Samsung Galaxy Tab review

#5 in our 2011 Tablet Countdown.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab is a cute little tablet, with a white back and a 7-inch form factor. Unlike its bigger, newer sibling, the Galaxy Tab 10.1v, it’s not running Android’s new tablet-optimised operating system, but an old, smartphone-based Android 2.2 (FroYo). As such, early adopters are going to turn their noses up – plus it’s just not going to be as fast or as clean as Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).

Nonetheless, the Galaxy Tab is a nice device to use. Its size makes it easy to hold in one hand, but its resolution is high enough – at 600 x 1024 pixels – that we didn’t feel as though we were missing out on screen real estate. On the contrary, we found the 7-inch screen to be the perfect size, but whether you share that opinion will vary based on personal preference and the things you’ll use the tablet for. If you’re using your tablet for productivity, for example, a larger screen will provide a larger on-screen keyboard which may be preferable.

Unlike some of the similar tablets on the New Zealand market – such as ViewSonic’s 7-inch ViewPad – the colours on the Galaxy Tab were rich and vibrant. Reading comics on the device, in particular, was a pleasure;
the pictures really ‘popped’.

The Galaxy Tab has a 1000MHz processor, which makes it speedy enough given that it’s running a (comparatively) slow OS. It takes about half a second to flip a page on an e-book, complete with animation, which is a vast improvement on the ViewPad 7’s several seconds. It’s certainly not enough to grate on your
nerves when you’re reading a book.

The speedy processor is also great to have if you’re into a spot of casual gaming. None of the little games I played – yes, including Angry Birds – showed any signs of lagging, so I was able to hit those pigs right in their stupid smiling mouths without being concerned that some minor timing issue was going to mess up my shot.

Web browsing on the Galaxy Tab is just like web browsing on an Android smartphone – for obvious reasons – except bigger. It’s definitely a nicer experience than browsing on a smartphone – a few inches really does make a huge difference – but because the Galaxy Tab uses a smartphone OS, a lot of websites seemed to get confused and served up their mobile sites, even when we wanted to view the full one. The tablet is fully capable of displaying Engadget’s full-blown website, and we'd prefer it did.

If you’re interested in getting an Android tablet but don’t want to spend nearly $1,000 on one, the Galaxy Tab is by far your best option on the New Zealand market. The RRP is high, but realistically you can buy it for around $700, especially with new versions of the tablet on the way. It’s powerful and looks good – as long as you’re happy with the 7-inch screen.

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