Sony Tablet S review: fully functional multimedia tablet

The Sony Tablet S, previously known as Sony S1, was just announced officially at IFA Berlin, and some early reviews (here and here) have caught my attention. That’s why I’m writing this review of the Sony Tablet S, a 9.4 inch screen tablet that hopes to differentiate itself from the others Android Honeycomb tablets via a few multimedia features and gaming capabilities, unique to Sony’s own services.

Specifications

Even if most of the things we need to know have been leaked in the past few months due to teasers, Sony events and so on, there were bits of info not known, so here’s the complete list of specs of Sony Tablet S:

• Processor: NVIDIA Tegra2 @1GHz
• OS: Android 3.1 Honeycomb
• Display:  9.4 inch, 1280 x 800 multi-touch capacitive IPS display with TruBlack technology
• Connectivity & ports: 3.5mm audio jack, MicroUSB, Wi-Fi N, Bluetooth 2.1
• IR remote control function
• Installed Storage : 16GB/32 GB expandable via a Full-size SD Card slot (for media exchange only)
• RAM: 1GB
• Battery: Li-Ion 5000mAh
• Dimensions: 9.5” L x 6.8” W x 0.3”D (24.13 cm L x 17.27 cm W x 0.76 cm D)
• Weight: 1.33 lbs (600 grams)

Design, Construction and ports Layout

Now that we’ve seen what makes this tablet tick, let’s take a look at the obvious aspects: design and construction. Here Sony planned, and successfully executed, a great design that resembles an open magazine, with an offset center of gravity that’s supposed to make the tablet easier to hold in hand, just like a book. I can’t say if it works right now, but on paper I tend to believe in what Sony said. Like with most Sony products, the Tablet S featured a two-colour design, with silver accents and black as a dominant color on the back and front of the tablet.

Sony Tablet S from profile

Too bad the case is made from plastic. An aluminium finish would definitely have made a better impression, and would justify the premium status of Sony’s product.

The ports are located as follows: full size SD, micro USB and headphones jack on the left side, volume, power and reset buttons on the right and Sony’s proprietary charger port on the bottom. Using proprietary technologies is Sony’s thing, so there’s not much we can do about that, but the company says it was necessary in order to provide better charging performance compared to micro USB and also make it easier to protect the tablet in case you trip over the cables for example. Let’s believe them this once.

Clean back for Sony Tablet S

I’m sorry to report there’s no HDMI output on this thing, but there’s DLNA streaming (read below) to compensate for this.

Software and services

Here’s one point where Sony tries to make its Tablet S look different from the competition. And they quite managed that, as a few software enhancements from the default Android Honeycomb 3.1 build and additional Sony apps are making quite a good addition to this multimedia and gaming tablet. Here are the things you should be interested in:

• QuickTouch – Sony’s own technology that better predicts finger position and movement on the screen. For me it sounds a lot like marketing talk for “we have a really good touch panel” on the Sony Tablet S
• Quick View – this is a browser enhancement meant to load pages faster. No exact details were given, but I suspect it’s some kind of smart caching and pre-loading algorithm
• Sony Services – Gets you access to Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited, Sony Bookstore and Reader Store. Each Tablet S comes with a 6 month basic subscription to Music Unlimited and one free download from Video Unlimited
• Favorites home screen – an app & content launcher on top of Android
• Gaming – Sony Tablet S is Playstation Network certified, which means you get access to PSOne and PSP games ported for Android (not all titles will be ported). Right now Sony is working on adding new titles, but a demo of Crash Bandicoot and Pinball Heroes made a good first impression
• IR remote control – Since the Tablet S comes with an IR sensor there’s a remote control app where you can add your own devices (not just Sony’s products) and control them via the tablet. It’s easy to use and works as advertised, but I’m not sure how many devices are supported and what you can do when yours is not in the list
• DLNA streaming – this is an interesting wireless alternative to having an HDMI port: you search for DLNA enabled devices (can be your big screen TV, a set of speakers or even your computer) and stream music, videos and pictures to those devices. Watch the video at the end of this post for a detailed overview of the DLNA functionality
• Select App – this is Sony’s own marketplace for specially designed apps for Tablet S. It’s actually a website that works side by side with the Android Marketplace.

Sony Tablet S remote app

Performance

Given the fact Sony Tablet S uses the same hardware as most current Honeycomb tablets it’s no wonder the tablet feels as fast as them. Sony says they’ve tweaked the software a little bit, but what reviewers are saying is that performance is smooth all the time, with no visible speed gains over other tablets. At least it doesn’t exhibit hiccups like some Android tablets.

Accessories

There are quite a few accessories you can purchase from Sony directly including screen protectors, the two angle docking (with charge function), USB to microUSB adapter, wireless keyboard (compatible with Bluetooth enabled Android tablets), leather portfolio slipcase by Targus, SD cards (8, 16 and 32 GB capacities) and a few headphones/earbuds. Prices for these accessories range from $15 to $249.

Sony's own accessories for Tablet S

Availability and pricing

This is one question we’ve been waiting for an answer and Sony didn’t disappoint (too much): the two versions, 16 GB and 32 GB, both WiFi only will retail in US for $499 and $599 respectively, matching the Apple iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy TAB 10.1 in terms of starting price. There will also be an AT&T version with 4G LTE, but details about availability and pricing were not discussed yet.

The 16 GB Sony Tablet S is already available for pre-order on Amazon. Personally I would get the Sony Tablet S instead of the Samsung Galaxy TAB 10.1, but I don’t know if I would ditch my iPad 2 for it. I would have loved to see a $399 starting price, even if that meant only 8GB of internal storage, as you can always expand that with SD cards.

Get more details or buy the Sony Tablet S from here

As a mention, Sony says the full size SD card slot is for media exchange only, so there are probably some limitation there, but at least you can use it for multimedia files, which take up the most space on a tablet (or computer for that matter). Hope an update to Honeycomb 3.2 will solve this minor inconvenient.

Anyway, pricing is not that bad, but I don’t expect Sony to make a big dent in Apple’s tablet market share as things present themselves right now. Don’t you think?

Sony Tablet S is slightly smaller than other 10 inch Honeycomb tablets

Video overview

Here’s a review of Sony Tablet S  by CNET: