Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi 3G P7500 Review

Being a Samsung Mobiler has brought another opportunity for me to get my hands on many Samsung devices such as the Galaxy S 2, Galaxy Pro, and Galaxy Tab 7.  Next on the list is the 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 3G+WiFi Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet – check out my thoughts below!

 

Specifications of reviewed unit:

(taken from samsung.com)

  • 256.7 x 175.3 x 8.6mm (10.1 x 6.9 x 0.34in)
  • 565g (1lb 3.9oz)
  • Pure White
  • 10.1” widescreen, 1280×800 WXGA TFT LCD, 149 pixels per inch
  • 1GB (RAM), 16GB (ROM/storage)
  • HSPA +21 850/900/1900/2100
  • EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
  • WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n with dual band support (2.4ghz or 5GHz)
  • Bluetooth 3.0
  • WiFi Direct
  • 1GHz Dual Core Tegra 2 processor
  • 7000mAh battery, rated up to 9hrs video, 72hrs music
  • Rear camera:  1280×720 HD video, 3MP auto focus photo with LED flash
  • Front camera:  640×480 VGA video, 2MP photo
  • Video playback:  up to 1080p 30fps with codecs:  WMV9, WMV7, WMV8, H.264, MPEG4, Xvid, DiVX, H.263, VP8
  • Audio playback:  MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, RA with stereo (2) speakers

 

What it looks like:

Here we have the front and the back:
frontback

 

The top with power, volume rocker, ear phone jack, and simcard slot:
top
power and volume buttonsim slot and earphone

 

The bottom with the usb/charging port and mic:
bottom

 

And of course the sides, each with their own speaker:
sidespeaker

 

 

Specs compared to other tablets:

Here’s an on-paper comparison to a few other tablets of similar size:

  Samsung Tab 10.1 Apple iPad 2 Asus Transformer Motorola Xoom
Processor 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 1Ghz dual-core Apple A5 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2
Height 256.7mm/10.1in 241.2mm/9.5in 271mm/10.7in 249.1mm/9.8in
Width 175.3mm/6.9in 185.7mm/7.31in 171mm/6.73in 167.8mm/6.6in
Depth 8.6mm/0.34in 8.8mm/0.34in 12.98mm/0.51in 12.9mm/0.51in
Weight (WiFi+3G) 565g / 1.25lbs 613g / 1.35lbs N/A 730g / 1.61lbs
Weight (WiFi only) unknown 601g / 1.33lbs 680g / 1.5lbs 708g / 1.56lbs
WiFi a/b/g/n a/b/g/n b/g/n a/b/g/n
Display 10.1” 1280×800 149ppi TFT 9.6” 1024×768 132ppi IPS 10.1” 1280×800 160ppi 10.1” 1280×800 150ppi
Memory 1GB 512MB 1GB 1GB
Camera 3.15MP rear,
2.0MP front
0.3MP front 5MP AF rear, 1.3MP front 5MP rear,
2MP front

As you can see, they’re all pretty close in terms of specs.  The Tab weighs in the lightest and thinnest, the Transformer has the highest ppi, and the Xoom has the highest megapixel cameras. 

 

Included apps:

Along with the “standard Android” apps (such as gmail, gallery, google maps, navigation, etc) Samsung has included a few additional ones as well:

  • Polaris Office:
    icon-polaris-office
    Polaris Office is essentially a lite version of Microsoft Office. 
    polaris

    It allows you to create/read/edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, and it’s actually pretty good at it.  It’s pretty limited on what features you have in creating, but I haven’t run into any docs that haven’t been able to render correctly when viewing them here (though, perhaps I just don’t have access to any complicated word/excel files!)
    polaris-wordpolaris-powerpoint
    It’s great for creating or editing a document when you don’t have access to a PC (it’s helped me a few times while on the train when responding to a work email or two). 

  • Samsung Apps: 
    icon-samsung-apps
    This is basically a Samsung app store.  From the few apps that you can actually download from here, many appear to be either available in the standard Android Market or are relatively useless (at least in my opinion), so I honestly don’t see the point of this. 
  • Pulse: 
    icon-pulse
    This is a fancy news reader, and it’s actually quite nice interface.  You see your various feeds in the homescreen (images and all), and it will even automatically update with new feeds periodically. 
    pulse

    Once you tap on an article, it gives you a split pane interface for reading:
    pulse-split-pane

    You can also add in any RSS feed, as well as import feeds from Google Reader:
    pulse-add-feedspulse-reader

  • Pen Memo:
    icon-pen-memo
    This is basically a note taking app – just use your finger to draw directly on the screen, or open up the keyboard and start typing away.  You can choose the thickness and color of the lines that you draw, and it’s pretty straight forward.    I honestly never find my self drawing a note, but it is something I regularly use to type out notes (grocery lists, todo-lists, etc)
    pen memo

 

  • Samsung Music Hub:  
    icon-music-hub
    This is Samsung’s music store.  It’s about what you would expect, you can browse for music (by album, artist, popular), or you can of course search. 
    music hub
    To be honest, I don’t see much benefit of using the Music Hub over Amazon MP3 (which is generally cheaper). 

 

Web browsing:

Browsing the web is really great on this device – having a 1280×800 resolution screen, just like a laptop, really makes the browsing experience just as if you were using a computer.   For example, viewing Engadget, you don’t need to horizontally scroll and you can view the page just like you would expect:
web-browsing

 

I’ve also not had any problems performing any tasks that I would normally do on a full PC – for example, within Dolphin browser on my Samsung Galaxy S 2, tagging doesn’t work, however, no problems in the built in browser on the Tab:
web-browsing-tagging

 

Final thoughts:

All in all, the performance and experience is similar to other 10” dual core Android tablets in the market that I’ve tried (Transformer, Xoom, etc).  What mostly differentiates the Tab is that it is lighter and thinner than any of the other tablets I’ve used, it has a 3G option (which most don’t have, yet), and that there are no other ports (such as USB or MicroSD). 

 

One thing to note is that a few people have mentioned having the “Newton’s Rings” issue which is where you get what looks like an oil slick effect on your screen.  Mine actually developed this problem last week, and after I put it in the fridge for a bit, the problem is minimal now and it only happens if I press the screen a bit hard (there’s a YouTube video about it here).  However, Samsung seems to be replacing those that have had this problem, so as long as you don’t mind dealing with the issue if you happen to get it….

Do you have a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and want to share your comments?  Thinking about purchasing one and have any questions?  Let us know in the comments below!

13 thoughts on “Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi 3G P7500 Review”

  1. I’m considering purchasing one of these tablets. I’m trying to find a clear answer as to whether or not I can put any sim card into it, regardless of the carrier, and have wi-fi. I am not in an A T & T service area and would need to use a different gsm sim card. I would appreciate any help you can offer.

  2. @Lori, good question, and I suppose it depends on where you buy it from – if you buy it from AT&T under a contract, chances are it will be locked to AT&T. If you buy it from a non-cell provider w/out a plan, then likely not. Is there a particular vendor you’re looking to buy it from? For example, this one from Amazon US would be unlocked (can be used on any gsm carrier)

  3. Hi,
    I’m considering buying a samsung galaxy 10.1 tab with wi-fi, what I need to know is if it also comes with 3g and the phone towers in my area are switched to 4g will I have to replace this tablet?
    Thanks…

      1. Bert.Desmeules

        Hi,I want to know if I can use the EPL-1PLEBEGCAN USB connection and SD card reader kit
        for my GT-PT7500M Galaxie Tab 10.1 Samsung Thank you.

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