Battle Royal: iPad vs Galaxy Tab – the Gloves are off!!
Today we’re putting two heavyweight contenders toe-to-toe in the touchscreen tablet arena. With Samsung’s recent announcement of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 everyone is straining to see who will come out on top. Apple held the championship belt for the better part of a year while no other contenders even dared to step into the ring. Since the release of the Galaxy Tab last fall the iPad’s popularity has begun to waiver. And now faced with an onslaught of completion not only from the Galaxy Tab but from the Motorola Xoom and the HTC Flyer, Apple had better step up it’s game or risk losing the number one spot.
Let’s discuss how Apple’s iPad fares against it’s new ten inch rival, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. No doubt iPad has dominated sales with little or no competition, but with close to 2 million unit’s of Samsung’s 7″ Galaxy Tab sold in the first six months, Apple had better take notice. Feature wise both 10″ tablets are in the same weight class, so it may come down to usability and user preference.
First lets compare the iPad vs Galaxy Tab in terms of what they were designed to do. They offer largely the same user experience, and if not for the screen size and OS you probably wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. Their computing power is a match, and both touchscreens are highly responsive.
As for their operating system, the Galaxy has the Android and iPad has iOS. Many users report the iPad’s user interface is more refined, and we can’t argue with that. Based on our testing and feedback the iPad does seem a bit smoother and responsive, but they’ve had several years to refine their UI over several generations of iPhones, iTouch’s and of course the first generation iPad. The Android 3.0 touch tablet interface is brand new and overcomes many of Apple’s iOS drawbacks right out of the gate. The number one complaint with Apple’s OS (besides being completely proprietary and closed source) is it’s lack for support for Flash. Ding Ding! Android 3.0 Honeycomb wins that round.
compare Apple iPad vs Samsung Galaxy Tab
Ok, on to round two.. Another area where the Galaxy Tab shines is with it’s range of accessories and screen sizes. Given how new the Galaxy Tab platform is it’s been very widely supported by vendors of cases, screen protectors, adapters and docking stations, even bluetooth keyboards and stylus devices. IPad accessories are abundant simply due to the fact that it’s been on the market for a long time, so OK we’ll call that one a draw. For screen size is bigger necessarily better? Samsung has had great success with the 7″ format which happens to be very convenient for viewing documents, apps, ebooks, websites, etc. Now Samsung can offer the best of both worlds with the introduction of the 10″ model. If Apple had a seven inch model last year we may have bought one.. this round goes to the Galaxy Tab.
Next, the Samsung Galaxy Tab crushes the iPad with respect to internet connectivity and dual cameras. iPad took a body blow followed by a massive uppercut in the camera department because… well, it simply doesn’t have front and rear facing cameras. Anyone hoping to do Facetime on their iPad will be surely disappointed. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 not only has dual 2MB and 8MB cameras, it can record and playback in full HD at 30 FPS.. another strong right hook. As for connectivity, the Galaxy Tab has built in Wi-Fi and 3G so you can connect anywhere, you have to pay an extra $130 for an iPad with 3G capabilities, now that’s a lot of money to spend to add just one feature. As we approach the eighth round, it looks like Apple is going down for the count..
So how do you feel the Galaxy Tab compares to the iPad? Who are you cheering for in this heavyweight match? Comment below and share your thoughts.
Related posts:
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 4G rivals Xoom and iPad 2
- How does the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 stack up against the competition?
- Galaxy Tab beats iPad in Korea
- iPad and Galaxy Tab can be friends
- Samsung to roll out New Galaxy Tab Firmware that is More Secure than the iPad
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Well, it would be fair to compare the Galaxy Tab model 2 also with model 2 of the iPad which just waits around the corner instead of comparing it with generation 1 iPad.
I am a big Galaxy Tab fan but this is not fair.
You may be right Peter but since the iPad 2 hasn’t been released yet we dont have any specs to compare it to, we'll have to wait a see what Apple has up their sleeve. In all fairness Samsung is the underdog here when going up against Apple in the touchscreen tablet market. Apple has hundreds of millions of dollars at their disposal for development and marketing of the iPad, and a huge loyal fan base who will buy any shiny new gadget they release. Samsung really stirred things up with the Galaxy Tab and in our opinion they were really innovative bringing the Galaxy Tab to market, even Charles agrees. Samsung continues to push the boundaries technology wise and i really think they’ll win out in the end with good engineering and the open source android approach.
I fell for galaxy the first day I saw it. I think its a killer tab! The high res front back camera’s, 3G, SD, HD 1080p record and playback. I also prefer 7 inch to 10 BUT thats purely personal preference! I appreciate Apple’s innovation in developing iPad BUT apple should watch Galaxy closely.
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