Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9: Hands-On

Samsung has finally finished tweaking and reworking its latest Android tablets, as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is due for UK release on 4 August with the 8.9 due to follow at a later date. These 10.1" and 8.9" tablets are super slim and run on Honeycomb 3.1, which we were able to check out in our hands-on with the Tabs: video, photos and info below.

Samsung has put the trials and tribulations of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 firmly behind it as the brand gears up to (finally) launch its replacement for the Galaxy Tab 7. We've been waiting for it to come to market for a whole four months now—which is an eternity in the world of consumer tech—as Samsung made endless changes to the device. Anyway, Samsung's new Honeycomb tablets are now ready to go, and both come loaded with the 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor.

Maxime Guirauton, head of new technologies at Samsung France, popped into our Paris office to show us the new tablets and to let us try them out.



The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is due for UK release on 4 August, with the 8.9 to follow later. UK pricing is yet to be confirmed but the Wi-Fi-only versions have European RRPs of €489 (£435) for the 10.1 and €459 (£405) for the 8.9 (with 16 GB memory). Wi-Fi/3G versions will also be simultaneously released but no price info is available yet.

PLS Screen and Lighter Design!

We found the new Galaxy Tabs very pleasant to handle. OK, so they're made from plastic, but these are good-quality plastics, and the ultra-slim design goes some way to make up for things. Plus, these Galaxy Tabs are both compact and light, with the 10.1 (Wi-Fi-only) weighing in at 560 g and the 8.9 (Wi-Fi-only) at 460 g. You can add 5 g to that for the 3G versions.


Another nice surprise is that the screen is now made using exclusive Samsung technology known as PLS. Samsung is promising high contrast and brightness and, to the eye, the PLS panels seem perfectly satisfactory with nice, wide viewing angles. Note that the Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab 7 launched back in spring was also fitted with a PLS screen.


Samsung has loaded its latest Galaxy Tabs with a 7,000 mAh battery and is announcing a nine-hour battery life for video playback.

A Giant Galaxy S II with Honeycomb?

Unlike all too many Android Honeycomb tablet manufacturers, Samsung has decided to bring its own custom touch to Honeycomb by integrating a TouchWizz interface developed specially for Galaxy Tab. This interface is actually very similar to the one used in the Galaxy S II smartphone, except that the 10.1 and 8.9 tablets come with a selection of 'mini Apps'. These are basic but important applications (notepad, calculator, diary etc.) which can be pulled up at any time to display over the top of whatever you're doing.

Take a closer look at Samsung's TouchWizz interface for Honeycomb in our hands-on video with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (below):


Another new feature is the 'Hubs' that group together tailored content for different users of Samsung's Galaxy Tab. There is, for example, a Kids' Hub, which is basically a window containing things like kids' games and educational apps. Samsung has even teamed up with Nickelodeon to bring 21st century kids all kinds of content from their favourite characters (such as Dora the Explorer) in tablet format. 

The Music Hub is done out like an old-school ghetto blaster and can be used to play, record and share Internet radio stations, while the Video Hub has a video rental function and catch-up TV, with other programmes and channels to follow. There's even a Reader Hub for access to digital newspapers and magazines in a virtual news-stand. Some of the apps even let you carry on reading offline.

So what about regular video and audio playback? Well, Samsung has equipped its new Galaxy Tabs with the same media player as the Galaxy S II, which basically means they'll read pretty much anything in your multimedia collection. During our hands-on, we saw it read FLAC, AC3, Xvid and H.264 files.

Connections, Keyboard, Dock, Case

Unfortunately though, like previous models, the new-gen Galaxy Tabs only have one proprietary connection port. Only too aware of the limits this imposes, Samsung is set to supply both products with an adapter that turns the proprietary connection into a USB 2.0 port. When you hook up an external storage device, a file browser opens to help you find the content you're looking for quickly and easily.


A series of other adapters will be available as optional extras, including an HDMI adapter cable and a SD/SDHC card reader. The HDMI adapter has an extra proprietary port built in, as using the HDMI output seems to need the tablet to be hooked up to the mains. Needless to say, we've seen more practical systems ...


According to Samsung, there's no built-in HDMI or other ports on these Galaxy Tabs as the products are actually a fair bit slimmer than many of the standard connections. As a result, the race for ever-slimmer products is in turn boosting the market for optional accessories.

Other accessories available for the new Tabs are a standard dock, a dock with physical keyboard and a flap-style cover (that clips onto the side of the tablet) available with or without a slimline Bluetooth keyboard built-in. Prices for these accessories haven't been announced yet.


Although we haven't tested these tablets in full, from our first look, we reckon the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 are pretty convincing products. They have powerful technology, a stylish, user-friendly design and decent software. However, the single connection port could still put some users off.

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