In this review, we will consider best models Sony tablets. Let's get acquainted with their characteristics, find out how much they cost, consider their positive and negative sides. We will select the optimal models in terms of price / quality ratio.

Sony Corporation is one of the trendsetters in the electronics industry. Sony tablets are characterized by high quality components and workmanship, as well as perfect color reproduction and performance. In addition, Sony is the only manufacturer of a waterproof ultra-thin tablet PC in the world. The gadgets released by the Japanese giant, although they cost fabulous money, are considered one of the best on the planet, not inferior to the models of leading companies.

Types of tablets

Sony produces several different lines of tablets targeted at its customer:

  1. Xperia Z Tablet Compact. Series of tablets with a screen of 8 inches. The latest models are equipped with the most advanced developments. They are distinguished by good performance, excellent resolution of the camera matrix and support for the 4G LTE format.
  2. Xperia Z. Flagship Tablet PC series. Specifications rulers are ahead of application capabilities. It is also the world's thinnest and lightest tablet.
  3. Xperia Tablet Z. Standard Tablet PC series. It has good characteristics, it would be considered a flagship by many manufacturers, but for Sony it is a budget line of tablets. Some models in this line are equipped with a waterproof case.
  4. Xperia Tablet S. Not a bad series of gadgets with Nvidia Tegra processors and increased operating time without recharging.
  5. Sony Tablet P. Series of foldable tablets with 2 screens of 5.5 inches. Differs in excellent music reproduction.

How to choose a tablet

The main nuances that must be considered when choosing a Sony tablet:

  1. CPU power and clock speed.
  2. Support for wireless networks.
  3. Screen resolution and size.
  4. Internal memory capacity.
  5. The resolution of the matrix of the rear and front cameras.

Pros and cons

The advantages of Sony tablets are their undoubted quality and technologies of the future. By purchasing such a gadget, you can be sure that the technical capabilities will remain at the level for a long time... The downside is not a democratic price at all.

My list of the best Sony tablets

  1. Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet.
  2. Sony Xperia Tablet Z.
  3. Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact.
  4. Sony Tablet S.
  5. Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet.
  6. Sony Tablet P.

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet

Specifications Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet

System
A type the tablet
Operating system Android 4.4
CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2300 MHz
Number of Cores 4
Built-in memory 16 GB
RAM 3 GB
Memory card slot yes, microSDXC, up to 128 GB
Screen
Screen 10.1 ", 1920x1200
Widescreen display Yes
A type TFT IPS, glossy
Touchscreen capacitive, multitouch
Pixels Per Inch (PPI) 224
Scratch resistant glass there is
Video processor Adreno 330
Wireless connection
Wi-Fi support yes, Wi-Fi 802.11n, WiFi Direct, Miracast, DLNA
Bluetooth support yes, Bluetooth 4.0, A2DP
NFC support there is
mobile connection
Infrared port there is
Camera
Rear camera yes, 8.1 Mpix
Rear camera features autofocus
Front-camera yes, 2.2 Mpix
Sound
Built-in speakers yes, stereo sound
Built-in microphone there is
FM tuner there is
Functionality
Gps there is
GLONASS there is
there is
Sensors
QWERTY keyboard optional
Connection
To a computer via USB there is
External devices via USB there is
MHL support there is
Audio / headphone output yes, 3.5 mm
Connecting a headset there is
Dock connector there is
Food
Working hours 13 h
Standby time 100 h
Battery capacity 6000 mAh
Dimensions and weight
Dimensions (LxWxD) 266x172x6 mm
Weight 439 g
Additional Information
Housing waterproof

Pros and cons of Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet

Advantages:

  1. easy.
  2. responsive.
  3. fast and powerful.
  4. good screen.
  5. convenient cover.

Disadvantages:

  1. screen problems - yellow spots.
  2. poor location of the headphone jack.

Video review Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet

Sony Xperia Tablet Z

Specifications Sony Xperia Tablet Z

System
A type the tablet
Operating system Android 4.2
CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 1500 MHz
Number of Cores 4
Built-in memory 16 GB
RAM 2 GB
Memory card slot yes, microSDXC, up to 64 GB
Screen
Screen 10.1 ", 1920x1200
Widescreen display Yes
A type TFT
Touchscreen capacitive, multitouch
Pixels Per Inch (PPI) 224
Video processor Adreno 320
Wireless connection
Wi-Fi support
Bluetooth support yes, Bluetooth 4.0, A2DP
NFC support there is
Infrared port there is
Camera
Rear camera yes, 8 Mpix
Rear camera features autofocus
Front-camera yes, 2.2 Mpix
Sound
Built-in speakers yes, stereo sound
Built-in microphone there is
FM tuner there is
Functionality
Gps there is
Automatic screen orientation there is
Sensors accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, light sensor
Format support
Audio AAC, OGG, FLAC, MP3
Video MPEG-4, MKV, H.264, H.263, MP4
Connection
To a computer via USB there is
External devices via USB optional
MHL support there is
Audio / headphone output yes, 3.5 mm
Dock connector there is
Food
Opening hours (video) 10 h
Battery charging time 7 h
Battery capacity 6000 mAh (22.2 Wh)
USB charging there is
Dimensions and weight
Dimensions (LxWxD) 266x172x7 mm
Weight 495 g
Additional Information
Housing waterproof
Features of the remote control function; support for formats JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, WEBP; AAC, HE-AAC, MIDI, VP8, AVI; camera face and smile detection, panorama shooting and HDR

Pros and cons of Sony Xperia Tablet Z

Advantages:

  1. appearance.
  2. screen.
  3. CPU.
  4. waterproofness.
  5. own filling.

Disadvantages:

  1. easily soiled.
  2. the speakers are weak.
  3. the delivery set is rather poor.
  4. price.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z video review

Tablet Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact

Specifications Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact

System
A type the tablet
Operating system Android 4.4
CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2500 MHz
Number of Cores 4
Built-in memory 16 GB
RAM 3 GB
Memory card slot yes, microSDXC, up to 128 GB
Screen
Screen 8 ", 1920x1200
Widescreen display Yes
A type TFT IPS, glossy
Touchscreen capacitive, multitouch
Pixels Per Inch (PPI) 283
Video processor Adreno 330
Wireless connection
Wi-Fi support yes, Wi-Fi 802.11n, WiFi Direct, DLNA
Bluetooth support yes, Bluetooth 4.0
NFC support there is
Camera
Rear camera yes, 8.1 Mpix
Rear camera features autofocus
Front-camera yes, 2.2 Mpix
Sound
Built-in speakers yes, stereo sound
Built-in microphone there is
Functionality
Gps yes, with A-GPS support
GLONASS there is
Automatic screen orientation there is
Sensors accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, light sensor, barometer
Format support
Audio WAV, OGG, FLAC, MP3
Video MP4
Connection
To a computer via USB there is
External devices via USB optional
MHL support there is
Audio / headphone output yes, 3.5 mm
Food
Opening hours (video) 15 h
Battery capacity 4500 mAh
USB charging there is
Dimensions and weight
Dimensions (LxWxD) 213x124x6.4 mm
Weight 270 g
Additional Information
Housing waterproof
Features of the protection class IP65 / 68; support for 3GPP, AVI, XVID, WEBM, ASF, AMR formats; ANT +

Pros and cons of Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact

Advantages:

  1. very fast.
  2. great screen.
  3. fast and accurate gps / glonass.
  4. keeps charging in wifi + screen + gps mode for a long time.

