Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 review
Welcome to the top spot, Samsung.
Theoutstanding Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Honeycomb tablet is lighter and a hairthinner than the Apple iPad 2, and has a smaller footprint than either theMotorola Xoom or the Acer Iconia Tab A500, which are heavier and bulkier thanmost tablets.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is amajor contender.
Wereviewed the short-lived Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1V already, but that thicker andheavier device has since been discontinued (It looked as if Vodafone might pickup the 10.1V tab but it is now waiting to release the newer 10.1 model).Theonly other important players in the tablet market, are the brilliant 10.1-inchAsus Eee Pad Transformer as well as the BlackBerry PlayBook and the HTC Flyer,which are both so-so 7-inch models.
Oh,and keep your eye on the HP TouchPad which goes on sale in the UK next month.
TheGalaxy Tab 10.1 is currently slated to go on sale in the UK at the end ofJuly/beginning of August.
Andif you want to take a closer look at the slate, you can check out our SamsungGalaxy Tab 10.1 video review.
Sowhat sets the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 apart? For starters, this is one lightand thin tablet. At just 8.6mm, it is 0.2mm thinner than the iPad 2. And youknow what? At 565g it's also 36g lighter.
It'sas though someone at Samsung sat down and demanded that the 10.1 haveworld-beating raw system specs.
TheSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a marvel of engineering, given its size. Holding onein your hand, you might mistake it for a truncated version of a Samsung LEDHDTV, which are also market leaders. There's a slight edge around the screenthat is not touch enabled, a silver edge, and an all-white back.
Thedevice just feels right. Unlike the Acer Iconia A500 and the Motorola Xoom, theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 finds that ideal balance between a pick-up-and goe-book reader such as the Amazon Kindle 3 and a 10-inch tablet that's perfectfor watching movies on a long car trip.
Byincluding Android Honeycomb (version 3.1 to be exact) Samsung has alsoone-upped the competition (though 3.1 has also already landed on theTransformer). The point release includes a few new additions. You can resizewidgets and scroll through open apps in the pop-up thumbnails for the"recent apps" list.
TheSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 doesn't have a USB port, so it doesn't take advantageof the new Android 3.1 feature to support USB-connected peripherals which is ashame, but that's not the direction Samsung is going with this tablet. This isall about pick-up-and-go functionality and portability.
Samsungactually downgraded the built-in camera on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 compared to theGalaxy Tab 10.1V, which had an 8MP rear camera. Still, the new model has a 3MPrear camera, which is three times higher than the Apple iPad 2's camera.There's also a front-facing 2MP camera.
Thereare quite a few interesting perks and additions on this tablet. Some may seemunderwhelming at first, but as a whole they give Apple a good run for theprize.
Onesubtle change is that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a 7000mAh battery forall-day tablet use. In our tests, it lasted about nine hours for everydaytasks. The Apple iPad 2 battery is 6600mAh.
The10.1 also has a four-way accelerometer and gyro (the Apple iPad 2 uses athree-way accelerometer and gyro - starting to see a pattern here?). That mayseem like a minor upgrade, but most of the games we tested on the Galaxy Tab10.1 responded faster to quick turns and screen rotations, and generally workedbetter for controlling games. It also has great side speakers for playing musicand movie audio, and plays smooth 1080p video.
Andof course, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 matches the features of other Androidtabs: built-in GPS, support for Adobe Flash in the browser (you still have todownload it on your own), 1290 x 800 screen resolution, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi,the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor and Android tablet app.
TheSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a smart buy for anyone who wants a light andportable Android tablet. Google still has a ways to go on apps for Android –there are only a few dozen that are seriously worth downloading, compared tothousands of worthy iOS apps.
Theecosystem for media is a bit underdeveloped on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 aswell. Sure, you can watch movies stream on the web, but for downloads you'remostly on your own.
Update:
August5 2011: Samsung has now released a software update for the Samsung Galaxy Tab10.1 (the kernel says 2.6.36.3 but the Android OS version is still 3.1).
