The waterproof Android mini tablet with superb battery life
The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet was one of our favourite Android tablets of 2013. This makes it all the more puzzling that Sony has decided against updating that 10in model and has instead released a smaller 8in version. The Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact (not to be confused with the Xperia Z3 smartphone), squeezes the best features of its larger stablemate into a more compact device that easily rivals Google’s Nexus 9.
Like other Xperia Z-series tablets and smartphones, the Z3 Tablet Compact is waterproof. In our test, it survived intact a 30-minute submersion in a bathtub. Sony says it can withstand depths of up to 1.5 metres, so we’d recommend you don’t test it in a swimming pool.
While the Z3 is pleasingly slender, it also manages to be very sturdy. Its plastic case may not be as robust as the iPad Mini’s metal construction, but it's much sturdier than the creaky Nexus 9. It has a microSD slot too, but you’ll need to remember to snap its cover securely shut, when using it in the bath.
Annoyingly, the Z3's screen has very narrow borders on its two longer edges, so it can be difficult to get a firm grip on the tablet without inadvertently touching the screen and triggering an action. The 8in screen itself has good colour accuracy and contrast, while text looks sharp, thanks to the 1920x1200-pixel resolution. As with previous Xperia tablets though, brightness is a letdown. While the Z3 Tablet Compact’s screen is brighter than previous Xperias, it’s still significantly darker than other mini tablets.
We have no complaints about battery life though. When playing video continuously, the battery survived just under 20 hours, which is easily the best time we’ve ever seen for a tablet. It performed well too, with the 2.5GHz Snapdragon quad-core processor and 3GB of memory speeding through our demanding benchmark tests. Responsiveness wasn’t quite on this level, with the touchscreen occasionally lagging behind our finger strokes and prods, but nothing we couldn’t live with.
Sony makes some superb standalone cameras, but the eight-megapixel camera built into this tablet isn’t up to scratch. The focus tended to be on the soft side and photos had lots of noise, even when taken in brightly lit conditions. It’s definitely a camera of last resort.
Android 4.4 KitKat is preinstalled on the Z3 Tablet Compact, with a free upgrade to Android 5.0 Lollipop promised for “the beginning of 2015”. Sony’s modifications to the Android interface aren’t overly intrusive and can be easily be ignored if you don’t like them. But some of their refinements are actually quite useful, such as the ‘small apps’ which float above regular apps in a small resizable window, giving you some of the benefits of PC-style multitasking. The range of small apps is limited, but include a browser, calendar, calculator and Gmail - all of which are handy to have.
Less useful is the ability to connect wirelessly to your Sony Android phone and control it remotely, with the contents of the phone’s screen displayed in a resizable window on your tablet’s screen. Both devices have to be on the same Wi-Fi network. Even if we could think of a practical benefit of this feature, the incredibly frustrating lag in response times - even on a fast 802.11n network -made this feature unusable.
Although the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact isn’t perfect, it’s still easily the best Android mini-tablet available. While its design means it's difficult to grip, and the responsiveness and brightness of its touchscreen have room for improvement, its incredible battery life, waterproof design and расу performance mean it’s still great value.
VERDICT
Although it has some niggling flaws, it’s still better overall than Google’s vaunted Nexus 9
SPECIFICATIONS
8in 1920x1200-pixel touchscreen • 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor • 3CB memory • 16GB storage • MicroSD slot • Android 4.4 Kit Kat • 270g • 213x124x6mm (HxWxD) • One-year warranty