samsung galaxy tab 10.1 review

On June 29th a couple months before I left for BlogHer11 I received a shiny new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the mail. The 10.1 was released nationwide on June 17th so I was so excited to be getting my hands on this beauty so soon.
I'm just going to jump right into this review because there are so many amazing things to say about this product.

To start the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is slightly thinner then the iPad2 and what some people say is the thinnest tablet on the market right now. Lying flat it's just as thick as an iPhone, with my phone on it's side and the Tab standing correct it's quite thinner as you can see, and the last picture shoes how wide the Tab is.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is "taller" then an iPad if you stand it on it's side. I tried squeezing it into an iPad2 case since I couldn't find Tab cases anywhere (FYI: you can only find them online right now) and it wouldn't fit at all.

PERFORMANCE

With the new 10.1 Tab model you will be getting the Honeycomb OS that runs off the Android 3.1 market. I love Android and although Honeycomb doesn't support all apps you can definitely find a lot of FREE (yes most are free compared to the ones you have to pay for in the Cupertino's (Apple) store. The downside is that Apple did just announce that it is home to over 95,000 tablet applications where as Android won't say how much it has. You will quickly find out on your own that it doesn't have much in comparison to Apple.

Animations quick, transitions fast, and web browser performance is awesome, and although videos seem to load up in a smaller window as opposed to filling the screen.

As far as the speakers go of course you won't be hearing Doby Digital Sound blaring out from the sides but to me you get some pretty nice crisp audio and video playback. Flash, DivX, MPEG4 and H.264 files all played back petty well. The only problem I have is viewing videos via Facebook. IE: If someone posts a video on their wall and I try to view it, I can hear the sound but the screen is pitch black. I'm not sure why I have this issue and if you will experience the same thing.

BATTERY

I am in love with the battery life of this puppy. Seriously, even with the display brightness at about 70% I was able to get about 10 hours of life before I was seeing the screams of my Tab telling me it needed to be plugged in. Turning the power down just a bit I was able to get about 11.5 hours of up time. I usually keep my settings at "Automatic Brightness" and I still see between 10-11 hours before she dies on me.

SOFTWARE

Again you will be getting Android 3.1 with the Honeycomb Market and that brings along widgets that can be resized vertically and horizontally. Now you cannot do this will all widgets (yet) but for Email, Calender and a few others it is possible.

As you can see I expanded my Gmail widget to take up most of the screen space because I like to glance and see multiple emails before having to open up the application.

I am in love with this feature and cannot wait till more people jump on board and update their applications.

CAMERA

One word. Impressed. You can take 3MP photos/videos using the rear- and- front facing cameras. Now sure in comparison 3MP isn't much but for a Tablet of this size you can get some amazing shots. I'm not entirely sold on using it just because it's a little hard to hold the tab and press the shutter button at the same time. Now I'm not jumping for joy but the image/video quality is nice and better then some tabs/phones.





both pictures using the Galaxy Tab camera.

CONCLUSION
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the best Honeycomb tablet on the market to date. In due time will we see if it can match up to Apple's extensive store of Apps and if you're willing to wait for that (like I am) then this Tab provides a world-class Gmail experience, better handling than the iPad 2 (in my opinion anyways) and a higher resolution display.

The 16GB WiFi model (that I have) retails for $499 -- exactly in line with the iPad -- while the 32GB variant will demand $100 more out of your pocketbook. If you're looking for some 3G action so you can surf when not on a WiFi line then the 16GB goes for $529 while the 32GB is $629. Some pretty hefty price tags but if you ask me it's definitely worth it and I wish I had the 3G service.



**I was sent the product(s) free of charge by the company or PR representative. It has been used for the purpose of this review. The views are strictly 100% my own. Receiving the product did not influence me to produce a positive review. I truly love the Galaxy Tab and use it each and every day!**