Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Review: Samsung's Second-Child Syndrome

[Zingam]

[citation][nom]iceman29[/nom]samsung would be using the better hardware on their windows 8 RT device... they see the writing on the wall for android tablets... i had a galaxy tab 1 and a galaxy tab 10.1 and i sold those and got a nexus 7 16gb... but i'll be buying the Microsoft surface as soon as it comes out...[/citation]

Stinky Microsoft zombie, eh?

 

[monsta]

I was thiking Samsung would of done a better job of the their latest Galaxy Tab, I find it unimpressive. So far I still believe the Asus Transformer Infinity is a much better tablet overall.

 

[blazorthon]

[citation][nom]iceman29[/nom]samsung would be using the better hardware on their windows 8 RT device... they see the writing on the wall for android tablets... i had a galaxy tab 1 and a galaxy tab 10.1 and i sold those and got a nexus 7 16gb... but i'll be buying the Microsoft surface as soon as it comes out...[/citation]

I recommend waiting to actually see with more certainty the quality/pricing of the MS tablets. MS looks good from this perspective, but until we actually see it, it could really turn out differently. Heck, even if it works properly when it comes out, we might find more issues a few weeks later. I find that it is often best to give a tablet or phone one to three months before giving it too much consideration.

 

[blazorthon]

[citation][nom]monsta[/nom]I was thiking Samsung would of done a better job of the their latest Galaxy Tab, I find it unimpressive. So far I still believe the Asus Transformer Infinity is a much better tablet overall.[/citation]

They might just be trying to get people to think that they should spend more money on the Note instead of the Tab. Even at 25% more expensive, the Note is easily a better value.

 

[xendrome]

Why are we comparing a 10.1 inch tablet to the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire.. should they have compared the Galaxy S 2 7.0 inch to them instead?

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]It's very hard to log in to Tom's Hardware using a Nexus. Seeing how some of the writers are fans, you'd think they'd notice a thing like that.[/citation]Works fine on PC browsers. Maybe you should complain to Google for treating Chrome for Android like the redheaded stepchild edition.

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]markheber[/nom]The aspect ratios in the chart were strange. One was a reduced fraction and the other was not, they should have been the same.Either:16:10 and 16:12 or,8:5 and 4:3[/citation]They're using common notation. The widescreen aspects are typically listed as 16:9 or 16:10 (16:10 is not reduced because it is typically compared directly with 16:9) but the oldschool 4:3 aspect is almost always listed as 4:3.

If you wanted to be really elite get friendly with decimals and reduce everything to X:1.

 

[blazorthon]

[citation][nom]alextheblue[/nom]Works fine on PC browsers. Maybe you should complain to Google for treating Chrome for Android like the redheaded stepchild edition.[/citation]

Even on PC browsers, Tom's sites are easily among the most bug-ridden sites that I've ever used. Also, my Android phone usually has no trouble with Tom's and that's with several browsers, so the problem might not be because of the mobile browsers, but rather a problem with Tom's instead.

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]belardo[/nom]Problem with all 16GB Nexus 7 tablets (besides you only really have about 12GB to use) - is that when you have less than 3 and especially 2GB of memory left, the performance becomes too slow to operate.I think adding memory may help... so store all photos and media on an SD Card.[/citation]I tell you what, give me an SD card and your Nexus 7, and I'll supply the hammer. I'll install the SD card for you in no time![citation][nom]blazorthon[/nom]I recommend waiting to actually see with more certainty the quality/pricing of the MS tablets. MS looks good from this perspective, but until we actually see it, it could really turn out differently. Heck, even if it works properly when it comes out, we might find more issues a few weeks later. I find that it is often best to give a tablet or phone one to three months before giving it too much consideration.[/citation]Didn't stop everyone and their brother from running out and buying a Nexus 7. If you've got the 8GB model you've got almost no space to work with, and no expansion option. But they're great for kids to play with apps and browse the web, etc. Not so much for media consumption or downloading heavy game titles. They are very cheap though. They should have been 16GB/32GB instead of 8/16 though, like the Fire HD. There's a few other things but storage is the big issue.

 

[blazorthon]

Didn't stop everyone and their brother from running out and buying a Nexus 7. If you've got the 8GB model you've got almost no space to work with, and no expansion option. But they're great for kids to play with apps and browse the web, etc. Not so much for media consumption or downloading heavy game titles. They are very cheap though. They should have been 16GB/32GB instead of 8/16 though, like the Fire HD. There's a few other things but storage is the big issue.

Well, that and more shows that my waiting recommendation has quite some merit to it.

 

[Inferno1217]

Galaxy Tab 2 10.1...........Why did this review take so long? They have been on sale for a while now.

 

[belardo]

My bad... I thought Nexus 7 has an SD-Slot. With the system performance turning into shit with 2GB of less, they really should have (A) fixed the memory bug and (B) offer at least a 32GB model. There should never be an 8GB version.

 

[Guest]

Why doesn't the battery test include the iPad 3 ? After all... that's the product the Galaxy Tab "does battle" with ! Lousy article... Tom's standards have gone down of late...

 

[halcyon]

I guess I'm wondering why anyone would want the Samsung Galaxy Tabs when the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity can be had? The Infinity is what all android tablets should be...got the build quality, got the build materials, got the specs, got the price. Booyaa! Look Ma, no plastic! Can someone clarify?