The10.1 now comes with Samsung's TouchWiz software overlay which is designed toadd some more features to Android by building on the foundations that Googlelaid down.
popup
Thereis now a small arrow in the middle of the taskbar at the bottom of the screen.You press that, and can open the new Task Manager (to close and open apps), aCalendar (which uses Google Cal), a World Clock, a Pen Memo widget (for addingnotes and drawing), a Calculator, and a Music Player. Each of these worksreliably and adds to the value of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 beyond the usual Android3.1 release on other tabs. Widgets stay up on the screen at all times, evenwhen you open other apps.
music hub
Samsungalso (finally) released the Music Hub, Media Hub, and Social Hub apps. There isalso a new app called eBook which lets you read books you have downloaded fromother book stores like Kobo, or that you have obtained by other means – such asdownload a free ePub file. As you might guess, the eBook app is not tied into theKindle store, and so that means a separate app. You can add stores which arejust links that take you to those Web sites to buy more books.
Inthe box Samsung includes a charger, USB cable and earbuds, but no case ordocking stand.
Price
TheGalaxy Tab 10.1 has been price-matched with the Apple iPad 2, which means thatdevices with the same amount of memory costs the same. So the starting pricewill be about £399.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: Features
TheSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 uses a brilliant, portable form-factor that beats everyother tablet on the market. It's smaller and lighter, easy to grasp and not asbulky as a few of the other Android 3.0 tablets.
Onthe top, the power and volume controls are easy to find. On the top-rightyou'll find the 3.4mm headphone jack. There are no buttons on the side;instead, Samsung put the speakers on the side for good, clear audio. On thebottom, there's just a 30-pin connector for the USB cable.
There'sno slot for adding more memory or a 3G card on the version of the SamsungGalaxy Tab 10.1 we tested, which has 16GB of RAM. There's also no USB port likethere is on the A500 Or Transformer for using an external keyboard.
TheSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has an incredibly bright and clear screen, too. That'swhere our comparison to a Samsung HDTV comes in – this is the first tabletwe've tested where a movie actually looked as bright as what you might enjoy inthe living room.
It'sbrighter and clearer than theXoom, and about the same brightness as the AppleiPad 2. At 1280 x 800 resolution, it's a hair clearer than the iPad 2, too.
TheGalaxy Tab 10.1 doesn't offer the same sound fidelity of the Acer Iconia Tab,though, which benefits from Dolby technology in improving audio clarity.Instead, it uses side speakers (as opposed to putting them on the back) so thetablet is actually a better audio device if you skip the earbuds.
We'renot going to say the speakers are so good you can watch a movie from acrossyour desk; for that, you'll want to use real powered speakers. Yet, the SamsungGalaxy Tab 10.1 beats other Android tabs for good, clear sound.
youtube
Withthe four-way motion sensors, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 responded faster andmore accurately when we tested several games, including the brand new Nvidiaapp Pinball HD and the flying game Archipelago.
Unlikethe Apple iPad 2, which tends to be a bit fussy about screen rotations, theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 would stay in position when we turned it into landscapemode without trying to clip back and forth.Eventually,Samsung will add a media streaming service called Allshare that will let youstream content to and from supported DLNA devices such as an HDTV, set-top boxand digital cameras. We weren't able to test this as it hasn't launched, butthe DLNA option will be a welcome addition.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: Interface
TheSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 uses more or less the same interface as the otherAndroid 3.0 tablets.
There'sa Home button on the lower-left, app icons fill the centre of the screen andalerts and settings are on the lower-left.
Thatmay be an adjustment for those used to the pull-down menu on Androidsmartphones, but the Android 3.0 interface provides intuitive control over thedevice that rivals and in some ways surpasses the Apple iPad 2.
Thatsaid, we still prefer the BlackBerry PlayBook UI over Android 3.1 in terms ofswiping quickly through open apps. And, from early demos of the HP TouchPad,the card interface for Palm webOS 3.0 may be worth the wait since cards can begrouped together even when one is from an email and another is from a web page.Welike the way the TouchPad and PlayBook move well past the iPad paradigm ofselecting an app icon and not really having a good way to glide easily betweenopen apps.
