MWC 2011 Live: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1-inch (Tab 2) Hands-On Preview

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The other monster at the Samsung booth in Barcelona, Spain, besides the Samsung Galaxy S 2, which we’ve just shown you, is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1-inch or the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.

The tablet has come right in the nick of time to compete against the iPad, the iPad 2, the Motorola Xoom or the HP TouchPad. The 10.1-inch tablet is running Honeycomb and we’re looking at a pretty consistent Google experience here as everything pretty much resembles the UI of the Motorola Xoom which was used by Google to demo its tablet-only mobile OS.

As you can expect the crowds gathered around the Galaxy 10.1-inch and we were in for some waiting before we were able to handle it as so many before us did – just check those screen smudges right there.

Unfortunately the Galaxy Tab 2 didn’t have any Internet connection, which would be needed to show a tablet’s most important features. But, nonetheless we did discover this tablet thinks it’s a phone, a Honeycomb running one, we checked out the eBook reader app and that 8-megapixel camera.

Luckily I happened to have an iPad with me to compare the two devices and those of you that are already familiar with Apple’s tablet will find that the Galaxy Tab 10.1-inch is pretty similar in size with its archenemy.

The Galaxy Tab feels just right, and this was actually my first time using Honeycomb. After seeing the new mobile OS demoed by Google a few weeks back I pretty much knew what to expect and I have to say the interface is pretty intuitive too so there’s no way to get lost through those menus, widgets or notification system. And the fact that it lacks any buttons is a strange yet welcomed bonus.

When it comes to the hardware, well, the Galaxy Tab 2, as you already know, trumps the iPad. It has a dual-core 1GHz processor, two cameras, an 8-megapixel back camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, a 1,280 x 800 resolution, HD video recording and playback and weighs in at 599g, just a little lighter than Apple’s tablet.

It will be interesting to see how Apple will respond to these new Android tablets, and equally fun to watch the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 fight it out among Android tablets. And like that’s not enough we have more tablets coming at MWC and to you this year, ready to engage these giants in a fair fight.

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