Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet review: Elemental

Synthetic benchmarks

The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is powered by Qualcomm's MSM8974AB Snapdragon 801 chipset. It's mostly identical to the Snapdragon 800 except the GPU is clocked about 30% higher.

Most high-end Android tablets have Snapdragon 800, so the Z2 Tablet should have an edge in 3D graphics. Sony also put 3GB of RAM, while the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 has 2GB and the iPad Air has just 1GB.

Since the CPU clockspeed is untouched, the Xperia Z2 Tablet stays close to the S800 devices in the CPU tests, although the Linpack result is lower than expected.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  99
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  100
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  115
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  116
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800)
  126
• LG G Pad 8.3
  131
• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  136
• Transformer Pad TF701T
  137
• LG Optimus G Pro
  147
• Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
  211
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0
  324
• Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
  351
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus
  470
• Samsung Galaxy 3 7.0
  483
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 Plus
  488

Linpack

Higher is better

• LG G Flex
  1102
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  1081
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  1054
• LG G2
  1054
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1034
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  1010
• Sony Xperia Z1
  1004
• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  843
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  791
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  788
• HTC One
  646
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  413
• LG Nexus 5
  393
• HTC One mini
  320

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2937
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  2867
• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  2754
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  2743
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  2706
• Transformer Pad TF701T
  2665
• LG G Pad 8.3
  1950
• HTC One Max
  1899
• HTC Butterfly
  1257

The tablet also performs well in compound benchmarks like AnTuTu 4 and Quadrant. The extra RAM doesn't seem to be of much help in benchmark tests, but it will make a difference for real-world usage if you run many memory-intensive apps. Although Android reduced its memory footprint with KitKat, apps will only be getting more and more elaborate with time, so having 3GB RAM is good future-proofing.

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  34016
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800)
  33996
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  33198
• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  33178
• Transformer Pad TF701T
  32991
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  32796
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  31109
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
  24236
• Sony Xperia Tablet Z
  20216
• LG Optimus G Pro
  20056
• Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
  19131
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0
  17159
• Google Nexus 10
  12695
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0
  9070

Quadrant

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1
  20388
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  20052
• LG G2
  19815
• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  19175
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  18177
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800)
  17963
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  16769
• LG Nexus 5
  8844

The extra GPU performance clearly shows in the off-screen GFXBench tests, especially the new Manhattan test.

GFXBench 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  27.5
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  26
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26
• Apple iPad Air
  25
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800)
  25
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  22
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  22
• Transformer Pad TF701T
  21
• Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
  15
• LG G Pad 8.3
  15
• Google Nexus 10
  13.9
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
  7.0
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0
  4.0

GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  11.7
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  9.7
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  9
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  8.9
• LG Nexus 5
  8.5
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800)
  8.1
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  5.6
• Galaxy Note 10.1 (Exynos)
  5.6

The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet has a 1,920 x 1,200 screen, that's almost half the number of pixels on a 2,560 x 1,600 tablet. This pushes the tablet's on-screen advantage further and the Sony beats the Galaxy Tab Pro's (which have the higher resolution screens and lower-clocked GPU) by more than double in the Manhattan on-screen test.

GFXBench 2.7 T-Rex (on-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  27.4
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  27
• Apple iPad Air
  21
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800)
  17
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  17
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  14
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  14

GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan (on-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  11.3
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  9.9
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (Exynos)
  5.6
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  5.0
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800)
  4.7
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  2.9
• Galaxy Note 10.1 (Exynos)
  2.8

Those benchmarks show very low framerates because they are designed to be as heavy as possible rather than playable. Epic Citadel at Ultra quality shows how a game with all settings on high should perform.

Epic Citadel (Ultra quality)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1
  54.9
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  54.9
• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  51.1
• LG G2
  51
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  48.5
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  37.2
• HTC One
  35.6
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  33.2
• HTC Butterfly
  29.6
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  27.6

The Xperia Z2 Tablet has Chrome out of the box, the stock Android browser is not available. While desktop Chrome is a speed demon, the one on this tablet performs worse than Apple or Samsung's highly tuned browsers.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Apple iPad Air
  373
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  531
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  569
• Transformer Pad TF701T
  606
• Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (S800)
  607
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  651
• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  953
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1011
• Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
  1150
• LG G Pad 8.3
  1190
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
  1233
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0
  1366
• Google Nexus 7
  1703
• new Apple iPad
  1722
• Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
  1891
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
  1953
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus
  1992
• Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
  2253
• Huawei MediaPad
  2490

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

• Apple iPad Air
  3659
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  3138
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  3096
• Transformer Pad TF701T
  3005
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  2933
• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  2884
• LG G Pad 8.3
  2664
• Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
  2386
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
  2363
• HTC One
  2262
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0
  2228
• Sony Xperia Tablet Z
  2170
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1801
• Oppo Find 5
  1797
• Google Nexus 10
  1773
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0
  1612
• HTC Butterfly
  1475

Vellamo

Higher is better

• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  2743
• Transformer Pad TF701T
  3089
• LG G Pad 8.3
  2505
• Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
  2463
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  2418
• HTC One
  2382
• Sony Xperia Tablet Z
  2265
• Samsung Galaxy S4
  2060
• Google Nexus 10
  1929
• HTC Butterfly
  1866
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
  1777
• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
  1658
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  1641
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0
  1633
• Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
  1597
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0
  1440

Sony has prioritized 3D performance with the Xperia Z2 Tablet and the results are excellent. The tablet has serious potential to be used as a gaming device, especially since it has Dualshock 3 controller support out of the box (more on that later).

In terms of overall performance, the Xperia Z2 Tablet is close to current flagship tablets, trading blows with them on the different tests.