Difference between Microsoft Surface Pro and Sony Xperia Z Tab

Key difference: At the time of its release, the Microsoft Surface was touted as the perfect cross between a tablet and a laptop. It was initially released February 2013. The Microsoft Surface Pro features a 10.6-inch ClearType HD screen with approximately 208 ppi pixel density. The screen is full HD, a feature not readily avilable in most tablets. The device runs Microsoft Windows 8, which the same OS that is being run in various laptops and desktops. The device has Full Windows capability. It can practically run all Windows programs, including games. Sony has recently announced its revamped smartphone and tablets line. Along with the new flagship phone Sony Xperia Z, the company has also added a new tablet, the Sony Xperia Z Tab. The tablet supports a 10.1 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen and is created using the Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 technology.

Today is the world of smartphones and tablets. So, much so that tablets and smartphones are attempting to replace the traditional and bulky desktops and laptops. The Microsoft Surface is a series of tablets that aim to do just that. The advantage that the Surface has over a number of other tablets is that it will run the Microsoft Windows operating system, whereas most other tablets run Android. The iPad runs the iOS which is more similar to the iPhone OS rather than a Mac OS. Hence, at the time of its release, the Microsoft Surface was touted as the perfect cross between a tablet and a laptop. It was initially released February 2013.

The Microsoft Surface Pro features a 10.6-inch ClearType HD screen with approximately 208 ppi pixel density. The screen is full HD, a feature not readily avilable in most tablets. The screen affords the true 16:9 aspect ratio which matches most movies and shows, eliminating the black bars that pop up. The Microsoft Surface Pro also has a 10 point multi-touch.

Microsoft Surface Pro is powered by a Dual-core 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, which is backed by 4 GB of RAM. It also features two cameras, a front-facing and a rear-facing. Both are 720p HD LifeCams with True Color.

The device runs Microsoft Windows 8 Professional, which the same OS that is being run in various laptops and desktops. The device has Full Windows capability. It can practically run all Windows programs, including games.

The device comes in three memory size variants: 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB. However, the actual memory storage available for the user is 23GB for the 64 GB variant and 85GB for  128 GB variant. The actual user memory available for the 256 GB is not currently specified. The size disparency is because of the system backup storage recovery partition, which can be manually deleted by experiences users.

The input devices for the Microsoft Surface Pro includes an on screen keyboard, a physical keyboard that doubles as a cover, as well as a pen stylus. The physical keyboard can be purchased separately or as part of a combo with the device itself. It attaches magnetically and electrically to the base of the tablet.

Physically, the device is quite similar to the Microsoft Surface RT, same look, and same color. However, it is thicker than the RT and has a full USB 3.0 port, in addition to a Micro-HDMI port, microSDXC card slot, Headset jack, Mini DisplayPort and Cover port. Similar to RT, it also has a built in kickstand, which has been critized by some as beinf too difficult to manage. Additionally, Microsoft has also acknowledged issues with the stylus pen. The stylus pen has been reported by some users as randomly not working correctly, especially with older applications that do not have complete pen support. There have also been some reported issues with Wi-Fi and while waking up from standby mode.

Sony has recently announced its revamped smartphone and tablets line. Along with the new flagship phone Sony Xperia Z, the company has also added a new tablet, the Sony Xperia Z Tab. It shares many features to its little brother, but is also different in many ways. The Xperia Z tab has already seen the light of day in Japan in January, while it was recently unwrapped for global availability. The company’s claims the tablet to the lightest and the slimmest LTE tablet available in the market. The tablet supports a 10.1 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen and is created using the Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 technology. Similar to its little brother, the phone is water-resistant and dust proof. The phone can be submerged about 1 meter for 30 minutes without any damage (However, all the ports and slots should be firmly closed). The phone can also withstand water jets and the screen is coated with shatter-proof film coating. The borders of the tablet have been designed in a way to not obstruct side viewing.

The tablet houses the 1.5 GHz Krait Quad-core processor and the Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 chipset. The tablet runs on 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and can be upgraded to 4.2 Jelly Bean. It is available with 16/32 GB internal memory, which can further be upgraded up to 64 GB. The company has maintained the camera technology on the tablet. The tablet houses 8.1 MP Exmor R primary camera and a 2.1 MP secondary camera for video chatting. The phone offers features such as Superior Auto, geo-tagging, Exmor R for mobile image sensor, HDR for both picture/film, continue burst mode, scene recognition, sweep panorama, smile detection, face detection and touch focus.  Superior Auto automatically adjusts the shooting profile depending on the shot that is being taken. Additional features include face unlock, screenshot capturing, wake-up mode, screen mirroring, throw feature, TV side view and remote control application. The throw feature allows users to automatically connect and play mobile content on any devices that can be connected to the phone via screen mirroring, DLNA or Bluetooth. Face Unlock allows users to place their face in front of their phones to unlock the photo. The company has not yet announced pricing of the tablet.

