Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet

Out now
24th February 2014  

Last year's Xperia Tablet Z impressed reviewers but failed to significantly challenge either Apple, Samsung, Amazon or even ASUS in the tablet market. Undeterred, Sony have reworked and improved the device and have come up with the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet for 2014.

The specifications of this tablet are not a million miles away from its predecessor, with a 10.1" 1900 x 1200 pixel display and an 8.1 megapixel primary camera and a 2.2 megapixel one on the front. But inside it is a much more powerful beast with a 2.3GHz quad-core CPU plus a dedicated GPU and 3GB of RAM, plus 16GB of onboard storage and a microSD slot.

Of course, the display isn't any old display.. this is a Sony TRILUMINOS display that borrows a lot of technology from Sony's Bravia range of TVs. The Xperia Z2 also uses something called Live Colour LED to give brighter and more natural colours in a variety of lighting conditions.

The Xperia Z2 Tablet is waterproof and dust resistant to IP58 standards, which has been a strength common to most of Sony's recent products. Despite this, it is fractionally slimmer and about 10% lighter than the outgoing tablet.

As is usual with a Sony tablet, everything is enhanced with something else, from the camera to the software and even the battery has a new quick charge mechanism.

There are a wide range of docking stations, keyboards and other accessories to go with the Xperia Z2 Tablet, which really underlines that this is the type of device aimed at people who are glued to their tablets all the time rather than occasional users.

Sony say that the Xperia Z2 Tablet should be available from March onwards. No guidance was given on price, but we would expect these to retail for around €500 or so for the WiFi-only version, more for the 4G-enabled variant.