Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
We here at theandroidlibrary.com have purchased a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to aid in the review of the various Android applications. We have decided it would be useful to take the time to write up an in-depth review of the product. The Samsung tablet that we are reviewing is the 32GB and WI-FI only model and has been updated with the latest TouchWiz user interface, and that is what we will be referring to in the review whenever we mention updates. Please check out the sections below to find out more about this tablet. If you wish to find out even more information about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 or where to purchase it click here to visit Samsung's Galaxy Tab website.
We have also done a review of Amazon's Kindle Fire, remember to check out the Kindle Fire Review for comparison.
**Unfortunately after two weeks of regular use, the screen on our Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 started to malfunction. We were able to successfully return the tablet and get a new one from Best Buy which has been fine. For more details about the problem visit The Android Library Blog.**
General Information
| Rating: |  (3.5 of 4) |
| Price: | $499.99 (16 GB), $599.99 (32 GB) |
| Processor: | NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual-Core 1.0 GHz |
| Screen Size: | 10.1 inches |
| Sound: | Internal Stereo Speakers and Headphone Jack |
| Cameras: | Front 2MP, Rear 3MP w/LED Flash, HD Video Recording |
| Battery: | Up to 14 hours |
| Android OS: | Honeycomb 3.1 |
| Features: | Wireless Internet, Bluetooth, GPS |
| Data Plan: | Available through Verizon or WI-FI only |
| Sensors: | Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, and Compass |
| Dimensions: | Height - 10.1 inches, Width - 6.9 inches Depth - 0.34 inches, Weight - 1.25 lbs |
List of Pros and Cons
| Pros: | Cons: |
| screen size, clarity, very responsive to touch, smooth transitions on the screen, sound is clear and has good volume control, relatively simple to use and understand, cameras work well for photos and videos, fast | battery can get hot, auto-rotate is a little delayed, takes a while to start up, does not seem to function as smoothly when the screen is displayed vertically, takes a long time to charge the battery, keyboard can be unresponsive when typing quickly |
How It Feels
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is surprisingly thin and light weight. It is very easy to hold and carry and it fits well in most bags. It is about the same size as a spiral notebook. The dimensions, 10.1" by 6.9" by 0.34", lend themselves to small spaces very well. It weighs about 1.25 lbs, which is less than comparable models. For example, the iPad 2's weight is listed as 1.33 lbs, the Toshiba Thrive is listed as 1.6 lbs, and the Motorola Xoom is listed as 1.5 lbs. However, because it is so light and thin, it feels somewhat fragile and I would be very afraid to accidentally drop it. A case of some sort is definitely recommended for this tablet to provide some extra protection.
Screen
This tablet has a 10.1 inch screen, which is somewhat larger than that screens of comparable tablets. It is very bright and clear and shows a vivid display of colors. The auto-adjust for brightness works well in most cases, but there are occasions in which it seems to get confused and does not adjust itself quickly or to the optimal setting.
This is a screen shot of the main screen.
One noticeable negative aspect of the screen appeared when I took the tablet outside to test the screen in bright sunlight. After taking it into the sunlight, it seemed to not be able to adjust automatically at all. The screen became very dark and I was unable to see much at all, so I had to manually adjust the screen to full brightness and even then the problem was not completely solved. There is also a noticeable delay when you switch from horizontal to vertical viewing with the auto-rotate feature.
Speed
Overall, the tablet is very fast. It responds quickly to actions, the synching feature operates without any noticeable delay, and when loading applications it hardly ever lags, even with larger applications. Starting it up seems to take the longest and the start-up time varied from about 20 seconds to about 25 seconds, in my personal experience. That does not sound like a very long time, but if you are in a hurry it feels like forever. Some of the improved memory management features that came with the latest update can help to improve the speed of the tablet. For example, the update makes it easier to close running applications and nonessential background operations.
Battery
According to Best Buy's description of this tablet on their website, it has up to fourteen hours of battery life. This obviously varies with use and between each individual tablet. So far, the battery life seems to be reasonable. Depending on what types of applications you run, the battery life will vary. For example, if I were to run five applications at the same time while watching videos, listening to music, or playing a game, the battery life would be significantly shorter than if I ran two or three applications and browsed the internet at the same time. There are some features that I have noticed impact the battery life that an average user might overlook. Automatic synching, wireless network searching, and higher brightness settings on the screen all negatively impact the battery life. This can all be kept in check by customizing your settings or using a power save mode. The two biggest problems that I have noticed with the battery are that it seems like it takes a long time to recharge and it can get very warm occasionally.
Sound
The overall sound quality is very good. It is clear and works well at all volume levels. This tablet comes with two built-in stereo speakers located on either side of the tablet and a headphone jack. It also came decent quality earphones in the package. The headphone jack works well but its placement on the device (above the front-facing camera) is not very conducive to using video chat or running other applications that might require the tablet to be horizontal because the cord easily gets in the way. It also comes with a built-in microphone located at the bottom of the tablet, near where you would plug in the charging cable or adapters. This is somewhat inconvenient as it is easily blocked by docks, cases, and your hands if your are holding it while trying to use an application that requires a microphone. In general, this location has not caused too many issues for me, but when I have been using Google Talk's call feature, there have been complaints that the person on the other end has difficulty hearing what I am saying, especially when I had the tablet in a case that acted like a stand for it.
Cameras
This tablet comes with two cameras, one facing the front and one facing the rear. The front camera is two megapixels and the rear camera is three megapixels and has and LED flash built in. The cameras can take photos and videos with a variety of settings and options to choose from. There are also basic applications for photo and video editing that come preloaded on the tablet or were added after the update.
When taking pictures you can set the shooting mode for a single shot, a smile shot (where the camera waits until it recognizes a smile to snap the photo), a panoramic shot, or an action shot. There are also settings for the screen mode which change things like the brightness, contrast, and sharpness. Those options include landscape, night, sports, party/indoor, sunset, dawn, text, and candlelight. The white balance can be changed as well to reflect different lighting. The white balance can be set on auto, daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, or cloudy. The camera also comes with effects options including the normal set that you might find in most cameras; grayscale, sepia, and negative. The resolution of photos can also be selected from two choices, 2048 X 1536 or 1024 X 768. There are also a few other settings to choose from when in camera mode including a timer, focus mode, metering, and whether or not you want your photos to have a GPS tag.
Screen shots of the Camera Settings
When shooting video there are many different options to choose from as well. The white balance can be changed the same as in camera mode, there is a timer, the effects are also the same as in camera mode, and the resolution can be chosen from 1280 X 720 or 640 X 480. If you use the video recording option with your tablet for capturing little moments to email to friends or family or post on social networking sites, then I would recommend always using the lower resolution because shooting any video in the higher resolution that is over a few minutes long is usually too large of a file to send over email as I found out after shooting a three minute video of my dogs playing with each other.
The settings and editing options for photos and videos are very basic but would work just fine for the average user. To expand these options there are plenty of free and paid applications on the Android Market if you are looking for something more advanced. It is also very easy to download the videos or photos onto you home computer or laptop and use any editing software you have on those as well. Overall, the cameras are of the quality you might expect from a tablet.
Keyboards
This tablet has several keyboard options available if you have installed the TouchWiz update. It comes with the standard Samsung keyboard, the Android keyboard, the Swype keyboard, a voice input option, and a TalkBack keyboard (available in the accessibility features).
In order clockwise from top-left: Samsung, Android, Swype, Voice Recognition
Samsung Keyboard: The Samsung keyboard is average at best and can get the job done, but compared to your other options it is slower and more difficult to use. The letters and symbols are a little too spaced out and I have had quite a few problems with the space bar not responding when I press it. The predictive setting and auto-correct are much more annoying and distracting than helpful when compared to the same features on the Android and Swype keyboards. Overall, it works well enough but would not be my first choice in keyboard.
Android Keyboard: The letters on the Android keyboard are a little bit closer together than the Samsung keyboard and there are less issues with the space bar being unresponsive. The auto-correct and predictive settings are much better and less distracting than on the Samsung keyboard. The secondary symbols that are on the corners of some of the letter keys are a little bit smaller and more difficult to see than on other keyboards and that can impede some actions like finding the quote symbol or a question mark. I would prefer this keyboard to the Samsung keyboard because it is faster and more accurate.
Swype Keyboard: The Swype keyboard, in which you can move your finger across the keyboard to connect letters and form a word or use as a normal keyboard, was the best option in my opinion. It was much faster and more accurate than the other keyboards. However, if you have trouble finding letters on a keyboard this is definitely not the option for you. It can become confusing and very inaccurate if you take too long to "swype" your letters together, so unless you are willing to take the time to learn how to use this feature it could become very frustrating. This keyboard can also be resized and moved from one side of the screen to the other. If you are willing and able to learn how to use the "swype" feature or if you are already familiar with it, then this is by far the best keyboard outside of any that are available in the Android Market.
Swype Features
Voice Recognition
The voice recognition feature can be used in a few different ways and it seems to work well about seventy percent of the time. It is used to dictate documents, memos, or emails and can also be used for the voice search option within Google search. When using this feature, I found myself concentrating on annunciating because many times a simple statement like "the voice recognition has a lot of issues" could get turned into "the voice recognition have a lot of fishing". The voice recognition feature's accuracy will probably vary person to person depending on the way you speak. It also has options to block offensive results from the voice search and the language can be changed. For me, it seemed like the voice search worked better than the voice-to-text options in other applications. It was good at recognizing numbers but not as great with recognizing the name of some locations.
Voice Recognition Humor
It is important to note that the programmer must have had a sense of humor because as I became increasingly frustrated with it not recognizing some longer words, I went for the obvious choice in fictional lengthy words and tried "supercalafragilisticexpialidocious" of Mary Poppins fame. I had expected the voice recognition to come up with some crazy combination of words in a nonsensical phrase, but alas, it had worked. Overall, the voice recognition feature works well if you do not have a lot to say and it could be extremely useful if you have the patience to work with it.
