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Buyer's Guide: The Best Monitors 
Apple iPad vs Samsung Galaxy Tab
Romain Thuret
Translator: Sam McGeever
Updated: December 16, 2010
Translator: Sam McGeever
Updated: December 16, 2010
| On the left, the Apple iPad 3G, the tablet that started it all. Its originality lies in creating a market for a whole new product by bringing together the best of the iPhone and iOS on a larger screen, coupled with powerful tools borrowed from Mac desktops. |
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On the right, the Samsung Galaxy Tab runs Android 2.2 on a 7'' display. A giant version of the Galaxy S mobile, the Galaxy Tab is a combination of power and size and is clearly designed as a direct challenger to the iPad. It comes with apps offering VOD, magazines and HD games, along with 3G communication and voice calls. | ||||||||||
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| IPS display |
| | PVA display |
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| 1024 x 768 pixels |
| | 1024 x 600 pixels | ||||||||||
| 16 GB internal memory |
| | 16 GB internal memory + microSD |
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| 8 hours of battery life |
| | 8 hours of battery life | ||||||||||
| 9.7'' screen |
| | 7'' screen |
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| 189 x 242 x 13 mm | | | 120 x 190 x 12 mm | ||||||||||
| 730 g |
| | 380 g | ||||||||||
| THE BACKGROUND |
 A recent free upgrade saw the iPad move up to iOS 4.2, bringing it multitasking and silencing some of its most vehement critics at a stroke. Apple's tablet relies heavily on iTunes, both for handling multimedia content and downloading apps, which are compatible across the iPad, the iPhone and the iPod touch. It's also available with just WiFi and in a range of sizes, but you can't make voice calls unless you use a VOIP app like Skype. |
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.jpg) The Galaxy Tab is the first tablet to run Android 2.2. The biggest influence on its design was clearly the firm's Galaxy S smartphone, of which the tablet is an oversized version. The Tab comes with Android Market and Samsung has an ever-growing number of deals with content providers offering video on demand and magazine services. There isn't a WiFi-only version, but because you have 3G, you can use it to make phone calls. A second version, with 32 GB of memory, is on its way soon. |
| This is a very interesting head-to-head because it stars an entirely new type of product that's so flexible it can leads to whole new ways of using it. Both the iPad and the Galaxy Tab rely on technology borrowed from the world of mobile devices and desktop computers. One is a gateway to the huge selection of content available on iTunes, while the other doubles up as a phone but can slide easily into a jacket pocket. There's a clear difference in approach between the two devices, but they tackle the challenges of tablet computing using very different technology too. There's an IPS display in one and a PVA in the other; on the left you have Apple's walled garden while on the right you can roam fee with Android. You go from 9.7'' to 7'', or data-only to a something that can make calls. One element they both share is their battery life, which averages between 8 and 9 hours. |
| USABILITY: SAMSUNG WINS |
 Measuring almost ten inches, the iPad takes up almost as much space as a netbook. After a while, it becomes clear that the best way to use it is curled up on the sofa rather than standing up holding it like a clipboard. The form factor makes the iPad something you use at home but can easily take with you, rather than the other way round. We approve of the clear power switch at the top, the solid headphone jack and the toggle to fix the screen orientation. It doesn't overheat, even when you're using it a lot, and stays cooler than the Tab. Although you can't call with 3G, it's a shame that there isn't a least one webcam that would allow free video calls over FaceTime with iPhone users. It's less easy to get a grip of than the Galaxy Tab, and if you don't have a case, it slips out of your hand quite easily. We're not really sure how great it would be for calling ... |
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.jpg) The choice of a 7'' screen is obvious. It's easier to hold in your hands (or even just one hand for that matter) and is a lot lighter than an iPad. The Galaxy Tab is much easier to handle and to carry around than Apple's tablet. The touch-sensitive controls were a bad idea, though, as it's all too easy to activate them by mistake when you brush your fingers over them. The screen also seems to be a little too sensitive to changes in orientation. But in general, the Tab is a handy device when you're using it on the move and you can use it wherever you are, unlike the iPad, which is limited by its bulk. It's made of plastic, but good quality plastic, and Samsung has managed to make a solid, compact frame. A power switch on the top would have been nice. Using it as a phone is nice enough, but having to rely on the headphones to be able to use the mic or listen to voicemail is a bit annoying. |
| WEB BROWSING: APPLE WINS |
 Safari is fast and smooth, and the only disadvantage is the absence of support for Flash, which rules out videos on many sites. Pages look great both ways round. There aren't tabs, but the display of the currently open pages is simple and visual enough to do the same job. We're not saying you couldn't build a better browser, but Apple hasn't left the competition much room to innovate. Navigating the device's interface is smooth, and Apple's simple, familiar icons have stood the test of time. With iOS 4.2, a double click brings up a list of the currently running apps and allows you to switch between them. |
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.jpg) Samsung has included its own browser which has support for Flash, and although we appreciate the idea, the execution is mediocre and leads to a very slow experience. Pages take a long time to load and scrolling is so choppy that surfing the web is only actually fun when you can download an alternative browser from Android Market. Opening multiple tabs isn't very snappy and, as it's just a basic list, doesn't make use of the graphic potential of a tablet display. The screen isn't quite detailed enough for surfing in portrait mode to be as good as it could be. Finding your way around Android is easy on the Tab, and users are helped along by Samsung's extra layer of software and dynamic desktops offering social networks and news updates from Yahoo! Overall, though, it's no iOS. |
| DISPLAY: APPLE WINS |
 A contrast ratio of 760:1 might not be much compared to the latest smartphones, or what you'd expect from the monitor on your desk, but it's the best we've seen yet from a tablet, and much better than a netbook. Blacks are more than acceptable for a display this big and the great contrast really leaps out.  The iPad's screen has an average deltaE of 5.2, which would be a poor result on any other device but is once again the best we've seen on a tablet so far. Because it does such a good job of getting blacks and greys right, it's great for watching black and white movies, but other colours aren't reproduced as accurately as on the Retina display found on the iPad mini, aka the iPhone 4. The colour temperature has a slight blue tinge, but, thanks to IPS technology, the viewing angles are very wide and contrast hardly falls at all when you tilt the screen away from you. |
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.jpg) With a contrast ratio of 582:1, the Galaxy Tab is in second position in the table, but is still a long way behind the iPad, a result of blacks that aren't quite as deep and increased brightness, resulting in noticeably worse contrast. It's a shame Samsung didn't use AMOLED again here.  The Tab's colour chart looks like a roller-coaster, with every colour well above the acceptable limit for a mobile device, propelling it to an average deltaE of 8.7. It might be handy for watching mobile video, but the Galaxy Tab can't even reproduce colours as accurately as the iPad, which is saying something. Black looks very grey and the colour temperature is clearly dominated by blue. Tip the Tab away from you and the contrast will fall, causing the screen to fade to white from an angle of around 45°. |
| GAMING: A DRAW |
 The iPad has access to the App Store, which is packed full of great games, and there are thousands of titles available, either in HD or upscaled from the iPhone version. Not all games work as well on a tablet and it very much depends what you're looking for: the iPad is too big and heavy to make racing games fun, but strategy games and adventures work much better with more room for touch-based interaction and more detailed graphics on the larger screen. |
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.jpg) Gaming on the Tab is easier, mostly thanks to the 7'' screen. We tried N.O.V.A by Gameloft on both tablets, and it was more fun and easier to control on the Tab than on the iPad. There are plenty of games on Android Market, but Samsung has added its own list of titles specially adapted for the Tab and Gameloft has its own store with HD adaptations of its best-sellers. If you use an A/V cable, you can play games from the Tab on your TV. |
| READING, WRITING AND WORKING: APPLE WINS |
 The iPad's keyboard is a larger version of the excellent one found on the iPhone, but Apple could easily have done more than simply making it bigger by fitting numbers and punctuation onto a single screen. For work, sending and receiving e-mails is easy, and iOS 4.2 has added support for multiple accounts and Microsoft Exchange. You'll need to spend cold hard cash to buy real productivity apps, but they will allow you to make occasional use of the iPad as a stand-in for a real computer. Apple's iBooks is the first time an e-book reader has been added to a device with a backlit display, and while it looks good and there's plenty of choice, we ended up wearing out our eyes after an hour so. |
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 Samsung's keyboard is almost as responsive as Apple's, but it's hard to use in portrait mode and doesn't have a built-in dictionary.
