Sony xperia tablet s specifications. Sony Tablet S operating experience

A new offshoot from VAIO called Tablet could be an interesting project for Sony. The device with the letter S turned out to be peculiar, not without flaws, but it has its own charm ...

Design, construction

Sony compares the device with a rolled-up magazine, in my opinion, it is hardly worth saying such things. Look at some glossy magazine, would you like to carry such a thing in your bag all the time, and even rolled up? I don't know, I don't. Thinness as a trend has not gone away, since the RAZR, manufacturers have been constantly using this technique, especially when they present a continuation of a device. Suffice it to recall the iPad 2 and a lot of words about size reduction.

However, Sony always go their own way, as if not paying attention to the market as a whole. Then, however, it occurs to someone - something is wrong - and a new round begins. For example, I don't have much to say about a flip tablet called P. There's an old marketing rule here that's proven over the years, people don't like pocket TVs. In the sense that the more exotic the device and the more phrases needed to justify the form factor, the less successful it will be. There will be, oh, there will be rabid fans who are ready to tear everyone on the forums who will say at least a word about two displays at once. As always.

We are dealing with a thick tablet that really looks like a rolled up magazine. The declared dimensions are 174.3 x 10.1 x 241.2 mm, weight 598 grams. Apparently, the average thickness is indicated, because I myself measured the thickest place with a ruler, there are about two centimeters. For comparison, the iPad 2 measures 241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8 mm and weighs 601 grams. The entire Tablet S is made of plastic, on the back, “folded” side there are legs and pimples, it is convenient to hold the tablet in your hand. Here I want to highlight, despite the thickness, the Tablet S is really comfortable to hold in your hand. I can repeat again. Especially holding on to the butt where the thickening is with the left hand. Holding with two hands is not so great, typing on the virtual keyboard is also, the thumbs barely reach some of the keys. While there is only a black version, the display protection is glossy, quickly covered with prints. It is difficult to remove them even with the help of a miracle rag. On the side there are inserts made of silvery plastic, on the right end there is a slot for SD cards, a USB micro-AB connector for connecting an adapter.

The story is this, Sony believes that this is a very strong advantage, you connect the adapter to the tablet and already connect the USB flash drive to the adapter. Or a camera. Or something else. You need to buy the adapter yourself! This is a very sound idea. Of course, they are sold everywhere, in any stall.

Very strange. There is also a 3.5 mm jack on the same end. Camera lenses on the front and back, there is a groove on the back for attaching a strap, speakers. The sound of the Tablet S is not bad, in principle, it can be used as a music box without any problems. On the right side there are volume buttons, a power button, a hidden reset button. Light indicator in the style of Sony, small, dim.

For three days of wearing in the bag, there were no scratches or chips. It seems to me that the lower part at the back is most susceptible to this, there is plastic with a silver coating. Pay attention to the proprietary connector for connecting the power supply, it is not covered by anything. Contacts should be periodically wiped with alcohol or Sasha cologne. Don't forget to do it. Is always.

Display

Display diagonal 9.4 inches, resolution 1280 x 800 pixels, LED backlight, of course, touch screen (capacitive type). It leaves only positive impressions, I really like the brightness, the drawing of various new elements. As you can see, Sony has worked on the icons, reminiscent of PS3, PSP, Sony Ericsson and other products. In my sample there was only one branded background image, I did not find any original "live" wallpapers. Thanks to the powerful processor, the image on the display quickly turns over, when switching between desktops, the brakes are not felt. Viewing angles are good. I recommend using automatic brightness control so that the battery lasts longer.

All this is true, if you do not compare the screen with what is in the iPad. Look at the photos. I want to note that I will not load you with hundreds of screenshots, it will be easier to watch the video in the article, where I show the main programs and capabilities of the gadget. So, if you compare it with the screen of the iPad 2, then you will immediately notice that in the Tablet S the screen turns yellow. And the black is not that black, more of a dark dark grey. And the brightness is not so great. All this is a given. At the presentation, a lot of warm words were said about the display of the tablet. Take a look at the photos comparing Tablet S and iPad 2 for yourself. The brightness is the same. And, well, you can also look at the video, I remind you once again. When using a browser, the difference in displays is especially noticeable, with Sony everything is a bit unclear.

Performance

It uses the NVIDIA Tegra 2, 1 GHz processor, it seems that they already wrote about the processor on our website.

Is Tablet S fast? Yes. Moreover, when compared with the iPad 2, sometimes you don’t know which is faster. Eska launches programs quickly, the browser quickly draws pages, games are played, mail arrives. What more could you want.

There is Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, everything is typical here. Sometimes, suddenly, for no reason, the connection to the access point falls off, we are talking about Wi-Fi. There is also an infrared port, but more on that in the next part.

We'll talk about Sony's additives in the interface, programs, OS in the second part.

Modifications

At the moment, two versions of the tablet are available, the names, as always, are exotic - SGPT112RU and SGPT111RU, the differences are in memory, the younger model has 16 GB, the older one has 32 GB. The site Sonystyle.ru lovingly says "hard drive". Miracles of translation, as always.

Perhaps, we should immediately mention the version with 3G, in Europe sales of this model will begin closer to the New Year. I have nothing to add here, of course, a complete failure. Now many inexpensive tablets are equipped with 3G, this is the norm. It is impossible not to focus on the successful experience of iPad sales and various finds by Apple, when both Wi-Fi-only and Wi-Fi + 3G devices were presented. As practice shows, even the most economical users eventually agree that it would be better to buy a version with both. More than once or twice, being in the city with Tablet S, I greatly regretted the lack of 3G. Accordingly, it is completely incomprehensible to me why Sony decided to act in such a strange way.

Accessories

While Russian consumers may not particularly scour the shops in search of original additions, everything will be, but later. There are three types of covers, among them there is a regular leather folder. There is also a stand, when the Tablet S is installed in the cradle, it becomes even more like a photo frame.

Formats

Strange all the same in Sony people. Look, here is a tablet. Usually, after all, people on tablets listen to video more than they listen to music, right? That is, you can sacrifice support for music formats, but make watching videos as comfortable as possible so that everything can be watched. Well, at least the usual "avishki". Now, look at the screenshots, it details what the Sony Tablet S supports.

A little strange, in my opinion. For example, Samsung is trying to provide support for most formats in their tablets, and especially for video.

Food

So, is everyone ready to fly to Sony country? Then don't forget to bring the original charger with you. And if you lose, then everything, kaput. Yes, yes, in my favorite company they again took up their own. There is a charging port here. A small power supply with a long cable will take up a lot of space in your bag. Please note that Sony VAIO P laptops had the same power supply, well, at least judging by the dimensions. Apparently, there were superfluous ones, so Sony decided to attach them. It takes about two and a half hours to fully charge, the official website says five hours, but you should not believe this. Or I had such a special, reactive pattern. The claimed battery life is about 8 hours, in fact the tablet works much less. For example, when watching the TV series Dexter, the Tablet S lasted less than four hours. When using a browser, email client, various programs - the usual daytime mode - is enough from morning (from ten) to evening (up to eight). Then the battery indicator remains almost empty. That is, the Tablet S is far from being a champion in terms of operating time. And the mighty power supply tunes in to sad thoughts.

Conclusions on the first part

What is in front of us? Sex toy from Sony? The tablet is comfortable to hold in your hands, but there is no metal, carbon fiber, carbon fiber or other materials typical of the company. Rather, typical for a number of devices. You can estimate the sizes yourself, everything is individual here, but the little thing turned out to be massive. Work speed? Yes, the Tablet S is fast, there are no problems with video or games, and page loading too. The display feels nice until you pick up the iPad 2 (and you pick it up and feel the cold metal and all). Working hours? On iPad 2, you can watch videos almost twice as long. Throw in a massive charger and your plug. Android version? While using the device, version 3.2 flew through the air, it was installed, everything is in order. Although there are not so many changes there, and everything cannot be called increasing the functionality of the gadget at times.

In the next part, we will talk about a set of programs from Sony, a camera, changes in the interface, the importance of Playstation certification and other things. While you might be thinking about buying the Sony Tablet S, prices range from Rs 19,000 to Rs 23,000. In principle, for 23,000 it is quite possible to buy an iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G. What would you choose? Although, wait, we'll talk about this after the release of the second part of the material.

It seems to me that before us is an attempt by Sony to get into the market, not noticing that there is already a big, big elephant in this china shop and clapping its eyes and ears in surprise, listening to stories about the concept of four screens, folded magazines, etc.

