Got the Galaxy tab 10.1 inch but....

[whiteshadow001]

I bought the 10.1 last night, but I can't help thinking that the Xoom is still better. Don't get me wrong here the Samsung is a great tab, but theres something about the Xoom I just like.

I would like some of your opinions on these two tabs. Your inputs could help me greatly because I'm currently undecided right now.

 

[Daniel0418]

I currently own both and have 14 days to decide which to keep. Ill give my pros and cons thus far.

Ive been doing a lot of side by sides for everything on this tablet and here is what i have come to discover in my own use.

Hardware:

Just from a feature standpoint the xoom wins here for sure. MicroUSB on the Xoom while the tab has aproprietary dock connector which require adapters for everything, the xoom has HDMI out built in while the tab will need an adapter. However, personallyi preferthe position of the volume rocker on the tab and it is much easier to press than the volume buttons on the side of the Xoom.

Size weight and quality. The tab is sligtly larger than the Xoomwhen looking at it from the front. The tab is way lighter and so much more thin. The Tab also overall just feels much better quality. One thing that has always bothered me about the xoom is how the top half of the back was a soft bendable plastic. Never felt comfortable holding it in portrait mode with my hand on the side where the plastic is. I dont havethis problem at all on the tab. The tab definitely feels better to hold.

I tested the cameras and here is what i found. The tab in brigt lighting takes better pictures and video than the Xoom even though it only has a 3MP Camera. The Xoom rear camera performed better in low light conditions. But when i compared the front facing camera i couldnt see a difference. The camera softwareis a bit different on the tab but has the same basic functions.

The screens: i dont know what samsung did here but the tab screen is better in every single way. The pixels are spaced in a way that makes the tab seem slightly higher resolution even though clearly it is not. The colors are much more real and accurate. Blacks are blacker and the colors are definitely more saturated. The Xoom looks like it is washed out by this white. Also when i put the brightness on both devices up all the way, the tab screen is much brighter. The glass on the tab also feels smoother and does not get as many finger prints.

Speakers: side by side the speakers on the xoom are slightly louder than those on the tab, however in real world use the tab is easier to hear because the speakers are on the side of the device on planted in the rear. The tab speakers also sound slightly higher quality even if a little less loud.

Software: its harder to find differences in software but there are a few. I ran quadrant 5 times side by side and the xoom scored higher every time. I dont know what this means because the tab doesnt feel slower at all. When browsing, scrolling seems a bit smoother on the tab, but switching between browser tabs is consistantly faster on the Xoom. 720p flash playback is identical on both the tab and the xoom. Swiping through photos is much smoother on the tab and it has an overshoot bounce affect. Pinch to zoom on photos is smoother on the tab as well.

Sadly, even though the xoom is much larger in size, the battery is better by about an hour and a half of constant use on the tab. Video side by side lasted a full 10 hours on the tab where the xoom gets about 8.7.

Im sure there is more but overall i feel like the tab is just better put together. Plus it is actually thinner and lighter than the iPad 2 which is nice. In fact, after writing this i am pretty sure i will be keeping the tab. The question is, do i keep the metallic grey or switch to the white.

 

[HawaiianLaker]

i bought the view sonic gtablet a while ago and the deal breakers for me were the viewing angles, resolution, and honeycomb. i was gonna wait for the xoom to be sold as wifi only but then i heard about the 10.1..... if the 10.1 had a use port or micro sd slot i would hands down get that but the fact that you cant expand the memory is really tough...

 

[LynnL]

Does anyone have the USB adapter yet? Do flash drives and such connect to the Tab?

 

[Major]

I'm considering the 8.9 Tab, but I'm reserving judgment until there are some release units out in the wild for review.

 

[anon(42011)]

Did a side by side comparison with a coworker and came to similar results as Blayze04.

Hardware: Xoom easily wins hands down. USB, HDMI and SD card slot. My Xoom is Rooted, OC'd with working SD Card etc.

Aesthetics: The Tab feels good, very light, thin and appears well constructed. The buttons are well placed. I actually like the weight of my Xoom, I'm not sure why it justs feels sturdy. If we were to drop both I think the Xoom although heavier would fair better. But the Tab wins in my opinion.

Speakers: The Xoom speakers are louder but of course they are on the back of the Xoom so the speakers side by side sound equal. The Tabs speakers are smaller but well placed (on the side). I probably have to give it to the Tab for better design. If you were to place both Tabs flat then the 10.1 would probably sound better BC of position but I didn't think to test that.

Browser: Did some basic side by side tests with stock browser and identical settings etc and the 10.1 rendered pages faster than my Xoom. Now I'm not sure if this is an isolated thing but my Xoom was slower to render the pages by a second or so. I noticed the 10.1 did not have the 'Labs' option under settings?

Screen: 10.1 screen to me appears to be a better screen, darker darks and brightness is brighter. Although the 10.1 had a noticeably better screen it wasnt in MY opinion a huge difference. Both tablets had different screen protectors on so I'm not sure what factor that played.

Camera: The Xoom in my opinion has a better rear camera. I did not notice a zoom function on the 10.1. In low light as noticed by Blayze the 10.1 seems to perform better. I believe it has an auto exposure feature? When i manually adjusted my exposure my low light pictures improved. The front camera maybe for similar reasons (auto exposure) appeared better on the 10.1. The video on the Xoom is significantly better, the Galaxy Tabs Video appears a little grainy compared to the Xooms.

Overall I was really impressed with the Galaxy tab 10.1 and think its an excellent device. I personally favor my Xoom despite its shortcomings which some I hope will be resolved in the future. If I had to buy my wife a tablet I wouldn't hesitate to get her the Galaxy tab. I would recommend it for the average user/consumer.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[Daniel0418]

Yes you definitely did further testing than me. I agree with everything you said. And wow I didn't even notice the missing "labs" in browser settings. That kind of sucks.

 

[anaphora68]

I'm in a simular situation. I have the Tab 10.1 (retail) and am thinking about trading it in for the Xoom.

The tab is a great device, but I do worry about Samsung's track record of updating their devices at a glacier's pace. My wife has a Fascinate, hence the hesitation.

Overall, I really like the Tab, but I just worry about being left behind as far as updates go. Also, not being able to access certain things like Google Labs on the browser annoys me.

 

[julyccc]

The only thing about the Samsung is that it is not a Google experience device. I am afraid I might not get the os update as soon as it comes out. I like my tab stock Android and want the update as soon as it comes out. I don't want to wait for the manufacturer putting their ui.

Samsung is so far running stock Android. But there is no guarantee that we will get the os update as soon as it comes out.

 

[anaphora68]

Overall, how do you like the Xoom? Any regrets, issues? How is it to hold in your hand(s), etc.

 

[Jonno]

The screen is definitely one of the lower points on Xoom hardware-wise. Samsung Android devices have the best screens. I feel they're the only ones that can compete against Apple screens. I'm not feeling the TouchWiz on Samsung phones but the TouchWiz on the Honeycomb looks pretty cool. If I didn't have the Xoom now I would have gone with the Samsung 10.1 Tab too.

 

[1414H77]

Have the tab in 14 day trial. Love it, but... It force closes too much. I have reset, taken off all purchased apps, etc., but still periodically does it.

Also, for exchange users the stock email app for the tab will only show inbox, outbox, sent, trash folders- it will not show all of your other custom folders- this is a major dissappointment. Touchdown has a beta out for touchpad type devices and it fills the bill, but it is pretty clunky and not really nice looking. If Samsung would just add the ability to see other folders for Exchange to their app it would be great.

 

[anon(42011)]

Overall, how do you like the Xoom? Any regrets, issues? How is it to hold in your hand(s), etc.

I love my Xoom, although I do wish the screen was better and I had 4g LTE already. I have zero regrets, my Xoom does everything that I want it to except what I mentioned. Of course I unlocked and rooted it which helped me to get alot more out of it like use of the SD card slot and overclocking it to 1.4ghz per core. I also appreciate its size and weight, it just feels sturdy/substantial and not fragile. Also the Xooms bezel is just the right size, not too big but enough room to hold the device w/o touching the screen. Hardware wise the Xoom is a beast with alot of potential. For me i feel over the long term the Xoom will maintain its functionality/usefulness as it has the storage, ports, power, (4g) and Google love. And being the first Honeycomb tablet the developer community has done an excellent job of releasing Roms, updates, hacks and fixes to solve most of the complaints. The Samsung 10.1 is an excellent device out of the box but I do have reservations similar to others about updates etc. I think the average consumer will favor the the 10.1 and they should but power users the Xoom. I believe the Xoom will become the Nexus One of tablets in consideration to updates and development etc.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[KirkDiggler]

Have the tab in 14 day trial. Love it, but... It force closes too much. I have reset, taken off all purchased apps, etc., but still periodically does it.

Also, for exchange users the stock email app for the tab will only show inbox, outbox, sent, trash folders- it will not show all of your other custom folders- this is a major dissappointment. Touchdown has a beta out for touchpad type devices and it fills the bill, but it is pretty clunky and not really nice looking. If Samsung would just add the ability to see other folders for Exchange to their app it would be great.

I can see all my subfolders and can view my sent items but I get nothing in my inbox. I am thinking there is something in my inbox or something with our exchange server that is preventing this as I appear alone in this.