The information for the detailed table about the two devices has been taken from the Microsoft website, Sony Mobile website, GSMArena.com and Wikipedia.

 

Microsoft Surface Pro

Sony Xperia Z Tab

Launch Date

February 2013

Q1 of 2013

Company

Microsoft

Sony Corporation

Size

275 x 173 x 13 mm

172 x 266 x 6.9 mm

Display

10.6 inches ClearType HD screen

10.1 inches TFT capacitive touchscreen with on-screen QWERTY keyboard

Screen

1920 x 1080 pixels (~208 ppi pixel density) 16M colors

1920 x 1200 pixels (~224 ppi pixel density), Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2

Protection

VaporMg casing

Water-resistant & Dust-proof, anti-shatter film coating

Weight

910 grams

495 g

2G Network

N/A

GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

3G Network

N/A

HSDPA 850 / 900 / 2100

4G Network

N/A

LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600

GUI

Windows 8 Pro

Sony UI

CPU speed

Dual-core 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5-3317U

1.5 GHz Krait Quad-core

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 4000

Adreno 320

OS

Windows 8 Pro

Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), planned upgrade to v4.2 (Jelly Bean)

Chipset

Intel Core i5

Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064

RAM

4GB RAM—Dual Channel Memory

2 GB

SIM Size

N/A

microSIM

Internal Memory

64/128/256 GB

16/32 GB

Expandable Memory

microSDXC card slot

Up to 64 GB

Sensors

Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass

Accelerometer, Gyro, Compass

Connectivity

Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi direct, Bluetooth, USB

HDMI via MHL support, Wi-Fi and WiFi Hotspot functionality, DLNA Certified, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, USB

Data

WLAN, Bluetooth, USB

GPRS, EDGE, WLAN, Bluetooth, NFC, USB

Speed

-

HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.8 Mbps; LTE, Cat3, 50 Mbps UL, 100 Mbps DL

WLAN

Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)

Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy technology

Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP

USB

Full-size USB 3.0

microUSB v2.0 (MHL)

Primary Camera

720p HD LifeCams with True Color

8.1 MP Exmor R autofocus camera

Secondary Camera

720p HD LifeCams with True Color

2.2 MP Exmor R camera 1080p@30fps

Video

720p @ 30fps

1080p@30fps, HDR

Camera Features

Geo-tagging

16x Digital zoom, Superior Auto, Geo-tagging, Exmor R for mobile image sensor,

HDR for both picture/film, Continue Burst Mode, Scene recognition, Sweep Panorama, Smile detection, Face detection, Touch focus

Sound Enhancement

Microphone, Stereo speakers

3D surround sound enhancement

Audio supported formats

MP3/ WAV/ eAAC+ player

MP3/WAV/eAAC+/FLAC player

Video supported formats

MP4/ DivX/ Xvid/ H.264/ H.263 player

Xvid/DivX/MKV/WMV/ MP4/H.264/ H.263 player

Battery Capacity

42 W-h

Non-removable Li-Po 6000 mAh battery

Available Colors

Dark Titanium

Black, White

Messaging

Email, Push Email, IM

Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS

Browser

HTML5

HTML5

Radio

No

Stereo FM radio with RDS

GPS

Yes

Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS

Java

-

Yes, via Java MIDP emulator

Additional Features

  • Full-size USB 3.0
  • microSDXC card slot
  • Headset jack
  • Mini DisplayPort
  • Cover port
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Compass
  • Windows Mail and Messaging
  • SkyDrive
  • Internet Explorer 10
  • Bing
  • Xbox Music Video, and Games.
  • Face unlock
  • Screenshot capturing
  • Wake-up mode OmniBalance design
  • Screen mirroring
  • Throw feature
  • TV side view
  • Remote control application
  • Pre-loaded applications
  • SNS integration
  • TV-out (via MHL A/V link)
  • Organizer
  • Document viewer
  • Photo viewer/editor
  • Voice memo
  • Predictive text input

 

Image Courtesy: microsoft.com, sonymobile.com

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