Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 hands-on

By on Feb 13, 2011 at 5:36 PM
mobile February 13, 2011

Again, if you followed our live blog of Samsung’s “Unpacked: Part I” event, you may have noticed that the Galaxy S II got the lion’s share of attention. We literally got bombarded with an hour and twenty minutes of the Gally II and a ten minute how-do-you-do on the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Regardless, we went ahead and put our greasy, little, jet-lagged fingers all over one the the new Tab demo units that was available and are ready to report back to you.

The device looks extremely slick. High gloss front, textured black backing, and svelte dimensions. It looks just as nice as , if not a little nicer than, the Motorla XOOM. The device has a 10.1-inch screen with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera capable of HD recording, 2 megapixel front-facing camera, and beefy Tegra 2 processor. We do have to admit, it was pretty hard to get a gauge on just how fast the device was, as Android 3.0 just doesn’t seem like it’s quite done yet. The refresh rate of the screen when panning and zooming were superb, but when you shifted the device from portrait to landscape — or vice versa — the screen would kind of blink and take a second to properly orient and size itself. Again, we’re sure this is because Honeycomb isn’t exactly street legal yet, but it is hard to call this one a winner without some final software to hammer on. For us, the 10-inch form factor really is the right size for a tablet — we know some of you like the 7-inch blueprint, but the 10-inch screen feels right for the web — so we’re glad to see the Android tablet makers jumping into this space. No word on when you can get yourself one of these little monsters or how much it will set you back. Until then, hit up our gallery and let us know what you think!

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38 Comments

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  • http://twitter.com/kirkewilliams kirkewilliams

    Eww, too bad it has Android OS.

    • Mike

      yes lets stick with crappy iOS. clown, go wait in line at the apple store already for your April release.

    • Anonymous

      The DROID OS is magnificent. That is the number 1 selling point. Just look how quickly the Galaxy DROID tab overtook the ipad. Proof positive that Apple is tanking and DROID is staying on top! DROID DOES!

      • Sean

        You show your ignorance by referring to it as Droid…. the Droid is a Motorola product, not an OS. Stop talking crap if you don’t know what you are talking about.

      • Neonino784

        So what’s a Droid Incredible? Oh, HTC.

        Shut it, asshole. Stop being a dick. You know what he meant.

      • http://infotainmentempire.blogspot.com Rob

        Actually, DROID is the branding of the upper end Android phones, regardless of carrier, on Verizon. It is purely a marketing scheme and is not manufacturer dependent, like Neonino refers to the Droid Incredible, made by HTC.

      • Anonymous

        Not into iOS, but how did you come to your assertions? Please provide sales data to consumers.

    • Wallielamaar

      android os is killer! awesome device

  • http://twitter.com/hawaiiinsomniac hawaiiinsomniac

    I really want one, it just has to be priced the same or below the iPad.

    • Me too

      Agreed, and I want a wifi only version at launch. I have NO interest in paying a monthly contract.

  • Donny

    I’m glad they finally have a solution for the OS update for the original galaxy tab….buying a whole tablet.

  • Anonymous

    I will go with 7, its far more portable. 10 inches is less portable and I feel would be left at home more like my 12 inch Asus netbook. Most Ipad users seem to leave them at home a lot. Well at least from reading the blogs and from my friends with Ipads I get that impression. Apple have drawn up a blue print manufactures just want to follow it seems. In the end it will be a matter of preferences and needs. For me, If I will add a tablet to my computing arsenal, then portability is what I need and prefer. No need to have my pc, my netbook and my tablet left at home. I am not an Apple blue print follower anyway.

    • http://twitter.com/yoshipark Yoshi

      7″ is not more portable. Its too big and bulky to throw in a pocket which limits your definition of portability. Just take a phone with you then. 10″ is the sweet spot for tablets and for real productivity.

      • serpentor

        But a 7″ is more portable because you can tuck it away in a jacket pocket or back pants pocket (but i haven’t tried that yet) or a cargo pants pocket.

    • Donny

      Most iPad users dont carry their 10 inch iPad around not because of size but likely because they have a smart phone..that is around 4 inches in size. A 7 inch tablet is no more useful than a typical smart phone. I also don’t get why you need a rear camera. 7 inches or 10 you won’t be using it as a point and shoot like you would a portable smartphone. Bottom line tablets are generally not a need for most at this point due, let alone oversized galaxy s phones.

      • Anonymous

        Replies give me something to think about, tablet or big screen smart phone. However, I still love keypads and my blackberry screen is small, so buying a tablet will be to travel with for sure. 4.3 screens are nice to look at but I am not ready to give up my keypad or blackberry. Maybe one day I will but until then, 7 inch tablets offer the one hand reading, thumb typing, e reader type experience I want while traveling . If I must place a 10 inch tablet on my lap or on a table to type, might as well continue to travel with my net book. I tried reading with one hand on a borrowed Ipad and had wrist ache for a week. So 7 inches is still my first choice for a tablet. Better to try the 7 and if it does not work out, move up to 10 anyway. Think moving from 10 to 7 would be difficult.

  • Rowanova

    I don’t own a tablet yet, but I have played around with a few models. For my tastes, the 7″ is to small to be all that effective and to big to be a phone. The 10″ size is obviously not an oversized phone but is big enough to make some basic computing very do-able, even enjoyable.

