Samsung Galaxy Tab Review

This is a review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab's European version. While it's pretty identical to the U.S. versions of the device, there are still some differences, with the most significant one being voice call support present only in the EU version.

Introduction:

Without a doubt, the Apple iPad is one of the most intriguing and successful consumer electronic products released this year. Its success has naturally caused a wave of announcements by various manufacturers, each revealing its own plans for upcoming tablet/s. As of now, the most serious contender seems to be Samsung with its Galaxy Tab, which is to make an appearance with every single major U.S. carrier. Now, here's the deal about the Samsung Galaxy Tab. At first glance, it is very similar to the iPad; in reality though, it's nothing like it. "So, is that a good thing or a bad thing?", one would ask. If this question is tickling your fancy, then look no further, as you'll find all the answers you seek in this review!

Design:

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is more compact than the Apple iPad. It is nearly twice as small and packs a 7" capacitive touchscreen, as opposed to the iPad's 9.7 inches. Of course, don't be fooled by Samsung commercials, implicating that you'll be able to comfortably carry this device in your back pocket. It is not this pocketable. It is extremely easy to pick up and handle though. The Galaxy Tab is very light 13.40 oz (380 g), which can be explained with its plastic construction. We suppose that the back is quite prone to scratches, so it might be a wise idea to get some kind of case.



The gorgeous 7-inch screen has a resolution of 600x1024 pixels. It provides a crisp and clear image and makes even smaller texts look fine. Colors of the LCD TFT screen are nicely saturated, while viewing angles are more than passable. The Samsung Galaxy Tab's display is viewable under bright sunlight, though not in its full beauty. Naturally, an ambient light sensor is present to adapt the screen's brightness accordingly, but if you wish, you can always override it and push the slider all the way to the max, in order to experience one very bright picture. Conversely, if you wish to use the tablet in a completely dark place, say while in bed, the Tab can also output a wonderfully low level of brightness to preserve your eyes. Of course, we did not find any problems with touch registration; the capacitive screen is as sensitive as it gets. By the looks of it, 7 inches are still quite good for a tablet, though you might find yourselves switching to horizontal mode when viewing the web quite often.



Above the display are located the aforementioned ambient light sensor, as well as the 1.3MP video call camera. At the bottom portion of the front, you get four capacitive keys: Menu, Home, Back and Search, which can be really annoying due to accidental presses, especially in the beginning. On the top side is the 3.5mm headset jack, while on the left is the Galaxy Tab's microphone that will allow you to do calls on the device. On the right are the power/lock key, as well as the volume rocker and the SIM and microSD card slots. The bottom side houses the proprietary charging port (very similar to Apple's 30-pin connector) and two loudspeakers. The back hosts a 3.2MP camera with an LED flash.


So, we've taken a tour around the tablet, and as a result, we can conclude it is one pretty good-looking device. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is also quite thin and is surely a worthy competitor to the iPad from a design point of view. Yet, it doesn't feel as solid, or premium for that matter, due to its predominant use of plastic. One of the things we love about the Tab though is how easy to carry around it is, so this definitely puts it in a comfy position, when it comes to those users who are not willing to sacrifice on portability.

Interface and Functionality:

These days, the importance of software is beginning to get acknowledged. Customers are becoming aware that bigger is not necessarily better, and shiny doesn't mean functional. In this connection, the Samsung Galaxy Tab has the advantage of running Android 2.2 - a mobile OS that is increasingly popular among consumers for being open and providing a decent alternative to iOS.

Samsung is not leaving you with the stock experience though, as it has customized the OS with its TouchWiz 3.0 UI, also found on the Galaxy S line of phones. You can have up to nine homescreen pages, each capable of hosting a number of widgets. Live Wallpapers are also here, in order to make your visual experience a bit more entertaining. Moving between the different pages and screens is very smooth on the Samsung Galaxy Tab. There's also a kind of a helicopter view (like in HTC Sense) available for the homescreen and main menu, which allows you to quickly jump to a certain page.


We've got to hand it to Samsung for redesigning the core apps of the platform so that they utilize the larger real estate. Starting with the Contacts application, we discover a very nice and relaxing interface by the manufacturer. You have a list of your people on the left, with their info and communication history on the right - all in a single view. There is also an extensive use of tabs that grants you quick access to the rest of the related functionality like the Dialer, Logs, Groups and Favorites.


Naturally, Messaging and Email applications are present as well. Texts are visualized in threaded style, while emails can be viewed either as a list, or as conversations. Both Email and Messages apps have landscape modes, which present you with the list of correspondences on the left, and the content of the selected message on the right. The on-screen QWERTY keyboard is more than usable, but you'll have to get used to it first. More specifically, you'll need to get used to holding the Samsung Galaxy Tab in the right way to feel comfortable when typing, and this goes for both portrait and landscape modes.


The same visual style is also found within the Calendar. Available are traditional Day, Week, Month and List views, with all of them hosting more information under a single screen than the standard smartphone apps. In Month view, the appointments for each day are marked within the respective field, while the area at the bottom of the screen, used to display more info for each day, is significantly larger than on a smartphone, allowing you to see more stuff.