Mostof the interface enhancements on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 have to do withAndroid 3.1, although none of them are radical improvements over Android 3.0.When you drop a widget onto a home screen, you can now grab a handle and resizeit.
Apop-up menu on the lower left of the screen next to the Home button shows allopen apps. You can now scroll up and down to view them and pick the one youwant, which is more helpful than having just a few open apps.
TouchWiz update
Samsungreleased the TouchWhiz UI add-on in August 2011, which essentially adds widgetsbelow the main screen. You click an arrow in the center bottom menu, and canthen add widgets for a Calculator, a notepad, and a music player. Theseadditions help add value to the device beyond the basic Android 3.1 release,but they might not change how you use the device that much, and did notinfluence our overall score too much because they should have been availablefrom the start.Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: Market andapps
Fornow, Samsung is following the cookie-cutter approach to apps and relying mostlyon the Android Market.
Thereis a Samsung app store on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 but the apps mostlyrepeat what you will find in the Android Market. Which is to say: not that manyapps that are optimised for Android 3.0. Even though the Motorola Xoom wasfirst out of the gate in early March, the app selection is still not brilliant- it is improving all the time though.
Youcan install many of the Android apps designed for phones, but many of themwon't make the best use of that 10.1-inch screen. And one good thing here isthat if your device is just plain incompatible with a certain app, it won't letyou install it.
Youwill find a few new additions in the 'specially designed for Honeycomb- appselection, though: a Twitter client called TweetComb, a few new games includingPinball HD, the new Google Music app that adds cloud storage for your audiofiles and a few extra newsreader and news aggregator apps.Thatmakes the app selection for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 slim now, with thepossibility of being slightly better in the future. However, Android tabletapps are few and far between compared to the wide selection of Apple iPad apps.
Youwon't find many video chat services (other than Google Talk), a Skype client, awide selection of games beyond the dozen that are currently available oranything like a slideshow or page layout app. There's no music recording apps,few notetaking or journaling apps and only one Twitter client.
Thereis an HD version of Angry Birds, a good flight tracking app, an RSS aggregatorcalled Pulse and a Dropbox client. This is apart from the standard Google appsfor Gmail, calendars and some funky additions such as Google Body (search forbody parts), Google Sky Map and Google Earth.
Samsungrecently released the Social Hub app for the Galaxy Tab that was not availablewhen we tested the device originally. The app lets you view feeds fromFacebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. In the feeds view, the Tab added statusupdates quickly and showed posts from all service sin one long thread.
Thereis also a Messages section, and all of our Twitter direct messages, and allFacebook and LinkedIn messages, appeared here according to the day of the week(today, yesterday, and then previous dates). This made the Social Hubexceptionally useful for a quick peak at social activities. You can also post astatus update for one service at a time (but not multiple at one time). The apphas no reporting features and no way to schedule posts, so it is not exactly aHootSuite competitor.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: Usabilityand screen
Overall,the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is easier to use than any other tablet except theiPad 2. We had no trouble finding the power button on the top left. (With theMotorola Xoom, the power button is located behind the device, which is OK butnot where you'd expect to find it.)
Volumebuttons on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 were also easy to find. Samsung went theApple route of "less is more" in offering only three buttons. Thereis no hardware switch to lock screen rotation and no other buttons.
Thismeans all of the usability of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 rests on Android 3.1.In general, this means the tablet isn't that different from other Androidmodels. It's easy to select icons, swipe left and right on the home screen,access the Home button and the button to access open apps and to find settings.
Android3.1 was supposed to include an enhancement to the browser app where you can usea pop-up menu wheel to go forward and back, bookmark sites and control otheroptions. Samsung may have hidden this feature, at least on our Samsung GalaxyTab 10.1 model, because it wasn't available.
Importantly,the Android 3.1 release is also intended to address delays in swiping betweenhome screens – it's supposed to run faster. However, other than the motionsensor working better for games, we didn't notice any major differences inswiping between the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and other Android tablets.
