps (Apple's office apps are superior and free too though) but that's all you'll need to get working on the go.
Sony's done really, really well with the Xperia Z4 Tablet - the issue is whether users are still interested in buying any tablets, let alone an Android one. It's likely to be around £500 (about US$772, AU$988) to buy the Wi-Fi version (with the LTE option costing more) so it will be a tremendous outlay. But if the idea of a lightweight, waterproof tablet with a great screen that can play PS4 games sounds amazing, then Sony just nailed it for you.
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from TechRadar: Technology reviews http://ift.tt/1Ch3CmH
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