Disadvantages:

  1. camera.
  2. quiet sound from speakers.

Video review of Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact

Sony Tablet S

Sony Tablet S specifications

System
A type the tablet
Operating system Android 4.0
CPU Nvidia Tegra 2 1000 MHz
Number of Cores 2
Built-in memory 16 GB
RAM 1 GB
Memory card slot yes, SDHC
Screen
Screen 9.4 ", 1280x800
Widescreen display Yes
A type TFT IPS, glossy
Touchscreen capacitive, multitouch
Pixels Per Inch (PPI) 161
Video processor NVIDIA Tegra 2
Wireless connection
Wi-Fi support yes, Wi-Fi 802.11n
Bluetooth support yes, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
Infrared port there is
Camera
Rear camera yes, 5 Mpix
Front-camera yes, 0.3 Mpix
Sound
Built-in speakers yes, stereo sound
Built-in microphone there is
Functionality
Gps there is
Automatic screen orientation there is
Sensors accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, light sensor
Format support
Audio
Video MPEG-4, WMV, H.264, H.263
Connection
To a computer via USB there is
External devices via USB there is
Audio / headphone output yes, 3.5 mm
Food
Working hours 8 h
Battery capacity 5000 mAh
Dimensions and weight
Dimensions (LxWxD) 241x174x10 mm
Weight 625 g
Additional Information
Body material plastic
Equipment tablet, AC adapter, power cable, strap
Features of the Supports MP3, WMA Pro, MIDI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, WBMP

Pros and cons of Sony Tablet S

Advantages:

  1. bright screen.
  2. quick response.
  3. good sensor.
  4. convenient form.
  5. build quality.

Disadvantages:

  1. equipment.
  2. microphone.
  3. quiet sound from speakers.

Sony Tablet S video review

Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet

Specifications Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet

System
A type the tablet
Operating system Android 5.0
CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994 2700 MHz
Number of Cores 8
Built-in memory 32 GB
RAM 3 GB
Memory card slot yes, microSDXC, up to 128 GB
Screen
Screen 10.1 ", 2560x1600
Widescreen display Yes
A type TFT IPS, glossy
Touchscreen capacitive, multitouch
Pixels Per Inch (PPI) 299
Video processor Adreno 430
Wireless connection
Wi-Fi support there is
Bluetooth support there is
Work in mode cell phone there is
mobile connection 3G, EDGE, HSCSD, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA +, GPRS, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, LTE
Camera
Rear camera yes, 8.1 Mpix
Front-camera yes, 5.1 Mpix
Sound
Built-in speakers yes, stereo sound
Built-in microphone there is
Functionality
Automatic screen orientation there is
Sensors accelerometer
QWERTY keyboard optional
Format support
Audio FLAC, MP3
Connection
To a computer via USB there is
External devices via USB optional
Audio / headphone output yes, 3.5 mm
Food
Opening hours (video) 17 h
Battery capacity 6000 mAh
Dimensions and weight
Dimensions (LxWxD) 254x167x6.1 mm
Weight 392 g
Additional Information
Housing waterproof
Body material plastic
Features of the protection against dust and moisture according to the IP68 standard (protection against moisture for up to 30 minutes in fresh water at a depth of up to 1.5 meters); colors: black, white; technology fast charging battery

Pros and cons of the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet

Advantages:

  1. high-speed performance.
  2. thin and lightweight.
  3. the touchscreen response is lightning fast.
  4. keeps charging for a long time.
  5. great sound external speakers.
  6. sound quality in headphones.

Disadvantages:

  1. high price.
  2. the back side is heated.

Video review Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet

Sony Tablet P

Sony Tablet P specifications

System
A type the tablet
Operating system Android 3.2
CPU Nvidia Tegra 2 1000 MHz
Number of Cores 2
Built-in memory 4 GB
RAM 1 GB
Memory card slot yes, microSDHC
Screen
Screen 5.5 ", 1024x480
Widescreen display Yes
A type TFT, glossy
Touchscreen capacitive, multitouch
Pixels Per Inch (PPI) 206
Video processor NVIDIA Tegra 2
Wireless connection
Wi-Fi support yes, Wi-Fi 802.11n
Bluetooth support yes, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
mobile connection 3G, HSDPA, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900
Camera
Rear camera yes, 5 Mpix
Front-camera yes, 0.3 Mpix
Sound
Built-in speaker there is
Built-in microphone there is
Functionality
Gps there is
Automatic screen orientation there is
Sensors accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, light sensor
Format support
Audio AAC, WMA, WAV, OGG, FLAC, MP3
Video MPEG-4, WMV, H.264, H.263
Connection
To a computer via USB there is
External devices via USB not
Audio / headphone output yes, 3.5 mm
Food
Working hours 7 h
Battery capacity 3080 mAh
Dimensions and weight
Dimensions (LxWxD) 180x158x14 mm
Weight 372 g
Additional Information
Equipment tablet, AC adapter, power cable, SD card, strap
Features of the two screens with a diagonal of 5.5 inches; Supports MP3, WMA Pro, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, WBMP

Pros and cons of the Sony Tablet P

Advantages:

  1. good sound module.
  2. both screens work like two halves of one.
  3. works very fast.

Disadvantages:

  1. the screen is very reflective.
  2. video not all formats are supported by default.
  3. fonts are too small.

Sony Tablet P video review

A new offshoot from VAIO called Tablet could be an interesting project for Sony. The device with the letter S turned out to be peculiar, not without flaws, but it has its own charm ...

Design, construction

Sony compares the device with a rolled-up magazine, in my opinion, it is hardly worth saying such things. Look at some glossy magazine, would you like to carry such a thing in your bag all the time, and even rolled up? I don’t know, I don’t. Subtlety as a trend has not gone anywhere, since the days of the RAZR, manufacturers have constantly used this technique, especially when they imagine a continuation of a device. Suffice it to recall the iPad 2 and a lot of words about size reduction.

However, Sony always goes its own way, as if not paying attention to the market as a whole. Then, however, it occurs to someone - something is wrong - and a new round begins. For example, I don’t have much to say about the folding tablet named P. There is an old marketing rule that has been tested over the years, people don’t like pocket TVs. In the sense that the more exotic the device is and the more phrases are needed to justify the form factor, the less successful it will be. There will be, oh, there will be rabid fans who are ready to tear up on the forums of everyone who says a word about two displays at once. As always.

We are dealing with a thick tablet that really looks like a folded magazine. The declared dimensions are 174.3 x 10.1 x 241.2 mm, the weight is 598 grams. Apparently, the average thickness is indicated, because I myself measured the thickest place with a ruler, there is about two centimeters. For comparison, the iPad 2 measures 241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8 mm and weighs 601 grams. The entire Tablet S is made of plastic, on the back, "folded" side there are legs and pimples, it is convenient to hold the tablet in your hand. This is where I want to emphasize, despite the thickness, Tablet S is really comfortable to hold in the hand. I can say it again. Especially grasping the end where the thickening is with your left hand. It's not so cool to hold with both hands, to type on the virtual keyboard too, thumbs barely reach some keys. While there is only a black version, the display protection is glossy, quickly covered with prints. It is difficult to remove them even with the help of a miracle rag. On the side there are inserts made of silver plastic, on the right end under the cover there is a slot for SD cards, a USB micro-AB connector for connecting an adapter.








The story is, Sony believes that this is a very strong advantage, you connect the adapter to the tablet and connect the USB flash drive to the adapter. Or a camera. Or something else. You need to buy the adapter yourself! This is a very sensible idea. Of course, they are sold everywhere, in any stall.

Very strange. There is also a 3.5 mm jack on the same end. Camera lenses on the front and back, on the back there is a groove for attaching a strap, speakers. The sound of the Tablet S is not bad, in principle, it can be used as a music box without any problems. On the right side there are volume control buttons, a power button, a hidden reset button. Sony style indicator light, small, dim.







For three days of wearing in the bag, scratches or chips did not appear. It seems to me that the lower part at the back is most susceptible to this, there is plastic with a silver coating. Pay attention to the proprietary connector for connecting the power supply, it is not covered by anything. Contacts should be periodically wiped with alcohol or Sasha cologne. Don't forget to do this. Always.





Display

Display diagonal 9.4 inches, resolution 1280 x 800 pixels, LED backlight, of course, touch screen (capacitive type). It leaves only positive impressions, I really like the brightness, the drawing of various new elements. As you can see, Sony has worked on the icons, reminiscent of PS3, PSP, Sony Ericsson and other products. In my sample there was only one branded background image, I did not find any original "live" wallpapers. Thanks to the powerful processor, the image on the display flips quickly, when switching between working tables, the brakes are not felt. The viewing angles are good. I recommend using the automatic brightness control to keep the battery on longer.

All this is true, if you do not compare the screen with what is in the iPad. Look at the photos. I want to note that I will not load you with hundreds of screenshots, it will be easier to watch the video in the article, where I show the main programs and capabilities of the gadget. So, if you compare with the iPad 2 screen, then you will immediately notice that the Tablet S screen turns yellow. And black is not so black, rather dark dark gray. And the brightness isn't that great. All this is a given. At the presentation, many warm words were said about the tablet display. See for yourself a photo comparing the Tablet S and iPad 2. The brightness is the same. And, well, you can also watch the video, let me remind you once again. When using a browser, the difference in displays is especially noticeable, with Sony everything is a little unclear.









Performance

It uses an NVIDIA Tegra 2, 1 GHz processor, it seems like they've already written about the processor on our website.

Is the Tablet S fast? Yes. Moreover, when comparing with the iPad 2, sometimes you don't know which is faster. "Esca" programs start quickly, the browser quickly draws pages, games are played, mail arrives. What more could you want.

There is Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g / n), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, everything is typical here. Sometimes, all of a sudden, the connection to the access point falls off, we are talking about Wi-Fi. There is also an infrared port, but more on that in the next part.

Let's talk about additions from Sony to the interface, programs, OS in the second part.

Modifications

On the this moment two versions of the tablet are available, the names, as always, are exotic - SGPT112RU and SGPT111RU, the differences in memory, the younger model has 16 GB, the older one has 32 GB. On the site Sonystyle.ru it is fondly written “ HDD". Miracles of translation, as always.

Perhaps, right there it is worth mentioning the version with 3G, in Europe the sales of such a model will begin closer to the New Year. I have nothing to add here, of course, a complete failure. Nowadays, many inexpensive tablets are equipped with 3G, this is the norm. It is impossible not to focus on the successful experience of iPad sales and various finds Apple when both devices with only Wi-Fi and with a bundle of Wi-Fi + 3G were presented. As practice shows, even the most economical users end up agreeing that it would be better to buy a version with both. More than once or twice, being in the city with the Tablet S, I greatly regretted the lack of 3G. Accordingly, it is completely incomprehensible to me why Sony decided to act in such a strange way.

Accessories

While Russian consumers may not particularly scour the shops in search of original additions, everything will be, but later. There are three types of cases, among them there is a regular leather folder. There is also a stand, when the Tablet S is installed in the cradle, it becomes even more like a photo frame.





Formats

People at Sony are weird. Look, here is a tablet. Usually, people on tablets listen to videos more than they listen to music, right? That is, you can sacrifice support for formats for music, but make video viewing as comfortable as possible so that you can watch everything. Well, at least the usual "avishki". Now, look at the screenshots, here it is detailed what the Sony Tablet S supports.



A bit strange in my opinion. For example, Samsung is trying to provide support for most formats in their tablets, and especially for video.

Food

So everyone is ready to fly to Sony country? Then don't forget to bring the original Charger... And if you lose, then that's it, kaput. Yes, yes, my beloved firm again took up their own. There is a charging connector. A small power supply unit with a long cable will take up a lot of space in the bag. Note that Sony VAIO P laptops had the same power supply, well, at least judging by the dimensions. Apparently, there were superfluous ones, so Sony decided to attach it. It takes about two and a half hours to fully charge, the official website says five hours, but you shouldn't believe it. Or I had such a special, reactive sample. The claimed battery life is about 8 hours, in fact, the tablet works much less. For example, when watching Dexter, the Tablet S lasted less than four hours. When using a browser, mail client, various programs - the usual daytime mode is enough from morning (from ten) to evening (until eight). Then an almost empty battery indicator remains. That is, the Tablet S is far from being a champion in terms of battery life. A powerful power supply adjusts to sad thoughts.



Conclusions on the first part

What is in front of us? A sexy toy from Sony? The tablet is comfortable to hold in your hands, but there is no metal, carbon fiber, carbon fiber or other materials typical for the company. Rather, they are typical for a number of devices. You can estimate the dimensions yourself, everything is individual here, but the thing turned out to be massive. The speed of work? Yes, the Tablet S is fast, there are no problems with videos or games, with loading pages too. The display only feels nice until you pick up your iPad 2 (and you pick it up and feel the chill of metal and all). Working hours? On iPad 2, you can watch videos for almost twice as long. Add to that the massive charger and your plug. Android version? While I was using the device, version 3.2 flew through the air, it was installed, everything is in order. Although there are not so many changes, and all cannot be called increasing the functionality of the gadget at times.

In the next part, we'll talk about the Sony software suite, camera, interface changes, the importance of Playstation certification and other things. While you can think about buying a Sony Tablet S, prices range from 19,000 to 23,000 rubles. In principle, for 23,000 it is quite possible to buy an iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G. Which would you choose? Although, wait, we'll talk about this after the second part of the article comes out.

