Sony is to offer a version of its Xperia Z Ultra phablet without mobile connectivity, positioning the Japanese-market device as an easy-to-carry tablet device.

With its 6.4-inch screen the device is knocking on the door of the 7-inch tablets used by rival vendors, and is indeed at the upper end of the phablet scale.

The Wi-Fi-only unit shares the bulk of its specifications with its phablet sibling. It has a 2.2GHz quadcore Qualcomm processor, runs Android 4.2, and includes an 8-megapixel camera.

Quite how big the market is for the ‘tablet’ Z Ultra is unclear. For users looking for a portable tablet device without mobile connectivity, there are a number of 7-inch devices which will be competitors.

And while the slightly smaller size may boost its portability, the trade-off of losing mobile connectivity will reduce the Ultra Z’s functionality in terms of being an on-the-move tablet.