Sony S1 and S2 hands-on

Let’s start with the S1, lets ? So far as hardware flourishes go, we’ll take ergonomic genius over a gimmick any day, and in that department, the S1 delivers. You notice wedges frequently on laptops, but with a slate, it’s an unexpected, wonderful thing. It makes it easy to carry with one hand, and it improves viewing angles whenever you place it face-up on a table. What’s more, the S1 feels simply airy inside the hands. We all know, we all know. We frequently come clear of these events saying a tablet is lighter than it looks. (We’re observing you, 6 Toshiba Thrive 6 .) But after handling some slates which are weightier than you’d expect (ahem, 7 Touchpad 7 ), it’s refreshing to select up something that feels well-made, yet unassuming. Sony also decked the tablet out in a textured finish, as you could guess by that dot pattern within the photos. That, too, makes this one of several easier-to-grip slates we’ve handled.

The viewing angles on that 9.4-inch (1280 x 768) display also are pretty good. You could get a taste of that during our gallery, but we did not have an issue watching a film from the side, or with the screen tilted faraway from us. We got to work out it in a conference room with a mixture of fluorescent and natural lighting, though, so we’ll be curious to determine the way it fares within the great outdoors. Movie playback looked smooth, too, though it’s too soon to claim if the HD experience has anything on any of any other tabs that you can purchase.

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Moving directly to the S2, it doesn’t look quite like every other clamshell handheld we have seen — not even Sony’s own 8 VAIO P series 8 , one of the vital oddest takes on a netback we’ve ever beheld. Closed, it has a protracted rectangular shape with rounded edges, a silhouette that makes it look just like an enlarged eyeglasses case. The case opens quietly to disclose dual displays. Although they’re bright, it doesn’t appear to be Sony had any further success than Kyocera did with the 9 Echo 9 in minimizing the bezel separating both panels.

Pulling all of it together, there’s the software. We still feel like we’ve only began to scratch the skin on what Sony’s done here, so it is best if we dissect that during our full review. Briefly, though, what left the most important impression wasn’t any cosmetic tweaks Sony made to Honeycomb, however the technologies it used to make the user experience better. Mainly, we’re talking about Quick View, which loads photos on websites before the javascript to create the semblance of faster loading times. You could disable it in the event you like, though Sony swears up and down that leaving it on wouldn’t have a negative impact on battery life or performance. Next up, there’s Quick Touch Panel, an algorithm that detects and analyzes finger gestures to make the panel more responsive. We’ll be honest: the performance and responsiveness on both tablets was pretty zippy, but we’d say the variation between these and other slates is subtle at best.

Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about that these are both PlayStation Certified, meaning you will have access to a number of familiar titles. Sadly, we were hustled out of the development before lets wander away in a game of Crash Bandicoot, but we did linger long enough to work out how nicely the onscreen controls fill one of many S2′s panels, with the sport taking up the opposite.

So there you have got it. We’ve finally gotten our hands at the S1 and S2 and feature an outstanding feel (no pun intended) for the hardware, though we’re still oh-so interested in how the software experience would be different from each of the other Honeycomb tabs at the block. We’ll resolve that during our full review — whenever these finally hit the market, it’s.

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This post is tagged: dot pattern, few-minutes, form factors, impressions, inch displays, wonderful thing