Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Editor's Review of the Galaxy Tab 10.1

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has long been touted as a potential rival to Apple's ever-dominant iPad. Given how extremely the market is tilted in Apple's favour, this is a bold claim. Can Samsung's flagship tablet - featuring a Dual-core processor and beautiful 10.1" display - be the first to come good on its Apple-beating potential?

Design & Build

Slimmer and lighter than the iPad 2, this is one of the most aesthetically appealing devices out there. A mere 8.7mm thickness puts it on par with a slim high-end smartphone, except it's a tablet, making it all the more impressive.

Samsung have come a long way in their tablet design since the clunky original Galaxy Tab. The 10.1 is glossy and curvaceous. Black on the front, with a chrome frame and a white back, this is one pretty tab. That being said, we would've preferred a metal back to the cheap plastic one.

The new display on the Tab 10.1 is - surprise surprise - 10.1" in size, with a big bright 1280 x 800 WXGA resolution. Whatever angle you want to view your HD films from, the Tab 10.1 will not let you down, and it's one of the brightest tablet screens out there.

Features & Storage

Android 3.1 Honeycomb remains a nifty OS, allowing users to resize widgets and scroll through frequently-used apps using thumbnails or the 'recent apps' button. Despite the promised speed boost in multitasking, it wasn't particularly noticeable.

Among the Tab's software features is the Social hub, whyich allows you to link together your e-mails, contacts and social networks. There are also hubs for e-readers and Music, but these are hardly overwhelming in depth or design.

One of the few features that feels like a genuine waste of space on the Tab 10.1 is Samsung's impotent app store. It offers absolutely nothing you wouldn't already find on the ever-growing Google Play market. It remains a mystery why self-respecting brands like Samsung embarrass themselves by trying to impose their useless proprietary products in this way.

Battery life, connectivity and the rest

The battery on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 trumps that of its rival, the iPad 2 (7000mAh to 6600mAh). The average user can expect to get a good 10 hours battery life out of the battery here, making it one of the more long-lasting Tablets out there.

One of the few things lacking from the Tab 10.1 is a USB port. This is particularly wasteful seeing as Android 3.1 supports USB peripherals.

Conclusion

Some unnecessary features (Samsung app store) and some missing features (app variety, USB support) mean that the Tab 10.1 is no iPad beater, but no one expected it to be.

The fact is that some people are more Android-inclined due to its open-source nature and refusal to enforce similar monopolistic rules as Apple. Seeing as this is the best Android tablet out there, then anyone who's boycotting Apple's slightly superior device should look no further.