Later this week Samsung is going to release a new 10-inch Android tablet, dubbed the Galaxy Tab 2, a somewhat confusing moniker to pair with their other new 7″ tablet also called the Galaxy Tab 2.
Both show a new direction for Samsung’s tablets. The focus seems to be mainly on lowering the price. The 7″ Galaxy Tab 2 is a downgrade from the previous model in some ways and the 10″ Galaxy Tab 2 has pretty much the exact same specs as last year’s model.
Aside from the slight cosmetic changes, the only “upgrades” are the addition of a microSD card slot and the Android 4.0 operating system (apparently Samsung still hasn’t updated the original to Ice Cream Sandwich).
The Galaxy Tab 2 has a 10″ 1280 x 800 resolution multitouch screen with 720p HD support. It is powered by a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor, it has 1GB RAM, 16GB of storage space, and a microSD card slot for cards up to 32GB.
It has WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, front-facing stereo speakers (that’s a nice touch), headphone jack, 1 USB 2.0 (host), and front and rear cameras.
Additionally, the Galaxy Tab 2 comes with Samsung’s suite apps, as well as Kindle, Netflix, Polaris Office, and Dropbox pre-installed. Dropbox comes with 50GB of free storage space for 1 year.
So why would anyone buy the 10″ Galaxy Tab 2, you ask? I don’t know. I wouldn’t. I had planned on buying the 10″ Galaxy Tab 2 because I have yet to review any of Samsung’s tablets, and since they are among the best, I thought now would be a good time. I had it in my cart at Amazon and was just about to hit the “place order” button when I decided to review the specs first.
That was a good idea because there’s no way I’m paying $400 for a tablet with last year’s specs and no HDMI port. What is Samsung thinking?
The new Asus Transformer TF300 is a much better value at the same price with its quad-core processor, mini HDMI port, IPS display, and optional keyboard dock. Plus it comes with double the storage space (16GB vs 32GB) and a better rear-facing camera (3MP vs 8MP).
Nonetheless, for those that want to get the new 10″ Galaxy Tab 2, it is up for pre-order from several retailers for $399, including Amazon. The release date is set for May 13th.
Personally, I think I’ll wait for the Galaxy Note 10.1. But then again that could be mighty expensive. The 7″ Galaxy Tab 2 for $249 is tempting…
I love my Galaxy Tab 7.7 but Samsung’s schizophrenic marketing and slow OS upgrades are annoying to say the least. There must be ten versions of the galaxy tab at this point. Guess they are taking the ‘shotgun approach’ to Apple!
@Rob
That’s the one with the SuperAMOLED+ screen, right?
It’s a fantastic tablet…great for reading and everything in between… Not exactly the kindle fire price point though!
Don’t get the 7″ galaxy tab 2 7.0. The galaxy tab plus is just $35 more if you look around, and offers considerably better specs, and a better value IMO.
I’ll go with 7.7 😀