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Sergey Kuzmin ()

To say that the Sony Tablet S is fundamentally different from other tablets is a lie. It is, of course, rectangular, with a glossy frame around the 9.4-inch screen, the familiar Tegra 2 nests inside, and it all runs Android Honeycomb 3.2. Painfully familiar. However, the devil is in the details.

magazine cover

Yet there are clear differences. For example, Sony did not pursue miniaturization, as a result of which the tablet looks overweight - 20.6 mm in the thickest part. But you can’t confuse it with another Android tablet: on the side and back, it looks a bit like a folded magazine, unless you unfold it back. Such a cunning shape allows you to comfortably hold the Sony Tablet S in your hands: in a horizontal orientation, it does not slip out of your hands, and in a portrait orientation it fits perfectly into the palm of your hand with a “fold line”. It's funny, though, that Sony in the specifications gives separately the "thickness" of the tablet and separately - the dimensions of its "soft spot". In brackets, so unobtrusively.

Dimensions theoretically allow you to build more good and different connectors into the tablet. But in practice, Sony limited itself to one MicroUSB Host, one 3.5 mm mini-jack (which, by the way, is designed to connect a headset with a microphone) and, for which we thank the Japanese, a full-size SD memory card reader. That is, a card from the camera can now be inserted directly into the tablet without hesitation. I wish they released normal photo editing software for Android ... It's surprising that there is no support for Memory Stick cards. It seems that Sony has decided to change its standards in this regard.

All connectors are located on the left side, and the right one is given to thin and not very convenient buttons - two for volume control and one for on / off. There is also a tiny hole with the inscription "Reset" - apparently, Honeycomb, even in version 3.2, is still not stable enough. Before our eyes, the tablet never hung, so we can only guess about the degree of usefulness of the button.

There is also a speaker on each side, and the last remaining connector is hidden on the bottom - this is a four-pin branded port for a docking station, charging and other accessories. For an unknown purpose, a lanyard attachment is provided on the case. We sympathize in advance with those who decide to hang this tablet around their necks... Of course, it is relatively light - about 600 grams, but it's still not worth experimenting.

Judging by the amount of empty space on the side faces, the tablet could have been loaded with connectors much denser. Since the designers still found a place to roam, it would be logical to place HDMI and a full-fledged USB here - or better, two at once. The interior space also appears to be by no means fully utilized. Based on Sony's battery life numbers, the battery in the Tablet S has about the same capacity as the competition. About 6 hours of video viewing, about the same amount of web surfing - however, it is not specified at what level of display brightness such indicators are achieved.

Speaking of the display. It's about as good as other Android tablets around 10 inches. High brightness, good viewing angles, rich colors. The technology in the declared characteristics is not specified, but in terms of image quality it looks like it is IPS. Only the proprietary TruBlack technology let us down, which was supposed to make the black color very black - for some reason it turned out just the opposite.

The glass that covers the display has a decent strength - we could not scratch it with the keys. But you can’t say the same about the case, the back wall of the tablet is scratched without much effort. This is true both for the glossy black surface and for the small silver insert at the bottom of the case. The glossy part, by the way, successfully collects fingerprints. And the display collects them with a vengeance - not a single tablet "slams" like the Sony Tablet S.

You can find fault with the sound volume of the built-in speakers - at the maximum, two Tablet S speakers sound quieter than the only “beep” of a smartphone that is not the most musical in the world. But the sound quality of the tablet is much higher - there are noticeably more mid and low frequencies. You can watch movies at home, in transport you will have to arm yourself with headphones.

There are two cameras in the new product, as expected, two - 5 megapixels in the back and 0.3 in the front. The rear shoots mediocre - as in most tablets. On the other hand, it copes well with shooting in low light, and it doesn’t produce any special noise - it seems that some kind of software noise reduction is working in the background. Too bad there's no flash. The front camera… how to say censorship… Well, what else can you expect from a tiny VGA-resolution matrix?