It seems to me that we have an attempt Sony to get into the market, not noticing that in this china shop there is already a big, very large elephant and flapping his eyes and ears in surprise, listening to stories about the concept of four screens, rolled magazines, etc.

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Sergey Kuzmin ()

With a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor. This gadget does not differ in high resolution or power from similar devices. But given the original shape of the device in the form of a folded magazine in half and belonging to the Sony ecosystem, the tablet will be the perfect choice for fans of this company.

Technical features

This tablet stands out for its unique design - when you look at it from behind, it resembles a closed book, there is no other similar device. Due to this shape, the sides of the tablet resemble pockets, on one side there is a microphone, indicator lights, power and volume control, and on the other side there is a headphone jack and a full-size SD card slot. The top case of the tablet is made of durable plastic with a 3D pattern, while the back is made of metal.

This is not the first time we have seen this gadget. It was introduced back in 2011, and just a few months later, the tablet was launched into mass sales. The main thing with which we must decide is whether Sony has managed to improve the tablet during all this time.

At the bottom of the rear panel is a power port - Sony's own development, with which the device is easily connected to the docking station. The tablet also has 2 speakers on the back. They are powerful enough to please you with good sound, but if you put the gadget, for example, on your lap, then oh high quality there can be no sound or speech.

On the back is an 8-megapixel camera that performs well in ideal lighting conditions. The front and rear camera software of the tablet allows you to take photos suitable for use, for example, on social networks, if you want to print them, then the quality will not please you.

Due to the fact that the device has an infrared port, you can connect it to your TV. Channel change and volume control is carried out using the remote control remote control (special program which is included in the tablet utilities suite). Sony has gone to great lengths to ensure that this gadget is firmly established in your living room. The tablet can be not only a remote control, but also gives you the opportunity to purchase branded Sony music and videos.

Software

You get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS along with a user interface from Sony, complete with a set of buttons and desktop shortcuts from Google. At the bottom of the screen is a shortcut to the remote control, which opens as a window and sits on top of the other applications you are working in. The same goes for the quick access bar to the left of the remote control, using which will lead you to a mini-version of the browser, calculator, notes, sound recording, again to the remote control and timer. In addition, the Clip shortcut allows you to take instant screenshots.

Sony has added a number of proprietary apps. Among them Sony vision - for viewing photo albums, videos and e-books, Walkman (shows not only your files, but also music that you can buy), Sony Select (quick access to the website) and Socialife (access to social networks). You can also connect to Sony's Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited and PlayMemories (create digital albums from photos and share them with your friends online).

In addition, you will have the opportunity to connect to PlayStation Mobile and Xperia link. This way, you are guaranteed to become a part of the Sony world, including the PlayStation ecosystem.

If you actively use Sony equipment - pay for Music Unlimited and Movies Unlimited, play on a PlayStation and want to combine it all using a tablet, then you should get a Sony Tablet S. There are also several Sony TVs that this tablet can connect to, which will allow you receive detailed media information about what you are looking at big screen... So, you have it all - then this tablet will take you, as a user, to a completely new level.

Below you can see the results of the standard tests, as well as the battery test. Like other devices on the market with an NVIDIA Tegra 3 4-core processor, this tablet has fantastic standby performance thanks to NVIDIA 4-PLUS-1 technology. This means that the tablet does not even have four, but five processor cores on low-power tasks, and the display turns off while the gadget is not in use - as it should be!

Conclusion

If you are looking for an outstanding Android tablet, the Sony XPERIA Tablet S is not for you. This model cannot be called ideal, and it does not claim this role. Instead, you get the best of what Sony has to offer in a tablet form factor with NVIDIA quad-core processor support. In addition, the gadget is compatible with other devices of this company, which makes its purchase even more profitable.

Of all the major manufacturers, Sony is perhaps one of the last to release its own version of the tablet. A very interesting one came out already in March (however, on a completely raw third Android version, so the initial sales were actually a failure), (the version for Android and for Windows) came out a little later, in August Samsung presented, which I currently consider in fact the best tablet for Android (while emphasizing that it is most similar to Apple iPad), and quite recently even "scribes" like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which produce readers, have presented their tablets and - however, they are not pure Android, but are specialized devices. Well, finally, we've got a tablet from Sony - Sony Tablet S. (There is also another, very exotic model - Sony Tablet P, but we'll talk about it in another review.) The tablet is unusual in shape, with interesting content. And here's how it all works - we'll see now.


Sony Tablet S

First, as usual, the technical specifications. Specifications CPU- Nvidia Tegra 2 1000 MHz dual core
Operating system- Android 3.2.1 (Honeycomb)
Display- 9.4 inches, 1280x800 (WXGA), capacitive, multitouch, IPS-matrix, LED-backlight
RAM- 1 GB DDR2
Built-in storage- 16 (options - 32) GB
Ports- 3.5mm headphones, USB 2.0 micro A / B (host / client support)
Networks- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Wi-Fi (802.11a / b / g / n)
3G- (in this model)
Card reader- SDHC cards (up to 32 GB)
Gps- there is
Webcam- above the screen 0.3 Mpix, on the back cover 5 Mpix
Sensors- gyro sensor, light sensor, compass, 3-axis rotation sensor
Battery- 5000 mAh, non-removable
The size- 174 x 10 x 24.1 mm
Weight- 598 g Well, what have we got here? In general, the package bundle is, let's say, almost standard, there are no surprises here. Compared to the closest competitor - a slightly smaller screen (9.4 "versus 10.1"), slightly less options for the size of the built-in storage (16 and 32 versus 16, 32 and 64 GB), this model is absent Mobile Internet, but Sony has a model with 3G support, less battery capacity, but there is support for an SD card (which is already very good) and USB drives (though through a special adapter, which is not included in the kit). Sony Tablet S is available in several modifications. There are just models with Wi-Fi without 3G, differing in the size of the internal memory (16 or 32 GB). There are models with 3G, which also differ in the size of the internal memory (16 or 32 GB). Well, there is a specialized model - for example, SGPT112YOTA, designed for mobile access to the Internet via Yota 4G. Equipment It comes in a box like this.


Packaging

Delivery set: a device, a special power adapter, some books, an eyelet-holder.


Equipment

Appearance and features The appearance of this tablet is completely original. No, the screen is still rectangular, not star-shaped, but from the end the device looks like a rolled-up magazine - I've never seen anything like it.


End view

By the way, not to say that the decision is unfortunate - on the contrary, the tablet is very comfortable in the hand. From the side of the top cover it looks like a regular tablet, except with a thickened top bar.


Front part


Back cover

The tablet is all made of plastic, and I got the impression that the top cover is also plastic, not glass. On the left side there is a 3.5 mm audio output, a slot with a USB 2.0 micro A / B closed with a special cap and a slot for an SD (HC) card. Below is the left speaker and the eyelet squiggle.


Left end

The USB micro A / B port can be used to connect USB drives, but this requires a special, not often found adapter, which is not included in the kit here. However, if there is a slot for an SD card, it is no longer very important to connect something via USB. On the right side: the power button, volume control, Reset and the right speaker.


