TECH REVIEW................ Sony Xperia Z Tablet

TECH REVIEW Sony Xperia Z Tablet 

 
PRICE 44,990
SPECIFICATIONS 1.5Ghz quad core, 2GB RAM, 16GB + microSD, 10.1-inch LCD (1920 x 1200 pixels), 8MP rear/2.2MP front cam, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, NFC, MHL, 495 grams
    Superb design, impressively light, water & dust resistance, 16GB card in box, great performance
    Too expensive, limited accessory ecosystem, camera performance for stills could have been better

What will it take to upset the iPad from the top spot when it comes to premium tablets? Sony certainly has come out all guns blazing with the Xperia Z tablet. It looks like a much larger version of the Xperia Z smartphone but without the glass back. It’s a beautiful, jaw-dropping design — pretty much everyone agrees that it's a refreshing change, superbly built and impossibly thin and light. And yet it includes a powerful 1.5Ghz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB RAM, 3G (but no calling), memory expansion, dual cameras, dual speakers and infrared emitter. The party trick of the device is of course the much touted water and dust proofing. This is no gimmick — it actually works. Rest assured, you can wash it if dirty or submerge it a couple of feet of water without any ill effects. Sony has done a fair bit of interface customisation and there are a lot of Sony’s own apps preloaded — though not everyone will like them. Luckily, you can change the interface around with a launcher and it makes everything a bit smoother too. The camera quality came up a bit short of the iPad’s; images were generally too noisy. Video quality is good with good light and even the front camera can do 1080p video. Battery life was roughly 9 hours — good but not as much as the iPad. Overall, there’s no doubt that this device feels great in the hand and it certainly has a great screen, amazing new features and excellent performance. But the bottom line — should you buy the Xperia Z Tablet or an iPad? The Xperia Z makes sense if you want to use a tablet in the bathtub, in the pool, on the beach or in the rain — the touchscreen works even when wet. If not, the 4th gen iPad is still the tablet to beat. The high price and limited accessories of the Xperia Z tab and overall higher quality of apps on the iPad helped decide the winner.
HITESH RAJ BHAGAT ET130624

Lava Iris 504Q
PRICE 13,499
SPECIFICATIONS 1.2Ghz quad core, 1GB RAM, 4GB + microSD, 5-inch touchscreen (1280 x 720 pixels), 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, Android 4.2, 2,000mAh battery Slim design with matte finish, good quality hardware, great display Average camera & battery life, low audio output, gestures are just gimmicks

Lava's new mid-range quad core offering aims to stand out from the crowd with gesture controls. The gestures let you perform a few functions in select apps — you can take a photo, move to the next picture in gallery or change the the music track. All this is done by waving your hand over the display — the front camera recognises the movement and performs the relevant function. We found it to be a fun, one time gimmick.
Thanks to the matte rubber finish on the rear, the smartphone offers a good grip and is not prone to scratches or smudges. The slim 8mm profile of the phone makes it easy to hold and carry too. The 5-inch display is bright, offers great touch response and great viewing angles as well. The 1280x720 resolution shows sharp details and is great for reading or watching videos.
Hardware is same as other quadcore powered mid-range smartphones. A 1.2Ghz Mediatek quadcore processor, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage and 2,000 mAh battery. Performance is also similar to others — fluid multitasking and no issue running HD videos or heavy games. We did find the loudspeaker volume to be a bit low — it was a bit difficult to hear the caller in speakerphone mode.
The still camera performs well with ample light, but when zoomed in 100%, noise is clearly visible. Video recording quality is above average, but the camera continuously hunts for focus while recording which leads to parts of the video getting blurred. Hopefully Lava can fix this with a software update.
Battery backup is OK — about a day on full charge. We would recommend the slightly cheaper Zen Ultrafone 701HD. It has similar features but with better camera and slightly better battery life.
KARAN BAJAJ ET130624

 Zync Quad 10.1
PRICE 14,990
SPECIFICATIONS 1.5Ghz quad core, 8-core GPU, 2GB RAM,16GB + microSD, 10.1" LCD (1920 x 1200 pixels), HDMI, 5MP/2MP cam, Android 4.1, 8,000mAh, 471 grams Great build quality, value for money, high quality display, good battery life User interface is sluggish, screen is a fingerprint magnet

Zync has been on a roll with budget tablets that offer powerful hardware and fantastic build quality. After the Quad 9.7 and Quad 8.0, they have launched the third tablet in the series, the Quad 10.1 (with 10.1-inch LCD). Similar to the previous tablets, the quad 10.1 is powered by a quad core processor, octa core GPU and 2GB of RAM. This enables the tablet to run multiple hardware intensive apps simultaneously and switch between them seamlessly. While we did not have any problems running heavy games and playing full HD videos, the tablet's user interface felt a bit sluggish in navigation. Switching between home screens was choppy and the app drawer felt sluggish too. This was easily fixed by installing a third party launcher, but we didn't expect this, especially considering the specifications.
The 10.1 inch display (with a retina equivalent resolution of 1920x1200 pixels) is a joy to use. It offers sharp details, vivid colours and great viewing angles. Even the black levels were great for playing games and watching videos. One issue: its a fingerprint magnet and we had to keep wiping it clean after every use. In terms of build quality, the tablet impresses with a sturdy plastic back (with faux aluminium finish). The two-tone design looks very simple but also a bit boring in our opinion.
Battery life was impressive — the tablet lasted over 7 hours with video playback (50% brightness). In the same price range, consider Zync's own Quad 9.7 tablet or iBall's Slide Q9703 — they both have 9.7" LCDs with higher resolution than the 10.1.
KARAN BAJAJ ET10624

ALSO SEE Apple iPad WiFi + 3G
9.7-inch LCD (2048 x 1536 pixels), 1.4Ghz dual core with quad graphics, 5MP rear/1.2MP front cam, WiFi, 3G, A-GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, 11,560mAh battery, accelerometer + gyro sensor, 662 grams
39,900 onwards

Zen Ultrafone 701HD
1.2Ghz quad core, 1GB RAM, 4GB + microSD, 5-inch touchscreen (1280 x 720 pixels), 8MP rear camera, 3.2MP front camera, 2,000mAh battery
11,999

ALSO SEE iBall Slide Q9703

1.2Ghz quad core, 2GB RAM, 16GB s+ microSD, 9.7-inch LCD (2048 x 1536 pixels) 5MP front + 2MP rear cam, USB host, HDMI

15,999

ET130624