Specifications Sony Tablet S
Screen	9.4″ 1280x800 IPS LCD
CPU	NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual Core 1 GHz
Video subsystem	NVIDIA GeForce ULP
Net	3G (optional, no details)
Memory	Operational: 1 GB, Built-in: 16/32 GB NAND + SD slot
Camera	Primary: 5 MP Front: 0.3 MP
Data transfer	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, microUSB 2.0 Host, IrDA
Navigation	A-GPS
Dimensions and weight	241.2x174.3x10.1-20.6mm, 598g without 3G module (625g with 3G module)
Battery	n.a. (Approximately 6 hours of life when playing music or surfing the web via Wi-Fi)
Operating system	Android 3.2 Honeycomb

⇡ Clothes for honeycombs

Sony likes to supplement the functionality of the operating system with a lot of proprietary software. The Tablet S was no exception. There are a lot of changes and additions: for example, the screen of installed applications is completely different from the standard one. There is also a proprietary on-screen keyboard - it looks more interesting than the usual android one, and it's more pleasant to work with.

I really liked the music player: the folders with music in it are presented in the form of boxes with CDs that can be dragged around the “table”. The only pity is that the zoom function is not provided. And there is not much space on the “table” - if you upload a decent-sized music collection to your tablet, then all this can turn into a chaotic pile of small icons.

Judging by the set of pre-installed programs, the purpose of the tablet is mainly “home”: it has, for example, a (terribly inconvenient) TV remote control. For the sake of it, by the way, an infrared port was hidden somewhere in the Tablet S. Also, the tablet is able to play whatever your heart desires on a moderately remote TV via DLNA. Unless, of course, the TV or the set-top box connected to it allows this. This, by the way, to some extent compensates for the lack of HDMI.

Unlike other tablet manufacturers, Sony has a trump card up its sleeve: a long and successful work in the game consoles and related content market. For example, the Tablet S is prudently flooded with a childhood game - Crash Bandicoot, and a PlayStation One emulator at the same time. It seems to be about the same as on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.

But if on a phone with a relatively low resolution of a relatively small screen, old games created for warm, tube TVs look fine, then on a tablet with a moderately high resolution, large interpolated pixels are clearly visible. Perhaps this will add nostalgic sensations to someone, but the PSX games on the Tablet S still look doubtful.

But the screen version of the gamepad is not as scary as one might expect. The large sizes of the buttons allow you not to miss, so the red bandicoot imp confidently runs forward, jumps at the right moment and sends oncoming turtles and crabs into the unknown distance. One Sony game, of course, will not be limited, but the rest - if you please, download for money.

In the current version of the firmware, localization suffers a little. In addition to all sorts of funny points like “Before. files” and “Reference manual…”, there are also untranslated pieces. Say, in the list of what can be done with a music file, among the translated items there is a certain “Throw”. Did you think it meant "Throw away"? But no, it turns out to "throw" on the nearest DLNA device. In general, the firmware is not that raw, but certain improvements will not harm it.

⇡ Conclusion

The tablet market lacked diversity, especially in Russia. We expected something unusual from Sony Tablet S: firstly, it is still Sony, and secondly, the company did not immediately enter this market, so it could well take into account the mistakes of competitors ... But nothing really outstanding was expected: a novelty too similar to other tablets, it lacks something special - some zest.

On the other hand, if we make allowances for high expectations, then everything turned out not so bad at all - at least not worse than many. Tablet S turned out to be convenient, fast, with a good screen and a good set of additional software. And the appearance is quite interesting - at least it allows you to stand out from the crowd. What more could you want from a tablet?

Only the price is a little embarrassing: for a version with 16 GB of memory and without a 3G module in Russia, they will ask for 18,990 rubles. The iPad 2 costs the same in the same configuration. Having added four thousand more (namely, that's how much you have to pay for a model with 32 GB of memory), you can take the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 - thin and light, but, unfortunately, quite thoughtful. Another option - ASUS Eee Pad Transfromer with a docking station - with a keyboard, a hefty battery and other amenities. A technocrat's dream, but weighs almost like a real laptop. In a word, all existing alternatives still have certain drawbacks, so the Tablet S has a very real chance to move the competition a little. At least the strength of the brand.

Externally, Sony Tablet S gives the impression of an expensive and reliable device. The only complaint, besides the controversial thickness, is the glossy black lid, which picks up fingerprints very well and is sure to get scratched when using the tablet without a case. However, during testing, no scratches appeared on it.

Screen

The tablet is equipped with a 9.4-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:9. The screen is protected by tempered glass, so it is not easy to scratch it. The diagonal of the Sony Tablet S display is quite a bit inferior to the top models of competitors, but subjectively the difference is almost imperceptible.

