Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review: The Sleekest Honeycomb Tablet
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 13, 2011 5:07 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Samsung
- Tegra 2
- Galaxy tab 10.1
- Android 3.1
- Mobile
- NVIDIA
A Beautiful Display
Other than form factor, the 10.1's display is the only other major advantage Samsung holds over ASUS. While the Eee Pad's display is quantifiably similar to Apple's iPad 2, it does fall victim to an incredible amount of glare. There's a sizable gap between the LCD panel and the outermost glass, which results in more glare than most other tablets we've reviewed this generation. The 10.1 however doesn't suffer this fate and as a result is more directly comparable to the iPad 2.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (left) vs. ASUS Eee Pad Transformer (right)
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (left) vs. Apple iPad 2 (right)
While both ASUS and Apple use an IPS panel in their tablets, Samsung uses its own technology called Super PLS (plane line switching). Brian Klug, our resident smartphone and display guru did some digging and it turns out that Super PLS is Samsung's own take on IPS that maintains viewing angle while boosting throughput (brightness). The Samsung supplied photo below shows a comparison of the tradeoff you make with S-IPS and I-IPS, as well as both of those compared to Super PLS:
Traditionally you'd have to trade off viewing angle for brightness or vice versa even within the IPS family. Super PLS lets you have your cake and eat it too, giving you the same side viewing angles as S-IPS but with the light throughput of I-IPS.
Perhaps due to the use of Super PLS, Samsung actually managed to outfit the Galaxy Tab 10.1 with a brighter panel than what we saw with the iPad 2. Black levels aren't quite as good but peak brightness is measurably better at nearly 500 nits. While the display isn't what I'd consider bright enough to use in direct sunlight, it is more versatile than the iPad 2's as a result of its brightness.
The higher black levels balance out the brighter panel and deliver a contrast ratio comparable to that of the iPad 2:
I should mention that the quality of the panel on the retail 10.1 sample is significantly better than what I saw with Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition at Google IO. The sample from IO had noticeably worse black levels, lower peak brightness and as a result lower overall contrast. On top of all of that, the LE suffered light bleed from one of its corners - a problem I haven't seen on the retail 10.1. With only two Galaxy Tabs to compare this is either an indication of wildly varying quality control, or more likely that Samsung simply repackaged its early samples as LEs and saved the mass production hardware for paying customers a month after Google IO.
As you can see in the shot above the Samsung panel has a considerably cooler white point than the Eee Pad Transformer. A quick measure with our colorimeter shows a white point of 8762 (vs 7805K for the Eee Pad). It does make Samsung's default wallpaper look very pretty. If you're wondering, the iPad 2's panel is calibrated to a 6801K white point - at least with our 16GB CDMA sample here.
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ph00ny - Monday, June 13, 2011 - link
Based on the fact that transformer has sold over 300k units, consumer interest is definitely thereheadbox - Monday, June 13, 2011 - link
those numbers can be misleading- that could be the number ordered by retail stores, and they could all be sitting on the shelf.ph00ny - Monday, June 13, 2011 - link
How is that misleading? It seems to fit with the fact that most store had it backordered for quite some timevision33r - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
I think the Transformer sales has just peaked. The device is now available everywhere for retail and no mark up.They had to run a discount package for the Asus EEE pad yesterday on Ebay just to push the thing.
Since March, you can't even consistently find an IPad 2 in store.
JoeTF - Sunday, June 19, 2011 - link
Uhm, well, Transformer, after 3 months is still in constant state of out of stock and well on track to hit 1m units this summer. In total, they're aiming to sell 3.5m units before new model is unveiled in in December.It's just that in comparison - Samsung tablet is worst of all:
-plastic finish
-no USB
-no HDMI
-no sd card slot
-no user replaceable battery
-lack of single distinguishing feature (battery dock, or phone hybrid mode)
AlterEcho - Tuesday, June 14, 2011 - link
I do not agree that a 8.9" form factor is optimal. Most of my customers are shooting for the 10.1". So far, LTE and the smaller form factor is a non-starter. My clients are screaming for the Asus and 3G. They are more concerned with network coverage and reliability than a bump in speed. And I have to agree with them.Here are some reasons I am hearing in the field:
1) LTE only means that I will hit my cap faster and if they are complaining about a few users affecting bandwidth now, how are they going to handle faster speeds.
2) They should be worrying about coverage, not trying to increase speed. Speed does me little good if I do not have a reliable connection.
3) Why would I pay $500 for a giant "iPod"? $400 and a keyboard option allows me to type or disconnect and head to a meeting with pad-in-hand.
4) The smaller pad makes web pages feel 'scrunched' and busy. The larger one allows me to type easier as well as handle websites, better.
So for my customers, the larger form factor, 3g and $400 is the big seller. I think manufacturers (and us tech guys) forget about what is important to non-technical users. Price and size, IMHO, will be a significant driving factor. And I bet dollars to donuts that the Asus will outsell the Samsung...and even affect the iPads numbers. The price difference is to hard to ignore, in this economy.
JasonInofuentes - Monday, June 13, 2011 - link
Play nice! :)vision33r - Monday, June 13, 2011 - link
With those specs, yes they will only sell hundreds with the iPad 2s number it will sell millions.It's such a joke for these companies to use a Tegra 2 dual core that some single core beats it. The game performance is a joke consider the iPad 2's GL performance spanks it silly.
Even though the Tab has higher res but once you play an iPad 2 game on TV at 1080p with the HDMI cable it just makes these Android tablet look completely like a joke.
DigitalFreak - Monday, June 13, 2011 - link
"It's such a joke for these companies to use a Tegra 2 dual core that some single core beats it."Gotta love fanboys who don't have a clue about the product they're shilling. The iPad2 has a dual core processor.
headbox - Monday, June 13, 2011 - link
Maybe he's saying iPad 1 still beats it in key areas like battery life.