Greater than its size

A thin yet incredibly powerful tablet computer, the new Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is so light, you won’t even notice you’re carrying it.

Just 6.4mm thick and weighing 270 grams, it boasts a bright Full HD 1920 x 1080 display. Available in black and white, it has stainless steel corners, an ultra slim frame and a tempered glass front, giving it an elegant and durable finish.

It’s great for reading by the pool or even in the rain as the Z3 Tablet Compact is waterproof and compliant to IP 65/68 rating, meaning it can be kept under 1.50 metres of freshwater for up to 30 minutes. That makes it an obvious choice for capturing the fun moments of the Songkran festival or for a day out at the waterpark.

And Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is really powerful thanks to the ultra-fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 Quad-core processor running at 2.5 GHz. Its graphic horsepower comes from the latest Adreno 330 GPU for delivering fast graphics and realistic 3D gaming. 

The tablet is equipped with 3 gigabytes of working memory or RAM for smooth multitasking and fast performance of applications that require a lot of resources. The model reviewed here had 16 GB of internal storage, which could be expanded with a microSD card up to 128 GB.

The Z3 Tablet Compact, which actually doubles as a large-screen phone, has a Nano SIM slot and supports 4G LTE and 3G HSPA+ connections. I tested it using a Wi-Fi connection and was impressed by its performance. The touch screen and menus were very responsive. The screen scrolling was fast and smooth and video clips ran fluidly. I tested Real Boxing game, which has a 3D look and feel and found it played smoothly.

Z3 Tablet Compact’s 8-inch IPS display uses Sony’s TriLuminous Display for Mobile, Live Colour LED, and X-Reality for mobile to deliver crisp and bright colours. That makes it good for watching Full HD videos and viewing high-resolution photos.

If you have a Sony PlayStation 4, you will be able to use Z3 Tablet Compact to access and play PS4 games without having to use the TV. You simply use the PS4 Remote Play app and links the two devices, using Wi-Fi connection. Then, you can play PS4 games anywhere where there is Wi-Fi signal in your house, including the balcony or in the kitchen. You can also buy the DualShock4 controller for more convenience while playing PS4 games on the tablet.

If you enjoy music, you’ll appreciate the tablet’s high-resolution audio capability. It can play the FLAC 24bit/192kHz audio format, which has about five times more detail than an audio CD. It also supports other high-resolution audio formats, such as DSDIFF and DSF.

I tried listening to Pink Floyd’s “The Final Cut” album encoded in FLAC 24bit/192kHz format and I was very impressed by the music quality. The instruments played in tremendous detail and the ambient soundtracks enhance the songs’ meaning. The Walkman app quickly realised that the songs were high-resolution and showed the HR logo on each track.

And the Z3 Tablet Compact has smart connect technology. When I connected my Razer in-ear headphones, the tablet activated the music and started the Walkman app. When I connected, the tablet to my home theatre receiver, the tablet realised it and activated the music at home technology instead. The smart connect also stopped the music immediately I disconnected the headphones or stereo cable.

And listening to the Pink Floyd album on the Z3 Tablet Compact connected with a 3.5mm stereo cable to my Denon 5.1 home theatre system was really enjoyable with good details and image of the sounds.

The Walkman app also has DSEE HS function for upscaling music files that are not encoded in high-resolution format to bring them close to hi-res audio. And if you are a serious music lover with a dedicated DAC (digital-to-analogue converter) amp like Sony’s PHA-3, you can set the tablet’s Walkman app to send digital audio through its microUSB port to the PHA-3 to decode to achieve better sounds.

The Z3 Tablet Compact also has good quality cameras. Its main camera has 8.1-megapixel resolution and the front-facing camera has 2.2-MP resolution. Both use Exmor RS for mobile image sensor and can shoot Full HD video.

I found that Z3 Tablet Compact captured good quality photos in most lighting environments, especially in well-lit ones. There are several shooting modes, including Superior auto, Creative effect, Sweep Panorama, Face in and Timeshift burst. You can download more apps to use with the camera.

The Face In mode lets you put your face in photos, using the front camera. The Timeshift burst will capture a burst of images before and after your shot thus allowing you to select the best one.

Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact has a large capacity battery of 4,500 mAh. And at Bt20,990, it would make a wonderful New Year treat.

 

Key specs

_ Operating system: Google Android 4.4 (KitKat)

_ Networks: UMTS HSPA+ 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz; GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz; LTE 2100/1900/1800/1700/850

_ Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 Quad-core with 2.5 GHz

_ GPU: Adreno 330

_ Cameras: 8.1 megapixel main camera, 2.2 MP front camera, 1080p video recording

_ Display: 8-inch TRILUMINOS Display for mobile (1920 x 1200 pixels)

_ Memory: 3GB

_ Storage: 16 GB, expandable with microSD of up to 128 GB

_ Interface: USB2.0, 3.5mm Stereo DNC audio jack x 1, microSD memory card x 1 (works as a monaural microphone jack)

_ Connectivity: NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, ANT+, Bluetooth 4.0

_ Battery: 4500 mAh with 15 hours of video playback time/ 170 hours of music listening time/ 23 hours of talk time (UMTS)

_ Size: 213.4 x 123.6 x 6.4 mm

_ Weight: 270 grams