Battle of the Budget Tablets - Nook Color vs. Galaxy Tab
by Vivek Gowri on May 25, 2011 12:52 AM ESTMeet the Contenders - Galaxy Tab WiFi
The Galaxy Tab WiFi is very similar to the Galaxy Tab we reviewed previously, and that’s a good thing. Even if I thought the software was too smartphone-like to be very useful, I liked the Galaxy Tab hardware, and that has stayed mostly the same here. The design hasn’t changed, with a very minimalistic front face and thin bezels the entire way around. Even with the same size screen, the Galaxy Tab ends up being significantly more compact than the Nook. The sides are still matte black, but our WiFi review sample has a glossy white back instead of the Darth Vader all-black look our Verizon 3G review unit had. It’s a good look, though I’d have preferred an all-white device rather than a two tone aesthetic.
Most of the differences lie internally. Beyond the obvious lack of any 3G radios, we see that Samsung's venerable Hummingbird SoC has been swapped out for TI's OMAP 3630, featuring the same 1GHz Cortex A8 and and a PowerVR SGX 530 GPU. The SGX 530 is roughly half as powerful as the SGX 540 pixel pusher in Hummingbird, so it's a relatively significant downgrade. Speaking of downgrades, the Bluetooth 3.0 radio has been dropped in favor of Bluetooth 2.1, though that is pretty minor compared to the SoC switch. Other than that, there's the same 16GB built-in flash storage (plus microSD expansion), the same front facing 1.3MP and rear facing 3MP cameras, the same beautiful 7” WSVGA display, and the same TouchWiz skin on top of Froyo. The Gingerbread update is scheduled to release to devices within the next few weeks.
Great, so why are we here? Because, well, the WiFi-edition Galaxy Tab is downright cheap - at $350 it’s going after the crowd that thought the iPad was too expensive, thought the Xoom was ludicrously expensive, and would otherwise end up with something like the Viewsonic G Slate. Trust this guy, the Samsung is better. Way better. But how does it stack up against the even less expensive Nook Color?
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MonkeyPaw - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
Sorry for the typo, it is early for me. :oLukemcd - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link
It's off in size. That's the primary reason they did not make a direct comparison. It really is an apples-oranges thing, too, since two-handed typing is perfect with a vertical Nook but really isn't once you get much beyond that.jconan - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link
Dido, got the Transformer from Fry's even though amazon sells it for 443. It is quite worth it with splashtop pc access and portability even though it is a bit more for the portability. It does pale to iPad in terms of quality apps but for the freedom from iTunes it's liveable.ViperV990 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
Is it feasible for a regular joe to put Honeycomb on either tablets?Also, is either of them capable of acting as a Google Voice/Talk client?
zvadim - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
Nook doesn't have a microphone, so unless you try for some kind of Bluetooth headset solution....ForeverStudent - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
I realize this is kind of irrelevant to the article, and I apologize, but are the dimensions of the devices on the first page switched? They seem to show that the nook is significantly smaller than the Tab, about 30% shorter and narrower. But then throughout the article you talk about how much more compact the Tab is. I could be confused, I'm just checking.VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
Ah crap, I think those are the dimensions for the EVO 4G...Fixing that now :) Thanks for catching that.cosmotic - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
Just as this was published Woot.com has the Refurbished Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" 16GB Android Tablet - Wi-Fi + 3G for $259.VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
That, my friend, is a good buy. Not sure if I like the idea of a refurb, but if you're dead set on a Galaxy Tab, that'd be tough to pass up.phendric - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
Ditto to that. This isn't the wi-fi only version of the Galaxy Tab, but the full 3G version (with the Hummingbird SoC, and other better hardware). I'll only add that it runs on Sprint's network.I wonder if activation of a data plan is required? Anyone know?
I signed up to two different websites just now - Woot, to order the Tab, and Anandtech, to leave this comment. I've been a silent reader of the site for several years now, but just as I was wondering why there wasn't a good review comparison between the two tablets on a high-traffic site, this showed up.
Great site, good writing, active community.