Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 reviews

We're already half in love with the Motorola Xoom, the flagship tablet for Google's latest version of Android -- but the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 could steal the other half of our hearts. Both are 10.1-inch tablets touting Android 3.0 Honeycomb, but the Tab 10.1 is lighter and, crucially, you'll only have to wait until March to buy one exclusively from Vodafone, although prices are still unknown.

Sugar, oh honey, honey

Honeycomb is Google's attempt to bring its smart-phone operating system to the big screen. Although we've only seen glimpses of this work in progress, it's an exciting prospect. The SamsungGalaxy Tab did a bang-up job of bringing Android to a 7-inch tablet, but, according to Google, the version it used, 2.2 Froyo, isn't ideal for screens bigger than a smart phone's.

The 3D effect on the YouTube app makes us rather weak at the knees, and we're not ashamed to admit it.

Honeycomb will still offer all the Android features we've come to know and love on phones, including Google Maps and an App Market that's stuffed with games and gizmos that you can download. But it will also sport a new interface that uses 3D effects when you're swiping from screen to screen, and it has on-screen buttons that move when you switch from portrait to landscape view, so there's no need for physical buttons.
Apps also get the 3D treatment. The YouTube app has a carousel of videos that scrolls around like you're perusing a giant, curved video wall. The Google Editions ebook reader app does a similar thing with the covers of your downloaded tomes.
Check out Google's promo video for Honeycomb to see more of the features that we can expect the Tab 10.1 to have. We look forward to putting Honeycomb through its paces in a full review soon.

Two cores are better than one

Samsung hasn't customised the Tab 10.1's version of Android, so we can look forward to some pure Honeycomb action. The tablet also looks like it will have the brains to keep the operating system purring like a kitten. It has a dual-core processor running at 1GHz, and it's got up-to-date connectivity in the form of 802.11n Wi-Fi, HSPA+ and Bluetooth 3.0.
The Tab10.1's screen will make it a decent choice if you're leaning towards a tablet as a replacement for your laptop. The screen's resolution is 1,280 by 800 pixels.

Flash, bang, wallop

A large tablet also makes Web surfing more enjoyable, and Honeycomb's refreshed browser should help to make the Tab 10.1 a real Internet wizard. The browser will support tabs, so you can open several Web pages at once -- a feature that we've come to depend on in desktop browsers.
We're also looking forward to seeing Flash websites in all their glory, since Honeycomb supports Flash in the browser. It's not just handy for the occasional video or Flash game, either -- many sites use Flash just for navigation.

Slimming world

One of the biggest differences between the Tab 10.1 and the Xoom is weight. The Xoom weighs a hefty 730g, but we expect the Tab to be significantly lighter, based on the prototypes of both tablets that we've hoisted in our sweaty little hands.

There's an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus wedged in the tablet's backside. A 2-megapixel snapper sits on the front.

To keep it so slim, the Tab 10.1 has been put on a feature diet. It doesn't cut corners in terms of processor speed or wireless connectivity, but it does lack the Xoom's cornucopia of ports. There's no micro-USB or mini-HDMI port -- just a non-standard, 30-pin dock connector. The Xoom also has a microSD memory-card slot, although Motorola says it won't work when the tablet launches, but will be enabled after an update. The Tab 10.1 has no memory card slot at all, and we don't know how much built-in memory it will have yet.
Still, we can see the attraction of a large tablet that doesn't break your arms after a few hours of use. Even the iPad, which has a 9.7-inch screen, feels surprisingly heavy, at 725g.

Outlook

The SamsungGalaxy Tab 10.1 combines a big screen with a light body, making it a potential hit among weak-limbed Web surfers. It doesn't have as many ports as the Motorola Xoom, but otherwise matches its Honeycomb rival punch for punch, and it's more portable too.
Samsung made a solid start in the tablet world with the original Tab, and it has a history of whipping up great laptops, as well as smart phones. As such, it looks like the Tab 10.1 could well be the pick of the tablet pack.