Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Review

This week we've gotten the next Galaxy Player family member in the house with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1. What's that, you say? The Galaxy Tab 2 is a tablet and not a Galaxy Player? I beg to differ, ladies and gentlemen, as the Samsung world has done a big split in recent months, with no less than the Galaxy Tab 2 line heading in the direction of the media player while the Galaxy Note line (including the 10.1, for example) moves in the direction the Galaxy Tab 10.1 original started in back at Google I/O in 2011. Have a peek at what the Tab 2 line continues here in the 2 10.1 for the media world.

This device works with a wide variety of Samsung applications made perfect for the Galaxy Tab 2 and Galaxy Player lineup including AllShare, Samsung Media Hub, and Peel smart remote. These applications allow you to control your media on a variety of players and alternate screens as well as share between devices with great ease. You'll find apps like ChatON popping up on the Galaxy S III as well, it made for Samsung devices to communicate between one another in a powerful way not unlike what BlackBerry did with their BB Messenger.

Here you've got a device with a 10.1-inch display, front-facing speakers, and essentially the same setup as you had with the previous Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the difference being in the selling points – the apps, the way the tablet is marketed, and the processor inside. Instead of the NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, you've got an OMAP4 dual-core processor from Texas Instruments. This means you no longer have access to the Tegra Zone as the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 had, but as this device does present a lower price point than the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 when it was first released, perhaps you wont mind.

Have a peek here at a couple of photo examples and compare to the to our review of the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, as they're essentially working with the same gear. A 3.2 megapixel camera isn't necessarily what you're going to want when you're going for award-winning photos, but it'll be good enough for Facebook and Twitter if that's your thing.

Next have a peek at a couple of benchmarks, and remember that this device is made primarily for watching and transmitting media, not necessarily working to process the video and make hard-hitting games look their best. This device can be compared to the orignal Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 review for power, but remember again that you've no longer got the NVIDIA processor which would be giving you access to the Tegra Zone for games. Here instead you've got the lower cost tablet and the IR-blaster to change channels on your television.

The last component you're going to want to look at here is the battery life of this device. It's tested essentially as well as the rest of the Galaxy Tab line for battery life, that being extremely well considering this device does not work with mobile data. Instead you've got wifi-only and the whole machine will stay up with battery for several days if you don't use it too heavily. Play several full-length videos and you're looking at more like 8 hours max.

This tablet is made for those ladies and gentlemen who want the $100 discount off the lowest price on the newest iPad. Though this tablet is not made specifically to compete with the iPad, and it really wont, you'll find it to be amongst the best values in the Android world for those of you not looking for the best processor on earth. If you just want to watch movies and browse the web, this may well be your best bet on the market today.