Samsung Galaxy Tab - The AnandTech Review
by Vivek Gowri on December 23, 2010 9:48 AM ESTSamsung Galaxy Tab - Performance
The Galaxy Tab’s internal hardware feels pretty familiar. As with the Galaxy S phones and the newly launched Nexus S, there’s a Hummingbird chip underhood. Samsung’s proprietary SoC bundles a 1GHz Cortex A8 with Imagination’s PowerVR SGX540 GPU and 512MB of LPDDR1.
Performance is about expected, given how the Galaxy S devices performed. The second generation 45nm Snapdragon chips are really nipping at the heels of Hummingbird, even surpassing it on the CPU side in our benchmarks. Snapdragon has always had strong FPU performance so the Linpack score is expected, but in SunSpider’s JavaScript benchmark, we see the 1GHz myTouch 4G basically beat everything this side of the Cortex A9/Tegra 2 combo. We talked more about how A9 compared to A8 in our Tegra 2 performance preview here, so look at that to see how the Galaxy Tab stacks up against the tablet platform of the future.
On the graphics benchmark side, we only have two tablets to compare head to head - the Galaxy Tab and the Viewsonic G Tablet that we used in the Tegra 2 preview. The Galaxy Tab handily won out in Neocore - the 54 fps figure is basically capped by the vsync - but the Tegra 2 exhibited slightly faster performance throughout the rest of our smartphone graphics benchmarks. We initially had some issues with Quake 3 on the Tab, as detailed in our Tegra 2 performance update, but overall, SGX 540 is definitely competitive as far as graphics performance goes even if it isn't the clear cut leader anymore.
Our Galaxy Tab unit was a Verizon model, but for some reason the 3G data was very slow. I’ve tested it in multiple regions in the Seattle area and I have yet to break 700 kbps down and 500 kbps up. I haven’t had a Verizon device to test before, but even so, speeds around 600 kbps are not what I was expecting. I later talked to some Verizon employees and was told that such speeds are normal for Verizon 3G in Seattle, so their LTE rollout really can't happen fast enough.
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VivekGowri - Thursday, December 23, 2010 - link
That market folded in on itself right as the tablets launched, sadly. I think people were just getting sick of the netbook form factor. The thing with MeeGo is that it will end up being paired with Intel processors a vast majority of the time.synaesthetic - Thursday, December 23, 2010 - link
Yeah, I knew that would happen once Intel got a hold of it. Though if Intel can deliver with Moorestown and its descendants, perhaps we will see a netbook like device with true instant on capability and very long battery life.The Atoms already can get battery life in the range of extreme to ridiculous, but the instant on is sadly not in the cards right now... maybe with a shift away from Windows 7 Starter and more toward lightweight Linux distros with things like EFI and Boot Booster (my old eeePC booted into WinXP pretty quick from a cold shutdown...)
appliance5000 - Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - link
"What I'd rather see are smartbooks... netbooks with actual keyboards, touchpads, ARM processors, real netbook Linuxdistros like MeeGo or Aurora (NOT Android, mind you) with big batteries and 15+ hour runtime. Not just smartphones made bigger."That's pretty much the macbook air; particularly the 11".
What the iPad is, is a conduit for media distribution. That's where the big money is and that's what Apple is trying to control. Seen in that light it's extremely successful.
Hemi345 - Thursday, December 23, 2010 - link
Baba264, I agree with you. These devices are nothing more than a gadget that has limited use. I see them only being useful for web browsing. All the apps you can download is gimmicky. How often are you going to play games, dyno test your car, or use a tablet with a grocery store app?! Unless you have a specific use in mind, the high price tag puts these devices in a very niche market.But I believe Barnes and Noble has a hot seller on their hands with their new Nook Color for $249. It's an Android-powered eReader that makes more sense in my opinion. The interface is fully customized so it doesn't seem like you're using a smart phone and it's built specifically for people who like to read a lot. 7" low glare screen, 8hrs of battery life, the ability to browse the web and a build quality that makes the Samsung Galaxy Tab look pretty pathetic. It doesn't have as much performance under the hood as the Samsung, but when I demo'd one in the store, it seemed fast enough for what it would mostly be used for. The price is much more reasonable for such a device.
Chris Peredun - Thursday, December 23, 2010 - link
"Outdoor shot taken at 1:45pm in an Audi dealership parking lot. Note the brand new A8."Hard not to notice it with that snout. Are they looking to challenge the Ford-slash-Gilette Fusion for "Most Bladed Front End"?
VivekGowri - Thursday, December 23, 2010 - link
Audi has been doing some funky stuff with their grilles since the 2004 A6 debuted, but this new A8 definitely takes the cake, no lie. I really don't know what their deal with that chrome schnoz is.tipoo - Thursday, December 23, 2010 - link
Pretty sure it has 256MB, not 512, according to the iFixit teardown.VivekGowri - Thursday, December 23, 2010 - link
Riiiiight, I'm a retard. Fixed, thanks for catching that!fabiolo - Thursday, December 23, 2010 - link
Vivek, you are such a tard (f--k). You've been wrong so many time that your credibilty is gone. Please have your self a merry christmas!Sent from a GALAXY TAB
VivekGowri - Thursday, December 23, 2010 - link
Chill, my friend. You have yourself a happy holiday season too. I promise, my new year's resolution is to not forget to update tables.