Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet (Verizon Wireless) Review

8.4 Above Average

The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is definitely an all around great tablet. It features a crisp 1080p display packed with 3 GB of RAM. Battery life is this tablets top feature, but seems like an oversized Xperia Z2 phone.

Design 8
Display 8
Performance 8.5
Battery 9
User Ratings (1 Votes) 9.1

Tablet popularity has been on a slight decline ever since smartphones manufacturers have begun to push out devices with five plus inch screens. Anything our tablets can do, our phones can do as well. This leaves manufactures to come up with different features on tablets aside from a bigger display. If one manufacturer has the ability to to bring the tablet back to popularity, it would be Sony.

Sony has been in the tablet market since 2011 with the release of its first device called the Tablet S, so they are well-versed in both function and design. Sony is taking the approach of a solidly built device that is equally strong in the aesthetics category as it is in the performance category. Let’s take a look at the Xperia Z2 Tablet LTE version.

Design

The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet has a very familiar design, one that everyone will recognize immediately from other Xperia devices. It comes with a 10.1 inch display with marginal bezels to compensate on the sides of the device. It has the very square, yet rounded design that gives a sleek look, that is still comfortable to hold in the hand.

To make the form-factor even better, the Xperia Z2 Tablet comes with an IP55/58. This makes the device waterproof and dust-resistant. Do you ever feel like taking the tablet to the lake, but are afraid of getting a little water on it? A little water never hurt anything, and this device can be submerged in water as deep as 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes, although we don’t recommend risking it! Leave it to accidents only.

This Sony tablet comes in with dimensions of 6.8 x 10.47 x .25 inches (172 x 266 x 6.4 mm) which give it one of the slimmest designs to-date in a tablet form factor. Comparing the Z2 Tablet to a Surface 2, and iPad Air, Sony’s tablet is considerable thinner. The Surface 2 comes in at .35 inches or 8.89 mm and the iPad Air comes in at .29 inches or 7.5 mm. This makes the Z2 Tablet 18% than its Microsoft-built competitor and 15% thinner than its Apple-built competitor.

To top off the amazing thinness of the tablet, it only comes in at 15.48 ounces or 439 grams. It is very well-balanced and light so you can hold the it in your hands for hours as you watch movies, YouTube, or play games. This also comes in lighter than the Surface 2 (1.49 lbs or 676 grams) and the iPad Air (1 lbs or 469 grams).

The Z2 Tablet has the classic Xperia style lock-button and volume rockers that are tight to the frame, yet have a satisfying click to them. Both of these buttons are on the left side of the device. On the top side of the device, there are the slots for both the SIM and microSD cards. Just to the right of the slots, is the microUSB charging port. All of these slots are housed under water-tight flaps. The Xperia Z2 Tablet also comes with an RF blaster to control your TV programming.

Display

Sony has always been a leader when it comes to crisp displays and that doesn’t change on the Z2 Tablet. This device comes with a 10.1 inch Triluminos display with IPS technology, and a resolution of 1920 x 1200. This display comes in at a very respectable pixel density of 224 ppi. The IPS technology is a key feature on this the Z2 tablet. IPS makes it so the display can be seen at sharp angles. This makes it great for watching movies, games, etc., with a few friends no big deal.

Sony has taken their Triluminos technology from their TV line and it was definitely a great choice. The picture is immersive, yet it isn’t over-saturated as much as Samsung’s displays are, so they did a great job of finding the middle ground.

Like we mentioned above, the viewing angles on the Xperia Z2 Tablet are phenomenal. They really stand out when the device is in a darker room and there is minimal glare on the screen.

This display is great for watching videos in full HD. We would turn to using this device over my current phone just to watch videos on YouTube due to the great color-match and the devices ability to enhance the color/contrast to make the video more vivid. It has deep blacks which make watching darker films, such as Batman look amazing.

Performance

Sony did not skimp on specifications when it came to developing their newest Xperia Tablet. The Z2 Tablet comes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801 processor that is clocked at 2.3 GHz, 32 GB of ROM, 3 GB of RAM, and it is running Android KitKat 4.4.2 out of the box. This makes it one zippy device.

Sony does fill the device with Sony-tailored applications such as Walkman, PlayStation, and Xperia Lounge. It isn’t to the point that other OEM’s like to do, which is a good sign.

Performance was never an issue with this device. Sony has always done a good job of not laying their UI too heavy over stock Android, and this device is no different. Multitasking and app switching is a breeze with little-to-no lag whatsoever. The Snapdragon 801 combined with 3 GB of RAM makes going through this device as easy as a hot knife cutting through butter. There was never a delay from switching through apps or navigating through the application drawer.

If you are a gamer, this device can handle the best of them. We’ve tried games such as Leo’s Fortune and Dead Trigger 2 with no ill-effects. The device kept pace and did not bog-down or cause the device to heat up.

Battery

One of the biggest selling points of this device aside from its vivid display, is its massive 6000 mAh battery. Sony has been one of the leaders when it comes to battery life, and the Xperia Z2 Tablet is no different. The device consistantly got us through the day, with as much as five-plus hours of on-screen time. Below you can see a view device screenshots.

As expected. the screen takes up the vast majority of the battery life. With moderate usage such as Facebook, email, and YouTube, we had over three hours of screen-on time with just 40% used up. With a full days usage of playing games and watching YouTube videos, we got around 6 1/2 hours of screen on time. We didn’t change any display settings, all were factory set. This means we had auto-brightness going the entire time, to mimic standard usage as much as possible.

The device definitely gets great battery life and it charges very quickly, as the above picture shows. If you were to turn the brightness to a very low level, we have full confidence you could squeeze out 7-10 hours of screen on time with this device. It can definitely handle long trips without a need for a power outlet.

Other Features

Dual front-facing speakers
Sony’s S-Force surround sound
PS3 Dualshock controller connectivity
8.1 megapixel rear-facing camera (no flash)
2.2 megapixel front-facing camera

Conclusion

Overall, this tablet is a great device and we hard a hard time finding something that we didn’t like about it. The device comes with a solid spec sheet that does not disappoint. If you are a very media-oriented person, the Xperia Z2 Tablet is perfect for you. The full HD display with 3 GB’s of RAM is more than enough for any thing that might need to be done on a tablet.

If you are looking to pick up a new tablet in the near feature, especially one with an Android operating system, we strongly recommend the Z2 Tablet. With a $499.99 price-tag, it is definitely not a budget device, but if you want a well-performing device, this is it. It gives the iPad Air and Surface 2 a run for their money.

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