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Benchmarks
Cinebench 11.5:
12.6 OpenGL
2.46 CPU
Battery: 220 mins
3D Mark
15780
3129
445
With the Haswell 4th Generation chip on board, hopes were high for a sparkling performance, and the VAIO pro 13 didn't let us down.
We first test the processor using CInebench 11.5, and the score of 2.56 is a fantastic result. Recent hybrids have seen scores around 50% lower, which shows the sacrifices that have to be made to turn a Windows PC into a portable tablet.
The benchmark scores reveal that performance is still unrivalled, and if you want proper processing power, the clamshell laptop is still the right choice for you.
Recent tech scandals have undermined the authority of benchmarking, so perhaps it's appropriate to take a more anecdotal view of the Sony VAIO Pro 13's performance.
App loading times were snappy - something that's rarely apparent when testing Windows 8 systems - and we didn't experience any lag around the system in general.
Perhaps more surprising is the longevity of the VAIO Pro 13. In a laptop this thin, there's little space for ungainly batteries, yet somehow the Pro 13 clocks up an impressive score.
Battery life proved to be excellent, despite the slim build and powerful processor, with the VAIO Pro 13 achieving 220 minutes in our movie looping tests. That means five hours of web surfing and office tasks should be well within reach, which is impressive for such a laptop given its power and size.
We even saw decent graphics performance, all of which is handled by the Core i5 chip. There's certainly enough grunt for image and video editing, and you could easily play games such as Sim City (on reduced graphical settings), or offerings from the Windows Store.
In these days of high definition video, we're always disappointed to find a display that's anything less than full HD, and we're pleased to say that the Sony VAIO Pro 13 didn't let us down. The panel boasts deep colours and is immediately pleasing, although it's not the best on the market. It's not especially bright on full settings and the shiny coating means it's a little hard to use in bright conditions. However, it's a decent performer, especially on such a portable laptop.
Of course, being a Windows 8 machine, this full HD panel is touchscreen, and we found it accurate, easy to use and miraculously resilient to fingerprints, even after extensive use.
