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Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact LTE: An 8-inch tablet better than the iPad Mini and Tab S? We think so

By James Lu - 27 Dec 2014
Launch SRP: S$698

Benchmark Performance, Imaging, Battery Life and Conclusion

Benchmark Performance

The Z3 tablet is powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor found in the Z3 phones. It also has 3GB RAM like the larger Z3 smartphone (the Z3 Compact only has 2GB RAM). We'll be comparing it against other 8-inch flagship tablets, including the Apple iPad Mini 3, Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and LG G Tablet 8.3.

  Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact LTE Apple iPad Mini 3 Samsung Galaxy Tab S (8.4) LTE LG G Tablet 8.3
  Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact LTE Apple iPad Mini 3 Samsung Galaxy Tab S (8.4) LTE LG G Tablet 8.3
Operating system
  • Android 4.4.2 KitKat
  • iOS 8
  • Android 4.4 KitKat
  • Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Processor
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 Quad-core 2.5GHz
  • A7 processor and M7 motion co-processor
  • Exynos 5 Octa 5420 (1.9GHz A15 Quad-core + 1.3GHz A7 Quad-core)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 1.7GHz quad-core
Memory
  • 3GB RAM
  • 1GB RAM
  • 3GB RAM
  • 2GB RAM
Display
  • 8-inch / 1920 x 1200 / TFT
  • 7.9-inch
  • 2,048 x 1,536 pixels
  • IPS
  • 8.4-inch / 2,560 x 1,600 pixels / Super AMOLED display
  • 8.3-inch / 1,920 x 1,200 pixels / IPS
Camera
  • 8.1-megapixel with Exmor R for mobile
  • Secondary: 2.2-megapixel HD camera with Exmor for mobile
  • Front: 1.2-megapixel FaceTime HD
  • Rear: 5-megapixel with autofocus, f/2.4 aperture, backside illumination and five-element lens
  • Rear: 8-megapixel
  • Front: 2.1-megapixel
  • Rear: 5-megapixel
  • Front: 1.3-megapixel
I/O Ports
  • micro-USB port, 3.5mm audio output jack
  • Headphone jack, Lightning connector
Connectivity
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, NFC
  • 802.11a/b/g/n Wi‑Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
  • Bluetooth v4.0
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth v4.0, MHL 2.0
  • 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4/5GHz), Bluetooth v4.0 LE
Storage
  • 16GB internal storage
  • microSD support up to 128GB
  • 16GB, 64GB, 128GB
  • 16GB internal storage
  • microSD card support up to 128GB
  • 16GB internal storage
  • microSD card support up to 64GB
Other Features
  • IP65/68 certified - dust proof and water resistant over 1 meter and 30 minutes
  • Touch ID sensor
Battery
  • 4,500mAh
  • 6,470mAh
  • 4,900mAh
  • 4,600mAh
Dimensions
  • 213.4 x 123.6 x 6.4 mm
  • 200 x 134.7 x 7.5mm
  • 212.8 x 125.6 x 6.6mm
  • 216.8 x 126.5 x 8.3mm
Weight
  • 270g
  • Up to 341g
  • 298g
  • 338g
Network
  • 4G LTE (optional)

Sunspider Javascript

SunSpider Javascript helps measure the browsing performance of a device when processing Javascript. It not only takes into consideration the underlying hardware performance, but also assesses how optimized a particular platform is at delivering a high-speed web browsing experience. The Z3 Tablet scored reasonably well here, beating our other two Android tablet by a slight margin, but wasn't able to match the iPad Mini 3. As we've seen from our recent phone reviews, Apple boasts great optimization between its hardware and Safari that is hard to beat. Having said that, there was no noticeable difference in browsing performance between the two tablets and both provided a smooth and lag-free browsing experience.

Quadrant

Quadrant is an Android benchmark that evaluates a device's CPU, memory, I/O and 3D graphics performance. The Z3 tablet scored quite well here, although it wasn't quite as good as the Tab S 8.4. Interestingly, it was also not as good as either of the Z3 phones, with the Z3 scoring 20337, and the Z3 Compact scoring 19894.
 

3DMark (2013)

Originally developed as a PC gaming benchmarking tool, 3DMark now supports multiple platforms including Android. The Ice Storm benchmark is designed for smartphones, mobile devices and ARM architecture computers.