Setting an Alarm is a really simple and straightforward procedure. Once you've settled with a clock style fitting your tastes, You can move on the setting the alarm itself, by choosing a desired time, ringtone, repetition and so on.

Internet and Connectivity:

We are a bit frustrated with the Samsung Galaxy Tab's internet browsing capabilities. Since the tablet is running Android 2.2 Froyo, it supports full Flash Player 10.1, which makes for one truly desktop-grade experience; however, the general performance of the browser is not very good, especially if you're visiting pages that are heavy on Flash elements. Very often there's some severe stuttering going on, while attempting to scroll a page, which really hampers the experience. Otherwise, zooming is done by either double-tap, or multi-touch and works fine for the most part. Still, if you are browsing in landscape mode, you'll rarely feel the need for zooming.


Flash itself is surely a great feature to have, but as it seems it comes at a pretty high price, at least on the Galaxy Tab. Adobe's software is not entirely to blame here though, as the unpleasant stuttering continued even after we disabled the plug-in. Doing so, we managed to improve the performance a bit, but the results were still not buttery smooth. This doesn't mean that the overall browsing experience is not better than that of any smartphone with large screen out there, of course. It's just not stepping up its game hard enough, like the iPad is, in this respect.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is on the cutting-edge of connectivity, featuring Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, quad-band GSM and tri-band UMTS support (900/1200/2100), in addition to A-GPS and Bluetooth 3.0 for local connection. Similarly to the Apple iPad, the Galaxy Tab is also expected to ship in a Wi-Fi-only form, which should be more affordable, seeing it would be missing the 3G radio and some functionalities.

The on-board GPS works very well. We managed to get our location fixed in a matter of two minutes after a cold start. However, if Google Maps Navigation is your choice of navigational software (Google's free turn-by-turn direction solution), you'll need a constant internet connection in order to load the maps. Of course, exploring Google Maps on the Galaxy Tab's 7” screen is much more entertaining and convenient than on a cell phone display, but then again, we doubt someone has assumed the opposite.

Camera:

Taking pictures with the Samsung Galaxy Tab's 3.2MP autofocus camera is a fun experience. What makes it fun is the large viewfinder, which basically allows you to get a better idea of the image you are going to take. The camera interface features various options like shooting modes, scene modes, exposure, white balance, effects and ISO. Switching to video capturing mode is done with the touch of a single button. Note that autofocusing is done by holding down the on-screen shutter key.



The photos the Samsung Galaxy Tab takes are a bit on the dull side, when it comes to color reproduction, as they lack any vibrancy. However, we are satisfied with the level of detail that the 3.2MP sensor is able to capture. Exposure is fine for the most part, as objects turn out well-illuminated in non-contrast scenes. More dynamic situations however have a so-so presentation. Thankfully, noise isn't observed in outdoor shots, although indoor ones are quite messy. Speaking of indoor pictures, the Samsung Galaxy Tab does an okay job at capturing memories when there's not much light present, but the LED flash can sometimes cast a strange hue to a photo. It is still capable of illuminating a small room though. As a whole, images made with the tablet are by no means spectacular, but they are good enough, having in mind the Tab won't be doubling as your primary camera.




You might be disappointed to know that the Samsung Galaxy Tab lacks HD 720p video recording. Instead, it shoots video at 720x480 pixels, which is still fine. Fortunately, the videos play very smoothly at 29 FPS, with no signs of any stuttering, which, coupled with the still decent detail, makes for one more than acceptable video recording feature. The accompanying audio track sounds clear and audible.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Sample Video:



Multimedia:

The preloaded music player is nothing spectacular, as it simply lets you filter your content through tabs. The player displays large album covers (as it should), and you also have a bunch of equalizer presets and effects to enhance your audio. The two speakers at the bottom of the Samsung Galaxy Tab are powerful enough, although they may start crackling once you take things to the maximum.

Samsung has included its so-called Music Hub, which is basically like iTunes, but for Android. The app lets you search, discover and purchase music and it also allows for 30-second song previews. It works very fluidly, but has an uninviting interface overall.



The Samsung Galaxy Tab is one truly magnificent device to watch videos on! We could flawlessly play MPEG-4, H.264, DivX and Xvid videos at 720p HD resolution and high bitrate, resulting in brilliant image quality and smooth playback. Truly amazing experience right out of the box, with no issues at all. Moreover, the Galaxy Tab's screen aspect ratio is more suitable for watching movies than the iPad's. The loudspeaker is  loud enough for the purpose and does a good job at producing the audio to your movies or music videos or whatever. All in all, you just need some kind of a dock and you are ready to watch full-length movies with no problems whatsoever.

Although the Samsung Galaxy Tab comes with plenty of built-in storage space, you can easily extend it by inserting a microSDHC card into the slot on the right side of the tablet.

