With tablets coming out of our ears before the Xmas shop, what have Samsung brought forth in their new offering?
To be frank, not much more than a reboot of the Galaxy Tab 2.0, which was a great device, and thus means this isn’t too shabby either.
The major change from 2 to 3 is the inclusion of a new dual-core 1.6GHz Intel processor running the latest Android upgrade, but aside from that, computer nerds are gonna bitch for days that Samsung haven’t done anything new.
But readers of AskSteve.co.za aren’t irritating computer nerds. We’re sophisticated normals who only care about the top 3. The top 3 changes, the top 3 reasons to buy, the top 3 reasons not to.
A new processor is one thing, but frankly it hasn’t made that much difference in the 3.0. The performance is sufficient albeit sketchy at times. There’s the occasional delay which shatters confidence in the devices performance, but it never gives up, so that’s a pro.
More important than processor speed is usability and by cutting down the weight on the 3.0 to 510g, Samsung have created a device that’s lank easy to hold whether you’re reading a book or watching a movie. As you know, this is the test I have for a good tab and the 3.0 passes easily.
The screen on the 3.0 is a 1,280 x 800 resolution, TFT LCD display. Those numbers make it bright, but not HD. And this is noticeable to those who care to look close enough. Icons pixelate fractionally, but again, unless you’re looking for it, you won’t see it.
Weapons on the 3.0 include a 3MP camera on the back and a smaller one on the front. This means it’s definitely not good enough to be your primary shooter and leaves me scratching my head wondering how they can put a 12MP camera on a Smartphone with ease, but a flagship tablet only gets a 3MP.
The past few months have seen Samsung come under fire for creating devices that focus too much on the features it has compared to its competitors and not enough on the experience it is giving the user. The iPhone for example gives as simple an experience to its users by relying on 3rd party apps and as few native, iOS proprietary apps as possible.
The Galaxy range on the other hand spends its entire marketing budget shoving its Samsung developed extras down the consumer’s throat. Things like videos that detect your eyes and apps that tell you if you’ve got flu take up most of your time, whether you want them to or not.
Perhaps Samsung has learnt from the past as they’ve only included a select few in the 3.0. Smart Stay and Smart Orientation only and pre-installed apps like ChatON, Game Hub, Group Play, Paper Artist, S Planner, S Voice, and WatchON are also present.
The last important feature we can’t ignore is battery life, and while the battery on the 3.0 isn’t what I’d call amazing, it lasts a full day no problem and for me that’s enough. It’s very seldom that you’re going to go more than one day without charging your battery at night. That’s the reality.
The verdict? Do you get it?
If you already have the 2.0, no, you don’t. Put your “early adopter” card away and spend your money on some new headphones. Or even better, save it.
If you’re in the market for a new tablet, the 3.0 is decent enough, but for a little extra, you could look at the mighty Xperia Z which is dust proof, water proof and as you’ll see here, one of my favourites.
Get it: R8 000 (10.1-inch)
From: www.dion.co.za