Storage/Organization
To transfer files from your home computer to the tablet or from the tablet to your PC, it is very simple and straightforward. It works the same way a flash drive would work, with drag and drop capabilities as well as a clearly organized file system. The transfer of documents is quick and easy and a great way to personalize your tablet with pictures and music or continue work on important projects with you PC. The one drawback regarding this aspect of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is that there is no SD card slot built in to allow option for extra storage. However, the 32 GB option probably has more than enough storage for most users.
Update
If you have recently purchased the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and it does not have the latest update on it, I would highly recommend taking the time to download it. The update brings changes in the form of an improved Samsung-made user interface called TouchWiz as well as an expansion of Samsung's file sharing capabilities in the form of Kies. The update adds/changes a few noticeable features within the user interface, for the better in my opinion. Some of the new features that came with the "TouchWiz" update include the addition of the Mini Apps Tray, Live Panel, Clipboard, and Indicator Quick Panel. The update has also streamlined the aesthetics and functionality of the tablet making it a little more user friendly for those of us who are not Android experts or tech geeks. Another feature the update brought to the party was an obvious and easy way to take screen shots, with a screen capture button located conveniently on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.
Mini Apps Tray
This new feature offers a convenient way to access some of the most commonly used applications. It pops up from the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen if you press a little arrow that is centered there. It allows quick access to Task Manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator, and Music Player. This can be helpful if looking for one of those applications, however, I have found that it mostly gets in my way as I am prone to accidentally pulling the Mini Apps Tray up when I am trying to scroll through web pages or access something else on the navigation bar.
Indicator Quick Panel
The Indicator Quick Panel is located in the notifications area of the navigation bar in the right side corner. If you pull up the notifications menu, it offers an easy to read and easy to navigate panel with important information and actions available. It shows the time and date, your WI-FI signal strength, the percentage of battery left, quick access to settings, a screen brightness adjuster, and the ability to toggle on/off for WI-FI, notifications, GPS, sound, and auto-rotate. It also shows your notifications and what functions are currently running. This feature is very useful if you need to quickly change a setting or check for important notifications.
Live Panel
The "Live Panel" portion of the update really only applies to new and improved widgets. These include the AccuWeather, AP Mobile, digital clock, dual clock, email, Yahoo! Finance, bookmark, program monitor (my favorite), and improved agenda and calendar widgets. Overall, its usefulness is subjective. Depending on the type of person you are and how you use your tablet, these improvements and additions could be very integral to your daily organization or you could have no use for them at all. For me, the most useful aspects of the Live Panel are the digital clock, AccuWeather, program monitor, and email widgets.
Live Panel Widgets
Clipboard
The clipboard (copy and paste features) are more powerful and advanced with this update. This allows users to more easily share pictures, video, and links. This also includes the easy to access screen capture function. The screen capture function is particularly useful for me as I try to analyze different features of the tablet or review applications because it gives me an easy way to provide a visual interpretation of information for myself and visitors to this website. The expanded copy and paste functions are also very helpful and important additions to this tablet and seem to be a little less clumsy to use than before.
Built-In Apps
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 came with several pre-loaded applications, as do most all tablets. Most of these applications fell into two categories, applications made by Google and applications made by Samsung. The Google pre-loaded apps include Books, Calendar, Gmail, Google Search, Latitude, Maps, Market, Navigation, Places, Talk, Videos, Voice Search and YouTube. The Samsung pre-loaded apps include eBook, Media Hub, Music Hub, Pen Memo, Photo Editor, Samsung Apps, and Social Hub.
Google Apps: Most of the Google-made applications are fairly useful, simple, and free options for important features that tablets and smartphones can provide. For example, the Google Books application easily turns your tablet into an e-reader with access to many publicly available books. It also provides access to newer and more popular book titles that you can purchase in the Android Market. Many of the other applications deal with location and GPS functions like Latitude, Maps, Navigation and Places. These applications are very important to many people who travel a lot or use their GPS function daily, but they are also rendered useless if you do not have a mobile data plan for your tablet as they can then only be accessed through WI-FI which is not widely available for free in many parts of the country. Some of the other applications like Gmail, Talk, and YouTube are promotions of their own products, but are also useful if you already use those products.
Samsung Apps: Most of the Samsung-made applications are their alternative to what Google and some other companies like Amazon, have provided. For example, Samsung Apps is their answer to the Android Market and the Amazon Apps Store. However, it falls flat because there are very few applications available for purchase compared to the Android and Amazon options. Media Hub, Music Hub, and eReader are also Samsung's alternatives to the video, music, and book purchase options from the Android Market and Amazon. Although they may have just as many options, these applications have proven to be somewhat useless as most users are already familiar with Google's Android Market and Amazon, and would prefer to use those services rather than have to set up and monitor a new account with Samsung.
