The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a pretty loaded device with 1Ghz processor, Android 2.2 operating system with Flash support, dual cameras, 32GB storage and wi-fi / 3G connectivity among other features. The front and back surfaces are different with the rear being adorned by white shiny plastic and the front sticking to the normal flush black bezel and glass screen.
All the other peripherals like the four touch sensitive buttons below the screen, headphone jack on the top, volumer rocker, microSD card slot and the power button to the right are in place but the micro USB port was missing. The Samsung Galaxy Tab uses a proprietary charging cable for transferring content.
The dimensions of the Samsung Galaxy Tab (7.4 x 4.7 x 0.47 inches) make it a handy device and it weighs just 0.83 pounds. The 1024×768 LCD screen is awesome though it does not have the Super AMOLED like its other siblings. The viewing angles, the display brightness and color are all stunning. Moreover it is very responsive and so making a selection or scrolling is never a problem.
The underlying Samsung’s Touchwiz 3.0 software based on Android provides a polished experience. Samsung has also developed core apps just for the Samsung Galaxy Tab which include email, calendar, messaging, contacts and media hub. With the media hub you can take full advantage of the company’s new movie store which has more than 1000 videos with quite a decent variety available.
Thanks to its 1Ghz processor, browsing on the Samsung Galaxy Tab is a breeze. Even though it has Flash support, the videos tended to slow down overall surfing speed. The 3 megapixel camera with LED flash performs just about average. Generally the performance is fast except when the heavy videos slow it down which could be remedied by disabling Flash altogether.
The battery life lasts for about 6 hours and 9 minutes which is comparable to other Android tablets. However the crazy thing is that this battery cannot be charged through a laptop or desktop computer. If you still plug it in the Samsung Galaxy Tab will retain the charge but it won’t be recharged.
Overall the Samsung Galaxy Tab is the best Android based tablet on the market and it is the first real competition to Apple’s iPad. However, since Google has not yet come up with a clear mandate for Android as a tablet operating system, any device based on Android suffers lack of application and software support. In short, Samsung has to come up with its own apps to enliven this device.