For office work, the amount of power available on the Tab and the apps found in the Market limit you to tinkering with a few text documents or spreadsheets. ThinkFree Office, which is included, will probably suit most people. E-mail is either handled via a unified inbox or via the GMail app. Reading an e-book with Kobo is much the same as with the iPad, but other apps are less impressive. |
| MULTIMEDIA: APPLE WINS |
 Because it's based on iTunes, you have to sync up your iPad with a computer to load it with all of your favourite music and films. Alternatively, you can buy content directly from the store over WiFi or 3G, including apps, films, TV shows and music. As on the iPhone, audio and video playback relies on a virtual version of the iPod interface with all of the visual effects you'd expect, but there's no Cover Flow for album artwork. Music sounds fine until you nudge the volume slider beyond three-quarters, above which point it sounds terrible. When you're using the speakers, the frame at the back also resonates and serves as a secondary speaker. Video playback is perfectly smooth, and the iPad's screen, designed for HD, has no problems with SD. There's no use mentioning the 300,000 different downloads available on the App Store, of which thousands are now cut out especially for the iPad. There's a whole range of practical apps to make your tablet a useful toolbox and plenty of fun stuff too. |
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.jpg) You can copy both music and video onto the Galaxy Tab simply by dragging and dropping it from your computer over a USB connection, without any need for special software. There are, though, two programs: one, called Music Hub, manages paid-for downloads from 7Digital, while another, Video Futur, offers video for hire, but only in a resolution that it isn't up to the quality of the Tab's display.
Music sounds nice and loud, whether you use headphones or not, and an equaliser offers some modest but worthwhile improvements. For video, you can go up to 720p HD and the Tab handles even the biggest files quickly. The media player is sometimes a little austere. As for apps, there aren't really many in the Android Market that are designed to be a good size for a tablet, and the upscaling is performed with varying degrees of success. Some more apps are available via Samsung Apps, but not many. |
| RESPONSIVENESS: APPLE WINS |
 The iPad's screen is about as responsive as the average laptop's, with one ghost frame visible on screen behind moving images. That's pretty fast for a tablet, but it still leads to a little bit of ghosting in videos and when you scroll through text. Apple's A4 processor can keep up with everything you ask of it, even now the iPad is multitasking in iOS 4.2. |
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 With up to one ghost frame and half visible on screen, the Tab can only match an entry-level laptop with an 8 ms screen. It may well have a nice crisp resolution, but it still struggles with fast-moving images. That leaves text that seems to run when you scroll and visible ghosting with HD films.
Navigating through the Tab itself is perfectly smooth. |
| RESULT: VICTORY FOR APPLE |
| All alone when it first came into the world, the iPad enjoyed several months as a surprise success story. Now that more serious competition is here, Apple has ironed out some of the creases by moving it to iOS 4.2, offering multitasking and more room for customisation. We're not quite sure what the point of the 3G version is if you can't make calls on it. If you want to take your tablet with you absolutely everywhere, then perhaps it's worth it, otherwise WiFi will do. Despite inducing the 'wow' effect in everybody who picks one up, the iPad is still missing a few features that the Tab has managed to snare. There's neither a regular camera nor a webcam, you can't use it to make calls and it's big and heavy enough to make it tricky to handle. But the excellent finish and the screen that stands out above the competition combine to make an excellent user experience. As long as you're willing to use iTunes, it's a clear winner. |
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Samsung was smart enough to target the missing features from the iPad to make the Galaxy Tab look better, which is why it has a camera, 3G calls, extendible memory and a form factor that's more suited to mobile use. The finish quality is still very high, and even though it's made of plastic, it's still very good quality. Samsung is also clearly putting a lot of effort into developing a strong network of partners and integrating services directly into its apps. Unfortunately, the otherwise pleasant experience is somewhat marred by the less impressive screen, the camera which is not up to what we'd expect these days, an unconvincing phone and a browser that can't hope to keep up with the iPad's. It's also impossible, in Europe at least, to get a WiFi-only version of Samsung's tablet. |
