We finally got our hands on a Samsung Galaxy Tab, to put it through its paces. But after we’ve had some time with the Samsung Galaxy Tab, how do we find it stack ups next to the tablet that set the bar for all future tablets, the iPad? Read on for a stat clash between the most hotly anticipated Android tablet of recent months, and the ruling device everyone else wants to overthrow, the all-conquering, first to the table iPad.
Size and weight
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a lot smaller than the iPad, with a 7” screen compared to the 9.7” screen the iPad is packing. The 3G model of the iPad weighs 730g, and the Wi-fi model weighs 680g. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, being almost half the size of the iPad, clock in at just under half that, at 385g. The iPad is still far lighter than a laptop though: the smallest MacBook weighs 2.13kg. In terms of portability, the Samsung Galaxy Tab wins hands down, and not only for its size and weight; it’s got a phone function bundled in as well (which will only function in speaker phone mode or with headset), meaning that you only have to take one device with you, rather than an extra phone as well if you’re carting around an iPad. The downside is that the phone function can be a bit crackly, and sounds like a Skype call, check out our reviews editor Ben putting the phone feature through its paces below…
Price
the iPad price ranges from £429 to £699, the former for a Wi-fi only 16GB model, the latter for a 64GB Wi-fi and 3G model. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Tab costs £530 for an unlocked 16GB model, which comes with 3G built in as standard. That’s the same as a 16GB iPad with Wi-fi and 3G, which, in terms of connectivity and storage size, is exactly even, except you get the extra 3” of screen with the iPad, and the extra gloss of an Apple device that fuels so much Apple fandom.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Tab review here
Battery
The Samsung Galaxy Tab claims to get seven hours of movie playback out of a full charge, whereas the iPad claims to get up to 10 hours of surfing surfing the web, watching video or listening to music over Wi-fi, and that’s on a bigger device. However, we reckon that you’ll be further away from a plug more often with the Galaxy Tab, and you’ll be wanting to use it more on the go, when you’re far away from plug, rather than being sat down somewhere to work, or read like you’re likely to be doing more with the iPad. This all depends on how you use the two devices, of course. We did find though, that in testing, we got a whole day of use out of the Galaxy Tab before the battery conked out, and that’s with intensive 3G and Wi-fi usage.
Media
The camera on the rear of the Samsung Galaxy Tab is 3.2MP, with no flash and no touch to focus feature, which we found to spit out nothing but noisy sub-par shots. Not great if you want this to be an all-in-one device. The iPad doesn’t have a front or rear facing camera although there are rumours afoot that the next version will have one or both of these two. The video streaming on the Samsung Galaxy Tab stood up to a beating, and played everything we could push at it, making it a more attractive option than an iPad, which is locked into iTunes.
Read our full iPad review here,
including what we thought one month on…
Conclusion
We were expecting the Samsung Galaxy Tab to be a good solid alternative to the iPad, albeit with a very different form factor, but one that might appeal to those for whom the iPad still seems like a bulky option. As it stands though, we’re not quite sure what we’d want to use it for. The camera and phone functions on the Samsung Galaxy Tab are lacking, so that it can’t quite call itself a suitable all in one device, and it doesn’t have the big screen appeal that the iPad does for media playback, meaning you wouldn’t want to watch from the sofa on it. It is still enormously portable, but for the price, we think you’d be better off shelling out for an iPad, and keeping a smartphone to hand.
What do you think? iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab?
