Is the large-size Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 a worthy iPad alternative? With its 10.1-inch screen, this is the Samsung tablet that competes most directly with Apple's flagship "post PC" product. And with a price $100 cheaper than the entry-level iPad (for the same 16GB of storage), the $400 Tab is certainly a temptress for tablet buyers.
In tablet society, though, Samsung and Android
have a thinner pedigree than the iPad, and it shows in the Galaxy Tab 2
10.1. While the tablet will certainly please anyone who just wants a
decent screen for checking out Netflix videos, the tablet falls short in
many key features -- notably, the screen.
[More from Mashable: Samsung Galaxy S III: Is the Screen Its Achilles Heel?]
To be clear, the new Tab is a fine Android tablet. Running version 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"
out of the box on a dual-core 1GHz processor and sporting a 1,280 x 800
display, Samsung's latest toy has a lot to brag about. But when you're
talking tablets, you simply can't ignore the iOS elephant in the room.
Any tablet up for sale doesn't just have to convince buyers it's worthy
of their cash -- it has to show why it's more worthy than the iPad.
It's a fair argument to say, that since the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is priced at $400, it's really competing with the repositioned iPad 2,
which now costs the same. But even putting aside the Retina display,
better camera and faster processor in the latest Apple tablet, the
experience on the Tab 2 (and most Android tablets) is generally a poor substitute for what you get from an iPad.
[More from Mashable: Turntable.fm Makes Its Way to Android]
First of all, the tablet is
hampered by the classic Android problem of a lack of good tablet support
for many apps. Even mainstream apps like Twitter and Facebook
still have stretched-out user interfaces that are more suited to a
smaller phone screen. Forget the extremely visual layouts in, say, the
eBay app for iPad, and forget running Hulu Plus at all (it doesn't yet
offer support for Samsung's latest tabs).
The issue isn't limited to apps. Using the browser, many sites (including Mashable) took me straight to the mobile version, even though the Tab's 10.1-inch screen is more than enough to take on full web pages.
