The
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 got its official U.S. launch today, with pricing and
general availability revealed for the first time since the Galaxy Tab 2 series
was quietly shown at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona two months ago.
Back
at MWC, the Tab 2 played second fiddle to the company's attention-grabbing
Galaxy Note 10.1, itself a larger version of the Galaxy Note phone.
Today,
though, the Galaxy Tab 2 series has the spotlight to itself. A light refresh of
earlier tablets, the Tab 2 Series comes in 7.0 and 10.1-inch versions and
features similar specs, with a few differences.
The
biggest news surrounding these tablets is their markedly lower price. The
Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is priced at $250, goes on pre-order April 12, and on-sale 10
days later. The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is priced at $400, will go on pre-order May
4, and ships May 13.
Those
prices are especially noteworthy given the red-hot tablet market. At $250, the
Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 sets its sights squarely on its bargain-priced $200 Amazon Kindle
Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet competition. All three of those models
have 7-inch 1024 by 600 pixel displays, and all three come with just 8GB of
memory on-board. But of those, only the Galaxy Tab 2 has an infrared port for
controlling your TV and entertainment components, and only the Tab 2 has
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are using
their own versions of Android, built on-top of 2.3 Gingerbread).
Meanwhile,
the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 price reflects a 20 percent drop as compared with last
spring's original Galaxy Tab 10.1. Both old and new 10.1-inch models had 16GB
of memory and 1280 by 800 pixel resolution, but this year's version adds the
microSD card slot and IR port, so you can use the tablet as a remote control.
Both
of the new Galaxy Tabs have a 1GHz dual-core processor, though Samsung did not
divulge if they were the same Nvidia Tegra 2 processors as in previous
dual-core Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi, for example (presumably, it's not since they're not
saying). The new models will replace the existing like-sized Tabs in the
market, the 10.1 Wi-Fi and the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. Oddly, when comparing the
Tab 2 7.0 to the Tab 7.0 Plus, the latter—a late-2011 model--was actually more
tricked out than the Tab 2, with a 1.2-GHz processor and 16GB of memory. The
rear-facing camera's spec (on both models) of 3 megapixels stays the same as on
the original Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi; but oddly, the front-facing camera drops from 2
megapixels on the 10.1 to a sub-megapixel 640 by 480 on the new models.
The
physical specs of the Tab 2 models are virtually the same as on their
respective predecessors. Likewise, physical build is comparable, too, to
previous models (not to mention that it's notably better than the chintzy
impression the Tab 2 series left in its pre-production state at Mobile World
Congress two months ago). The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 weighs the same as the Galaxy
Tab 7.0 Plus: 0.76 pounds, with a similar design and build quality, and similar
dimensions (4.8 by 7.6 inches, but slightly thicker at 0.41 inches, to the 7.0
Plus' 0.39 inches). The Tab 2 10.1 also has similar dimensions to its
predecessor, 6.9 inches by 10.1 inches, but slightly narrower (0.34 inches to
0.38 on the original Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi). Oddly, the new 10.1-inch model's weight
is ever-so-slightly more, 1.28 pounds to 1.25 pounds.
In
its launch, Samsung emphasized aspects of its software additions to the Tab 2
series. Among them: a year of included Dropbox service with 50GB of storage;
the IR remote control capability, powered here by Peel's app; and features like
Smart View for mirroring content from your TV on the tablet, and Remote
Viewfinder for use with Samsung's Wi-Fi cameras. This feature could have some
interesting applications for group photos, for example; using WiFi Direct and
an app on the tablet, you can use the tablet to control the viewfinder,
shutter, zoom, and flash of the camera.
The
Smart View TV-to-tablet mirroring feature will work with only Samsung 7000
series LED HDTVs, circa 2011 and beyond. It was fairly nifty in a demo,
requiring just a few taps to share a television's feed with the tablet; I
noticed a fair amount of macroblocking and artifacts in the image on the
tablet, but it's unclear if that's because of the tablet itself or the
available Wi-Fi bandwidth. The image was certainly watchable in a pinch; and it
sufficed compared with some other middling streamed images I've seen over time.
Also, I noticed that, as compared to the same 720p image broadcast on a Samsung
HDTV, the image on the tablet frankly called attention to the color
reproduction deficiencies of the tablet's screen.
Is
all of this enough for Samsung to stay competitive in a crowded tablet
marketplace? Maybe, but it's still a tight call. These tablets are obviously
being positioned as the company's “value” hitters—no 4G, no pen input as on the
upcoming Galaxy Note, no high-resolution display—and that makes the inclusion
of an infrared port an even larger coup.
Still,
these models must compete with the Apple juggernaut along with the Android
masses. And that might be a tough proposition without better, higher resolution
displays, thinner designs, and better cameras. I also wish that Samsung had
included its own universal remote control app with the tablet, rather than
relying solely on a third-party app to do the heavy lifting instead.
View orginal artical here-Tablet
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