Sony today launched the Xperia tablet Z in India for Rs. 46,990. At the launch event we got to spend some hands on time with the tablet. Here’s a quick look at all the features the tablet has to offer.
One look at the Sony Xperia Tablet Z and you know that it is a premium device. It is very well built and has a matte rubberized finish at the back. The tablet has a 10.1-inch display with 1920×1200 pixel resolution, powered by the Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2.
The display on the tablet looks very impressive. We saw a bunch of videos, browsed the Internet and surfed through the features of the tablet and were quite impressed with the performance of the display. It is no Retina Display, but impressive nonetheless.
Holding the Sony Xperia Tablet Z also felt very comfortable. The tablet is really slim at 6.9mm thick, and quite lightweight at a mere 495 grams. The overall build and design of the tablet is very good. However, the rear and the display are susceptible to fingerprints and you will spend quite some time cleaning the device.
Just like its smartphone counterpart (the Xperia Z), the Xperia Tablet Z is dust-proof and water-resistant. You can take the tablet with you in a bathtub and be assured that nothing will happen to it. We plan to put this claim to the test once we get our hands on the Xperia Tablet Z for review.
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The Xperia Tablet Z is powered by a quad-core 1.5GHz processor and 2GB RAM. It sports 16GB built-in storage and a 16GB microSD card comes in the box giving you 32GB storage straight out-of-the-box when you purchase the tablet. The rear of the tablet has an 8MP rear camera and 2MP front facing camera. It runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and will be upgradeable to Android 4.2.
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The left of the Xperia Tablet Z houses the power button which looks a lot like the power button from the Xperia Z smartphone. This side also houses the volume rocker. The bottom of the tablet houses the charging port, SIM card slot and the microSD card slot. All the ports are covered.
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The Xperia Tablet Z comes preloaded with a bunch of features. Here’s a quick look at all the tablet has to offer.
Sony Music: Sony Music gives users access to 6 months of free unlimited streaming and downloading from a library of over 15 lakh songs from international, Bollywood and regional songs.
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Sony LIV: This service gives users the ability to watch from over 77 programs from SAB, Sony Entertainment and Max. Users will have access to exclusive content for Indian Idol and KBC on the tablet. At the event we saw a few episodes of CID and it was quite a pleasant experience.
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X4 Video: This feature gives users the ability to watch four HD videos simultaneously on the tablet. The four videos play in a grid and you can select the video whose audio you’d like to hear by simply taping on it. You can also double tap a video to make it full screen.
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Another interesting future of the tablet is that you can pinch the home screen to bring up a menu that lets you add widgets, wallpapers and app shortcuts without leaving the comfort of the home screen. This is a nifty feature as you can just drag and drop the app/widget on your desired home screen.
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The Sony Xperia Z tablet also doubles up as a universal remote control. Simply put, any device that has an IR receiver can be controlled with this tablet, be it your TV, home theatre, or Blu-ray player.
The Tablet Z is PlayStation Certificated, which means that we will see some PS exclusive games on the device. Unfortunately, this feature wasn’t available on the demo unit we saw.
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There is also a Sony Select section on the tablet that is essentially an additional app store. This gives you access to apps, games and more apart from the Google Play store.
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On first impressions we are quite impressed with the features the Sony Xperia Tablet Z brings to the table. It is also well built and its weather-proof nature means that you can take this tablet swimming with you without any worries of it succumbing to damage. Stay tuned, as we will bring you a complete review of the device as soon as we get it into our labs.
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Sameer Mitha
Sameer Mitha lives for gaming and technology is his muse. When he isn’t busy playing with gadgets or video games he delves into the world of fantasy novels. View Full Profile
