Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet vs Galaxy Tab PRO 10.1 vs Apple iPad Air specs comparison

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Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet vs Galaxy Tab PRO 10.1 vs Apple iPad Air specs comparison
After releasing the world's thinnest, lightest 10" slate last year with the Tablet Z, Sony today came up with its Z2 Tablet successor, which owns those same superlatives now. Sony still kept the new slate waterproof, and with IP58 certification at that, so let's give it a quick comparison with the current best representatives of the 10" tablet universe - Apple's iPad Air, and Samsung's Tab PRO 10.1.

Design


Clocking in at the breathtaking just 0.25" (6.4mm) girth, the Xperia Z2 Tablet is also the lightest of them 10" slates, weighing only 15 ounces (426g) for the Wi-Fi model, and 15.5 ounces (439g) for LTE/3G model. For comparison, the Galaxy Tab PRO 10.1 is the thinnest and lightest Android 10-incher released this year, and it measures 7.4mm thick, weighing 16.54 oz (469 g). The venerable iPad Air is only a tad more at 7.5 mm, and with 16.86 oz (478 g) of weight, but a tad smaller display. Sony used its OmniBalance design language, with the signature circular power key, creating a well-crafted slate with soft edges and pretty looks. Galaxy Tab PRO is made of plastic, with the trademark "stitched notepad" look on the back, while the iPad Air claims its design authority with a single-piece aluminum chassis. Sony's device one-ups them both with its waterproof chassis, though, making it perfect for watching movies in the bathtub, for example.

Display


Sony is using its new  Live Colour LED display technology for the Triluminos 1920x1200 pixels screen on the Xperia Z2 Tablet. It should result in more vibrant colors on the display, yet without the accompanying oversaturation. Some may scoff at the resolution, given that we have high-end slates with 1600p screens, like the Tab PRO here, yet Samsung's slate uses an alternative "diamond" pixel matrix arrangement, while the Z2 Tablet's 1200p is still more than enough for most purposes. The iPad Air's display also comes with much higher pixel density than Sony's panel, so the Z2 Tablet gives way to the other two slate flagships in that regard.

Processor and memory


Sony's new fashion model is powered by the fast 2.3 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801, which is a vast improvement over the measly Snapdragon S4 Pro, that last year's Tablet Z shipped with. It also comes with 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of internal memory, expandable via a microSD slot, thus mimicking the silicon and memory of the Tab PRO 10.1. The iPad Air also ships with 16 GB of storage, and uses the no-less powerful Apple A7 processor, with its raging PowerVR graphics, but doesn't offer a memory card slot.

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Battery


A 6000 mAh battery is nothing to write home about on a 10-incher, but we guess that's what managed to fit in the extremely thin chassis of the Z2 Tablet. Still, Sony claims the typical for an Android tablet up to 10 hours of video playback on a charge, and 100 hours of listening to music. Sony's Xperia Z2 Tablet also takes advantage of the Quick Charge 2.0 technology, that comes with Qualcomm's chipset, offering up to 75 percent faster charging. The iPad Air sports a much larger 8820 mAh battery, making it the king of battery endurance, while the Galaxy Tab PRO 10.1 shrinks it down a notch to 8220 mAh.


Check out the rest of the specs sheet comparison details below, and tell us which one would you pick, as they are likely to be priced in a very similar way, yet offer rather different experiences in terms of design and software.


Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet Apple iPad Air Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1

Design

Dimensions
10.47 x 6.77 x 0.25 inches
266 x 172 x 6.4 mm
9.45 x 6.67 x 0.30 inches
240 x 169.5 x 7.5 mm
9.57 x 6.75 x 0.29 inches
243.1 x 171.4 x 7.3 mm
Weight
15.49 oz / 439.0 g 16.86 oz / 478.0 g 16.54 oz / 469.0 g
Materials
Back: Aluminum
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP58
Features
Notification light, Stylus
Keys
Right: Volume control, Other
Colors
Black, White Black, Gray, Silver, White White

Display

Size
10.1-inch, 64.68% screen-to-body 9.7-inch, 71.65% screen-to-body 10.1-inch, 70.97% screen-to-body
Type
IPS LCD IPS LCD Super Clear LCD
Resolution
1200x1920px, 224 PPI 1536x2048px, 264 PPI 1600x2560px, 299 PPI
Colors
16 777 216 16 777 216 16 777 216
Features
Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor Oleophobic coating, Ambient light sensor

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 801 8074 Apple A7 Snapdragon 800 MSM8974
Processor
Quad-core
2300 MHz
Krait 400
Dual-core
1400 MHz
Cyclone
Quad-core
2300 MHz
Krait 400
GPU
Adreno 330 PowerVR G6430 Adreno 330
Memory
3GB (LPDDR3)/16GB 1GB (LPDDR3)/128GB
1GB/16GB
1GB/32GB
1GB/64GB
1GB/128GB
2GB (LPDDR3)/32GB
2GB/16GB
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 64 GB microSDXC up to 64 GB
OS
Android (6.0 Marshmallow, 5.1 Lollipop, 5.0 Lollipop, 4.4.4, 4.4) iOS (12.x, 11.x, 10.x, 9.x, 8.x, 7.x) Android (4.4)

Battery

Type
6000 mAh 8820 mAh, Li - Polymer 8220 mAh

Camera

Rear
Single camera Single camera Single camera
Main camera
8.1 MP (Autofocus) 5 MP (Autofocus, BSI sensor)
Aperture size: F2.4
Focal length: 33 mm
8 MP (Autofocus)
Flash
LED
Video recording
1080p
HDR
1080p (30 fps)
Time-lapse video, EIS, Video calling
1080p
Video calling
Front
2.2 MP
Video capture: 1080p
1.2 MP
Video capture: 720p (30 fps)
2 MP

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
4.0 4.0 4.0
WLAN
a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot
802.11 a, b, g, n, ac
a,b,g,n,dual-band
Multiple antennas, MIMO, Hotspot
802.11 a, b, g, n
a,b,g,n,dual-band,ac
Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
802.11 a, b, g, n, ac
USB
microUSB, USB 2.0 Lightning microUSB, USB 2.0
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient light sensor Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient light sensor Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient light sensor
HDMI
Yes
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass A-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
Other
NFC, ANT+, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync, AirDrop Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync, ANT+, Infrared

Multimedia

Headphones
3.5mm jack 3.5mm jack 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Multiple speakers Multiple speakers Multiple speakers
Features
Album art cover, Background playback Album art cover, Background playback Album art cover, Background playback
Screen mirroring
DLNA,Wireless screen share,MHL,MirrorLink TV-out Wireless screen share,MHL,TV-out
Radio
FM, RDS
Additional microphone(s)
Yes

Cellular

4G (FDD) Bands
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 17, 20 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26
3G Bands
5, 8, 4, 2, 1 5, 8, 2, 1 5, 8, 2, 1
Data Speed
LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s LTE, HSPA, UMTS LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
SIM type
Micro SIM Nano SIM
VoLTE
Yes

Phone Features

Notifications
Flight mode, Silent mode, Speakerphone Flight mode, Silent mode Flight mode, Silent mode, Speakerphone
Other features
Voice commands, Voice recording Voice commands, Voice recording Voice commands, Voice recording

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Oct 22, 2013
FCC ID value: BCGA1475
Measured SAR
Body: 1.19 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.33 W/kg

Availability

Officially announced
Feb 24, 2014 Oct 22, 2013 Jan 06, 2014
Prices (MSRP)
$500 $929

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