Design and Build: Sleek, Waterproof, and Unapologetically Sony
The Sony Xperia Z5 Tablet immediately asserts its identity with a design language that is quintessentially Sony—minimalist, functional, and premium. Measuring a svelte 6.1mm in thickness and weighing approximately 389g for the Wi-Fi model, it was one of the thinnest and lightest tablets in its class at launch, a remarkable engineering feat that delivered exceptional portability without sacrificing screen size. The chassis is constructed from a combination of brushed aluminum and a polycarbonate frame, offering a rigid feel that resists flex. The signature OmniBalance design philosophy is evident, with symmetrical accents and rounded corners ensuring a comfortable grip in both portrait and landscape orientations.
A defining characteristic of the Xperia Z5 Tablet is its IP65/IP68 certification for dust and water resistance. This meant it was fully protected against dust ingress and could be submerged in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water for 30 minutes. This made it a versatile companion for use by the pool, in the kitchen, or in the bath without anxiety. The tablet retained the capless USB port introduced with its predecessor, a welcome change that eliminated the fuss of rubber flaps for daily charging. All physical buttons—including the distinctive, textured circular power button—were positioned for easy access, with the volume rocker and a dedicated camera shutter button reinforcing its media-capture capabilities.
Display: A 2K Visual Powerhouse
Sony equipped the Xperia Z5 Tablet with a breathtaking 10.1-inch TRILUMINOS Display, leveraging the company’s legacy in television technology. With a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, it delivered a pixel density of approximately 299 pixels per inch (PPI), ensuring text was razor-sharp and images were rendered with immense clarity. The display utilized an IPS panel, providing wide viewing angles with minimal color shift, making it ideal for sharing content.
The integration of Live Color LED technology, powered by Sony’s BRAVIA TV engine, was a key differentiator. This technology expanded the color gamut, producing more vibrant, natural, and lifelike colors compared to standard sRGB displays. Furthermore, the Xperia Z5 Tablet featured Sony’s X-Reality for mobile picture engine. This intelligent software upscaled conventional content in real-time, reducing noise and enhancing detail to make standard-definition videos appear closer to high-definition. Whether for watching 2K movies, editing photos, or browsing the web, the display was a standout feature that competed fiercely with the best offerings from Apple and Samsung.
Performance and Hardware: The Snapdragon 810 Era
At the heart of the Xperia Z5 Tablet lay the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor (v2.1), paired with an Adreno 430 GPU and 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM. This was a top-tier chipset at the time, configured with a quad-core Cortex-A53 cluster for efficiency and a quad-core Cortex-A57 cluster for high-performance tasks. In daily use, this translated to seamless multitasking, fluid navigation through the user interface, and more than capable gaming performance. The Adreno 430 handled graphically intensive games like Asphalt 8: Airborne and Dead Trigger 2 with ease, rendering complex scenes smoothly at the native 2K resolution.
The tablet was offered in two internal storage configurations: 32GB. Crucially, this was expandable via a microSD card slot, supporting cards of up to 200GB, a significant advantage for users with extensive media libraries. The non-removable 4500mAh battery was rated to deliver up to 17 hours of video playback, a claim that largely held up in real-world usage, easily powering through a full day of heavy use. It supported Sony’s Battery STAMINA mode and Quick Charging (with a compatible charger), allowing users to gain hours of power from just a short charging session.
Software: A Near-Stock Android Experience
The Xperia Z5 Tablet launched with Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box, overlaid with Sony’s lightweight Xperia UI. Unlike many competitors, Sony’s software approach was subtle and respectful of Google’s vision. The changes were primarily aesthetic, incorporating Sony’s live wallpapers, custom icons, and system-wide color schemes. It included a handful of useful proprietary applications, such as the “Album,” “Movies,” and “Music” apps, which provided a unified and polished media experience that integrated well with Sony’s other devices and services.
Functional additions like Small Apps—floating, resizable mini-applications for the calculator, browser, and timer—enhanced multitasking. The software also featured native support for PlayStation DualShock controllers, a boon for mobile gamers. Sony committed to and delivered an upgrade path to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which introduced features like granular app permissions and Google’s Doze mode for improved battery life. The overall software experience was clean, fast, and devoid of the bloatware that plagued other Android tablets.
Camera and Audio: Capable Media Capture and Hi-Res Sound
While tablet cameras are often an afterthought, Sony invested meaningful effort into the Xperia Z5 Tablet’s imaging system. The rear camera featured an 8.1-megapixel Exmor RS sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. It could record 1080p Full HD video at 30 frames per second. The camera app was feature-rich, offering Superior Auto mode for point-and-shoot simplicity, Manual mode for adjusting white balance and exposure, and a suite of creative AR effects. The inclusion of a hardware shutter button made it feel more like a dedicated camera, aiding in stability while shooting.
The 5.1-megapixel front-facing Exmor R sensor was particularly noteworthy, capable of capturing 1080p video and featuring a wide-angle lens, making it excellent for group video calls and selfies. For audio, Sony leveraged its Hi-Res Audio expertise. The tablet could play back lossless audio formats like FLAC and DSD natively, providing a superior listening experience for audiophiles. It also featured Digital Noise Cancelling (DNC) technology when used with compatible Sony headphones, actively reducing ambient noise for an immersive audio experience. The stereo speakers, positioned on the front, delivered clear and reasonably powerful sound, enhanced by S-Force Front Surround sound technology.
Connectivity, Price, and Release Date
Connectivity options were comprehensive for its time. The standard Wi-Fi model (model number SGP771) featured dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, and GPS. Sony also released an LTE-enabled model (SGP771), which added support for 4G networks, allowing for true mobile productivity. A magnetic docking port for accessories was also present.
Sony officially unveiled the Xperia Z5 Tablet alongside the Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact smartphones at the IFA trade show in Berlin in September 2015. Its global release began in November 2015. At launch, the Sony Xperia Z5 Tablet commanded a premium price point, reflecting its high-end specifications and build quality. The Wi-Fi-only variant typically had a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) starting around $599, while the LTE model was priced higher, often exceeding $699. This positioned it directly against flagship tablets like the iPad Air 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, competing on the strengths of its unique waterproof design, superior display technology, and high-resolution audio capabilities. Its market reception was positive among Android purists and multimedia enthusiasts who valued its dedicated features and minimalist design, cementing its place as a distinctive and capable contender in the high-end tablet landscape.