Sony VAIO Pro 13: Exceptionally Portable
by Jarred Walton on October 16, 2013 12:00 AM ESTConclusion: Road Warrior
What makes for a good laptop is going to be a somewhat subjective discussion. Some users want high performance, others want the ability to play games, and some want excellent mobility – meaning, good battery life and low weight. The Sony VAIO Pro 13 falls firmly in that last category, with some of the best battery life results we've ever seen – especially for a Windows laptop.
The integrated battery isn't particularly large, so managing roughly eight hours on a 37Wh battery is nothing short of impressive. Add in the external sheet battery for double the battery life and you can literally run from the time you wake up until you go to bed without losing power (provided you're not doing anything too computationally intensive). Along with the battery life, Sony has created what is almost certainly the lightest 13.3” laptop I've ever encountered. 2.34 pounds is only about 50% more than a typical 10” tablet that has far less performance.
A lot of the credit for this has to go to Intel's Haswell ULT processors, which have improved low-power states, faster transitioning in and out of those states, slightly lower TDPs, as well an integrated voltage regulator. All of those combined result in improved battery life, and we've seen that on virtually every Haswell platform we've tested. But as much credit as Intel gets, Sony deserves some as well. They clearly put in a lot of work in optimizing the firmware to deliver on the mobility front, and it pays off.
Along with the excellent mobility, Sony includes a good 1080p IPS display and the keyboard is comfortable to type on as well. I decided to try something different for this review, and the entirety has been produced on the VAIO Pro 13 (using Open Office 4.0.1 and GIMP 2.8 for the text and images, if you're wondering). For the most part, I have no major complaints using the laptop for this sort of workflow. The biggest issue I have is with the touchpad, where press-dragging things is a bit difficult (e.g. I find I inadvertently release the press while moving something); adding a mouse or using the touchscreen gets around the problem, and really it's not all that bad to begin with.
It's rare that we find a product that can please everyone, and the VAIO Pro 13 isn't going to do that. For all the good areas, there are a few items that will cause some people to look elsewhere. Build quality is less rigid than I like, thanks to the thin construction and the use of carbon fiber. WiFi range is also more limited than on many other laptops, and the dropoff is pretty steep when you leave the suitable range – I could transfer data at 20Mbps just inside my front door, 3Mbps just outside the front door, and I lost connection a couple steps away from the door.
I could live with the build quality and limited WiFi range if it weren't for the price: $1250 is just too much for a laptop with these specs in my book. With the Surface Pro 2 coming out in less than ten days, $999 will get you similar specs to the VAIO Pro 13, with the addition of an active stylus and in a tablet form factor. Add in the keyboard and you're still $100 less than the VAIO Pro 13. But it's not a clear win either, as the smaller size and smaller keyboard aren't going to be ideal for everyone. Really, I have to say that nearly all Ultrabooks are simply overpriced right now (outside of clearance sales on older Ivy Bridge models).
What I really want to see is a good Ultrabook that includes at least a 240/256GB SSD with 8GB RAM and a good display, for around the same $1250 price point of the VAIO Pro 13 reviewed here. Sony could kill off the 4GB RAM models and it would barely hurt their profit margins, and I'd love to see 256GB SSDs become the baseline (because I can easily more than fill 256GB and 128GB is positively cramped, especially when you have to account for the Windows swapfile and Hibernation files). That would simplify the line but it would also remove artificial market segmentation, so that's not in the cards right now. There are sales on occasion, however, so if you're interested I'd suggest keeping an eye out for a good sale.
Ultimately, the Sony VAIO Pro 13 is a good Ultrabook, and if you're looking for something extremely lightweight and portable I can definitely recommend it. You'll pay for the privilege, but outside of the lack of gaming potential, there are no major flaws that should keep you away. If you want something a bit more rigid and with faster graphics, I'm hoping to get one of the new ASUS UX301 Ultrabooks with i7-4558U in for testing, but they haven't begun shipping yet. Meanwhile, Sony's Haswell update is just what the mobile road warrior needs.
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eamon - Saturday, October 19, 2013 - link
You mention in the article that avoiding the touch-screen saves a few bucks which may be an interesting option therefore. There are a few other advantages to that choice: it also saves 130g on an already very light laptop and gives you a screen with less glare. (Subjectively, it feels about as heavy as an iPad with the magnetic cover, which is quite something - although at 931g it's still slightly heavier). Finally, I've seen several glass touchscreens in ipads+MBA's crack, and given the flex in the casing I'd be even more worried here. However, if you don't have the touchscreen then there's nothing to crack.In other words, if you want a road warrior (which this laptop indeed is quite good for), I'd definitely recommend avoiding the touch screen. The laptop's quite a bit better without it.
aliase - Saturday, October 19, 2013 - link
a little expensive for 128 gb ssd version.wdfmph - Sunday, October 20, 2013 - link
It is a somewhat good review. But why is it 3 month late? I had this computer in June. Yes, I got it soon after its launch. I was excited but soon let down. I hate the fan/electricity noise, tricky touchpad, and the wifi connect issues. I am a consumer, not a repairer. I hate been told again and again about updating Wifi firmware when it doesn't really help. The computer comes with tons of useless/trial software. Why does PC companies want to deteriorate their image like this?If you have a budget like $1300, go with macbook pro. Somebody told me. I hated it. I tried and now I know why.
JarredWalton - Monday, October 21, 2013 - link
It's three months late because Sony didn't want to ship us one earlier. Sorry!sudz - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link
We've got this laptop for a sales staff in my company - I've had it 3 weeks now and I haven't deployed it due to constant wireless issues. With no Wired option, its a dealbreaker - It WILL NOT connect after coming out of hibernate. I have to disable and enable to wireless card. Not acceptable for an end user to have to do. Odd thing is, it says its connected to the SSID, shows great signal strength, has an IP address... but I can't ping anything but loopback. 5 hours on the phone with sony invested. About to return the bloody thing.Geronemo3 - Thursday, October 24, 2013 - link
I would like to see this against Yoga 2 pro which was recently selling for $1299 for haswell i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD. Plus it also has a 2nd slot under keyboard for extra msata. For $1599 yoga 2 pro comes with 512. I am seriously considering it Also because it has that tablet mode. Also it would be nice if all ultra books come with microsd slots like the surface 2. But I know that's wishful thinking.omaudio - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
I have been looking for a good 11.6" or 12-13" w/ backlit keyboard and decent battery life for awhile now. still using an old Atom netbook w 2GB RAM and an M4 SSD. These are pricier that what I wanted to spend but I am ready to finally get something soon. Are the RAM or hard drive user upgradeable? I see the HD is PCIe, is that mSATA? Is the RAM soldered to the MB?Thanks-
strafejumper - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
I got the Sony Vaio Pro 13 but ended up returning it (-%15)Mine ended up having a wifi issue of low wifi speed
When there is a direct line of sight between router and laptop I don't think there is any issue
Where I use the laptop i'm on a different floor than the router
My smartphone, old laptop & desktop all get good speeds browsing and in internet speed tests
But the Sony Vaio pro Never could get decent speed - Icouldn't watch youtube videos (buffering) and sometimes couldn't even load gmail properly
I took the Sony on a trip and had the same problem where ever I went - ipads, my old laptop, etc all worked normally while theSony Vaio Pro 13 was slow slow I gave up trying to browse websites or check email on it
I tried fixing it for a month because overall its a pretty slick laptop but in the end returning it was my best option
I'm not the only one who had this issue with the laptop - 117 pages on the Sony community forums about this issue:
http://community.sony.com/t5/VAIO-Hardware-Network...
Other thoughts about the laptop:
When the fan kicks in it is a little too loud - louder than you would expect - not a deal breaker but not a high class touch
The multitouch trackpad was not as responsive as I would've liked - I tried the apple laptops in an apple store and I could scroll webpages up and down with a lot of speed, responsiveness and no glitches - with the Sony Vaio Pro I had to coax the trackpad to work by tapping a few times and then starting slowly to get things rolling and then ramp up to my speed and then it would start hiccuping and I would switch to using the touchscreen.
I think you will find you need to use both the touchscreen and the touchpad because one alone is not very reliable/responsive as it should be
Screen was beautiful - as good if not better than any i've seen (glossy not so great for getting work done outdoors but beautiful in the right conditions)
The Macbook air has a TN panel and the TN panel is no comparison to this IPS panel
(i don't see much difference between retina and non-retina but TN vs IPS makes a big difference for me)
alphadean - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Have owned several Sony Z ultraportable computers with great success. Primarily used for SolidWorks 3D modeling and assemblies. I want to upgrade and have considered the Pro Red 13 ($2600) for the configuration and addition support. Any opinions? What other high end 13" small lap tops should I consider?aritai - Saturday, November 2, 2013 - link
Just noticed the perf and power comparisons are to an Acer S7 391 (the year-old model), not this summer's S7 392 (the Haswell system, shipping a roughly the same time as the Haswell MBA). Would be great to see the Haswell-to-Haswell comparisons across these vendors - I suspect the 2013 MBA has met its match in every dimension ('cept brand).