Toshiba Portégé Z10t-A2111 Convertible Review Update

Color space reproduction is about 58 percent of sRGB and 44 percent of AdobeRGB standards. This is standard on mainstream and consumer notebooks, but we were expecting a bit more from a tablet at this price range. The Surface Pro 3 and Tecra Z50 Ultrabook, for example, have higher coverage hovering around 75 percent of sRGB. Nonetheless, the Z10t was not designed for professional graphics editing, so the middling color coverage is not a concern for day-to-day use.

Further display analyses with an X-Rite i1Basic Pro 2 spectrophotometer reveal very good grayscale performance, but poorer color accuracy across all tested saturation levels. A quick calibration resolves most of the issues and will subsequently improve RGB balance. The colors blue and magenta, however, are still reproduced poorly post calibration especially at higher saturation levels.

The i7-4610Y in the Z10t is the first CPU of its model to enter our database. Thus, we have no other notebooks or tablets that also carry the same CPU for comparison as of this review. However, based on our synthetic benchmark results, the i7-4610Y is well above the Atom processor of the HP ElitePad 1000, roughly on par with the i5-4200U and i5-4300U, and slightly below the i5-4500U as found on the competing Asus Transformer Book Trio TX201. These i5 cores are conversely more popular and can be found in a large variety of Ultrabooks and tablets including the Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus.

CineBench R15 scores place the i7-4610Y alongside the AMD A10-5750M and i5-4500U in multi-core performance and the i7-2617M in single-core performance. The multi-core wPrime benchmark shows similar results with final scores within a few percentage points of the i5-4200U and older i5-3210M. The latter Ivy Bridge CPU was common in notebooks only a couple of years ago, so it's quite an advancement to see an i7 in a tablet form factor with comparable performance at less than half the TDP. More thorough comparisons and tallies can be seen in our dedicated i7-4610Y page here.

The PCMark 7 final score of 4973 points is very high and sits amongst many gaming notebooks like the Eurocom Racer 2.0. PCMark scores are notorious for giving the edge to SSD-based systems, however, so this of course does not mean that the Z10t carries the graphical prowess of dedicated gaming systems. In fact, the Windows 8 Experience Index shows the integrated HD 4200 graphics to be the bottleneck of the system. Nonetheless, scores are high for a tablet and noticeably outclass both the Atom-powered Fujitsu Stylistic Q584 and ElitePad 1000 and is comparable to the Transformer Book Trio TX201 and Lifebook T904 convertible in PCMark 8 benchmarks. Subjectively, the tablet feels snappy with little delay or lag and is as quick as a high-end Ultrabook.

The integrated HD 4200 offers no surprises and users should not be expecting too much from the performance side. With that said, the GPU is wholly capable of running a handful of today's 3D titles on low settings and resolutions. Older or less demanding titles like Starcraft 2 and DOTA 2 can run relatively smoothly at 1080p with reduced settings, while titles like Guild Wars 2 are limited to very low resolutions.

Meanwhile, synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark 11 place the Z10t in the same ballpark as many Ultrabooks with integrated HD 4400 graphics, such as the Tecra Z40 and HP Probook 430. This is great for a tablet as we were expecting more frequent throttling or downclocking issues due to the more restrictive form factor. 

We stress the tablet with HWiNFO, CPU-Z, and GPU-Z monitoring tools active to observe for any stability or throttling issues. Prime95 was used to stress the CPU and was found to increase CPU speed up to 2.5 GHz before quickly dropping to a more steady 1.8 to 1.9 GHz clock rate once core temperatures reached about 72 degrees C. This speed is closer to the rated 1.7 GHz base clock rate of the i7-4610Y.

Next, FurMark was used to stress the integrated GPU. Under stress, the GPU was found to be operating at its base 850 MHz clock before leveling out in the 500 to 600 MHz range. Memory operated at a steady 800 MHz regardless of GPU load.

Under maximum stress with both Prime95 and FurMark active, CPU performance drops quickly to the 700 to 800 MHz range and the GPU to the 500 to 600 MHz range. Maintaining core temperature at a steady 60 degrees C under demanding loads appears to be a priority over faster performance. This is more than likely a manufacturer-enabled temperature ceiling to ensure comfortable use of the tablet no matter the workload.

We ran 3DMark 11 immediately following the stress test and observed similar final scores as our 3DMark 11 run before the stress test. Thus, while the CPU throttles under very high CPU and GPU loads, it should have no significant effect in day-to-day activities.

Running on batteries will result in a slight reduction in maximum GPU performance. A 3DMark 11 run on batteries returned a GPU score of 471 points, which is about 200 points lower than if running on mains. A closer look reveals that the GPU clock rate becomes fixed at just 450 MHz under load if running on batteries vs. the 600 MHz or 850 MHz range if connected to an outlet. Thus, users running more graphics demanding applications will get better results with a power outlet nearby.

With such a powerful i7 core inside, battery life ranges wildly from 2 hours up to almost 11 hours depending on settings. The minimum battery life was recorded by running the Battery Eater Classic Test at maximum screen brightness, while the maximum battery life was recorded by running the Battery Eater Reader's Test at minimum screen brightness. Our more realistic WLAN test runs a browser script at a brightness of 150 nits until automatic shutdown.

At about 5 hours of constant use according to our WLAN test, the Z10t with i7 is roughly on par with the original i5-powered Z10t while providing a more powerful CPU. Compared to other devices, this is similar to the Stylistic Q584 and Transformer Book Trio TX201, but is also a few hours shorter than the Surface Pro 3. Considering the relatively small 38 Wh non-removable battery, this is average for a tablet this size. Users are encouraged to carry the power adapter as the tablet itself will not last on its own during a full day of use and the docking station provides no additional power when connected.