The image displayed by the Tablet S has high viewing angles, which is primarily characteristic of IPS technology. In principle, we have a standard high-quality display that does not differ from other products of the same price category. The picture is quite bright, the colors are saturated - there is nothing to complain about.

As for the cameras, in this regard, the tablet from Sony also has nothing to brag about. It seems that installing a 5-megapixel main and 0.3-megapixel front camera in such devices has become an unspoken rule. As is the case with other tablets, the Tablet S lacks the stars in the sky, although it takes decent pictures in good light. In any case, taking pictures with a tablet is somehow strange, it looks especially funny from the outside.

Hardware platform, autonomy

Like all current Android flagships, Tablet S is based on NVIDIA Tegra 2 with a dual-core GHz chip. The rest of the specifications include 1 GB of RAM, a 16 or 32 GB drive, depending on the modification, a Bluetooth module.

It is curious that the tablet received an infrared port through which you can control home appliances. Let's pay tribute to Sony - the equipment is supported not only by this company, but also by other manufacturers. If necessary, you can independently program the Tablet S to control any TV and not just a TV. You can “make friends” with a tablet with almost any household appliance that provides control from the remote control. It is naive to think that this is any significant innovation. It was also possible to control household appliances from a Windows Mobile-based PDA, but this possibility is not popular. Why? Probably because the remote is still more familiar, even if at home there are a dozen remotes for various devices.

I want to note the high speed of the tablet when working with any applications. It is comfortable to watch movies on the Tablet S, games run without problems, including those ported from the first generation PlayStation.

The Sony Tablet S is equipped with a 5000 mAh battery. This is an average for Android models. One charge is enough for less than five hours of video viewing. In a more gentle mode, close to everyday use, the tablet will last a working day, that is, about 8 hours.

Software

The tablet runs Android 3.2, which is much more stable and productive than the first editions of Honeycomb. Unlike smartphone versions of Android, this platform is perfectly optimized for large screens.

The operating system interface is already familiar to Ferra's readers. Before us is the main desktop and four additional ones, on which you can place various widgets and application icons. You can change the content of the screens by clicking on the "+" in the upper right corner of the screen. Nearby there is a button to go to all installed programs.

The Google search engine is located at the top left of the screen. Sony has redesigned this element by adding four shortcut keys next to the search for the browser, email client, remote control menu and e-book reader. In the lower left corner there are virtual buttons "Back", "Home" and a button to call the last running programs. To the right, next to the clock, there is a notification panel and a menu with quick settings.

Sony has done a lot of work on the design of the user interface. The changes cannot be called global, but still they have changed the standard design quite a lot. The company has added new themes, redrawn shortcuts, and introduced an updated screen of installed applications. The music player and video player have become much more effective, the built-in browser and on-screen keyboard have been optimized.

Both in the design and in the set of applications from Sony, one can feel the desire of the company to demonstrate the gaming orientation of the device. The tablet is certified to run games from the first generation PlayStation and PSP. It comes with an emulator for these consoles. By the way, a very handy thing. Of course, it cannot be compared with analog gamepads, but today it is the best that can be implemented on a touch screen. However, it is too early to talk about a single ecosystem that would unite Sony tablets, set-top boxes and smartphones. Thematic design and several applications are not enough for this. It remains to be hoped that the Japanese will not stop there and continue to integrate multimedia services into different devices.

Competitors

Apple iPad 2. Perhaps all manufacturers will have to get used to the idea that their most modern tablets will be compared primarily with the brainchild of Apple. In such an important parameter as price, the Tablet S and iPad 2 are similar, and it is also not easy to identify a technology leader. Both devices are comfortable in work - subjectively, the tablet from Sony is not inferior in performance to the American device. On the iPad 2 side, there are more versions available for sale - here you have just Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi with 3G, and memory from 16 to 64 GB. Tablet S is only available in two versions - with a drive capacity of 16 and 32 GB. This is a significant drawback that limits the scope of the apparatus. Still, 3G support guarantees much greater mobility than Wi-Fi.

Sony's first tablet, the Tablet S, came out in September. More precisely, at the end of September, a version of the Tablet S without 3G appeared on the shelves. The 3G version came out later - in December 2011. And today it remains quite an attractive option for those buyers who are not chasing the most relevant technical innovations, but prefer an interesting design and a sonorous brand.

Design finds do not end there. It is also worth noting the unusual "pimple" coating of the rear "wrapped" surface.

