Sony VAIO Tap 11 review

The Tap 11 has some powerful hardware inside, which is surprising when you consider it’s just 10.5mm thick. The tablet is available in a variety of specifications, but our review sample’s 1.5GHz Intel Core i5-4210Y Haswell processor scored a respectable 30 overall in our multimedia benchmarks. This is roughly three times as fast as HP’s Envy X2 and other Atom-based Windows 8 tablets, so it should handle everyday office tasks well. It’s not as fast as the Microsoft Surface Pro 2, though, which scored 47.

The battery life of just six hours and 52 minutes in our light-usage test was disappointing. We expected more from its Haswell chip, and it pales in comparison with the Microsoft Surface Pro 2, which managed a further five hours
in the same test.

The Tap 11’s thin body doesn’t leave a lot of room for ports, but Sony has packed a surprising number round its sides. They’re all located under plastic flaps, but you’ll find a USB3 port, a microSD card slot, a Micro HDMI output for connecting an external display, a SIM card slot and a combined audio jack.

The 8-megapixel rear camera uses Sony’s Exmor RS technology, but our outdoor shots left a lot to be desired. They tended to show a good amount of detail, but certain areas were muddy, with blurred pixels, and there were visible clouds of noise. The camera didn’t fare much better indoors, as there was a noticeable lack of detail in our low-light shots.

The Sony Vaio Tap 11 is an intriguing Windows 8 tablet, but it’s more expensive and less powerful than Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2. If Sony’s keyboard were more responsive, the tablet could be a viable contender for Microsoft’s crown, but ultimately it falls short.