Sony Tablet S review

Can Sony's wedge-shaped Android tablet make a splash?

Sony Tablet S
Sleek, beautiful and powerful, could this be the new tablet king?

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sony tablet s

We loved the Sony Tablet S and its wedge-shaped design, which really makes this stand out from the crowd. The responsive touch screen and unique shape combine to make this tablet extremely usable, and a joy to type on.

We liked:

The tweaks that Sony has made to Android 3.1, to aid usability and performance have really paid off, and the Sony was enjoyable to use, and we kept on coming back.

What's more, the host of exclusive content, from the universal remote app to the host of PlayStation titles mean there's a genuine reason to choose this tablet over the slew of other Android devices on the market.

We disliked

The lack of storage on the 16GB version was unfortunate, and we hope that Sony can address the amount of storage on offer to people who only choose the 16GB version.

Media playback was disappointing, and like the iPad 2, anyone who wants to watch video on their Sony Tablet will need to spend hours recoding their files.

Despite the form being ideal for web browsing, the rendering problems on many web pages ruined the experience, somewhat, and using the browser was no-where near as slick as on the iPad.

The final bugbear was not with the Sony, but with Android 3.1 itself. While it has come a long way, we still feel that iOS offers a better experience and a much stronger line-up of apps, supported content and quality accessories.

Verdict

The Sony Tablet S has everything needed to be a fantastic tablet, and a front-runner in the Android race. The form factor makes it a superb buy for people who spend time on the move.

If you're choosing an Android tablet you won't be disappointed, but if it's a shoot out between the Sony Tablet S and the iPad 2, unless you're a hardened Sony fan, then your money is still better spent with Apple