Apparently, the designers here did not so much achieve unusual tactile sensations as they tried to avoid slipping the tablet in case of fogging of the palm of the speaker, who holds the tablet with one hand during the presentation.

Let's look at the location of the buttons and connectors. All connectors are located on the left side (although it is not entirely correct to call it a side: this is a rather large non-monolithic area).

In addition to the 3.5 mm headphone jack, these are slots for an SD card and a SIM card (the latter is only available in the 3G version, of course), as well as Micro-USB for connecting to a computer. Please note that the Tablet S uses SD, not microSD (it would seem that it has already become the de facto standard in tablets).

The buttons are located on the right side of the Tablet S. There are no surprises here: Power, volume up and down. Well, the reset hole for emergencies.

To recharge the device, a very unusual (and, I confess, inconvenient to use) Dock connector is used. It is on the bottom (narrow) edge of the device.

There are no buttons or connectors on the top. There is only a rounded surface made of the same material and the same texture as the back side (black pimply plastic).

In general, the design can be called ... unusual. It is very difficult to evaluate - both from a visual and functional point of view. Probably, the lack of Mini- or Micro-HDMI can be considered a disadvantage (there would be a place for it here), as well as an inconvenient Dock connector (it takes a very long time to get used to how to connect the charger to it). SD instead of microSD - everyone decides for himself, plus or minus. As for the appearance - here, too, it is impossible to make an unambiguous assessment. Therefore, we recommend that before buying, be sure to twist it in your hands and understand whether you personally like it or not. But as an absolute plus, we note that it stands out from the gray mass of iPad analogues. The Sony Tablet S has its own face and style, and whether they are cute or not is a matter of personal taste.

Screen

A curious feature of the screen is its size: the diagonal is 9.4 inches. Atypical solution: the standard is 10.1 inches (ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, Acer Iconia Tab A500, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, etc.) or 9.7 inches (Apple iPad, HP TouchPad). At the same time, the resolution of Sony Tablet S corresponds to 10-inch tablets. Consequently, the dpi density of the Tablet S is slightly higher.

A detailed examination of the screen using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the "Monitors" and "Projectors and TV" sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his conclusion.

The front surface of the tablet is covered with a transparent plastic plate (resistant to scratches) with a mirror-smooth surface. There is no anti-glare filter, judging by the reflection of bright light sources. There is no special oleophobic coating on the outer surface of the screen, so fingerprints appear easily and are difficult to remove, but still the first is a little more difficult and the second is a little easier than in the case of glass surfaces without an oleophobic coating.

With manual brightness control, its maximum value was 328 cd / m², the minimum - 8.2 cd / m². As a result, at maximum brightness in bright daylight, you can see something on the screen, and the minimum brightness will allow you to comfortably use the tablet even in complete darkness. Automatic brightness control works in the same strange way as in the case of the Sony Tablet P tablet - in the "Auto" mode in bright light, the brightness rises to the maximum value, and in complete darkness it remains at the minimum level (which is too low). But the brightness can only increase - with a decrease in the level of ambient light, we did not wait for a corresponding decrease in the brightness of the screen. However, if you put the tablet into sleep mode and turn it on again, the brightness will be set according to the ambient light level. The light sensor is located to the right of the front camera. Brightness adjustment is carried out using pulse-width modulation with a high frequency - 209 Hz, so the flickering of the backlight at low brightness is not visible.

This tablet uses an IPS type matrix, so the screen has very good viewing angles without inverting shades and without significant color shift even at large deviations of the gaze from the perpendicular to the screen. True, which is typical for any IPS-matrix, the black field when deviated diagonally is significantly brightened (but remains close to neutral gray). When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field, with the exception of a couple of local areas at the edge of the screen, is good. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 30 ms (16 ms on + 14 ms off). The transition between halftones 25% and 75% (according to the numerical value of the color) takes a total of 46 ms. For the gamma curve constructed from 32 points, the exponent of the approximating power function turned out to be 2.08, which is slightly lower than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve is in good agreement with the power dependence.

The contrast ratio is quite high - 820:1. The color gamut is noticeably narrower than sRGB:

The spectra are typical for LED backlighting:

Apparently, the matrix filters slightly mix the components to each other. This technique allows you to increase the brightness of the screen with the same energy consumption for backlighting. The color temperature balance is good - shades of gray have a color temperature of about 6000 K - but the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (delta E) is large (about 12) due to the excess green component. It also contributes to an increase in brightness at the expense of some deterioration in color reproduction.

However, color temperature and delta E remain virtually unchanged over the entire gray scale area of ​​interest, so visually the color balance is very good. In general, the screen is not bad, but nothing special stands out. Screens similar in characteristics can be found in other tablets.

The tablet supports multiple touches (multitouch), 10 touches are recognized simultaneously.

The exact dimensions of the usable screen area (according to our measurements): diagonal 23.9 cm (9.4 inches), wide side - 20.2 cm, narrow side - 12.6 cm.

Platform

The tablet is running NVIDIA Tegra 2 - a standard solution for 2011, but today it is no longer so relevant. The amount of RAM is 1 GB. It is clear that the performance of the Sony Tablet S does not promise us big surprises (neither good nor bad), but nevertheless we carried out a basic set of tests.

In the Quadrant Standard, the tablet still showed an insufficiently high result: 1785 points.

The Sony Tablet S's SunSpider 0.9.1 browser benchmark passed in 2227.1ms, which is quite normal.

Note: the table shows the best results that the tablets showed

The Sony Tablet S performed well in the Vellamo benchmark, also focused on web content. With a score of 1021, the tablet outperformed the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the first ASUS Eee Pad Transformer.

In the Nenamark2 test, which measures the performance of the graphics subsystem, the tablet showed a result at the level of other tablets with Tegra 2 - 22.1 fps.

Now let's see how things are with video playback. For some unknown reason, Dice Player - NVIDIA's recommended player that uses hardware acceleration - worked completely incorrectly during testing on a Sony Tablet S (although the paid version was used). An attempt to launch any video file in most cases resulted in the application crashing. Therefore, we had to use MX Video Player, which is far from being able to use hardware acceleration very often. The results were identical to what we observed on another tablet with Tegra 2 - ASUS Eee Pad Slider (comparison Slider with ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime in the field of video playback can be read). So we state that the miracle did not happen. The Sony tablet in this regard is no better and no worse than competitors on the same platform.

Operating system and applications

We have already said that Sony has developed its own shell for Android Honeycomb. This manifested itself in the icons of the main applications that have changed their appearance, the appearance of additional mini-icons (in the upper left part of the screen, near the Google search bar) and nice effects.

Icons redrawn by Sony now look more uniform: they are all dark purple, strictly square. But for some reason, not all applications received updated icons (even from pre-installed ones). Therefore, there is still no general uniformity.

Of the applications, it is worth noting the interface design Music player. Here we see randomly scattered albums, each of which can be pushed aside, turned over at any angle and, of course, you can start listening. Apart from Music player there is also a standard android application Music.

Application social leader is a social media content aggregator. Alas, only Facebook and Twitter are supported. Wi-Fi wire- utility for checking Wi-Fi connection and getting information about it.

Very interesting tool - Remote control. Let's talk about it in more detail. The app turns your tablet into a universal remote control. This is possible due to the fact that the Sony Tablet S has an infrared port.

The setup is elementary: select the type of device (TV, BD and DVD players, network media players, receivers, speakers, etc.), then select the manufacturer of the device.

In our case, we wanted to set up an LG TV and an Apple TV 2 network media player. Both were found among the proposed options. True, the application does not offer a choice of specific models (even when this model is obvious - as is the case with Apple TV 2).

And this is where the main difficulty awaits us. When the device type and manufacturer are selected, you are prompted to select the type of remote control. There are nine types in total, and you need to simply search through them to find the one on which the buttons displayed on the tablet will work.

In our case, the TV "responded" when choosing the fifth type. After this is done, all that remains is to configure the gesture control (for example, by default, swiping up increases the volume, and swiping down decreases the volume). Everything, now the TV control is configured. Similarly, with Apple TV, only there we did not have to select the types of remote control - apparently, there were no options there. And indeed, everything worked fine. That's just in the case of Apple TV, one cannot but find fault with the lack of an alphabetic keyboard. Users of this device (and others like it) know how tedious it is to use the joystick to enter a YouTube search query (by typing one letter at a time). It would be very convenient if using a tablet it became possible to do this simply by typing on a virtual QWERTY keyboard.

