Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 Gebraucht

Laptop Mag Verdict

A bright display, long battery life and a smart remote make Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 a compelling and affordable pick.

Pros

+
Powerful front-facing speakers
+
Bright display
+
Smart Remote app for controlling TV
+
Free 50GB of Dropbox storage for one yr
+
Long battery life

Cons

-
Charges slowly
-
Mediocre camera

With the original Milky way Tab ten.1, Samsung had a pretty proficient thing going: It was thin, lighter than the iPad ii, and had potent speakers. But technology never stands still, which is why Samsung added smart remote capability for controlling your Television, besides as a microSD card slot, all while lowering the price past $100. Now only $399 for the 16GB version, the Tab 2 10.1 is a definite improvement over the original, but has Samsung done enough to stay alee of the Android competition?

[sc:video id="dybjZqcTq6dmt26j_RtDMfzwnN9O6UGi" width="640" summit="410"]

Design

Click to OverstateUnlike the Tab ii 7.0, which looks virtually identical to its earlier iteration, the Tab 2 ten.i has a slightly different blueprint. Virtually notable are the two silver speakers that flank the display when held in portrait mode. Their placement makes the Tab ii a bit wider than the kickoff (10.one x 6.9 ten 0.38 inches, compared to 9.7 ten half-dozen.7 x 0.34 inches), but it means that you'll never have to worry well-nigh muffling sound if you accept the tablet in your lap.

Instead of the all-black aesthetic mutual to many touchscreen devices, we like the silver plastic back and gray plastic edges of the Tab ii 10.1.

Like the New iPad, the Tab ii 10.1 is both thicker and heavier than the previous version (1.28 pounds, compared with one.24 pounds), but the difference in both cases is minimal. It'due south slightly smaller and lighter than the ASUS Transformer TF300 (1.iv pounds, x.four x seven.1 x 0.38 inches).

Click to EnlargeThe top of the Tab 2 ten.i has a power button, volume controls, a microSD card slot (something missing from the original), an IR transmitter, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The placement of the speakers, IR transmitter, and webcam (along the long border of the bezel) betoken that, unlike the Milky way Tab two seven.0, this 10-inch version is meant to be held in landscape, non portrait mode.

Display

Watching Movies on the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1

Click to EnlargeLike to the previous Tab 10.one and the TF300, this version has a x.1-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800. Explosions in the trailers for "Battleship" and "The Expendables two" were fiery and bright, though we noticed some splotchiness in darker scenes.

With an average brightness of 424 lux, the Tab 2 10.1 far outshone the TF300 (331 lux) as well equally the Android tablet average (351 lux) and the new iPad (386 lux).

Audio

Having the speakers on the front of the Tab two 10.ane, as opposed to the edges or back, makes a big departure. Whether we were listening to music or watching a film, it was squeamish to have sound directed at u.s.. While there will always be an chemical element of tinniness in speakers this small, we noticed good depth and item in songs, from Bruce Springsteen's "Tunnel of Honey" to Jay-Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)."

We simply wish the physical volume buttons were within easier reach of our left or right hand, instead of existence on the pinnacle.

Keyboards

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Virtual Keyboard

Click to EnlargeSamsung offers its keyboard only on the Tab 2 10.1, which works fine. Keys are nicely spaced, and a little light appears when caps lock is on. We also like that dedicated .com and @ buttons appear when you're typing in an email address field, for instance.

Google vocalisation typing is also included for those who adopt to dictate their missives.

Software and Interface

Click to OverstateLike the Tab ii 7.0, the 10-inch Tab features Android Water ice Cream Sandwich with a topping of TouchWiz. Buttons for Back, Home, Settings and Recent Apps are in the bottom system bar. Dismissing contempo apps and notifications took just a quick sideways swipe. Instead of property down the power and volume buttons, we were able to take screenshots using the screenshot button next to the Recent Apps icon.

Samsung TouchWiz adds small flourishes with big impact. We continue to be fans of the pointer icon in the bottom system bar, which calls up helpful Mini Apps such equally Calculator, Alarms, E-mail and Task Manager that open to a higher place the currently opened app. Yous can accept up to seven apps in the system bar, but you tin't use it for third-party apps.

The Notifications Box on the right side of the bottom system bar also has some TouchWiz tweaks. A large clock sits at the elevation, forth with a Quick Settings box seen in nigh Milky way South Ii phones. Scrolling to the left reveals a number of settings, including Wi-Fi, Airplane Mode and Bluetooth. Brandish Effulgence and Settings are located beneath Quick Settings with infinite for other notifications underneath.

Overall, nosotros like the look of the ICS/TouchWiz combination on the Tab two 10.1, but with the app button, notifications carte du jour, Mini Apps tray and multiple domicile screens, there'due south quite a lot to process versus the more straightforward iOS on the iPad.

Performance

Click to EnlargePacking a 1.2-GHz dual-cadre TI OMAP 4430 processor and 1GB of RAM, the Tab 2 ten.1 turned in good, but non great scores on our synthetic benchmarks. On the Benchmark CPU test, the slate scored 2,834, about 100 points college than average, simply well below the ASUS TF300, whose Nvidia's quad-core Tegra iii CPU notched iii,613. In fact, it's lower than the original Tab 10.ane, whose 1-GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor registered 3158.

On An3DBench, a graphics test, the Tab 2 ten.1 scored 6779 to the TF300'due south 7,705. The category boilerplate is 7,194, and the older Tab ten.i scored 7,526.

Still, the Tab 2 x.one was speedy when opening apps and flipping through domicile screens. We rarely, if ever saw a slowdown or pause, even when we were surfing the Spider web with Pandora playing in the background.

Our configuration of the Milky way Tab two 10.1 came with 16GB of internal storage, which can be expanded to 48GB using the microSD card slot.

