Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet vs Google Nexus 10 Specs Comparison

Written by B Johnson January 27, 2015
Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet vs Google Nexus 10 Specs Comparison
Hi guys, welcome back!

Besides Apple, i think Sony is also the other tablet manufacturer that – in my opinion – doesn’t create such massive changes on its tablets.

I mean, if you look at all iPads and Sony Xperia tablets, you certainly know that these 2 tablets are the most consistent tablets that still still look similar with their predecessors, either in terms of design or software – in this case, UI.

(Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet vs Google Nexus 10 - Specs Comparison)

But impressively, even without making huge changes to these devices, iPads and Sony Xperia tablets are still way up ahead than most of rivals, especially in terms of design and build quality.

However, that’s actually the thing that Samsung has been trying to do in the past couple of months with its GALAXY products.

If you look at the recent Samsung GALAXY devices, most of them somehow look similar with the previous-gen models and many of them even take some design cues from other flagship models, like for example the latest-gen Samsung GALAXY Tab S that is hugely inspired by Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone – Samsung GALAXY S5, especially on the rear cover.

Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet vs Google Nexus 10 benchmarks and gaming performance

Well, that’s the reason why today I’m really interested to bring up Sony and Samsung’s tablets in my next comparison review.

However, the challenger for Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet in this review is not gonna be Samsung GALAXY Tab S tablet (probably in the near future), but the Samsung’s tablet that i want to put in the ring with Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is going to be Google Nexus 10, which is manufactured by Samsung, but ‘ordered’ by Google of course.

Well, if you’re also interested to know more about these 2 tablets and see how they fare against each other in this review, including my take on their gaming performance, then here you go, my comparison review between Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and Google Nexus 10.

Introduction

No one’s gonna argue that Google Nexus 10 is probably one of the tablets with the best display even on today’s tablet market.

Well, that’s not so shocking actually because, first of all, this tablet is manufactured by Samsung – which we all know has this Super AMOLED screen technology going on in its labs -, and this tablet used to be the world’s first tablet shipping with 2.5K display (2560x1600 pixels) on the market in 2012.

So in terms of sharpness and display quality, this tablet is just untouchable by iPads, even until now.

The other thing that I think is really prominent from this tablet is definitely its battery capacity.

I mean, can you believe that this 10.1-inch device is powered by a huge 9000mAh battery inside, making it the biggest battery capacity on the market even until now, alongside other counterparts like Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 and some other more.

However, despite having these monster specs, it doesn’t mean that Google Nexus 10 has no true challenger out there on the market. Actually, there are many other devices that in my opinion deserve to compete with this 10.1-inch tablet.

One of them is of course Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet, the second-gen Z tablet series from Sony (duh!).

If you haven’t known already, this tablet can be considered as the ‘perfect’ version of predecessor - Sony Xperia Z Tablet.

And it’s not on paper actually, but on the entire quality of this device. But I’ll probably talk more on that later.

As 2 powerful tablets, of course either Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet or Google Nexus 10 will be great for playing games.

And that can be seen clearly by their high-grade hardware specs, with Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet getting Snapdragon 801 processor, while Google Nexus 10 powered by Samsung Exynos dual-core 5250 processor.

With this type of hardware, both Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and Google Nexus 10 have no problem at all to handle even the latest graphics intense games on the market right now.

But the questions remain, with all of these high impressive specs and great gaming performance found on both tablets, between Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and Google Nexus 10,

Which one that has what it takes to be the best gaming tablet in this comparison review?

Which one that is a much better tablet in the entire aspect?

Is it worth to buy any of these devices, especially for playing heavy 3D games?

Well, hopefully we’re about to find out more about the answers of these questions at the end of this review.

So be sure to stick around!

Design

Samsung used to be not really good in terms of design of its GALAXY tablets. In fact, most people used to call Samsung tablets as ugly looking tablets, especially compared to old-gen iPads.

But that soon changed when this Korean-based manufacturer became a huge hit on both smartphone and tablet markets.

Many of Samsung devices, especially the flagship ones start getting some recognition in the tech world as premium looking devices, but of course not as premium as Apple iGadgets.

Sony Xperia Z2
Sony Xperia Z2
Google Nexus 10
Google Nexus 10
Google Nexus 10 is no exception.

Even though most of the design concept of this device is handled by Google, along with hardware package and software, the basic design of this tablet is actually not a huge departure from other Samsung tablets, especially the ones in 2012.

And we all know that most of Samsung older-gen devices mostly have this fully rounded rectangular looking design, making them look chubby and have distinctive looks compared to other generic tablets out there.

And that’s the same thing that happens to Google Nexus 10. This tablet looks and feels really bulky with its fully-rectangular design.

But impressively, despite having a bulky design, this tablet actually still looks really nice and it even has the premium feel all over it - as told by many reviewers on YouTube like MKBHD or Oode.

Meanwhile, Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is more prominent with its sharp looking corners and dark color scheme all over the place. This tablet is actually not that different compared to Sony Xperia Z Tablet – the predecessor.

It still has the sharp looking corners and the entire material of this tablet is dominated with dark black color, which blends perfectly with the dark screen and Xperia UI.

To be honest, I think Sony has done a great job with the design of this device. So I think it’s probably not necessary for this Sony to create such massive design changes to this tablet.

This is pretty similar just like what Apple has been doing with its iPads, keeping its design similar with the previous-gen models without doing any significant change whatsoever.

Between Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and Google Nexus 10, I think it’s pretty hard to determine which one has the best design in this comparison review.

I mean, Sony’s tablet may look really gorgeous and more premium than Nexus tablet, but according to Marques Brownlee, this Nexus 10 also looks and feels really great and comfortable to hold even in long hours.

So I think they both are equally great in terms of design.

However, Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is probably more superior than Nexus 10 because it has this IP58 certification that allows it to swim in the water for 30 minutes.

And I know this feature can be quite handy for some people who love using gadgets around the water (like in the bathtub maybe?).

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Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet LTEGoogle Nexus 10 (Samsung)

4G LTE
Micro-SIM
Weight 439 g (15.49 oz)
Released March 2014
10.1 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen, 1200 x 1920 pixels, (~224 ppi pixel density). 16M colors
Triluminos display
X-Reality Engine
3 GB RAM
Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 Qualcomm MSM8974AB Snapdragon 801 Chipset
Adreno 330 GPU
Android OS 4.4.2 KitKat
microSD card slot for up to 64 GB
16 GB of Internal storage
8.1 MP rear-facing camera with autofocus
2.2 MP front-facing camera
NFC
Java MIDP emulator
GPS
HTML5 Browser
IP58 certified: dust proof and water resistant over 1 meter and 30 minutes
Non-removable Li-Po 6000 mAh battery
    Released November 2012
    Super PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors 2560 x 1600 pixels,
    10.1 inches (~299 ppi pixel density)
    OS Android OS 4.2 Jelly Bean, upgradable to 4.4.2 KitKat
    a Dual-core Exynos 5250 1.7 GHz Cortex-A15
    2 GB RAM
    Mali-T604 GPU
    5 MP rear-facing camera with LED flash
    1.9 MP front-facing camera
    No microSD card slot
    16/32 GB Internal storage
    No Radio
    GPS
    No Java
    No GPRS
    No EDGE
    Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
    NFC
    USB
    Bluetooth
    Infrared Yes
    Non-removable Li-Po 9000 mAh battery

    Both Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and Google Nexus 10 are actually flagship quality devices. And that shows perfectly from their hardware specs.

    The Nexus tablet may be released around 2 or 3 years ago, while Sony’s device just got launched a few months ago in 2014, but impressively, this Google-branded tablet has some of the specs that amazingly are still on the same level with the ones found on Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet – like for example the display, the battery and some other more.

    Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet comes with a 10.1-inch display sporting the full HD 1920x1200 pixel resolution, a quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM, Adreno 330 GPU, 8.1MP and 2.2MP cameras back and front respectively, microSD card slot for up to 64GB to support the 16GB of internal storage, Android 4.4.2 KitKat, IP58 certification, 6000mAh battery and some other more.

    Meanwhile, Google Nexus 10 also looks great with its spec sheet. It has a 10.1-inch display packing the 2.5K resolution (2560x1600 pixel resolution), a dual-core Exynos 5250 processor, 2GB of RAM, Mali T604 GPU, 16/32GB of internal storage, no microSD card slot, 5MP and 1.9MP cameras back and front respectively, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (upgradeable to KitKat) and a huge 9000mAh battery.

    Screen

    Something that I think is amazing from Google Nexus 10 is definitely its display.

    I mean, it’s just incredible to see a 2.5K display on a tablet that was released in late 2012, where most of competing devices on the market including the iPads were still jumping to the full HD bandwagon.

    Google Nexus 10 also used to be the world’s first tablet shipping with 2.5K display on the market.

    And impressively, this device is still more superior than any flagship devices on today’s tablet market, even iPads, of course in terms of display.

    So when it comes to sharpness, it’s just no-brainer that this Nexus 10 tablet definitely has the edge here compared to Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet that only uses full HD 1920x1200 pixel resolution on its 10.1-inch display.

    However, the superiority of Samsung Nexus 10 on this department is actually not just on paper, but also in the real life implementation.