Right end

At the bottom left end there is a special port of the power adapter, a specific Sonia one, as in phones.


Power adapter port

This is a very strange and extremely inconvenient decision, especially since the adapter itself is hefty, and it looks like it was left from unsold Sony Vaio stocks.


Adapter on a perfectly matching wooden surface

What prevented charging via microUSB through an ordinary small adapter, as it is done in all other tablets, I do not understand. There is only one plus in this solution - the tablet fits comfortably into a special docking station, which can be purchased separately, and charges through this port. But for the sake of this, fencing such an inconvenience is not a very good decision, in my opinion. Let's compare the tablet with colleagues. First - with Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. (During filming, they nearly fought.)


Sony Tablet S and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Then - with iPad 2. (Everything went quiet here - after all, different operating systems.)


Sony Tablet S and Apple iPad 2

By the way, at first I thought that since the tablet has such a thick upper end, it can at the same time serve as a stand so as not to use any docking stations and special folders, but the hell is that the end is rounded, so you can't put the tablet on it. In the same way, it is not placed on the left-right ends - they are also designed in such a way that they cannot serve as a stand. It's a pity. Display The display is a very important part of any tablet, so let's talk about it separately. In principle, everything is fine with the display here: an IPS-matrix with LED-backlighting, a capacitive sensor - this is practically the best that is at the moment. Excellent viewing angles (when turning vertically and horizontally, the brightness and contrast fall very slightly), good brightness (Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is still noticeably brighter at full brightness). In the direct sun, the display is strongly "illuminated", but this is a feature of absolutely all luminous displays: only electronic paper is not "illuminated" due to the peculiarities of the technology. Compared to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and iPad 2, it seemed to me that the Sony Tablet S has slightly less deep black tones (they are still closer to dark brown) and there is a slight bias towards the yellow part of the spectrum, although this simultaneously makes the shade "warmer" ". (The bias in blue-blueness makes the image "colder".) The sensitivity of the display is very good, I did not notice any discomfort - it reacts to single touches, or to multitouch - as expected. Device operation I have already talked about the new, purely tablet version of Android 3.0, so I will not repeat myself, describing the principles of building the interface and so on. Let's talk about the features and specific applications of this particular tablet model on which it is installed Android system 3.2.1. The main desktop looks like this.


Main desktop

The style of the icons is close to the Sony Playstation 3. At the bottom there are icons for special applications from Sony, in the upper left corner there are also icons for special applications from Sony. (However, later it turned out that not all of them are special applications.) The other two desktops on the left and right contain already standard applications.


Desktop on the left


Desktop on the right

Here is a complete list of installed apps.


Installed applications

They are scrolled not across desktops, but from top to bottom. And this is done in a funny way - you can drag down the list of applications with your finger like on a rubber band, and then, when released, they smoothly return to their default position. If you click on the application icon and hold it, then it will be offered to add to the main screen, delete or get all the information about it. Conveniently. The "Favorites" item is specific, not the usual android. He also appears with a joyful cry from Sonia.


Item favorites

Otherwise, there are no special differences in the interface, everything is native, android. Further, in order not to violate my general approach to studying tablets, let's first see how the solution of standard user tasks is implemented here, and then we will get acquainted with specific applications from Sony. Keyboard The keyboard is modified, comfortable. In the Russian language, they have retained the period and comma (thank you very much!), The layout has left-right arrow keys - this is a very correct idea!


English layout


Russian layout

Wherever there is a gray arrow, a long press brings up a window with additional symbols.


Additional symbols by point

It is also very convenient that when entering the password entry field, an additional digital dialing appears on the right side of the keyboard. In general, I liked it. It does not at all pull her to change for something else. the Internet The browser here is standard Android, nothing new.


Browser window


Browser menu


Browser favorites

Scales well - smooth and fast. It is comfortable to work. post office There is a standard GMail mail, and there is also a special application in which you can set up any mail - including GMail. List of letters.


List of letters

Creating a new message - you can attach some files.


Create a new letter

So, as you can see, everything is very, very simple. And in fact, it does not differ at all from the standard android application - that is, the GMail application is absolutely the same. Audio It has its own player - convenient and advanced, and the interface is well thought out. The player itself is on top with all the possibilities - any time point, random playback, looping, control - on the left - selection by album cover, favorites, library, SenseMe function.


Browse by Album


Browse by song, sorted

There are settings with the inclusion of all sorts of special functions and an equalizer.


Settings

The equalizer does not play a noticeable role when playing through the tablet's speakers, but when playing through headphones, the difference is already visible.


Equalizer

SenseMe is a special technology from Sony that allows, after analyzing songs, to distribute them in 13 directions: Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night, Midnight, Energetic, Calming, Calm, Joyful, Emotional, Lounge, Dance and Extreme. By the way, the analysis takes quite a long time - it took her 11 minutes to analyze 5 songs. And here's the result.


SenseMe analysis result

By the way, in my opinion, it analyzes very, very well - the hit is almost one hundred percent. Many music formats are supported, including even exotic FLAC, which is losless. Here is the complete list: AAC, mp3, WAV, WMA, WMA Pro, FLAC, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis. Photo It seems like a standard android application. Gallery.


Gallery

View enlarged image with scrolling preview icons.


Scrolling view

There is also such a mode that allows you to increase the number of preview icons from below.


Increasing the number of icons

Gallery menu items.


Gallery menu

Well, there is also a pictogram on top - "Search for players". It allows you to send media content from your tablet to external players. Video The video can be played from the standard gallery, but this makes little sense - only the MP4 format really understands. There is also a separate video player - as a player, it is more advanced: it works only with video (in the gallery they interfere with images), during playback it spins through chapters, at any time interval (seconds, minutes, etc.), it can transfer data to external players.


List of films

However, with formats - everything is very, very rotten. In addition to MP4, it understands only WMV, but you can say goodbye to all sorts of nesting dolls (H.264 in MKV) and even banal AVIs (DiVX and XViD inside). However, WMV even reproduces 1080i without stress and brakes. This, of course, is not a problem - there are already quite a few decent players for Android, for example, MX Video Player. I put it on - everything played as it should.


List of films


MKV 720p playback

Reading books There is an icon for downloading the Sony Reader program for Android tablets, however, it was not installed from me the first time - it gave out some errors. But still it was established. Supports PDF and EPUB formats.


Magazine in PDF and eBook EPUB

Opened the book in EPUB. There is a two-column mode. It seems to be read normally.


Book in EPUB

Adjustable font size and brightness.


Font size

The table of contents, bookmarks and overlays are called. Accordingly, you can make bookmarks (click on the top corner of the page) and markups. There is a text search.


Markup and text search

In general, EPUB is poor, but clean. I tested PDF - generally very average. There is a two-column mode, text annotations and bookmarks. However, what is strange, when scaling there is a certain, and very small, border of magnification, and even when increasing the quality for some reason sharply deteriorates, although it should remain normal. For example, here is the maximum magnification of a note in A5 format, shown as it is. It's impossible to read like that.


Enlarge a page in PDF

Well, compare the same piece of the same file on the iPad, where you can enlarge it to infinity.


IPad

However, of course, this property is not a tablet, but a program. It is worth taking a normal program - for example, Aldiko Book Reader - and everything will be fine with scaling. Although, by the way, Aldiko is not the best option for reading PDF - it slows down noticeably with complex layout. I usually use ezPDF Reader to read PDF on android devices.


Enlarged page in Aldiko Book Reader

Games There were no preinstalled games there, except for two links to the installation of some Crash Bandicoots and Pinball Heroes - as far as I understand, these are famous games from the first generation of Sony PlayStation.


Crash Bandicoots


Pinball heroes

And, of course, he could not help putting on the game "Goose is not a pig's comrade, but a fierce enemy."


Not comrades

Everything is fine: birds fly high, pigs grunt fervently, no brakes. Specific applications Now let's go through specific applications and see what they are. Remote Control The tablet can be used as a universal remote control for a wide variety of home devices. It can be configured both for standard devices that are stored in the database of categories and manufacturers, and for any non-standard devices that have a remote control: the tablet simply learns commands from this remote control. When entering the data for the standard device, you must select the category and manufacturer. There are a lot of categories, there are a lot of manufacturers in some of them, and since there is no search here, but only a choice from the drop-down menu, the search for a specific company can take a significant amount of time.


Registering a device

However, in terms of manufacturers, it is not good in all categories. For example, of the projectors in the standard base, there is generally only Sony. Next, select the type of control panel that is most suitable this device... There are as many as 17 of these types.


Remote control type

Some kinds of commands can be adjusted using gestures (for example, volume and channel switching).


Customizing gestures

The configured devices appear in the list and can then be controlled directly from the tablet.


Configured devices

Sociorider Social networks are supported, how can we do without them? !! True, this is only Facebook and Twitter. Add accounts, you get this picture.


Sociorider

In this case, you can croak (in the sense, make a record) simultaneously on Twitter and Facebook. It is quite inconvenient to use this, it is much easier to install two separate specialized clients. DLNA This is a useful application. DLNA - (Digital Living Network Alliance) is a standard that allows compatible devices to transmit and receive various media content (images, music, video) over a home network, as well as display it in real time. Launch the application, find devices on your home network that support this standard (server, NAS, media player), select the desired device - you get access to its media data.


DLNA

Media Remote for Tablet A specialized application for remote control and viewing information on media content. Works only with newer Sony devices - Blu-ray / TV / AV Receiver.


Media Remote

App Store Special store for Sony tablet apps. Applications are divided into different categories, however, they are physically located in Android Market and downloaded from there.


Sony App

Zinio A well-known service (it exists for different platforms) for purchasing and reading various magazines. There are Russian speakers here too.


Zinio subscription


Reading a magazine

Addresses An application for Google maps that allows you to select various establishments by category (restaurants, gas stations, hotels, etc.) and see their location on the map.


Addresses

Locator An application that allows you to share your location with friends and receive information about their location.


Locator

File transfer Utility for transferring from device to memory card and vice versa.


Transfer from memory card to device

In general, the utility is very relevant. The fact is that many standard installed applications the memory card is not seen at all. Therefore, the only way to get data from it is to copy the files to the main memory of the tablet. However, all sorts of third-party applications, such as readers, players, and so on, can see the memory card. Camera I drove the camera. The application is its own, but the most common one.


Camera application

There is autofocus, so shooting any frame takes at least two seconds - you won't be able to shoot something quickly. However, the tablet is not really intended for this. On close subjects with focus, it often misses, like all other tablet phones, but I liked the fact that here the automatic white balance worked decently even in difficult shooting conditions. Here are some frames without processing (clickable).


Tablet footage

The video shoots lousy - poorly focused, very strong "noise" in medium light, the picture is very blurry when the camera moves. Built-in cameras work with Skype for Android. True, the front VGA-camera provides the appropriate quality, but you can still live. Here's an example: large image - with front camera tablet, zoomed out - from the camera from almost the same point.


Skype picture

Work speed I tried to measure the speed of work through the Quadrant program. She was a big fool - it fell out with an error, then it gave completely different data - clearly too low. In general, I will not cite them, since the program worked so crookedly. By purely subjective feelings, the tablet works quite fast, no brakes were noticed. Time autonomous work The manufacturer claims the battery life of the tablet is almost equal to the iPad 2, but in my practice it does not even reach the iPad 2 or Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. True, I did not have the opportunity to conduct a full series of tests at maximum, automatic and minimum screen brightness, but I managed to test something - the results are lower. By the way, usually when working in Android, I do not set the automatic screen brightness adjustment - I do not like how the system adjusts this brightness, and this was observed in all tablets. Here I set the brightness to about three quarters, because the screen, in my opinion, is dark. Here are the test results: 1. With active use at good brightness (Wi-Fi, surfing, launching applications), the tablet lived for about six hours. 2. What is unpleasant, the tablet was actively eating the battery when the screen was off, although I specifically set the option to cut off Wi-Fi when the display is turned off. Every hour he ate about 2-2.5% - this is a lot, other tablets consume almost nothing when turned off. 3. Watching video at automatic brightness lasted about five hours, at full brightness - a little more than four. In general, the battery life for a tablet is, in my opinion, very average. I'm not talking about the iPad, which drags under 10 hours of video and 11 hours of browsing the Internet, but the same Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 consistently shows 8 hours of video (I checked it personally) and up to 10 hours of regular work. Here - much less, but, however, the battery is less capacious - 5000 mAh versus Samsung's 6860 mAh. At first I thought that I got such an unsuccessful example, but rummaged among other reviews - there the picture is similar: those (ninety percent of reviewers) who have not tested the operating time themselves, cheerfully report about 8 or even 10 hours of battery life, those who conducted tests - like me, they say much less battery life relative to the declared one. Issue price This model with 16 GB (without 3G) is sold for about 18 thousand rubles. The same with 3G - for 23 thousand rubles. A similar Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with 16 GB and 3G - 22 thousand rubles. Well, in principle, the devices are still comparable. The Sony Tablet clearly has a weaker battery, that is, noticeably less battery life plus inconvenient charging, but there is support for an SD card (this is still important) and support for USB devices, albeit through an adapter. Samsung has a better display. conclusions The tablet made a double impression on me - I liked something, disappointed with something. It seems like a good shape of the body, but at the same time it cannot be placed upright. (This is not often necessary, and you can use special stands, but nevertheless.) It is definitely very convenient to hold the tablet in your hands - much more convenient than any others. (He also has a specially made shifted center of gravity for this.) There is a USB port, but you need an adapter with a miniUSB connector to it - it's a pity that it is not included in the package. The charging adapter with its specific head is not the best option, although not fatal. The display, of course, is of very high quality, but it is a little dark, deep black with a slight slant to brown, and the screen also "yellows" a little - this is noted by many reviewers. Overall, though, this yellowish bias produces warmer colors.

The pre-installed apps are nothing special. Only standard android applications (browser, mail and others) look normal, and audio playback is well done. A utility for turning a tablet into a control panel - well, yes, it's funny, but for such purposes I still prefer
use a specialized universal remote control (I had it) - it
It seems to be more convenient, although I will not lie - I have not tried to use the tablet as a universal remote control: the devil only knows, maybe I will like it.

What I especially liked was the keyboard - perhaps the pre-installed one, it's the best I've ever seen.

In general, as an option, the tablet has the right to exist, but I still expected Sony to give something more powerful. Although the design, and most importantly, the shape of the tablet is still good.

Sony's first tablet, the Tablet S, came out in September. More precisely, at the end of September the Tablet S version without 3G appeared on the shelves. The 3G version came out later - in December 2011. And today it remains quite an attractive option for those buyers who are not chasing the most up-to-date technical innovations, but prefer an interesting design and a resounding brand.

The design findings don't end there. It is also worth noting the unusual "pimpled" coating of the rear "wrap-around" surface.

Apparently, the designers here were not so much trying to achieve unusual tactile sensations as trying to avoid slipping the tablet in case of fogging in the palm of the speaker, who holds the tablet with one hand during the presentation.

Let's take a look at the location of the buttons and connectors. All connectors are located on the left side (although it is not entirely correct to call it a side: this is a rather vast non-monolithic area).

In addition to the 3.5 mm headphone jack, these are covered slots for an SD card and a SIM card (the latter is only in the version with 3G, of course), as well as Micro-USB for connecting to a computer. Please note that the Tablet S uses SD, not microSD (seemingly already the de facto standard in tablets).

The buttons are located on the right side of the Tablet S. There are no surprises here: Power, volume up and down. Well, and the Reset hole for emergencies.

A very unusual (and, I confess, inconvenient in use) Dock connector is used to recharge the device. It is on the lower (narrow) edge of the device.

Above, there are no buttons or connectors. There is only a rounded surface made of the same material and the same texture as the back side (black pimpled plastic).

In general, the design can be called ... unusual. It is very difficult to assess, both visually and functionally. Probably a disadvantage is the lack of Mini- or Micro-HDMI (there would be a place for it here), as well as an inconvenient Dock connector (it takes a very long time to get used to how to connect the charger to it). SD instead of microSD - everyone decides for himself, plus or minus. As for appearance- here, too, it is impossible to make an unambiguous assessment. Therefore, we recommend that before buying, be sure to twist it in your hands and understand whether you personally like it or not. But as an unconditional plus, we note that it stands out from the gray mass of iPad counterparts. The Sony Tablet S has its own face and style, and whether they are cute or not is a matter of personal taste.

Screen

An interesting feature of the screen is its size: the diagonal is 9.4 inches. Atypical solution: the standard is 10.1 inches (ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, Acer Iconia Tab A500, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, etc.) or 9.7 inches (Apple iPad, HP TouchPad). At the same time, the resolution of Sony Tablet S corresponds to 10-inch tablets. Consequently, the tablet S has a slightly higher dpi density.

Alexey Kudryavtsev, editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, carried out a detailed examination of the screen using measuring devices. Here is his conclusion.

The front surface of the tablet is covered with a transparent plastic plate (resistant to scratches) with a mirror-smooth surface. There is no antiglare filter, judging by the reflection of bright light sources. There is no special oleophobic coating on the outer surface of the screen, so fingerprints appear easily, but are difficult to remove, but the former is still a little more difficult, and the latter is slightly easier than in the case of glass surfaces without an oleophobic coating.

With manual brightness control, its maximum value was 328 cd / m², minimum - 8.2 cd / m². As a result, at maximum brightness in bright daylight, you can see something on the screen, and at minimum brightness, you can comfortably use the tablet even in complete darkness. Automatic brightness control works as strange as in the case of the Sony Tablet P - in Auto mode in bright light, the brightness rises to the maximum value, and in complete darkness it remains at the minimum level (which is too little). But the brightness can only increase - with a decrease in the level of ambient light, we did not wait for a corresponding decrease in the screen brightness. However, if you put the tablet into sleep mode and turn it on again, the brightness will be set in accordance with the ambient light level. The light sensor is located to the right of the front camera. Brightness control is carried out using pulse width modulation with a high frequency of 209 Hz, so the backlight flicker is not visible at low brightness.

This tablet uses an IPS-type matrix, so the screen has very good viewing angles without inverting shades and without significant color shift, even with large gaze deviations from the perpendicular to the screen. True, which is typical for any IPS-matrix, the black field is significantly lightened when deviated along the diagonal (but remains close to neutral gray). With a perpendicular view, the black field uniformity, except for a couple of local areas at the edge of the screen, is good. The response time for the transition black-white-black is 30 ms (16 ms on + 14 ms off). The transition between mid-tones of 25% and 75% (by numerical color value) takes 46 ms in total. For the gamma curve plotted at 32 points, the exponent of the approximating power function turned out to be 2.08, which is slightly lower than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve coincides well with the power dependence.

The contrast is quite high at 820: 1. The color gamut is noticeably narrower than sRGB:

The spectra are typical for LED backlighting:

Apparently, the matrix light filters mix the components a little with each other. This technique allows you to increase the brightness of the screen with the same energy consumption for the backlight. The color temperature balance is good - shades of gray have a color temperature of about 6000 K - but the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (delta E) is large (about 12) due to the excess of the green component. It also increases brightness at the expense of some color degradation.


However, the color temperature and delta E are virtually unchanged over the entire grayscale area of ​​significance, so the visual color balance is very good. In general, the screen is not bad, but nothing special stands out. Screens with similar characteristics can be found in other tablets.

The tablet supports multiple touches (multitouch), 10 touches are recognized at the same time.

The exact dimensions of the usable screen area (according to our measurements): 23.9 cm (9.4 inches) diagonal, 20.2 cm wide, 12.6 cm narrow.

Platform

The tablet is powered by NVIDIA Tegra 2 - a standard solution for 2011, but not so relevant today. Volume random access memory- 1 GB. It is clear that the performance of the Sony Tablet S does not promise us big surprises (neither bad nor good), but nevertheless, we carried out a basic set of tests.

In the Quadrant Standard, the tablet showed an insufficiently high result: 1785 points.

Browser benchmark SunSpider 0.9.1 Sony Tablet S passed in 2227.1 ms, which is quite normal.

Note: the table shows the best results that the tablets have shown

The Sony Tablet S performed well in the Vellamo benchmark, also focused on web content. With 1021 points, the tablet overtook the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the first ASUS Eee Pad Transformer.

In the Nenamark2 test, which measures the performance of the graphics subsystem, the tablet showed a result on the level of other tablets with Tegra 2 - 22.1 fps.

Now let's see how things are with video playback. For some unknown reason, Dice Player - a player recommended by NVIDIA that uses hardware acceleration - worked completely incorrectly during testing on the Sony Tablet S (although a paid version was used). An attempt to launch any video file in most cases resulted in the application crash. Therefore, we had to use MX Video Player, which is far from being able to use hardware acceleration so often. The results were identical to what we saw on another tablet with Tegra 2 - the ASUS Eee Pad Slider (you can read a comparison of the Slider with the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime in the field of video playback). So we state that the miracle did not happen. The Sony tablet in this regard is no better or worse than competitors on the same platform.

Operating system and applications

We have already said that Sony has developed its own skin for Android Honeycomb. This manifested itself in the icons of the main applications that changed their appearance, the appearance of additional mini-icons (in the upper left part of the screen, near the Google search bar) and nice effects.

The icons, redrawn by Sony, now look more consistent: they are all dark purple, strictly square. But for some reason, not all applications received updated icons (even from the pre-installed ones). Therefore, general uniformity is still not observed.

Of the applications, it is worth noting the interface design Music player... Here we see chaotically scattered albums, each of which can be pushed aside, turned over at any angle and, of course, started listening. In addition to Music player there is also a standard Android application Music.

application Sociorider is a content aggregator social networks... Alas, only Facebook and Twitter are supported. Wi-Fi-check- utility for checking Wi-Fi connection and getting information about it.

A very curious utility - Remote control... Let's talk about it in more detail. The app turns your tablet into a universal remote control. This is possible due to the fact that the Sony Tablet S has an infrared port.

Setting up is simple: select the type of device (TV, BD and DVD players, network media players, receivers, speakers, etc.), then select the manufacturer of the device.

In our case, we wanted to set up an LG TV and Apple TV 2 network media player. Both that, and another were found among the proposed options. True, the app does not offer a choice of specific models (even when this model is obvious - as is the case with Apple TV 2).

And here the main difficulty awaits us. When the device type and manufacturer are selected, you are prompted to select the type of remote control. There are nine types in total, and you need to simply search through them to find the one on which the buttons displayed on the tablet will work.

In our case, the TV "responded" when choosing the fifth type. After this is done, all that remains is to configure the gesture control (for example, by default, the up gesture increases the volume, and the down gesture lowers it). That's it, now the TV control is set up. Similarly, with Apple TV, only there we did not have to select the types of remote control - apparently, there were no options there. Indeed, everything worked fine. But in the case of Apple TV, one cannot help but find fault with the lack of an alphabetic keyboard. Users of this device (and others like it) know how tedious it is to enter a YouTube search query with the joystick (by typing one letter at a time). It would be very convenient if using a tablet it became possible to do this by simply typing on the virtual QWERTY keyboard.

Also from the applications we note DLNA(the ability to stream content from your tablet to DLNA-compatible devices) and Reader- analogue of iBooks. True, it seemed to me not very convenient and functional - free readers from the Google Play Store (as the Android Market is now called) and the aforementioned iBooks on iOS are more convenient.

Of the pleasant things - the application Clock... This is if you want to use your tablet as a photo frame.

Yet - File Transfer: a file manager that allows you to conveniently transfer data from an SD card to internal memory devices and vice versa.

As for games, here we are offered Pinball Heroes and the old Crash Bandicoot, developed for the first PlayStation and now available on the Sony Tablet S. The idea itself is curious (a nostalgic dream!), But in fairness, we note that playing PSone games on a touch screen - very unusual, and the pleasure is not the same, of course.

In general, Sony did a very good job on the software. Yes, there are no serious software packages like Polaris Office (by the way, it's a pity). But the applications that the tablet developers have nevertheless equipped with are really useful and pleasant, they expand the functionality of the device in an unexpected direction (for example, in the case of Remote control). As the main disadvantage, we note the difficulty of obtaining root access (although, of course, you can find various instructions on the Web) and problems with adb drivers (in order to connect the tablet to a PC). Accordingly, it will not be easy to get the ability to take screenshots, for example. But, again, this problem is solvable. Proof of this is the screenshots in this article.

Communication

As already mentioned, starting from December 2011 Sony Tablet S is available in a variant with a 3G module. 3G works correctly, we had no complaints. It is difficult to adequately test the 3G speed, because, firstly, the operator and the tariff can act as a limiter, and secondly, the same confident reception will not be everywhere (in other words, on the ground floor and on the 15th floor of the same building, the speed may be different). Nevertheless, we launched the Speedtest.net utility (in the form of an application from the Google Play Store) "to calm our conscience".

In the screenshot above, you should pay attention only to the speed of receiving files, since the operator artificially lowered the speed when transferring files due to excess traffic.

Another scenario for using the 3G module is sending SMS / MMS messages. Everything is standard here: there is an application in Android Honeycomb SMS / MMS, this tablet is no exception. Moreover, the design of the Sony application did not change.

Camera

With cameras in Sony Tablet S things are the same as in Sony Tablet P. There are two cameras: front (0.3 megapixel) provides the ability to video communication, including via Skype. Rear (5 megapixel) - for taking photos and videos.

Shooting quality is acceptable, although colors lack saturation, and the image as a whole lacks detail. As a plus, we note a small amount of noise and artifacts (see the fragment of the above frame below).

The tablet takes pictures of the text well, you can shoot documents before leaving and then calmly study them on the road.

Video filming is made in 720p resolution. The quality is not bad, the main complaint is the same as for the Tablet P: the bit rate could be higher. The 31-second video, captured with the rear camera of the Sony Tablet S, is available for download (MP4 format, 24.9 MB in size).

Autonomous work

The battery life didn't make us happy. True, we cannot say that it completely disappointed us, but ... If you play an SD-resolution movie (685 Kbps, 608 × 256, Xvid Advanced [email protected], Dice Player was used, while hardware acceleration was involved), set the brightness to maximum, and make the volume so that it is comfortable to watch in headphones, then the battery will be discharged in about four and a half hours. It will not be enough. Of course, you can say that the brightness should not be turned to the maximum, but alas, with automatic brightness, the image appears darkish. Therefore, the maximum brightness in this case is not a whim. You can play Angry Birds Seasons on a tablet for about five and a half hours. Also an average result.

conclusions

The Sony Tablet S is a curious tablet. Perhaps this is a reasonable compromise between originality and generally accepted standards. Everything seems to be "like people", but not boring, but with a twist. A screen with a standard resolution for 10-inch tablets, but not 10 inches, but 9.4. The body is similar to standard dimensions and weight, but with unusual asymmetry (thickening on top, shifting the center of gravity). Likewise with the OS and applications. We especially note the presence of an IrDA and the ability to transfer media data to DLNA-compatible devices.

Yes, at the moment Sony Tablet S (even with a 3G module) does not look so attractive against the background of loud announcements from Apple, ASUS, Samsung and other competitors. But if you are not chasing the latest technical innovations and at the same time are partial to the Sony brand, then the Tablet S is an obvious and not a bad choice at all. The Sony Tablet P is still too extravagant, but the Tablet S is quite mainstream. However, not banal, like most "iPad-like" products, but with its own face. And, by the way, quite an adequate price.