Vaio Takes on the Premium Laptops Segment with its Vaio Z Flip Convertibles!
Vaio had designed the most interesting convertibles back in 2013 especially but then things didn’t work out with Sony. A Japanese firm bought Vaio and its intellectual property, and a huge chunk of its design and engineering staff was transferred to the new company.
The new owner, Japan Industrial Partners, has now introduced its one member of its lineup which it sells in Japan to the US. The Vaio Z Canvas, is unlike other laptops in its class. It is an innovative Windows 10 tablet with pen, which sports a quad core CPU and different ports too. But it also has a huge price tag to match.
It is known as the “Monster PC” in Japan even though the 13.3″ convertible laptop is not imposing or monstrous in physicality but does have the strength and power to compete with other Ultrabooks other than Apple’s 13″ Retina MacBook Pro. It also features Intel Iris 550 graphics which are more powerful than standard Ultrabook fare.
Vaio Z Flip – An Early Impression of a Workhorse with Style!
The new Vaio is a company that is geared to introduce premium products at premium pricing with the lightweight Vaio S Ultrabook that is priced at $1,100 and a Z clamshell traditional laptop priced but below the Vaio Z convertible. Vaio Z flip model starts at $1,799 and the top end version $2,399.
All three Vaio Z flip models include a 13.3″ WQHD 2560 x 1440 IPS display that is compatible with pen and touch. With an Intel 6th generation Skylake processor and dual core CPUs with Intel Iris 550 graphics, the systems are loaded. The top model even boasts of 16 GB of RAM while the rest have 8 GB RAM. A front 720p and rear 8MP camera are included in all the models.
Design, Keyboard and Display
- The Vaio Z flip model is an aluminum and carbon fiber laptop with a back panel behind the display that has protected hinges.
- One can flip to tablet/tent/presentation mode easily. The design is also durable enough than other Sony laptops, the casing is gunmetal silver giving it a futuristic and sleek finish.
- The metal keyboard deck is rigid and the keys have beautifully damped travel with anti-smudge coating on it that makes it great to use.
- The trackpad is good among Windows 10 laptops but certainly reliable and the bottom is carbon fiber.
- The machine includes full size HDMI port, 3.5mm audio jack, with a handy SD card slot along with the best USB 3.0 ports. There is an HDMI to VGA adapter included in the kit.
- With a 2560 x 1440 IPS glossy display, one can witness a good colour gamut, making it a pleasure to watch movies and stuff. It is great for designers with the N-Trig active pen with its 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity.
- Brightness is 275 nits, black levels are good at 0.36 and a contrast ratio of 770:1.
The Overall Performance
The dual core Intel Skylake Core i7-6567U is more powerful than any other CPU in any other convertible. The Core i7 base clock rate is clocked at 3.3 GHz. For those who are working with software compiles, video editing and the like, it will be incredibly fast, although not as fast as Dell XPS 15. The top of the line GT3e integrated HD 550 graphics matches the Surface Book scores.
The Vaio is faster than many, and abides by standard laptop design principles. The cooling with the tuned fan does an excellent job. CPU temperatures drop rapidly once a heavy job is done, which indicates good cooling. The convertible is faster than any Ultrabook by a margin and worth the price.
The Vaio Z is available with two versions – 256 and 512 GB SSDs, and is faster compared to other recent laptops. With the Z Flip, Vaio has more oomph with the hotter 28-watt Skylake chip. The company has integrated a tablet with a laptop at a premium price but does pack in a punch with its features.
Keval Padia is the founder & CEO of Nimblechapps, a fast-growing mobile app development company. The current innovation and updates of the field lures him to express his views and thoughts on certain topics.