Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact

A CLOSE CONTENDER TO THE IPAD MINI.

THE IPAD MINI 4 has some serious competition on its hands in the form of this ultra-light tablet from Sony. Weighing a mere 270g and just 6.4mm thick, it’s so slight that you’ll easily forget you’ve got one stashed away in your handbag or backpack. Even better, it’s waterproof up to a depth of 1.5 metres for 30 minutes, making it the ideal reading companion while having a bath or swim.

The screen isn’t quite as sharp as the Mini 4, with a resolution of 1920 x 1200, but it’s still a stunner. Sony displays have a reputation for excelling at colour reproduction, and the Z3 is no exception. It’s also razor-sharp when it comes to accuracy, unlike some of the more affordable tablets on offer, precisely detecting exactly where we’d touched it. One unique feature of the Z3 is the ability to stream PS4 games to the tablet, which will are then playable via a PS4 controller. However, the flipside is a heavy abundance of bloatware loaded onto the Z3, with Sony heavily promoting its own services and so ware.

An added bonus to this device is the included LTE 4G connectivity, which costs extra on competing tablets. e 8.1 megapixel camera didn’t perform too well though, surprising given Sony’s experience with these products. e nal negative is that the entire unit is made of plastic, so doesn’t quite have the premium feel of an aluminium iPad.