I finally got my hands on a Samsung Galaxy Tablet this morning. The highly touted Android tablet is the first serious competitor of the iPad here in the Philippines. Backed up by Smart Communications, the Galaxy Tab got a lot of media mileage on TV, print, radio, and online. I wasn’t able to play around with it for a couple of days though so I can only give you guys my initial impressions for now. Hopefully I’ll be able to do a full review sometime next week. Before anything else here are the official specs of the Samsung Galaxy Tab:
Specs
Hardware Impressions
The first thing that I realized upon seeing the device was that it’s so small compared to the iPad! This is definitely much more portable and easier to bring around with you. If you think about it the iPad is just an inch short of the new MacBook Air so why bother with a tablet if you can bring a full laptop with you for that size. Here’s a photo of the Samsung Galaxy Tab with an iPad:
Size becomes a serious consideration when you think about what you use your tablet for. If you’re the type that just uses it for media consumption and rarely for media creation like encoding or building presentations then the 7 inch form factor of the Galaxy Tab is a compelling feature. The Galaxy Tab is much lighter (380 grams) compared to the iPad and you’ll rarely strain your arms in carrying it around. I can see myself holding this on one hand while watching videos, reading books, and browsing the web without tiring.
With regards to the touch screen experience, it’s just as responsive as the iPad and you won’t have any problems navigating through it. The resolution is also great for watching movies.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab also comes with front and rear facing cameras which will allow for videos calls, taking photos, and recording videos. It’s not the best way to take pics (resolution is kinda bad) but at least it still has the ability to do so. If you think about it though taking a picture with a 7 inch tablet is easier compared to a 9.7 inch tablet (iPad 2).
Android OS
My biggest apprehension with the Galaxy Tab is that the OS wasn’t built for a tablet. Android 2.2 is made for the phone and the real tablet OS, Android 3.0 Honeycomb, is still being developed by Google. It’s good to note though that Samsung’s custom apps do a good job in covering up for the alleged shortcomings of putting a phone OS into a tablet. One of the things that I like about the Android OS is that you can customize the home screen with widgets. I saw this when my friend from Android Manila showed me his Samsung Galaxy S smartphone. This feature is also in the Galaxy Tab since it runs the same operating system.
One of the biggest issues being raised against Android tablets is that you can’t buy apps yet here in the Philippines. While there are several workarounds you can do to be able to get the apps that you want, it takes a lot of added effort to do so unlike the Apple App Store which provides a great user experience when it comes to buying apps for your mobile gadgets. Right now the only apps you can get are the free ones which is a bit of a turn off. Apple’s App Store is probably the biggest edge that the iPad has over the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
So should I get one?
If you can’t wait anymore and you *really* want to get an Android tablet ASAP then yes. You can actually get it for “free” if you get Smart’s P2000 postpaid plan. Note though that there are several great Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets due for release in Q1-Q2 this year. I strongly suggest that you guys wait it out first so that you’ll have more tablet options.
Nice review sir. I was really thinking na this will be a heavily Apple biased review but I was wrong.
I was thinking of getting this early this year but luckily held back because of CES. Hopefully they release the motorola Xoom price soon so I can decide if I’m getting this or not.
Nice review!
Wait for motorola’s xoom, recently awarded as Best in Show (Consumer Elec Show in Las Vegas). Uses android 3.0 (honeycomb). See the video in the CES website and get blown away by android 3.
Acer is coming out with a double screen tablet too. But it does seem Android is THE OS for tablets, not Windows.
Carlo I might be able to enable the paid apps in 2 steps.
Let me write something about it tonight then you can try it out if it works XD
Okay check it out now and give me some feedbacks.
Haha! I have the same dilemma. I just want an eReader but other issues rose so now I’m still wondering if I should get a Kindle, an iPad and the Galaxy Tab.
am grateful for your blog. i think i will wait for the galaxy with the honeycomb os. anyway my retention for smart will be on the 1st week of june. have enough time.