Interface and Functionality:
Considering that dual-core processors are all the rage nowadays, it’s not surprising to find them on these two premier tablets – a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 CPU with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 1GHz Apple A5 processor on the iPad 2. Needless to say, they’re more than equipped to handle the rigorous demands of their respective tablet platforms. With most basic operations like opening up apps and maneuvering between their homescreens, they’re effortlessly accomplished with barely any pause with their operation. However, it’s quite evident that the iPad 2 is more gracious with its movement since everything has this wickedly smooth feel to it. Interestingly enough, there is some evidence of slowdown when navigating across the homescreen of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in portrait – though, it’s probably related to Honeycomb’s programming.
Ultimately, the biggest differentiator between the two is the tablet experience they have to offer. We’ve visited this before and it’s more of the same between the two as iOS on the iPad 2 is by far the easier and straightforward platform with its simplistic nature. Oppositely, there is a sprinkling of complexity attached to Android 3.1 Honeycomb on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, but it undoubtedly offers a ton more appreciable personalization with its live wallpapers and widget offerings. Moreover, Honeycomb better implements multi-tasking and notifications, which is still something not as clearly defined with the current available iOS experience.
When it comes to
inputting text, neither has a drastic advantage over the other since their on-screen keyboards are well sized and responsive – thus, minimizing mistakes while speed typing. However, if you’d rather input text a different way, say like using your voice instead, Honeycomb on Galaxy Tab 10.1 offers voice recognition to easily speak what you want to write. Besides that, the overall traditional typing experiences on both tablets are identical to one another in terms of functionality, speed, and responsiveness.
If
Gmail is your kind of thing, then it’s a no-brainer reason why you shouldn’t stick with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 on this one – especially when it’s running Google’s tablet optimized platform. Of course, there are some additional features available at your disposal that tastefully emulates the desktop experience on the Galaxy Tab 10.1. However, the layouts of both
email interfaces are basically the same as they utilize a familiar two-panel layout that’s more than informative and adept at displaying emails in full fidelity.
Taking a gander at their
organizer apps, like the calendar and address book, they’re closely similar in presentation since they fully take advantage of their confines. For example, you have a two panel interface with their respective address books as one side acts as your scrollable list, while the other displays all relevant information associated to the selected contact. Again, we see similar elements in place with their calendar apps.
Internet and Connectivity:
Thanks to its Adobe Flash support, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 offers you that true desktop-like experience with
web browsing that some are sure to adore and appreciate. Although it’s lacking on the iPad 2, it still delivers a resounding experience seeing that it’s easily more fluid with its navigational operation – like kinetic scrolling and pinch zooming. Complex pages load in a timely manner with both, but we still have to hand it to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 on this one seeing that it has a tiny bit more features, like Flash support and incognito mode, that rounds out its overall appeal.
There is nothing out of the ordinary with these Wi-Fi only models, especially when they retain a solid connection to our local Wi-Fi hotspot. Furthermore, they both sport the same set of connectivity options like Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, aGPS, and their proprietary dock connection ports. As we know, the iPad 2 is available in 3G form with AT&T and Verizon in the US, but the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will more than likely have the cutting edge when we see the LTE version arrive for Big Red.
