Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review: Android 3.1 Tablet

The tablet race continues to heat up. The iPad set the stage for this generation's tablet race, and although things have definitely tightened up, Apple's wunderkind, like it or not, remains the industry standard by which all others are judged. Seasoned technology buffs will likely recall that tablets had another go a decade or so ago, as a number of largely Windows-based, bulky devices hit store shelves. Unfortunately, those products weren't very well thought out -- they were hardly thin, battery life was terrible, and they ran a full desktop OS that wasn't designed for touch input.


But, a lot has changed in ten years. Mobile processors have gotten faster and more power efficient. Storage is cheaper. It's easier than ever to pack suitable power into a small frame. And in all of that, Apple has also managed to grab a scary amount of mind and market share, particularly in the tablet space -- a market where they didn't even compete just a few years ago. What does all of this Apple talk have to do with Samsung? A lot, actually.


The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the first consumer tablet to ship and be thinner (even though it's only thinner by the smallest of margins) than the iPad 2. Samsung actually went out of their way to make a tablet that was slimmer than their primary competitor's tablet, nixing the original Tab 10.1 (actually, renaming it the Tab 10.1v) and forging ahead with a new plan. The new plan has resulted in this: one of the first tablets to ship (as in, not be upgraded after unboxing) with Android 3.1.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Specifications & Features

Display:  10.1" LED Backlight WXGA (1280x800) LCD 10 finger multi-touch support Scratch resistant glass CPU:   1GHz NVIDIA dual-core Tegra 2 Memory:     1GB Storage:   16GB/32GB Wireless Data Network: WLAN 802.11 b/g/n2.4GHz Bluetooth V2.1+EDR Camera: 2MP Pixel Front Camera, 3MP Pixel Rear Camera Audio: Stereo Speakers, Built-in Microphone Interfaces: 1 x Open Media Connector 3.5mm Headphone Jack

Sensors: G-Sensor Light Sensor Gyroscope E-Compass GPS Multi-Task Support : Yes Flash Support : Yes Software : - Android 3.1 - Music Beta - Google Maps - Android Market - Gmail - Pulse Battery: 9 hours; 7000mAh Battery Dimensions: 10.1" (h) x 6.81" (w) x 0.34" (d) Weight: 595g/1.31lbs.

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Is this ultra-thin Honeycomb tablet up to the task of taking on Apple's iPad 2? Does it have the app support necessary to rival the iOS' impressive catalog? Is there really a compelling reason to select this $499 tablet over Apple's already-proven $499 tablet? We'll investigate these questions in the pages to come, so join us for our full review...