Screen
Crankedup to the highest brightness level, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 outshines everyother tablet. It is exceptionally bright and clear, especially for movies weloaded onto the device.
Thescreen resolution runs at 1280 x 800 WXGA, which provides a few more pixelsthan the Apple iPad 2, at 1024 x 768. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1's screen runsat 149 pixels per inch and is highly viewable from a side angle. In severaltests – games, checking Twitter feeds and browsing the web – the screenrefreshed quickly.
Likeevery other tablet except the Apple iPad and iPad 2, the Samsung Galaxy Tab10.1 tends to accumulate fingerprints and grime faster than a glass door at akindergarten classroom. The bright screen offsets this problem somewhat becauseyou might not even notice the grime in daily use, but dark movies and photoswill show the grime more than brightly coloured images.
Theside bezel also collects dust and grime, but no worse or better than any otherAndroid tablet. Give us a tablet that has the same grime-reducing agents as theiPad without any bezel (as with the rumoured iPad 3) and we'll be much happier.
Onecomplaint with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is that the touchscreen tends tochug a bit at times. We noticed this when typing emails but even more so in thebrowser, especially when visiting content-rich sites.
Inseveral cases, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 would cause delays between what wetyped and what appeared on screen. Also, when we tried to position the cursorby pressing the screen to make an edit, the cursor icon would appear in thewrong part of a sentence.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: Media
Insome ways, Samsung shot its own foot off by not including the Media Hub on theGalaxy Tab 10.1 and stating that this app will be available in a future update.
Themain way to watch movies and shows is through the browser, which supports AdobeFlash. We were quite impressed with how often a website would work for bothmusic and movies, though.
Youcan also plug the Tab into your computer using the bundled USB cable andtransfer the usual file types and most will play - Xvid, DivX etc are allcompatible with the Android 3.0 OS.
Wetested one music streaming service from the SubPop record label and it workedsmoothly in the browser, playing audio clips without any stuttering or errors.YouTube also worked flawlessly. As expected, Hulu didn't work, just as ithasn't worked on other Android tablets.
Usingthe Google Music service and playing songs from the cloud, playback wasconsistent without any stuttering. The side speakers are better than any otherAndroid Tab we've tested, mostly because of where they're located on the sideinstead of the back.
Playbackusing Ultimate Ears earbuds on the 3.5mm headphone jack sounded just as good asany other Android phone or tablet. Only the Acer Iconia A500 gets a slightadvantage, using Dolby technology for sound clarity.
TheMusic Hub is the least interesting addition in Samsung's TouchWiz overlay. Theapp is really just a repeat of the Amazon MP3 app you will find on most Androidphones, but presents yet another login interface where you have to enter acredit card number.
media hub
Theapp uses the 7digital music store. In general, we found the albums we wanted todownload, including a new one by Handsome Furs that is relatively obscure.Otherwise, most popular albums are available.However,the Media Hub is a major new addition. This would make the Samsung Galaxy Tab10.1 even better – if the app worked reliably. In two movie downloads -- onefor Rio and one for Rango -- the movies would not play at all. We added a newaccount, and we could rent and download them. After several restarts, themovies still did not play – despite the fact that the movies worked at theSamsung demo just two days ago. We'll keep you posted when Samsung resolves theissue.
SamsungGalaxy Tab 10.1: Camera
Aswe've said before, a tablet is not a great camera device.
The3MP rear-facing camera on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 does provide some handyextra features, but overall the quality of the pictures looked a bit washed outand, in some cases, overly blurry.
That'spartly due to the fact that the tablet is hard to hold steady and is not meantto be a camera replacement by any means.Youcan adjust white balance for certain lighting conditions, and set a timer.There's a way to raise or lower exposure for lighter or darker pictures, andyou can add GPS coordinates. None of these features really go beyond the basicAndroid offering for taking pictures. You can also shoot 720p videos with therear camera.
Thefront camera is designed for video chats, and we tested both Adobe MobileConnect (which supports video chat) and Google Talk to test the video quality.
Asexpected, the 2MP camera beats the Apple iPad 2 in terms of video quality, butis still more like what you'd expect in an instant messaging session thananything close to the quality of a real videoconferencing app or even Skype.
Therear camera is superior, and has an auto focus and a flash. However, the focustook a second or two to work. Like the A500, we had a hard time positioning theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for a shot, because we had to wait for the focus.
Oftenwe'd press the button to snap a photo, but the tab would focus and then click.That makes it hard to take good photos – you want to focus on your subject andthen get the result.
Theslideshow for photos uses a cool zoom effect to liven up what you see. Samsungdoes offer an HDMI cable for connecting your Galaxy Tab 10.1 to an HDTV but wedidn't receive a test cable in time to see how it works.
SamsungGalaxy Tab 10.1: Benchmarks
TechRadaraims to produce the most helpful tablet reviews on the web, so that you areable to make a more informed buying decision.
Partof this testing process includes benchmarking. It's a good way of measuring theoverall performance of a product's internal hardware components.
Weuse Antutu System Benchmark to test tablets. It's a comprehensive Androidbenchmarking app and produces consistent results.
Antutumeasures an Android device's CPU performance, 2D and 3D graphics performance,memory speed and internal and external storage read/write speeds. It combinesthe results for each test and gives the device a final score.Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1P7100 Features:
Dual surround-sound speakers
Lightweight, ultra-slim
10.1” inch touchscreen withcrystal clear resolution (1280 x 800)
1GHz Dual Core applicationprocessor
Android browser with Flash10.1 support
6860mAh battery
Samsung P7100 Galaxy Tab
Samsung P7100 Galaxy Tab Technical Specifications:
HSPA+ up to 21Mbps
EDGE/Quad Band GSM
10.1” inch WXGA TFT Screen
8 Megapixel Camera with AFand LED Flash
Front 2MP Camera
16/32GB Memory
Android UI
Gyroscope, Accelerometer,Digital Compass and Proximity Sensor
W-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth v2.1+EDR
3.5mm Headphone jack
Dimensions:246.2×170.4×10.9mm
Weight: 599gm
Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 Price in India: Coming Soon…
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: Verdict
Inthe final analysis, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the best Android tablet yet.
Whilethe brilliant Asus Eee Pad Transformer offers something equally compelling, theGalaxy Tab 10.1 is a tablet in it's purest sense and it's brilliant.
Injust about every way, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is just as capable as theApple iPad 2. It's smaller, thinner and lighter. It runs just as fast for games(if you can find them) and works better for motion control. The screen rotatesfaster and more accurately than the iPad 2. And, the screen is just as brightand a bit clearer.We liked:
Thisis the lightest and thinnest tablet on the market. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1is perfect for quick e-reading sessions using Amazon Kindle or Google Booksapps.
Youcan load the device with plenty of movies using the Dropbox app, and they'lllook crisp and colourful. Battery life was excellent at about nine hours, andthat even includes movie-watching and playing games.
We disliked:
Androidis still well behind the iPad 2 in terms of apps, the eco-system for movies andTV shows, and has only promised at some first-party apps including the upcomingMedia Hub and Social Hub. Samsung has also promised a new UI enhancement thatreally should have been ready at launch.
A fewminor issues also influenced our rating: the screen collects grime quickly,there's no syncing app available, and no way to stream to the device usingDLNA... yet.Wealso had a few typing problems on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 when there was adelay from pressing a key and text appearing on the screen.
Verdict:
Thereis still one question remaining - how much is this tablet going to cost? IfSamsung is sensible and price-matches the likes of the iPad 2 and Eee PadTransformer, then this tablet will fly off the shelves.
Whenthat UK price emerges, we'll update the review. But until then, we've awardedthe Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 a high mark: it sits beside the Apple iPad 2, andbeats every other Android tablet on the market.
Ifyou're not into the locked down app store mentality of Apple, where only thesaintly apps are approved, or just prefer the Android OS to anything out ofCupertino, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is your best choice in an increasinglycrowded market.
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