For an in-depth understanding of 3DMark for Android, do head over to our article, "3DMark - Android Device GPU Performance Review." In a nutshell, it is an OpenGL ES 2.0 benchmark test that uses fixed off-screen rendering to run two graphics tests designed to stress the GPU performance of your device and a physics test to stress its CPU performance. The benchmark consists of three test portfolios:- Standard (720p resolution rendering), Extreme (1080p resolution rendering with higher quality textures and post-processing effects) and Unlimited (disables v-sync, display scaling and other OS factors that make it ideal for chipset comparison).

Since all the recent flagship tablets all max out the scores for the Standard and Extreme tests, we will only be looking at the scores for Ice Storm Unlimited run. The Z3 tablet scored well in this test, and easily beat all three of its competitors. Compared to the Z3 phones, it was very close to the Z3 (17680) and slightly behind the Z3 Compact (18788).

Camera Performance

The 8-megapixel camera found on the Z3 Tablet is a big step down from the 20.7-megapixel shooters you'll find on the Z3 phones. Additionally, like the iPad Mini, there's no LED flash here, so you won't be able to take pictures of your food in dimly lit restaurants. The 2-megapixel front-facing camera isn't great either; it's just about acceptable for video calling, but that's probably the limit of its photography prowess.

Image quality on the Z3 Tablet Compact is quite poor; details are out of focus and there's noticeable graininess. Click for the full-size image.


Battery Life

Our standard battery test for tablets includes the following parameters:

  • Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
  • Constant data streaming through email and Twitter

The Z3 tablet has a 4,500mAh capacity battery, which is actually pretty small compared to the iPad Mini's 6,470mAh battery, or the Galaxy Tab S 8.5's 4,900mAh battery. Despite this, the Z3 performed surprisingly well, lasting ten and a half hours in our video looping test, falling just short of the Tab S 8.5. It's possible that the Z3's slightly smaller screen and lower resolution display helped its battery last longer, so in this respect, a lower resolution display might be considered a worthwhile tradeoff. 

Conclusion

Probably the best 8-inch tablet you can buy right now.

If you're in the market for a high-end 8-inch Android tablet, right now, you should only be considering two choices, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact. Between the two, the Tab S 8.4 has a slightly larger, higher resolution screen (although unless you compare the two side-by-side, you'll be hard pressed to notice the difference in size or resolution) and marginally (15 minutes) longer battery life. In all other areas, the Z3 Tablet Compact beats it, hands down. It has a slimmer, sleeker and lighter build that makes it more portable than the Tab S, and more importantly, it's also fully waterproof so you don't have to worry about it when you're using it at the beach or pool. If you've got a Playstation 4, it has great synergy with the Remote Play feature and its 8-inch screen is just the right size for some portable gaming - Remote Play is also available on the Z3 phones, but honestly their displays are just too small for any extended usage.

As for the iPad Mini, while choosing between the two is probably more dependent on which app ecosystem you're invested in, the Z3 tablet is actually lighter, thinner, waterproof and boasts much better battery life and benchmark performance. If you're on the fence about picking up an Android tablet, it's worth remembering that for the past year or two, there has been steady increase in the number of tablet-optimized Android apps, so iOS no longer holds an advantage there. 

Could the Z3 tablet have benefited from a higher resolution display? It would certainly help it compete specs-wise with the likes of the iPad Mini and Tab S 8.4, but realistically you won't notice any difference unless you really scrutinize the screen. Hypothetically, if there was an option for a Z3 tablet with a higher resolution display, say 2,560 x 1,400, but with ten percent less battery life (higher resolution displays drain battery life faster - just look at the LG G3 for proof), which one would I pick? Without a doubt, give me the Full HD display with more battery life.

Price-wise, you're looking at $698 for the 16GB LTE version of the Z3 Tablet - exactly the same as the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 LTE. If you can live without LTE, the 16GB Wi-Fi only version is $598, which is also the same price as the 16GB Wi-Fi Tab S. Alternatively, you can opt for a 32GB Wi-Fi version for $698. Do note that both the LTE and WiFi versions have expandable memory up to 128GB via a MicroSD card slot.

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9.0
  • Design 9
  • Features 9
  • User-Friendliness 8.5
  • Performance 8.5
  • Value 8.5
The Good
Sleek, slim and light build
Fully waterproof and dustproof
Great battery life
Decent audio from stereo speakers
Works as second screen for Playstation 4
The Bad
Screen resolution not as high as rivals
Poor camera performance
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