Review the Samsung Galaxy Tab


As you may know a couple of weeks ago I had some lovely one on one time with the gorgeous Galaxy Tab.

Now i know that Samsung are saying its not a direct competiter to the iPad but lets be honest any tablet that comes out between now and forever will be put head to head with the iPad. So is it a viable competiter to the sucessful iPad?

First touch

When you first go hands on with the Galaxy Tab you will find that it is quite light, not so light that it feels cheap but more a comparison to the iPad (if you have ever held one). This weight (which i will call close to perfect) means that you can easily hold it in one hand without getting too strained, meaning it can easily be used as an e-reader.

Screen

This brings me nicely to its screen which is a 7" Super TFT screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600. This means that when it comes to pixel density the Galaxy Tab beats the iPad, so pictures are crisp and bright. The capacitive touch screen is responsive and very pleasing to use, very similar to my Galaxy S smartphone.

Software

The Galaxy Tab runs Android 2.2 Froyo and features Touch Wiz 3.0 by Samsung, similar to that used on the Galaxy line of smartphones. A couple of apps have been customized to take advantage of the larger 7" screen for example the calendar and email client look great. The crown jewel of the Samsung Galaxy Tab is the fact that, unlike most android tablets, it can access the entire Android Marketplace. Allowing you to download games and applications like Angry Birds which i have to say is my favourite game on Android and looks great on the larger screen. The Tab does come with the 2 Gameloft games Nova (a first person shooter) and Asphalt 5 (arcade style driving style) both very good games with top notch graphics. Media Hub and Reader Hub can also be found on the Galaxy Tab allowing you to download TV programs, films, books, magazines and newspapers. So there is plenty of media to take in with this device :-)

Hardware


On the outside of the Tab you will find a slot for your SIM card and a micro SD card, a volume rocker, 3.5mm headphone jack, speakers and a 30pin connector.

> 7-inch TFT LCD with 1024 x 600 resolution (WSVGA)
> Weighs 380 grams
> 1GHz Cortex A8 processor
> 16GB or 32GB internal storage
> microSD expansion for up to 32GB additional storage
> Front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera and rear 3 megapixel camera with flash
> 4,000mAh battery
> 3G data / voice (there's a speakerphone and Bluetooth for phone calls, but no earpiece)
> 5GHz dual-band 802.11n WiFi
> Standard back color is white, carriers might offer different colours
> Full HD video playback
> There's a 30-pin dock connector on the bottom that allows for HDMI, USB, and docking accessories

Battery

As i haven't had a chance to spend the day with the Galaxy Tab the battery stats come curtecy of Engadget that did a test of a continuous loop of video and got 6 hours and 9 minutes of video. That's pretty impressive even if it doesn't match the 9 hours of the iPad it still is more than enough i mean think about it how often are you going to stare at it for more than 6 hours?

Verdict

This Tablet come phone is a great piece of kit even if you will seldom use the phone part. The major thing about this tablet is its size, you will have no problems taking it about with you. Plus it is fast, zipping between windows and apps quickly and smoothly. Finally full credit to Samsung for getting the Android Market included because that opens up a world of possibilities on this device (not to mention a bit of good old Angry Birds :-).

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