Pages

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4G 10.1" Review

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4G 10.1" Review
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1Inch 4G LTE for Verizon is getting an update, but before you go celebrating like it’s Christmas in the summer, it’s just a minor one. Still, the bug fixes and other tweaks should make the end user experience much more pleasant. The update will be available OTA, or over-the-air, and will fix 4G LTE connectivity issues. That’s good news, because why have a nice, capable LTE tablet like the Galaxy Tab 10.1 that has a fickle connection.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 16GB, in its current form, was born out of a response to Apple's sleek and thin iPad 2 tablet. The original Galaxy Tab 10.1, which hadn't reached market yet, just couldn't compete, so Samsung went back the drawing board and turned out this beauty of a tablet in record time. And this one can compete.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1Inch 32 GB features a large, wide-screen display that looks sharp and bright, and it rests inside a body that is incredibly thin and light. This 10-inch tablet weighs less than a number of smaller tablets on the market, yet it still packs a dual-core 1GHz processor and the latest version of Android 3.1 Honeycomb.
There still aren't very many tablet-specific Android apps, and those that exist are not that easy to find in the Android Market, but the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is still a desirable piece of kit.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 16Gb comes with a 10.1-inch display and runs on the 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor. The Android-based 4G tablet comes in the user's choice of Metallic Gray or Glossy White, and like the previously released version of the device, also allows users to connect to the Web via Wi-Fi.
Verizon started offering pre-orders on the 4G-ready GalaxyTab 10.1 32Gb last month. The 16GB model retails for $529.99, while the 32GB option goes for $629.99. If customers connect to Verizon's LTE network, they'll need to choose one of Verizon's three data plans, which cost $30, $50, and $80 per month for 2GB, 5GB, and 10GB of data usage, respectively.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1Inch 4G is arguably the best Android-based tablet on the market. As CNET's Eric Franklin pointed out in his review of the tablet earlier this year, Samsung's device "gets as close to the iPad 2 as any Android tablet before it." But with the help of 4G, Samsung has added an important feature to its tablet that the iPad 2 lacks. Apple's tablet currently only allows for Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity.
Even so, Samsung will have a long way to go to even come close to catching Apple's tablet. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company announced last week that it sold 9.25 million iPads during its fiscal third quarter.
The disputes extend beyond America's borders. Reports out of Australia this week suggest that Samsung delayed launching a version of the tablet Down Under. But Samsung said in a statement that a "Galaxy Tab 10.1 for the Australian market will be released in the near future."
But Samsung Galaxy Tabs have been available in these parts. And on July 28, Galaxy Tab 10.1 with 4G LTE went on sale in the U.S. at Verizon Wireless stores.
Sprinter-like speeds are this slate's main draw, and it's what I mostly focused on during this review. That said, Galaxy Tab is beautiful: slim, sleek and slick.
Side by side, the Toshiba Thrive Android tablet I reviewed last week comes off as the overweight ugly sibling. Unlike the thicker Thrive, however, Galaxy Tab lacks such niceties as a built-in SD card slot or full-size USB and HDMI ports. You'll need optional adapters to add such features. The iPad also lacks these built-in connectors.
As with the Thrive, Galaxy Tab runs Android's Honeycomb operating platform for tablets. It has a splendid 10.1-inch widescreen display, five customizable home screen panels, a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera with flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The browser can handle Adobe Flash sites. You can purchase or rent movies or TV shows through Samsung's Media Hub store.
In the specs battle against Apple, Galaxy weighs in at a mere 1.25 pounds, making it a tad lighter than the iPad. It's ever-so-slightly thinner, too.
Of course, Apple's has a ginormous advantage vs. all Android tablets in available apps.
Then again, Apple's tablet, at least to date, cannot equal Verizon's blazing cellular speeds when Wi-Fi is out of reach. Verizon says customers exploiting LTE coverage areas can expect download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps. In certain areas of New York City and the surrounding suburbs where I did my testing, I consistently bested those download benchmarks by a wide margin. Using Ookla's standard Speedtest.net, I topped out at 29.0 Mbps downstream and 4.67 Mbps in the other direction.
Such results translate into rapid downloads of apps, speedy browsing and fluid video playback.
But I also frequently slipped into slower 3G areas and, during my travels, occasionally even ended up in pokier territory. In my own house, I sometimes saw the tiny 4G at the bottom right corner of the screen indicating the machine was taking advantage of the faster network. But sometimes that 4G indicator turned to 3G.
For the record, Verizon says LTE is available in 102 markets across the country, covering a population of more than 160 million. By the end of the year, those totals are expected to hit 175 markets and 185 million people.
Of course, you can also tap into Wi-Fi if available. And you can use the tablet as a mobile hot spot capable of connecting up to 10 Wi-Fi-ready devices in 4G or up to five Wi-Fi devices in 3G.
High speeds on the Galaxy come with costly tradeoffs, however.
First there's the hardware price: $529.99 for 16 gigabytes or $629.99 for 32 GB. (You can choose between metallic gray or white models.) Granted, that's $100 cheaper than respective iPad 2 (3G) models with the same storage capacities. But Galaxy owners must sign up for a two-year mobile broadband data plan. On iPads with 3G, you can opt in and out of a data plan with no penalties or lengthy obligations.
Starting today, Verizon also will sell a 16-GB Wi-Fi-only Galaxy online for $499.99.
Verizon charges $30 for 2 GB of monthly data access, $50 for 5 GB and $80 for 10 GB. Overage charges are a hefty $10 per GB.
Battery life turned out to be a major disappointment. Verizon made vague claims of 12 hours of use on a single battery charge. But in my harsh test, in which I cranked up the brightness level to about 75%, used cellular and (for part of my test) Wi-Fi connections while streaming videos, I barely approached 4½ hours.
A second similar test (without Wi-Fi turned on) yielded nearly identical results. As I watched movies during those tests, the brightness was automatically dimmed after I received low-battery warnings to preserve what little juice remained.
For sure, that's frustrating. But you'd probably fare a lot better with "normal" usage. And if you're in the market for an Android tablet, you'll be hard-pressed to find a model with Galaxy Tab combination of good looks and speed.