Review: Sony's waterproof Xperia Tablet Z is the thinnest, lightest 10-inch tablet yet (hands-on)

BARCELONA, Spain--The Sony Xperia Tablet Z has been announced for U.S. and European markets. The Xperia is a 10.1-inch tablet and features a quad-core Qualcomm processor. This is Sony's third large-form Android tablet in two years. While the previous entry had some technical issues, the Xperia Tablet Z has the potential to be the company's best tablet yet.

Very, very thin and awfully light
Sony claims the Xperia Tablet Z is the thinnest, lightest 10-inch tablet yet, and while I didn't have a chance to break out my scale or tape measure, it definitely felt incredibly light and looked really thin. Sony claims a 6.9mm profile, which is actually a hair or two thinner than the iPad Mini. Weight-wise it comes in at 1.09 pounds. That's the lightest yet for a 10-inch tablet and it's immediately apparent the moment it's in your hand, feeling almost as if Sony left out a few components (it didn't).

The Xperia Tablet Z eschews the quirky asymmetrical design of its predecessors, opting instead for a more traditional, completely rectangular design. It's a glossy black tablet that, thanks to its plastic chassis feels more fragile than the rubbery Nexus 10 and doesn't have the durable metal backside of the Xperia Tablet S.

 

A fully submersible tablet with thoughtful safeguards
The Xperia Tablet Z features three different ports on its body: the headphone jack, microSD slot (supporting up to 64GB cards), and MHL/Micro-USB connection. All three include attached covers that function to seal the ports. While covering an headphone jack may seem a bit excessive, there's a good reason behind it. As long as those ports are covered, the Xperia Tablet Z is fully dunkable in up to 3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes. This makes bathtub and kitchen use much more appealing.

Software features
The Xperia Tablet Z ships with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and will be upgradable to 4.2. For more information on the Tablet Z's software features, check out our full breakdown in the video below.

A closer look at Sony Xperia Tablet Z software

Hardware features
The Xperia Tablet Z is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and includes 2GB of RAM, supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, MHL, NFC, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and aGPS.

The screen is scratch resistant and delivers 1,920x1,200 pixels. Text looked extremely sharp and the colors popped from the screen with a vibrancy seen only on the very best tablets.

 

The tablet houses an 8-megapixel back camera and Sony has included several new software features not seen on the previous iterations. There's also and 2.2-megapixel camera on the front. Each camera takes advantage of Sony's low-light technology, Exmor R and Superior Auto, which optimizes scenes to produce pictures with reduced noise.

 

The Xperia Tablet Z's built-in IR blaster allows it to also function as a universal remote, but its actual functionality hasn't changed much since we last saw it on the Xperia Tablet S.

First thoughts
After last year's relatively cheaper Xperia Tablet S, Sony once again embraces its premium lineage with the Tablet Z. The camera features are impressive, as are its CPU and screen clarity. While the waterproof feature is impressive, only a small percentage of users will ever make use of it.

 

The Xperia Tablet Z seems to be Sony finally getting it right. It's no iPad killer, but it makes a strong case for best full-size Android tablet yet. Of course, that determination will come once I've had more time to play with the device.

Look for the Xperia Tablet Z to hit stores this spring starting at $499 for 16GB and $599 for the 32GB version. A white 32GB version will be exclusively available at both online and brick-and-mortar Sony stores.