Samsung Apps

Click to EnlargeAs with Samsung's other tablets, the visitor packages a number of its own apps in the Tab 2 x.one, some of which are more useful than others. Samsung AllShare lets you stream multimedia content to other DLNA devices, such equally TVs and ready-top boxes, using Wi-Fi. We were able to connect quickly and easily to a Samsung Series nine running AllShare, and stream videos to it, also as to the Tab 2 10.1. However, when we tried to connect to our Buffalo network-attached storage drive, all we got was a spinning circle on the Tab 2 10.1.

Click to EnlargeSamsung Media Hub is where yous can rent movies and unmarried episodes of television shows, such as "American Dad" for $1.99. There's besides the Music Hub, where music lovers can purchase albums or unmarried tracks (for $xiv.99 or $one.29, respectively). Games Hub offers a large catalog of coincidental and hardcore games while Reader's Hub offers newspapers, magazines and books courtesy of PressPower, Zinio and Kobo.

Click to EnlargeSamsung also includes ChatON, a mobile communication app that works over most smartphone platforms. ChatON tracks interaction with your buddies and enables the sharing of calendars, contacts, video or music. Users can also create letters with hand-drawn animation.

Google and Third-Party Apps

Click to EnlargeGoogle-branded apps include Google Talk, Play for downloading apps, Google+, Google+ Messenger, Play Music and Play Books. Netflix, Skype, Polaris Office and Dropbox are amid the third-political party apps. Samsung fifty-fifty bundles a gratuitous twelvemonth of Dropbox with 50GB of online storage, which typically costs $99.

Although Samsung has washed a pretty good job here creating a mini ecoystem, it'due south fighting an uphill battle versus Amazon, which lets you purchase everything from games and movies to books and music using a single account most people already accept. The Samsung Milky way Tab 2 ten.1 gives yous more option just also a bit more complexity. For example, to download apps from the Samsung App store, yous'll first take to create a Samsung business relationship, in addition to the main Google account on the tablet.

The 3rd-party app choice on Android tablets continues to be a mixed bag. While some apps wait great on larger screens (such every bit Netflix and "Angry Birds Infinite"), others are but stretched-out telephone apps (Pandora, Facebook).

Smart Remote

Click to EnlargeSectional to Samsung Android tablets is the congenital-in Peel Smart Remote, which let united states of america control our cablevision box and TV using the tablet's IR blaster. Setup was relatively fast, taking approximately five minutes. Nosotros could almost immediately turn on our Samsung telly using the app, which also quickly recognized our Motorola DVR cable box and was automatically able to switch channels and access the channel guide.

Our favorite Smart Remote feature is its ability to larn our preferred programs. Later on choosing several genres and shows, Smart Remote began suggesting shows and movies from the channel guide. It'due south a lot more than personal than Logitech'south Harmony Link.

Unfortunately, the Peel app seems less stable than when we tested it previously. For example, when we pressed the ability button to turn off our Tv, cable box, and stereo simultaneously, the app would crash.

Photographic camera and Camcorder

Click to EnlargeWe uncertainty many consumers will use a 10-inch tablet to take photos, just we however desire them to look good Sadly, the 3-megapixel camera on the back of the Tab 2 10.1 did non fare well indoors. Images were grainy and washed out; a model Ferrari Testarossa looked more pink than its trademark red.

Outdoor photos weren't much better as the edges of objects such as buildings and trees seemed a bit hazy, even on a sunny day. Images taken in direct sunlight were fairly colorful, but not particularly sharp and those taken in a shady area were darker than we'd expect.

Click to EnlargeA 720p video we shot of a urban center landscape was shine, but suffered from the aforementioned haziness as outdoor stills. Colors like the green on tree tops appeared a bit muted besides.

The front-facing VGA camera was fifty-fifty worse. We saw many more artifacts when we turned the photographic camera on ourselves.

Battery Life

The Samsung Milky way Tab 2 10.1 should last you all day long. When nosotros ran the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuous surfing over Wi-Fi at 40 percent effulgence, the Galaxy Tab 2 lasted an ballsy 9 hours and 59 minutes. Past comparing, the TF300 lasted 7 hours on Balanced mode; the tablet category average is 6:51.

One of our pet peeves about the Tab 2 10.one is how slowly it charged. At 1 bespeak, it had charged only 6 percent after 25 minutes. We plant things moved quicker, though, when the screen was turned off.

Verdict

Click to OverstateWith the add-on of a microSD card slot and moving the speakers to the front of the tablet, Samsung has made some dainty improvements to the Milky way Tab 2 10.one, all while keeping the price below $400 and the battery life really long. Our favorite feature is the ability to use this slate as a smart remote.

However, the Asus ASUS Transformer TF300 offers faster quad-core performance and offers twice the internal storage for the same price. Plus, the TF300 can double as a mini laptop when you add the optional keyboard. Then once more, the Tab ii 10.ane has a brighter brandish, longer battery life and ameliorate sound in a thinner, lighter design.

It all comes down to what you value most, but the new Tab is certainly one of the top mid-range Android tablets.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Specs

Brand	Samsung
CPU	1.2-GHz Dual Core
Camera Resolution	3MP
Carte du jour Reader Size	32GB
Menu Readers	microSD
Company Website	www.samsung.com
Display Resolution	1280 x 800
Display Size	x.1
Front-Facing Photographic camera Resolution	VGA
Has Bluetooth	Yes
OS	Android iv.0
Ports	Headphone, Proprietary
Size	x.1 ten half dozen.9 10 0.38 inches
Storage Drive Size	16GB
Storage Drive Blazon	Wink Memory
Weight	one.28 pounds
Wi-Fi	802.11b/m/northward

Less