It is common knowledge now that the Android Army has started its assault on the Apple camp. Even in the tablet arena, we've seen quite a few big names — and even more smaller ones — introduce their Android offering.
Samsung has led the charge by introducing a variety of Android-powered devices. Their first tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, featured Android even before it was optimised for the tablet form factor and did fairly well. The newest iteration is still called Galaxy Tab and it comes in two screen sizes — 8.9 inches and 10.1 inches. It goes on sale at the end of August, although prices were not forthcoming.
The unit I reviewed is the 10.1-inch tablet and it is no ordinary feat. Lying on the tablet, it may get lost in a crowd of tablets, but pick it up and you realise how it really stands apart. It is the lightest and the slimmest tablet of its kind. Having borne the weight of a few tablets, the Galaxy Tab comes off as a pleasant surprise.
The front is all screen with a black bezel and a front camera featured in it. The back is glossy white finish — with a silver chrome on the top to include the camera and flash. Around the edges of the device are the power port, the on/off button, the volume rocker, a 3.5mm headset socket and a speaker. No slot for expanding storage with a card, though. The screen has a high resolution of 1280x800, which means browsing is quite a pleasure and there is a lot of screen real estate to stock your icons and widgets. The display is bright and clear, and performed well even in sunlight.
Powered by Android 3.1, Samsung's implementation may be the best yet. The entire experience was extremely smooth with no jitters or lags at just about anything. Even with multiple widgets placed over multiple home screens, applications launched and performed smoothly.
While the Galaxy Tab features a 3MP camera on the back, the photo quality was average. The colours were less saturated and the pictures lacked oomph. That said, a tablet isn't going to replace your DSLR or your pocket camera for that matter. It's good for everyday captures where the content, rather than the quality of the picture is of importance. There is a camera on the front to be used for video conferencing — it serves the purpose well.
The real star is the battery life. Coming in at about ten hours of real life usage, it outshines its rivals. Bring down the brightness or switch off the Wi-Fi and you can be pushing 11 hours or more.
Part of the Android ecosystem, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 suffers the same fate as its brethren: fewer apps optimised for tablets. That is set to change in the coming few months, but how long it may take is still not known. That aside, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a fantastic tablet with the best hardware specs and design. It's the best Android tablet as of now.
Bhavishya Kanjhan is a digital marketing professional and an early adopter of all things digital. Follow his tweets on @bhavishya