Also from the applications we note DLNA(the ability to stream content from the tablet to DLNA-compatible devices) and reader- similar to iBooks. True, it seemed to me not very convenient and functional - free readers from the Google Play Store (as the Android Market is now called) and the aforementioned iBooks on iOS are more convenient.

From pleasant trifles - application Watch. This is if you want to use the tablet as a photo frame.

More - File Transfer: A file manager that allows you to conveniently transfer data from an SD card to the device's internal memory and vice versa.

In terms of games, here we are offered Pinball Heroes and the old Crash Bandicoot, developed for the first PlayStation and now available on the Sony Tablet S. The idea itself is curious (a nostalgic dream!), but in fairness, we note that playing PSone games on a touch screen - very unusual, and not the pleasure, of course.

In general, Sony did a very good job on the software. Yes, there are no serious software packages like Polaris Office here (by the way, it's a pity). But those applications that the developers of the tablet nevertheless equipped are really useful and enjoyable, they expand the functionality of the device in an unexpected way (for example, in the case of remote control). As the main disadvantage, we note the difficulty of obtaining root access (although, of course, various instructions can be found on the Web) and problems with adb drivers (in order to connect the tablet to a PC). Accordingly, it will not be easy to be able to take screenshots, for example. But, again, this problem is solvable. The proof of this is the screenshots in this article.

Connection

As already mentioned, starting from December 2011, Sony Tablet S is available in a version with a 3G module. 3G works correctly, we have no complaints. It is difficult to adequately test the 3G speed, because, firstly, the operator and the tariff can act as a limiter, and secondly, the reception will not be equally confident everywhere (in other words, on the ground floor and on the 15th floor of the same building, the speed may be different). But still, “to calm our conscience”, we launched the Speedtest.net utility (as an application from the Google Play Store).

In the screenshot above, you should pay attention only to the speed of receiving files, because when transferring files, the operator artificially lowered the speed due to excess traffic.

Another scenario for using the 3G module is sending SMS/MMS messages. Everything is standard here: there is an application in Android Honeycomb SMS/MMS, this tablet is no exception. Moreover, the design of the Sony application did not change.

Camera

The situation with the cameras of the Sony Tablet S is the same as that of the Sony Tablet P. There are two cameras: the front one (0.3 MP) provides the possibility of video communication, including via Skype. Rear (5 MP) - for taking photos and videos.

The image quality is acceptable, although the colors lack saturation and the image as a whole lacks detail. As pluses, we note a small amount of noise and artifacts (see a fragment of the above frame below).

The tablet photographs text well, you can shoot documents before leaving and then calmly study them on the road.

Video recording is done in 720p resolution. The quality is not bad, the main complaint is the same as for the Tablet P: the bitrate could be higher. A 31-second clip filmed with the rear camera of the Sony Tablet S is available for download (MP4 format, size 24.9 MB).

Offline work

We weren't happy with the battery life. True, it cannot be said that it completely disappointed us, but ... If we play an SD-resolution movie (685 Kbps, 608 × 256, Xvid Advanced [email protected], Dice Player was used, and hardware acceleration was activated), set the brightness to maximum, and make the volume so that it is comfortable to watch with headphones, the battery will run out in about four and a half hours. It won't be enough. Of course, you can say that the brightness should not be turned up to the maximum, but alas, with automatic brightness, the image seems darkish. Therefore, the maximum brightness in this case is not a whim. You can play Angry Birds Seasons on a tablet for about five and a half hours. It's also an average result.

conclusions

The Sony Tablet S is an interesting tablet. Perhaps this is a reasonable compromise between originality and generally accepted standards. It seems that everything is “like with people”, but not boring, but with a twist. A screen with a standard resolution for 10-inch tablets, but not 10 inches, but 9.4. The body is like standard dimensions and weight, but with an unusual asymmetry (a thickening on top that shifts the center of gravity). Similarly with OS and applications. We especially note the presence of an infrared port and the ability to transfer media data to DLNA-compatible devices.

Yes, at the moment Sony Tablet S (even with a 3G module) does not look so attractive against the backdrop of high-profile announcements from Apple, ASUS, Samsung and other competitors. But if you're not into chasing the latest technical innovations and at the same time are not indifferent to the Sony brand, then the Tablet S is an obvious and not bad choice at all. Sony Tablet P is still too extravagant thing, but Tablet S is quite a mainstream. However, not banal, like most "iPad-like" products, but with its own face. And, by the way, quite reasonable price.