    I’d suggest paying attention to the device specs and functional capabilities, as well as the OS, and make decisions accordingly. I feel that a smartphone with a 4″to 4.5″ screen is better than a 7 ” tablet, and then get a 10″ tablet to fill the next gap.

    • Jadehierro

      i’m with you, 10″ tablet, is for share a view, better enviroment, more friendly, in the center, no too short no too big, (or heavy) we most pay attention in what for we need outside home or office, and on performance vs price. (and i still search a non reflective screen to show mi information , not a mirror)

  • Anonymous

    i always wait for the SEGA logo to appear when this thing powers up… flat screen Game Gear would been awesome

  • http://justinpaine.com xxdesmus

    they better get the price right … the sweet spot would be $400-500 for one of these. I’d buy a wifi one in a second at $400

  • heyhey

    sheesh….is there anything that can be done to make android look less ugly..???…seriously…..

    • Anonymous

      DROID OS and especially DROID OS 3.0 HONEYCOMB is incrediblely beautiful. I think you must be referring to the iCrap OS

      • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6HpRLyzMY Walter Sobchak

        The scarcity of your comments is beginning to frighten me. You aren’t lightening up on us phandroids, are you?

  • zps

    i wish they had gone smaller. i had the tab and the ipad, and the ipad is way harder to use in some ways due to size.

  • lothar

    looks great, but I hope they come out with a 7″ version..

  • Btsawant

    It’s really good to see it earliest. I wanna buy one. Samsung really works hard to give the best to its customers. OS is compact but yet good. Only thing is price…. It should be within reasonable limit of customets pocket
    when it is hitting to market?

    Sawant B T

  • http://twitter.com/gmacek Greg Macek

    While I think this looks like a very interesting device from Samsung, my biggest beef with all the Android tablet manufacturers to date is that nobody is offering WiFi only versions alongside their 3G brethren. These companies need to understand that to make a dent in the market you have to create products that don’t require monthly data plans. I would consider a tablet much more quickly if they weren’t attached to a monthly fee paid to a carrier here in the US. Get on that, Motorola and Samsung!

    Oh, and here’s hoping Samsung doesn’t completely forget about their original Galaxy Tab and upgrade it to Honeycomb as well. It’d be a shame, though not a surprise, if they just left the first Tab as is provided no upgrades.

  • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.urso Matthew Urso

    so 16:9 vs 4:3 which feels more right?

  • Anonymous

    Looks awesome, waiting for a cheaper WiFi only version.

  • http://ian.cazabat.com IanCaz

    My biggest concern with the Galaxy “line” is the uncertainty we’re already seeing with “update issues” on the Galaxy S phones. Last I heard, the Fascinate on Verizon is still sitting at Eclair (2.0/2.1). Getting a new tab that doesn’t get OS updates would REALLY suck.

    • serpentor

      But so far I think all HC devices are using stock. And it looks like sammy is using stock too

  • Anonymous

    Not really sure of the point of a heavy(ish) duty 8mp shooter on the back of a 10 inch tab. Are they expecting people to shoot family portraits and vacation pics with this? Seems a bit overkill on a tab this size

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Kusrianto/1291848871 Stephen Kusrianto

    Please let this be my salvation from that forbidden fruit
    Amen.

    to gods of droid:don’t screw the price.please.

  • http://www.facebook.com/xun.chen Chen Xun

    you guys do need to put up VIDEO in your reviews and hands-on, if possible…

  • Macboy15

    I still can’t figure out why people like android os. It’s slow buggy laggy and incomplete. You would think after 2 years of being out the os would run as smooth as iOS by now. But when you have the same company(Apple) making the hardware and software things will always run better. Cant wait to see what iPad 2 is like.

  • http://infotainmentempire.blogspot.com Rob

    So is the Tegra 2 processor the same speed as the one they use in the Xoom? Assuming Samsung actually DOES OS updates, I would be more inclined to get this if it’s at least $200 cheaper than the Xoom.

  • http://twitter.com/s_istefanos Stephen Istefanos

    Now people may call me a fanboy but there is one fact that has always stood and that is people are comparing these Android and every other tablet to the current generation ipad and even at that they just marginally win mostly due to the bump in specs what everyone needs to realize is that technically these are all 2nd gen products building on what apple laid essentially imitating what apple set no company even thought about releasing a tablet until apple came along and blew up the market. Finally we have no clue what the ipad 2 could bring think about it apple is like a sleeping giant right now just all these android webos and RIM products are coming out calling themselves iPad killers and much better than the iPad but the thing is and this has been proven almost every year with the so called apple killers apple will have a keynote that blows everyones minds and brings forth new or revamped ideas that will again take them to the top. People keep talking about how android is taking over the market but what people misunderstand is that is as an operating system that is available on hundreds of devices and all these devices are pretty much competing against a single device which still pretty much outsells its competitors…. Anyways I am not saying one is better than the other each have their strengths and their weaknesses I just don’t like when I see people bash either or and their only argument is “Oh its so much better cause there are more apps” or “its better cause you can customize and its number one” Really? Make a choice based on your needs and what interests you not what others say do your research and find whats best for you.

    • serpentor

      Is your keyboard missing a return key?

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