[Xperia Tablet Z General] pandaball:
I promised to review the XTZ somewhere (forgot which thread it was :rolleyes:) so I figured why not here. I'll be drawing comparisons to the Asus TF201 (running stock 4.1.1) and Nexus 7 (CM 4.2.2), both of which I have owned before (still have the N7). I'll also draw comparisons to any and all mobile devices I've owned in the past or present. I will comment on features that I've used. This is a subjective review, so call me biased but these are just my feelings about the XTZ :)

Design

In a word, gorgeous. Light, understated design that oozes a premium feeling. Love how the screen just blends into the borders when turned off. If there was a manufacturer who knew how to use plastic properly, it would be Sony. Flaps are annoying sometimes, but I guess it's the tradeoff one would expect for waterproofing. At least the flaps lock into place rather than on the Xperia Z where it is sealed in by rubber which makes me paranoid over whether the flap is closed properly or not. Compared to the TF201, I prefer the XTZ's design since it feels better when I hold it as compared to the TF201. Metal doesn't feel as nice as the rubber finish Sony has on the XTZ.

Display

One of the better displays I've used. Colours are accurate, viewing angles are superb and the screen isn't particularly reflective. I believe the screen is IPS, although I can't say for sure. Videos are a pleasure to watch, and when comparing screens with the Xperia Z, Xperia V and N7, the XTZ arguably has the best screen amongst them all in terms of colour accuracy and viewing angles.

Usability

I have a somewhat major concern with regard to usability, and I believe it has been mentioned before in the forum, which is the touch screen being sensitive. Swiping will almost always "break" somewhere, like when swiping, the trail would break in the middle and sometimes indicate just a tap instead. For example, when swiping the quick toggles bar back up, I would end up turning Bluetooth on due to the extraneous tap detected. Similarly, dragging and dropping things becomes a pain very quickly because the touchscreen would just stop detecting my finger for just a bit and doing things like dragging widgets becomes really painful. However, on the upside typing on the XTZ is a pleasure. Compared to typing on the N7, the XTZ detects practically all of my taps even when typing really quickly. I can almost reach the typing speed I had on the TF201 with the keyboard dock, which I'd say is quite good. Other than the touchscreen concerns, the screen isn't the best thing to be swiping on. It isn't "frictionless" like how you would expect an iPad to be, so things like gestures would be slightly more difficult. I would say that the screen having some friction could be a contributing cause to the touch screen problem I mentioned above.

Performance

I was impressed with what Sony did with the Xperia Z, but I was somewhat disappointed by the XTZ. The launcher lag was just unbearable for a device like this (maybe it's just me), and I didn't like the old Tablet UI, so I flashed CM10.1 soon after I got my XTZ. Apps load quickly and animations are zippy with no hint of stutter. Games like Real Racing and Asphalt 7 run very smoothly without thermal throttling kicking in. With CM, the UI was extremely fluid and smooth. Compared to the TF201, the XTZ is leaps and bounds ahead of it, what with NAND issues the TF201 had and its slower Tegra 3 processor. The XTZ is about as smooth as the Nexus 7 in the UI, but falls behind in gaming, as expected. WiFi is faster than the N7's when placed at the same distance, for whatever reason. I believe it might be due to the N7's relatively slow NAND, but if someone knows, please enlighten me on this.

Audio

The XTZ has two down facing speakers on the bottom of the tablet on the left and right side, and two more speakers facing outwards on the bottom left and right of the tablet. Together, they pump out a lot of sound. Speakers are quite loud and clear, which is a welcome break from the "tradition" of crap speakers on tablets. This design pretty much ensures that it's almost impossible to entirely cover all speakers at once when holding the tablet, and it makes watching movies quite immersive with the powerful audio.

Camera

I don't use my tablet to take pictures with (who does that anyway?), but I took a few sample shots and they pale in comparison to my Xperia Z's pictures. Granted, the tablet has an Exmor R IMX111 as compared to the Exmor RS IMX135 sensor of the Xperia Z, but the images were noisier and colours weren't as vibrant on the pictures taken from the XTZ (note: I compared both devices' pictures on my laptop, so Bravia Engine has nothing to do with it here ;))

Battery Life

As of now, I've used my XTZ for a day and it's still at 64% with one day's worth of use, including an hour of Asphalt 3 + Real Racing and 2h 15min of screen on time. This isn't too bad compared to my N7, which dies after a 2-3 days of moderate-heavy use. I'll update with more updated battery life stats once I get them.

Accessories

As part of the launch promotion here, the XTZ came with the charging dock, and I purchased the case separately as well. The charging dock is simple and elegant, and does the job with aplomb. I wish it came with an AC adapter with a higher mA rating or an extra USB cable though. The case is also well designed and can be folded in multiple ways to get the tablet into different positions. The case covers both the front and back, and holds the tablet with retaining "clips" on each side, as well as a piece of material on the top and bottom to hold the tablet in place. Lifting the top cover of the XTZ will turn the screen on automagically. The leather adds to the premium feeling of the tablet and also provides some form of protection against drops. I wouldn't recommend doing that though.

Conclusion aka TL;DR

Excellent piece of hardware, well worth the buy. Some problems that need to be sorted out, but they are probably software issues that can be rectified. Probably the best Android tablet you can get on the market now, and maybe even better than the iPad (I know I feel that way ;)). I will give the tablet a 4/5 until the touchscreen issue is fixed, but overall a great job by Sony on their newest tablet in the market.