Check out our review of the Sony Xperia Tablet Z.
Sony originally announced the Xperia Tablet Z in January, but at the time it was only headed to Japan. Fast forward to Mobile World Congress at the end of February, and the company used its press conference to inform us the tablet would be making its debut internationally during the spring.
That time has now come, as the Xperia Tablet Z has been made available as a pre-order through Sony’s own online store in the UK. Quite apart from being able to grab one of the tablets for yourself, this is the first time the price has been revealed. Only the Wi-Fi models are currently on sale, with the 16GB Xperia Tablet Z priced at £400 ($605), or if you spend another £50 you’ll get the 32GB model.
For this you get a 10.1-inch display with a 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. When we spent some time with the Xperia Tablet Z at MWC, we were particularly impressed with its design, and loved the lightweight, super-slim (just 6.9mm) chassis, which was a joy to hold.
When you go to buy one of the tablets, you’re given the option of selecting a range of accessories, including a £60 ($90) leather cover, £30 ($45) docking station and a £15 ($22) screen protector. Once the tablet is in your basket, the site provides a delivery date of between April 12 and April 15.
So how does the Xperia Tablet Z’s price compare with other tablets on sale in the UK? Well, the 16GB model matches the basic iPad, but the 32GB Tablet Z is £30 less expensive than the equivalent Apple tablet. A Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 with 16GB of storage memory is also £400, while the 16GB Nexus 10 (which has a higher screen resolution than Sony’s tablet) can be purchased through Google Play for £320.
There’s no mention of the Xperia Tablet Z on Sony USA’s online store at the moment, but if the price is in-line with Apple’s GBP to USD conversion, the 16GB model could cost $499 whenever it finally arrives.
Updated on 04/05/13 at 07:00am by Andy: Sony has sent out a statement informing customers who pre-ordered the Xperia Tablet Z there has been a change in the expected delivery date. Those given an April 12 to April 15 date should now expect the Tablet Z to arrive around the end of May. It claims the April date was an error and was never going to be met, so this shouldn’t be seen as a delay or the result of technical problems. Sony says it has been, “delighted by the incredible response,” to the Xperia Tablet Z and apologizes for any confusion caused.
A check of the pre-order page also reveals the 16GB 4G LTE version of the Xperia Tablet Z is now ready to be pre-ordered, and it has been priced at £500/$760.
Article originally published on 03/20/13 at 05:00am.
