Sony Xperia Z4 tablet to include 2K screen & 17 hour battery

Sony has refreshed its flagship tablet, with key improvements being made to the display, battery life and design.

The device will start shipping in June, with pricing to be confirmed. Below we look at the five key features of the Android 5.0 Lollipop tablet.

1 - Big, bright and light

Sony has used a 10.1in panel (2,560 x 1,600), and claims it will be the brightest 2K display on the market. Independent tests from Strategy Analytics have concluded it has a brightness of 500cd/m2.

On the design side, Sony has reduced the size of the bezel, the thickness of the body has dropped down to 6.1mm and the weight starts at 392g for the Wi-Fi model.

2 - Capless USB

The Z4 tablet retains the same waterproof IP65/68 ratings as its predecessor. This means it can survive in fresh water for up to 30 minutes without any problems.

Sony tweaked the design of its micro-USB connection so it is no longer covered by a flap. It now uses a custom low-voltage port, which means the current passing through it when not in use is so low water cannot cause any damage or electrical issues.

The micro SD and micro SIM card ports are still protected by a flap, but these will not be used as regularly as the micro USB port.

3 - Longevity

The Z4 tablet will have a 6000mAh battery pack built-in. Previous Xperia tablets have broken the 10 hours battery life mark, but Sony is claiming the Z4 will provide up to 17 hours of video playback on a single charge.

4 - Octa-core processor

The Z4 tablet is powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 64-bit Snapdragon 810 processor with eight-cores.

The 20nm chip supports 4K display on the device and concurrent output to a HDTV, NFC and 4G (Category 6). It is supported by 3GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage, which can be increased by adding a micro SD card slot.

5 - Bluetooth keyboard accessory

Sony will make a Bluetooth keyboard accessory, which will turn the device into a pseudo laptop with trackpad. When connected, the interface on the Z4 is modified - bringing up shortcuts to apps - to give a PC-like experience.

Khidr Suleman is the Technical Editor at IT Pro, a role he has fulfilled since March 2012. He is responsible for the reviews section on the site  - so get in touch if you have a product you think might be of interest to the business world. He also covers the hardware and operating systems beats. Prior to joining IT Pro, Khidr worked as a reporter at Incisive Media. He studied law at the University of Reading and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism and Online Writing at PMA Training.