A beautiful piece of hardware with a pretty snappy performance

Tablets are the new-age answer to all our needs. They have made things easier by making huge devices compact and needless to say, these devices have taken the market by storm. In recent months, the usage of tablets has grown manifold and people from all sectors are opting for this device to suit their needs. It is but obvious that these devices are selling like hot cakes. To cater to the growing needs and demand in the market, numerous companies are churning out newer and improved versions of tablets.

Samsung?s Galaxy touchscreen tablets are considered by many industry experts to be the main rival to the iPad, though they are currently a distant second to Apple?s devices. Apple sold 13.6 million iPads from January through March to control 63% of the global tablet market, according to research from Display Search. Samsung sold 1.6 million tablets, giving it 7.5% of the market.

Closer home, the Indian market has become very competitive since Q4 2010, when the first tablet model was introduced in the country by Samsung. The Apple iPad, the most well recognised tablet, arrived in India only in January 2011. Tablet sales touched 4,75,000 units in 2011 and 3,00,000 tablets have already been sold as on date, says CyberMedia Research. The tablet has very quickly metamorphosed from being a luxury product for the select few, to one that has appeal to a wide range of customer segments.

If you are looking for a tablet and don?t fancy an iPad, then Android is currently the way to go. And Samsung?s Galaxy tablets have taken the slate experience to new heights. Recently, the South Korean tech giant delivered a beautiful piece of hardware priced attractively at R24,500. Last month, Samsung wowed us when it sent its feature-packed Galaxy S III smartphone for a product review and with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, it has managed to go one better. This is the successor to the popular Galaxy Tab, but has been beefed up in a major way in the spec department.

As an out-and-out tablet, the Galaxy Tab 2 is brilliant; it packs multimedia, communication and top internet functionality in one highly portable personal tablet device. Features include numerous multimedia-oriented Samsung hubs and applications and voice call, video group chat. Powered by latest Android operating system?Ice Cream Sandwich?and connected to various networks for seamless performance for great all-round usability.

Sized perfectly for compact usability of a tablet, the Galaxy Tab 2 is slim (10.5 mm) and light (345g) enough to carry with you throughout the day. It has a TFT LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. The tablet comes with a screen size of 7 inches and has an inbuilt memory of 16 GB and an expandable memory slot, which can be expanded up to 32 GB of memory.

This Samsung device is supported by a powerful 1 GHz Dual core processor that achieves top performance and maximum usage across various demanding applications. Android?s latest operating system ensures better Web browsing, faster response and screen transitions. It also packs 1 GB of RAM. I surfed some websites heavy with images and video, and browsing was super-fast. I also played a couple of online games and multi-tasked at times, but on all occasions the Galaxy Tab 2 worked seamlessly.

The tablet has a 3 megapixel primary camera and 0.3 megapixel front camera to its credit and has the capability to record 720P high definition recordings. I don?t do a lot of tablet photography but whatever shots I clicked, no matter at what angle the picture was crisp and vivid. With a 4000mAh Lithium-ion battery, this Samsung device can hold a fair amount of energy. But the tablet being Android, uses it up fairly fast, but definitely better than most competitors. On the downside, whenever I rested the tablet on my chest and played some music or watched a video, the tablet gave out muffled sound from its dual speakers.

Individual needs and budget will determine if the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 is right for you, but I must applaud Samsung for marrying value and performance, and the Galaxy Tab 2 comes highly recommended.

SPeCS

* Size: 193.7 x 122.4 x 10.5 mm

* Display: 7-inch WSVGA (1024 x 600) PLS TFT

* Processor: 1 GHz dual-core processor

* Operating system: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

* Camera: 3 MP (rear); VGA for video call (front)

* Memory: 16 GB user memory + 1 GB (RAM)

* Video playback/recording: Full HD@30fps, HD@30fps

* Weight: 345 g

Estimated street price: Rs. 24,500