Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review, Specs & Comparison

The Galaxy tab 10.1 was introduced in 2011 by Samsung. It has since become the leading product in the evolving market of Tablet PC. In the coming lines we look at the pros and consof the 10.1 Galaxy tab as we compare it with the leading competitors of the Tablet market. First a look at the specifications.

Galaxy tab 10.1
Galaxy tab 10.1
Specifications

Size: 256.7 x 175.3 x 8.6 mm

Weight: 565 g

Battery: 7000mAh

Video: Up to 9 hrs.

Music: Up to 72 hrs.

Display:

  • 10.1” widescreen
  • 1280×800 WXGA TFT LCD
  • 149 pixels per inch(ppi)
  • 4-way rotation

Memory:

  • 1GB(RAM), 16/32/64GB(ROM)

Cellular and Wireless:

  • HSPA +21 850/900/1900/2100
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 3.0
  • Dual-band support (2.4GHz,5GHz)
  • EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
  • Wi-Fi Direct

 

 Processor:

  • 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 processor

Samsung Touchwiz UX:

  • Live Panel
  • Mini Apps

Browser:

  • Official Android™ Browser
  • Adobe® Flash® support

Camera:

  • Back Camera: It has HD (720pixel with Video Recording capability, and also has 3MP auto-focus camera with LED-flash function
  • Front camera:2MP camera
  • Instant sns sharing: Gmail™, Messaging, Picasa
Mobile Office:

  • Polaris Office: Word, PPT, Word, Excel document for creation and editing of documents

Operating System:

  • TouchWiz, Android’s latest for tablets
  • Multitasking and Split View support

Sensors:

  • Gyroscope
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Compass

Input/Output:

  • 30-pin dock connector port
  • 3.5mm stereo headphone jack

 

Video:

  • Full HD video playback(1080p)@30fps
  • Video Codec: WMV9, WMV7, WMV8, H.264, MPEG4, DivX, H.263, VP8

 

Audio:

  • Formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, RA
  • Surround sound speakers

Location:

  • A-GPS
  • Location-based service with Google maps™ with the new turn by turn navigation feature

Google Mobile Service:

  • Google Talk™
  • video chat
  • Gmail™
  • YouTube™
  • Google Calendar™
  • Google Maps
  • Google Latitude™
  • Latest Android Market™

OverView:

Samsung galaxy tab 10.1 as compared to iPad 2 is lighter (36 g lighter) and thinner (0.2mm thinner). It has a smaller footprint than Motorola Xoom and Acer Iconica tab A500, which in comparison to most tablets are heavier and bulkier.

The short lived Samsung galaxy tab 10.1v was thicker and heavier and has been discontinued which paved way for concentration being diverted to new Galaxy tab 10.1.

But still the question arises, why the Galaxy tab 10.1?

To start, it is one of the lightest and thinnest tablet available in the market. At just 8.6mm, it is 0.2mm thinner than the iPad 2 and at 565g it’s 36g lighter.

Given its size, we may call Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 a marvel of engineering. While using Galaxy tab 10.1, many might mistake it as a hand held version of Samsung LED TV. However there exists a slight edge around the screen that is not touch enabled a silver edge and a complete white back body.

Movies

In comparison to Motorola Xoom and Acer Iconia A500 Galaxy Tab 10.1 feels more balanced between pick up and go eBook reader and a 10 inch tablet, perfect for watching movies on the go.

Operating system and Apps

A software update was released by Samsung. The new 10.1 Tab now runs Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay to the Aneroid 3.1. The main purpose of this was to add more features to the Android by working on the basis laid down by Google. There is now present a small arrow on the taskbar which gives access to the new task manager, a Calendar, Music player, Pen memo widget (for adding notes and drawings) and a Calculator. All of them work efficiently, giving an edge to Galaxy Tab versus the usual Android release on other tabs.

In addition, the widgets stay up on the screen all the time, even after opening other apps.

Samsung also released the Music Hub, Media Hub and social Hub apps. There is also a new app called eBook, enabling user to read downloaded books from stores like kobo or obtained through other sources.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 does not have a USB port. In some eyes this might seem a drawback but giving a closer look points to the objective Samsung is striving to achieve. This is about “pick up and go” functionality.

Talking about the camera..In contrast to Galaxy tab 10.1v’s 8 MP camera, Galaxy tab 10.1 contains 3 MP rear built in camera, which certainly is a downgrade but still is three times higher than the Apple iPad 2‘s camera. In addition there is a 2 MP front-facing camera.

There are some other interesting additions to this tablet. At first, some of them may not seem much, but as a whole they can swing the balance in favor of Samsung against an iPhone.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 includes a 7000mAh battery. It approximately gives 9 hours for everyday tasks. Other tabs mostly give a battery of 6600mAh.

10.1 comes with 4 way accelerometer and gyro again comparing it to iPad 2 which uses 3 way accelerometer and gyro. This difference may not seem big but many games tested on Galaxy tab 10.1 respond faster to quick turns or screen rotations.

For listening music and movie audio, Galaxy tab 10.1 comes with great side speakers and 1080p videos run smoothly. And lastly, needless to say Galaxy tab 10.1  matches the features of other available tabs i.e. built-in GPS, support for adobe flash in the browser, 1280×800 screen resolution. Bluetooth, Wifi, NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor and Android tablet app.

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