Software:

You didn't think that Samsung is shipping the Galaxy Tab only with stock Android applications on board, did you? Indeed, there are a few interesting pieces of software coming installed on the tablet that really deserve our attention. One of them is Daily Briefing, also available as a widget. What it does is to present you with a weather forecast, stock information, news from the Associated Press and your scheduled appointments.



eBook, on the other hand, does exactly what it says - lets you read ebooks. Similarly to iBooks for iOS, eBook displays some shelves that are eagerly awaiting your ebook purchases, and right from the start, you get a free copy of "The Marvelous Land of Oz". New stuff to read can be obtained from the Readers Hub app, which is integrated with PressDisplay for news, Kobo for books, and Zinio for magazines.



Given the Samsung Galaxy Tab's advanced computing capabilities, Samsung has also supplied it with a decent task manager. The app shows you a list with the currently active programs and also allows you to uninstall applications, as well as manage RAM levels.

Specifically for the workaholics, the Samsung Galaxy Tab features the ThinkFree Office suite, which is compatible with Microsoft Office documents. The program includes its own file manager, letting you organize your docs easily, while in the meantime an online account can be created for you to store your docs or share them with someone else.



Of course, your main source of applications for the Samsung Galaxy Tab will be Android Market, but how does the tablet handle all those apps that are not designed for its screen resolution? Well, it either stretches them to fill the screen nicely, or displays them in their native resolution. We are not aware of why some are stretched to full-screen, while other aren't, but all in all, we're happy to discover that the tablet has access to quite a few offerings from the Market to diversify your overall experience. According to the latest figures, Android Market should be a host to over 100,000 applications.

Of course, the YouTube client for Android comes pre-installed on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, presenting you with tons of video from the world's most popular video-sharing site. While numerous options are available like rate, comment or share, videos are not streamed with the highest possible quality. They are still perfectly watchable though.

Performance:

The EU Samsung Galaxy Tab can do voice calls over a mobile network (the U.S. versions can't), which is a great thing, of course (after all, phones rock). It works without a hitch, so you'll simply have to get yourselves a decent handsfree, or put up with the sound coming through the loudspeakers, if this is an option for you, that is. However, with regards to the call quality on the Galaxy Tab, we would say that the speakers do not perform at the necessary level. For starters, they are pretty weak. Sound volume might be okay if you are alone in a quiet room, but once there's some ambient noise, you'll immediately start to have problems making out your caller's words. At least the microphone of the Galaxy Tab (situated on its left side) does a good job at transferring your voice with a decent loudness. However, it also makes it sound a bit unnatural.

You surely won't find your typical smartphone battery inside the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Instead, the tablet is powered by a massive 4000mAh unit, which seems capable enough of delivering pretty impressing usage and standby times, although Android's non-smart multitasking can surely take its toll on battery life. But we guess that's why Samsung is shipping the Galaxy Tab with a pre-installed task manager!

Conclusion:

Samsung's very first tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, is surely a device with its own philosophy. It is very compact and easy to carry around, and due to a healthy-sized 7" display, it is a great offering for casual users. It is still quite versatile though, being equipped with a lot of connectivity options and also two cameras for occasional shots and video calls. In the meantime, its design is solid and contemporary, although executed mainly out of plastic.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab can hardly qualify as a productivity device. Of course, you can use it for email correspondence, calendar and data organization without a hitch, but that's pretty much the extent of its business capabilities. Android is still not mature enough to be able to offer some more advanced applications for the workaholics (neither is iOS, although it's significantly closer to reaching that goal). However, if you don't really need such advanced functionality, but a smartphone display is just not big enough for you to conveniently browse the web or do some other stuff, then the Galaxy Tab is perfectly suitable. The only thing you'll have to put up with is the price, which is quite high. It is no secret that for the same price you can also get yourself an iPad, which is far superior when it comes to software and performance. The iPad is also significantly bulkier though, and here lies one of the Galaxy Tab's strongest advantages - its portability. The device is very easy to pick up and use, which makes it a preferable offering to netbooks or other consumer-oriented mobile computers.

In the purely hardware aspect of things, we have absolutely no complaints about the Samsung Galaxy Tab, except for its easy to press by accident capacitive keys. What holds it back, so to speak, is Android. Don't get us wrong - the system is fine for the most part, and with Samsung's personalizations, it's gotten even better, not to mention suitable for a tablet. However, we found its browser to perform not as smoothly as needed, especially when there's Flash content. The other drawback we see is Android Market. The amount of apps you'll find there is more than ample, but the quality of available software is still not high enough. That's why we consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab a very good tablet, if you are not a power user. Pricing of the Galaxy Tab is also pretty hard to swallow. In the U.S., Verizon is selling the device at a retail price of $599 with a month-to-month service, while Sprint's offer is set at $599 unsubsidized, and $399 subsidized (with a contract). T-Mobile, on the other hand, has stuck a price tag of $649 unsubsidized and $399 subsidized. AT&T is yet to announce pricing, but the rumor has it the number two U.S. carrier will offer the tablet at a non-commitment price of $649.99 - a price which actually makes it more expensive than the 3G-enabled Apple iPad. To us, this seems like another reason to make the Samsung Galaxy Tab one tough buy.

Software version of the reviewed unit: Android 2.2, Build FROYO.XXJI4

Samsung Galaxy Tab Video Review: