Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 vs Apple iPad 2 Review

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By now, you’re aware of how much I truly enjoy using my Apple iPad but the lack flash viewing has made me long for more….In a time where tablets are king, brands are vying to manufacture the next best tablet for consumers to clammer over. Often called the “iPad killer” – the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has grabbed my attention and I’ve matched it up against my favorite iPad 2 to see who comes out on top…

To my surprise, while attending BlogHer 2011 in San Diego earlier this month, I was awarded a Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 during a Verizon/BlogHer brunch – which provided the perfect opportunity to compare it to my beloved iPad 2 and see who out-matches who.

Upon, unboxing the Galaxy Tab 10.1 the first thing I noticed was it’s slim, light and widened design. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 gets its light weight from the all plastic construction, if you’re not a fan of the iPad’s metal casing then this may entice you. The Tab’s light weight along with the super thin body make this tablet really comfortable to work with.

The specs:

OS: Android Honeycomb 3.1
Processor: Nvidia Tegra 2, 1GHz dual-core
Memory: 1GB RAM; 16GB storage
Display: 10.1-inch, 1280×800; 149 pixels per inch
Video: 1080p playback (30 fps); Codecs supported: WMV7, WMV8, WMV9, H.264, MPEG4, Xvid, DivX, H.263, VP8
Cameras: front- 2MP; rear- 3MP, auto-focus, flash, 720p video recording
Ports: proprietary dock port (charging), 3.5mm audio
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n dual band (2.4GHz, 5GHz), Bluetooth 3.0
Battery: 7000mAH
Dimensions: 256.7 x 175.3 x 8.6mm (10.1 x 6.9 x 0.39 inches)
Weight: 565g (1.24 lbs.)

The front of the Tab 10.1 has a glass touch screen that facilitates operation (similar to the iPad2). The front-facing camera is located at the top center of the screen when held in landscape orientation. Two stereo speakers cup the screen in this orientation on either side of the tablet. And unlike the iPad2 there are no physical buttons on the front of the device.

There are no physical controls on either side of the Tab, and on the top is the power, volume buttons and 3.5mm headphone jack. These buttons are easy to use and conveniently located for access in either landscape or portrait orientations. The display on the Tab is bright and vivid which is typical of Samsung screens. The speakers are very small and while loud, are not the best for loud listening. Samsung does include some decent headphones in the box with the Tab for cranking up the tunes. The rear camera on the Tab is not going to win any awards, but is a decent camera for taking stills and video. The video is restricted to 720p which is not the best but lets face it, a 10-inch tablet is not really a good form for snapping photos/videos. The battery life isn’t daunting…I easily got about 10 1/2 hours of very heavy usage of the Tab on a charge. While a single charge won’t last two full days of casual usage, it easily lasts a full day and well into the next. The speed and performance was pretty nice as well…using the WiFi option on both the iPad and Tab was great in comparison, but Verizon’s 3G vs 4G service was brutally quick (I mean I was definitely surprised.)

Pros: The ability to view flash on this device was amazing.

Cons: The widened design, (created for optimum viewing) was a bit too large for me.

Pros: The vibrant LED screen and colors made using the Tab enjoyable.

Cons: The portable function isn’t as great as the iPad…the design is too wide for me to put in my bag and go.

Conclusion: All in all the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a great device. It offers productivity “on the go” and with the power and speed of the Android system, I’d love to see how Samsung plans on topping this device in the future.

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