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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VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
It's got some issues, granted, particularly with the camera, but on a hardware/software/usefulness level, anything running Honeycomb at this point is a better bet than the Galaxy Tab, HTC Flyer, or the like, bugs and minor instability included.Heck, that $50 is worth it just for the jump to Tegra 2 and the better screen, if you despise Honeycomb that much you can see if you can get someone to release a Gingerbread ROM for it.
iphadke - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link
Hey Vivek...How about adding the Adam in the mix? I think with that, we're getting something at a USD350 price point which will outperform both the Nook and Galaxy Tab by a hugh margin. No IPS panel, though plenty of usability...
Cheers
Neel
VivekGowri - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link
I've been trying to get Rohan to send me an Adam review unit for literally 6 months now, nothing yet. They're still pretty hammered on filling pre-orders, so we'll see when/if I get one.softdrinkviking - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
"no it didn't" what? what didn't it do? i don't understand! who are you replying to??!?"filled with lies?" that's a bit harsh. i see your point with the tab roms, but that's hardly "filled" with anything. i think the editorial nature of this article was pretty well laid out from the beginning. he likes the nook for cheap, thinks the tab is better and doesn't need custom roms to be good but the nook does. what's a lie about that?
medi01 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
He comes to the conclusion nook is better because, you know "40% higher price" and, you know, custom roms, that you don't need but could have with Samsung.And not that I would call Samsung Galaxy "a budget tablet" and not that I see a point in calling it "budget" besides somehow separating it from Apple's products that, you know, have very similar screen, less features, terrible restirctions in software, no rooting at all and a much higher price
Stuka87 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
Your comparison to the iPad is a bit off.1: The 9.6" display is really nothing like the 7" display on the Tab. Their quality is kind of similar, but the 16:9 aspect ratio makes the Tab unusable in landscape mode (And I have one sitting right here).
2: What features are you referencing?
3: I wouldn't say terrible. They are somewhat similar to Google's store regulations, only Apple does its best to keep out Malware, which Google doesn't seem to care much about.
4: Who cares if you can root the device? You can jail break it if you really want to.
5: Sure, it cost 150 dollars more. But the hardware is so much faster than the Tabs its not even funny. Not to mention its much more comfortable to hold with it being much thinner. And the battery life is top notch as well.
VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
Did you not read the part where it said "In all honesty, the Galaxy Tab is the better device"?The Nook is a lot cheaper for something pretty close as far as usage model, simple as that. And if you look at the core hardware, the GT and NC are pretty similar, much more similar than the GT7 versus any one of the Honeycomb tablets. It's a better, more polished device as far as hardware and software, but that doesn't make it better value for money or a better buy, especially in light of some devices that don't cost a whole lot more and offer so much more power and functionality. Heck, just look at the 8.9" Galaxy Tab, if you dislike the Asus and Acer that much.
Lukemcd - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link
Everyone just wants their favorite device to win. There's nothing wrong with this article. It made points for both sides.They're angry because they cannot make blanket "Your writing sucks" comments because it didn't. So they have to "rationalize."
Samus - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link
I've had my nook color since january. Ever since CM7 went official with 2.3 last month its been super solid. Tethered to my phone for internet access when out and about, it's like having a 3G tablet and it cost me $200 bucks.I haven't held or seen the Galaxy Tablet, but it looks like its built like crap compared to the nook. It's thicker, the plastic looks korean and overall the finish isn't attractive. It looks like one of Samsung's cheap-ass phones that break the moment you drop them.
MonkeyPaw - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link
I have the NC, and it is fun to mess with. I read this article with mine (using CM7. Beta 3.1), and I'm posting this with it. Been using it for over a month and love it. Sure, a more expensive tab has better specs, but lets be realistic, a tab is for casual use in an easier form-factor. I can do email, web, gReader, games on the NC, and I will go to my PC if I really need to get something done.Nice to see thewrote this. There's quite a community around the NC. There may be a real HC build if Google ever releases the source.