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Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 review
May 18, 2012
This could be the next evolutionary step in Android tablets: an ultra-slim/ultra-light tab with powerful hardware and an extraordinary screen...
Specifications
- General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 21 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
- Dimensions: 230.9 x 157.8 x 8.6 mm, 470 g
- Display: 8.9" 16M-color WXGA (1280 x 800 pixels) IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen
- CPU: Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, ULP GeForce GPU, Tegra 2 chipset
- RAM: 1GB
- OS: Android 3.1 Honeycomb
- Memory: 16/32/64 GB storage
- Camera: 3.15 MP auto-focus camera with 720p video recording; LED flash, 2 megapixel front facing camera, video-calls
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 3.0+HS, standard microUSB port,GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio, HDMI TV-out (through an adapter), USB host (adapter required)
- Misc: TouchWiz customization, telephony, DivX/XviD codec support, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, gyroscope sensor
User Interface
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 will ship with TouchWiz UI right from the beginning. Google is eager to offer timely updates for the tablet-friendly version of Android, so customisations are usually non-essential.
As usual, Samsung managed to sneak in a few elements of its own. These make the Galaxy Tab 8.9 stand-out from the other Honeycomb tablets. Check out the UI in action here:
Camera
A 2 MP front-facing snapper and 3.15 MP camera with 720 P video-recording capability are what you get with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. Bearing in mind that tablets aren’t the most useful devices for taking snaps, it’s probably as much as you're going to need anyway. The camera is above-average for a tablet device and video recording is a sheer bliss due to its great quality and camera response time.
Verdict
We finally have it – the tablet that caters for the middleman (and by middleman I don’t mean a merchant!) The Galaxy Tab 8.9 is perfectly sized: smaller than the 10.1 inch and larger than the small 7 inch baby. It's the perfect in-between sized tab that still gives you the full Honeycomb experience. And I do I need to mention the improved portability that goes hand-in-hand with its comfortable size.
Naman Singh
www.dionysuscellular.co.za