 

[batkinson001]

I bought this for $325 CAD (after taxes) last week, after trading in my 32GB Blackberry Playbook for a $72 credit (it normally retails for $350 CAD)... it can be sluggish at times (Jelly Bean can only make this better) and I am still trying to figure out how to get the battery usage times that reviewers are getting. The tablet does what i want it to however, it plays music with Power AMP, Videos (including MKV files, no converting needed) with MX player pro (using a 32Gb usb stick and the Samsung USB Connectivity Kit), read my digital comics and kobo ebooks... Also it can control my TV, who needs TV Guide? Peel is pretty useful!

Samsung has a decent media consumption device here. I even have a 32Gb microSD card on order so i can maximise my storage options...

iWhat?

 

[halcyon]

[citation][nom]batkinson001[/nom] iWhat?[/citation] Alumiinum backed iPad...durnit!

 

[blazorthon]

[citation][nom]Valentin Lup[/nom]Why doesn't the battery test include the iPad 3 ? After all... that's the product the Galaxy Tab "does battle" with ! Lousy article... Tom's standards have gone down of late...[/citation]

Since when is a $400 tablet going up against a $500-800 tablet? If anything, the Samsung Note, not the Tab, will compete with the iPad 3.

 

[jelloboy]

I have a Nexus 7 and an iPad 3 -- I use my iPad 3 for probably 2 hours a day, I check my Nexus 7 about once a week to see what updates they offer. Android is a complete disappointment, there is almost no exclusive content outside of what Google offers, and even that isn't much. I bought an Asus Transformer when it first came out and ended up selling it about 2 months later when I realized there was no apps for it and since I had an iPad 2 at the time, the thing was a complete and total disappointment. So far in my life I've never had a bad experience with an Apple product I've bought, I've always been impressed with the build quality and the software right out of the box. And while the Nexus 7 does have a very good build quality the entire Android family is pure disappointment. For example I wanted to use my Nexus 7 to watch the Watch ESPN app, on my iPhone 4s I can use the same app on the cell network and it works 100% of the time and the video quality is excellent. On the Nexus 7, in my house and WiFi with a 75mb Internet connection the video is freezing (took 6 TIMES for it to run more than 30 seconds) and the video looks awful, like it was for a low resolution phone. Android ALWAYS disappoints. The fanboys out there can say whatever they want, but I own both Apple and Android devices, the Apple products I love, the Android devices I tolerate while hoping they'll finally get better, which so far they haven't.

 

[batkinson001]

I have a Nexus 7 and an iPad 3 -- I use my iPad 3 for probably 2 hours a day, I check my Nexus 7 about once a week to see what updates they offer. Android is a complete disappointment, there is almost no exclusive content outside of what Google offers, and even that isn't much. I bought an Asus Transformer when it first came out and ended up selling it about 2 months later when I realized there was no apps for it and since I had an iPad 2 at the time, the thing was a complete and total disappointment. So far in my life I've never had a bad experience with an Apple product I've bought, I've always been impressed with the build quality and the software right out of the box. And while the Nexus 7 does have a very good build quality the entire Android family is pure disappointment. For example I wanted to use my Nexus 7 to watch the Watch ESPN app, on my iPhone 4s I can use the same app on the cell network and it works 100% of the time and the video quality is excellent. On the Nexus 7, in my house and WiFi with a 75mb Internet connection the video is freezing (took 6 TIMES for it to run more than 30 seconds) and the video looks awful, like it was for a low resolution phone. Android ALWAYS disappoints. The fanboys out there can say whatever they want, but I own both Apple and Android devices, the Apple products I love, the Android devices I tolerate while hoping they'll finally get better, which so far they haven't.

A person's opinion of something will generally be more in favour of whatever product gives them the most satisfying user experience in your case it is Apple with their quality control over software and hardware...

It could be the ESPN app isn't optimised properly for Jelly bean (Android OS 4.1.x) or the nexus 7...

 

[nebun]

to much bloatware...tks but no thanks

 

[batkinson001]

Only bloatware I can find is touchwiz... and the hubs... looking forward to seeing what the jellybean update will do for my tab 2...

 

[sokol82]

It seems to me the price range for this tables should had been 299$-349$.

With that set in stone it would had win price/performance from many customers who are looking for 250-350$ max spending budget.

The price would be much more attractive and folks would chose it over 7" Nexus.

 

[batkinson001]

It seems to me the price range for this tables should had been 299$-349$.

With that set in stone it would had win price/performance from many customers who are looking for 250-350$ max spending budget.

The price would be much more attractive and folks would chose it over 7" Nexus.

I agree. It's $350 up here in canada. Perfect price point.

 

[Guest]

I got this for Christmas, and it's a good tablet. (I'm not sure if it's Facebook or not), but it's slow, in a way. Whenever I "like" or "share" a picture, it takes forever to load up.. especially for the "share" window to pop up. And sometimes when I press the "like" button, it somehow goes on a page's link BELOW the picture! And once I supposedly "press" the link, it goes to their page. AND, when I go to my own wall or a page's wall, it messes up the whole page and keeps refreshing itself, which basically takes forever for the page to stop refreshing. And whenever I share a picture, the keyboard takes a while to pop up too. Either Facebook is weird on the tablet, or the tablet screen somehow moves when I press any button. And the battery runs low too fast; I literally have to charge it EVERY day. And the picture quality is eh; not the sharpest pixel quality but it's alright. I prefer a laptop over a tablet.