Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) Hands-on Review

One of the more intriguing newly-announced tablets by Samsung is the Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1). So, what's the thing about this device? Probably one of the most important things we should note right away is that it's actually not a direct successor to the original Galaxy Tab 10.1. Instead, it's a slightly more affordable product, having its specs downgraded just a notch. But let's start with the looks of it.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) is one pretty good looking tablet, that's for sure. Its appearance is actually very similar to what we saw with the Galaxy Note 10.1, with those characteristic speakers around the sides of the display. The 10.1-inch dscreen itself uses the trendy PLS-TFT technology, and indeed the colors look quite good. Resolution is WXGA, and as a whole, there's very little pixelization oberved with the device.

You shouldn't be surprised to learn that the tablet is powered by a regular 1GHz dual-core processor. After all, the concept beind the Tab 2 (10.1) is for it to be a more budget-friendly product. Following this trend, the camera on the back has just 3 megapixels.


The tablet feels pretty good in the hands. It's very thin, although actually a bit thicker than the original 10.1. Just to ease the pain a lil' bit, the Tab 2 (10.1) is slightly thinner than the Note 10.1, so it's not all that bad. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that you should expect any premium feel while using the device.

Software-wise, the Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) is coming preloaded with Android 4 ICS, but of course, Samsung has not missed the occasion to add its own proprietary TouchWiz UI to the deal. Overall, there aren't too many personalizations made to the graphical UI, but still, it's the standard tabletTouchWiz affair, with new widgets, Mini Apps and some additional apps added to complement the stuff that comes standard with ICS. Even with this 1GHz dual-core processor, you shouldn't have any worries about the performace of the tablet, as we didn't see much lag while testing it.

To tell you the truth, we're actually excited about the Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1). Yeah, it doesn't bring anything revolutionary in terms of specs – as a matter of fact, it even comes with a few downgrades – but because it should present us with a beautiful, 10.1" tablet, without breaking the bank. At least we hope so, because, well, let's just say that the manufacturer hasn't really introduced us to too many affrdable tablet computers.

Sorry to say this, tech-savvy folks, but we'll have to disappoint you when it comes to availability info. As of right now, there's absolutely no information in the way of release dates, and even the Samsung reps here at MWC couldn't help us with this. Oh well, we guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens!