Samsung Galaxy Tab

 Arguably one of the closest rivals to the iPad that Android can offer, the Galaxy Tab offers the same basic features: wireless internet, a multitouch-controlled screen and a marketplace full of apps. It also has 3G as standard rather than as an option.

The most obvious difference is the 7in screen. Many people will find the smaller screen isn't a bad thing, but the 16:9 widescreen display is of a noticeably lower quality than Apple's, and the Tab itself is made of plastic, lacking the quality feel of the aluminium iPad. And while Apple's iOS interface is unsurprisingly
smooth on its own hardware, Android runs rather jerkily on the Galaxy.

On the positive side, it weighs a modest 385g and is comfortable to hold. At just 12cm across, it can be gripped quite easily in one hand. Both tablets offer a similar number of pixels -1024x768 for the iPad, 1024x600 for the Samsung - which means the Tab's are more tightly spaced. This should make it look sharper, but we weren't convinced. The duller LCD and poor viewing angles let it down.

We were impressed with the responsiveness of the Tab in core navigation tasks such as swiping sideways on the home screen. Motion here feels smooth. Text entry via the on-screen keyboard was a bit sluggish, though, and we didn't like the clonking keypress sounds that lag just behind your finger presses.

PINCH AND PUNCH

Web browsing is acceptably fast if you've got a good 3G connection, and we found pages loaded quickly over Wi-Fi. However, pinch-to-zoom in Android is still a stuttering experience. We also spent too much time scrolling up and down pages to get to the navigation buttons.

Unlike the iPad, the Tab supports Flash, but on Flash-heavy sites you tend to get held back by the ads. We also saw some comedy lip-sync issues with YouTube videos. The YouTube app's H.264 player (also supported by iOS) is better.

One thing the iPad can't handle is phone calls. The two speakers at the bottom edge of the Tab produced fairly clear sound, and combined with a mic built into the left of the case they make it quite straightforward to use as a hands-free mobile. Call quality was easily good enough on our review sample, which came with a Three voice-and-data SIM
card, available from £10/ month for 100 minutes of talk time and 1GB data. Video-calling capabilities should come into their own once Skype for Android video support arrives. The Galaxy Tab has two cameras, pointing fore and aft, for the purpose.

VERDICT

The Tab is really no match for the iPad. In its favour, it's more portable and lets you leave home without a separate mobile phone if you really want to.


Details 

Price £399 
Further information www.samsung.com/uk/galaxytab 
Specifications 7in capacitative touchscreen; 1.06GHz processor; 1024 x 600 resolution; 3Mp camera; Android 2.2 (Froyo); GPS receiver; Microsoft Exchange support, email, voice recorder, video/audio playback; Alarm, Calculator, Calendar, Notes, Stopwatch; 802-lln, 3G, Bluetooth; phone-calling capability; 3.5mm mini-jack; 19xl2xl.2cm; 385g