    So according to one famous reviewer on YouTube (Marques Brownlee), he said that the display of Nexus 10 is really gorgeous, it looks undoubtedly sharp and the colors are also popping out (this from other reviewer named Chris “oode”, also on YouTube).

    But even so, having full HD 1920x1200 pixel resolution is actually already good enough especially for a device with 10.1-inch display.

    I mean, it may not look as sharp as the 2.5K screen on Nexus 10, however, with this resolution, it’s still more than good especially for watching movies, reading books, browsing the web, editing documents or even playing games.

    The screen looks sharp, text looks readable even from far distance, and image looks crisp.

    Not to mention, thanks to Sony’s new screen technology going on in this tablet (like Triluminos display and X-Reality Engine), everything on the screen just looks really vibrant, the colors look popping out from the screen and it delivers an eye-pleasing experience to the users.

    All of this of course is more than enough to make most of users fully satisfied.

    User Interface

    As a Nexus tablet, of course Samsung must be willing to let Google take over the entire software experience of this Nexus 10 tablet.

    And that’s what exactly happens here. Google Nexus 10 comes pre-installed with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and its UI is stock vanilla Android UI straightly from Google.

    So there will be no added features from Samsung TouchWiz UI or Samsung’s usual icons.

    But this is actually a good thing for this tablet because this tablet comes with some power-hungry hardware like 2.5K display for example.

    So by using a stock Android UI, Google Nexus 10 will be more efficient with the use of battery life, and it’s also capable to perform much faster and smoother in the long run.

    This really contradicts with Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet. Through Sony’s usual Xperia UI, the stock Android 4.4.2 KitKat on this tablet is fully-customized by Sony with a lot more features, skins, icon pack and also cool visual presentations all over its pre-loaded apps.

    But the good thing is, Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is already equipped with a huge 3GB of RAM, plus its display is only sporting a full HD resolution – which is lower than the 2.5K display on Nexus 10.

    So as a result, this tablet still performs relatively fast and smooth, plus pretty efficient with the use of battery life, especially thanks to battery saving technology that Sony has equipped on the screen of this device.

    However, between Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and Google Nexus 10, I think I have to go with Google’s tablet because I love the fact that this device is packing a huge 9000mAh battery and super high-resolution display, but its software is not really heavy to execute, making its battery life last much even longer even in heavy use.

    Back to Top
    Both tablets are released in 2 different years - Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet just got launched a few months ago in 2014, while Google Nexus 10 made its debut long time ago in 2012.

    So it’s pretty obvious that Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is more powerful than Google Nexus 10, especially in terms of hardware and gaming performance.

    And that’s true actually because Sony’s tablet has the newer-generation hardware (processor and GPU) compared to Google Nexus 10.

    Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is powered by one of Qualcomm’s latest-gen Snapdragon 801 processor and Adreno 330 GPU, while its RAM is bumped up to 3GB from last year’s model that shipped with 2GB of RAM.

    Meanwhile, as a 2012-released tablet, Google Nexus 10 comes with Samsung’s dual-core Exynos 5250 processor, accompanied by Mali-T604 GPU and 2GB of RAM.

    As a new-gen tablet, of course Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is more than capable to execute even the latest graphics intense games like Modern Combat 5, Asphalt 8: Airborne or GTA San Andreas even in full highest graphics.

    On the other hand, based on what I’ve seen through video reviews on YouTube, Google Nexus 10 is also able to handle games like Modern Combat 4, Asphalt 8: Airborne, Dead Trigger, GTA Vice City, NOVA 3 or Need for Speed Most Wanted – all in buttery smooth performance and in full highest graphics.

    Meanwhile, the other game from Gameloft called “The Dark Knight Rises” actually doesn’t run smoothly on this device, but thanks to the software updates from Gameloft, this game now runs perfectly in full graphics.

    Between Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and Google Nexus 10, I think it’s quite obvious that Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is much better in gaming performance than Google Nexus 10.

    And that’s mostly because this Sony’s tablet comes with the latest-gen hardware specs, which are more than adequate even to handle the next-gen games in 2015.

    This really contradicts with Nexus 10 that ships with old-gen processor and GPU.

    I’m not saying that the processor and GPU of this tablet are weak, because that’s so wrong. Mali-T604 is a powerful GPU though.

    But these hardware specs will not be relevant anymore especially with the future Android games that are about to arrive in 2015, especially with more detailed graphics and advanced visual effects.

    But even so, if you’re not a hardcore gamer, Google Nexus 10 can actually still be good, in fact, great for playing some heavy games. And I believe it’s still more than adequate to handle some future games in 2015, but of course not all of them.

    Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a better gaming tablet, then Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is definitely your best shot here.

    Cameras

    Sony and Samsung actually have been doing great with the cameras of their devices, especially the flagship ones.

    And that's shown perfectly through their Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and Google Nexus 10 respectively, Sony’s tablet has the 8.1MP rear-facing camera, while Samsung Nexus 10 is equipped with 5MP rear-facing camera.

    On paper, of course, Sony’s device is no-brainer more superior than Nexus 10. However, it’s actually not just on paper, in the real world performance.

    The 8.1MP camera of Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet does a better job in taking photos and videos, compared to the 5MP shooter on Samsung’s tablet.

    And that’s not shocking because Sony actually has been one of the main camera suppliers for most of devices on the market, including the iPads.

    So in terms of quality, of course the camera of Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is more than capable to take decent quality shots.

    But even so, the 5MP camera of Nexus 10 is actually not too shabby at all. It may not be able to capture the same gorgeous and sharp looking photos and videos just like Sony’s tablet, but at least, the quality is still good enough for most of users.

    In fact, thanks to its gorgeous sharp 2.5K display, checking out your photos and videos is actually much better to do on Google Nexus 10 than on Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet.

    The colors of photos/videos look popping out and the sharpness is just untouchable by Sony’s tablet. So either you pick up Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet or Google Nexus 10, both tablets are still good equally for taking photos, of course with Sony’s tablet having the better quality camera.

    Battery Life

    As mentioned above, one of the strongest points on Google Nexus 10, besides its 2.5K display, is definitely its huge 9000mAh battery.

    This battery capacity is actually still the biggest capacity of battery on the tablet market to date, alongside Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 and some other devices.

    And thanks to Google’s decision to use stock Android UI on this Nexus 10, this really helps a lot in making this tablet last much even longer in battery life.

    So even if you’re a power user and gonna use this device to do some heavy intense use every day, you can expect to see it survive even in long hours every day.

    And its battery life will be much longer or even more than 1 day if you only use it in your spare time.

    On the other hand with Google Nexus 10, Sony’s tablet is powered by a much smaller 6000mAh battery inside. This is actually not surprising given that Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is only sporting full HD resolution on its 10.1-inch display – 1920x1200 pixels VS 2560x1600 pixels.

    So as a result, this tablet has the promised of 13 hours of battery life in talk time (multimedia) and 188 hours in music play.

    So basically, it could survive in one solid day if you only use in moderate use, like for watching movies in few hours, playing some games, browsing the web, listening to music, checking out photos, etc.

    However, when you use it to do some heavy intense use without resting the screen at all, then of course its battery life could drop drastically to just around 4 to 6 hours the longest.

    My Personal Opinions

    So in my final conclusion, I think both Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and Google Nexus 10 are great tablets equally.

    I mean, Google’s tablet may have the highest-resolution screen compared to Sony’s device, however the full HD screen of Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet actually also looks really gorgeous especially with Sony’s latest screen technology going on (like Triluminos and X-Reality Engine).

    And the sharpness of both devices probably doesn’t bother that much for most of its users. I mean, full HD resolution on 10.1-inch display already looks insanely sharp for human’s eyes.

    So it’s probably hard to distinguish which one of them that looks much sharper than other, unless if both devices are pitted side-by-side on the table.

    Both devices are also really powerful in performance, especially for playing games.

    However, if compared between these 2 devices, of course Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is more superior than Google Nexus 10 in terms of gaming performance. It’s capable to handle the latest games like GTA San Andreas and Modern Combat 5 even in full highest graphics.

    Meanwhile Google Nexus 10 would suffer a lot when playing game like GTA San Andreas in full highest graphics. But despite that, Nexus 10 is still an ideal gaming tablet.

    And with that 2.5K display, the experience of playing games with this device is probably better than on Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet.

    In the whole aspect, I think Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet looks much shinier than Google Nexus 10. I mean, its display may not have the same sharpness of Nexus 10’s screen, however, on other sectors like cameras, design, RAM, GPU and processor, this Sony’s tablet is just untouchable by Nexus 10.

    Not to mention, thanks to its IP58 certification plus microSD card slot for up to 64GB, it really makes Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet a much better offering than Google Nexus 10.

    But even so, both Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet and Google Nexus 10 are still great tablets equally. They both are great for watching HD movies, browsing the web, listening to music, checking out photos or even playing games. So I think it’s just a matter of personal preference actually.

    I mean, iIf you’re looking for a decent media-consumption and gaming tablet with the latest-gen hardware, then Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet is definitely your destination here.

    Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a tablet with the best sharp display and huge battery, plus huge software support from Google in the future, then Google Nexus 10 can also be a great option here.

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