Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 vs Apple iPad 2

We compare Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9 to the Apple iPad 2

We compare the smaller of Samsung’s Galaxy Tabs, the Galaxy Tab 8.9, to Apple’s brand new iPad 2.

Form:
Galaxy Tab 8.9 – 230.9 x 157.8 x 8.6mm, 470g
Apple iPad 2 - 241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8 mm, 607g

The Galaxy Tab is just a bit on the smaller side of what we prefer from a tablet with the iPad 2 presenting us with a much more satisfactory size.

They’re both wafer thin devices which is always a plus but we’re not exactly in love with the visuals of the Galaxy Tab 8.9, especially given how nice its big brother, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, looks.

With the 8.9 it feels like there’s a bit too much body around the screen, the corners are a bit too curved compared to the iPad 2 and the back panel is boring compared to the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The iPad 2 is a more attractive piece of kit despite the fact that these days we feel a bit oversaturated with the overall iDesign aesthetic. Despite this, Apple has managed to shave away enough of the bulk to keep things fresh and make a very sleek and mostly pleasing form.

The look of the materials used to make the iPad 2 seems much nicer than on the Galaxy Tab 8.9, which looks a little bit cheap by comparison, while the Apple’s build quality is to the usual high standard.

Winner – Apple iPad 2

Display:
The iPad 2 features a 9.7-inch LED-backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen, the resolution clocks in at 768 x 1024 pixels and 132 dots-per-inch (dpi).

The display features line-up is on the lighter side, keeping it nice and simple with an oleophobic surface to repel grubby fingerprints, not only that it’s scratch resistant too. Apart from this it’s the usual run of gyro and accelerometer sensors and multi-touch input.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab has a TFT capacitive touchscreen which is a wee bit smaller at 8.9-inches but compensates for this with a higher resolution of 800x1280 pixels and at 170dpi. The tablet comes preloaded with the TouchWiz UX user interface (UI) and features multi-touch along with both accelerometer and gyro sensors.

The iPad 2 is a nicer size in our opinion but for screen sharpness and clarity the Galaxy Tab has it beat with a higher resolution and dpi.

Winner – Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9

Storage:
Storage on both these devices is quite similar and in both cases they’re very well provided for, each has the option of 16, 32 or 64GB of onboard capacity. In other memory related areas the contrast is a bit more obvious.

The Apple has 512MB of RAM but no card support, which overall doesn’t stack up too well against the Samsung’s 1GB of RAM and Micro SD support up to 32GB.

We have to side with Samsung on this one.

Winner – Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9

Processor:
The Galaxy Tab runs a 1GHz dual core on Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chipset while the iPad 2 is on a slightly better footing with a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 dual core processor on the Apple A5 chipset and paired with a PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics processing unit (GPU).

The Cortex-A9 power should outperform the Tegra 2 on the Galaxy Tab especially combined with the powerful GPU.

Winner – Apple iPad 2

Operating System:
Apple’s tablet naturally runs on the latest version of iOS 4.3 while the Galaxy Tab is an Android device running the tablet-specific Honeycomb 3.0.

We can’t speak highly enough of 3.0 Honeycomb, we don’t want to go throwing around words like ‘perfection’, but it certainly is by far the best version of Android we’ve seen to date and tackles some of the more severe gripes we had with Android as a whole.

Many issues were fixed in 2.3 Gingerbread but, for whatever reason, the clunky browsing was ignored, that’s been fixed here and it is now much more smooth and responsive with many more features integrated from Chrome, including tabbed browsing, enhanced scrolling and pinch-zoom and Javascript is now supported.

The interface has been improved further from 2.3 while multi-tasking, Android’s consistently greatest strength, has been steadily enhanced each version and Honeycomb too has seen it tweaked for the better. On top of this the improved keyboard from 2.3 is also present here which is a massive step up from early iterations being much more responsive and user-friendly.

Integrated OpenGL graphics acceleration is also a welcome plus while a new Renderscript 3D graphics engine boosts overall performance.

iOS 4.3 didn’t change a whole lot from the previous version but that’s testament to how well rounded the system already is, where Android specialises in customisation, iOS opts for being as easy-to-use, straightforward and intuitive as possible, and it’s a goal in which it is largely successful. There’s a certain plug-and-play nature to iOS to its credit.

Its exclusivity and the proprietary nature of its programs and apps aren’t to everyone’s liking but they do run well on the iPad 2 and are certainly accessible enough. If you’re after something you can just run with, or already own other Apple devices, this is certainly a plus point in its favour.

iOS is extremely well optimised and runs very well on the current crop of powerful iDevices including the iPad 2.

As usual with comparisons between the ‘big’ operating systems, it comes down to personal preference on how you want to use your tablet, they’re all good in their own way, hence why they’re all so successful.

If you want something that is easy to just pick up and use that will perform well with apps, videos and other multimedia and that will integrate along with other Apple devices you own you’d be best opting for iOS.

If, however, you want customisation and use the various Google services (Gmail, Calendar, Reader etc.), Android is probably a better bet.

They’re both intuitive and they can both handle all your typical tasks from running games, films and apps to sorting out your office work on the go.

Winner - Draw

Camera:
The iPad 2’s camera is rated at less than 1-megapixel, 0.7 to be exact, which is just awful really on a modern, high-end device.

There is the argument asking why you should be using a tablet as a camera anyway, but given that it has become standard to include at least one on any device while the megapixel count goes steadily upwards, to include a camera that is, to quote Charlie Sorrel from Wired, “about the same resolution as an early 1990s-era digital camera,” is a bit naff to say the least.

Camera features include autofocus, geo-tagging, video calling and 4x digital zoom, video capture is 720p. There’s also a secondary camera rated at 0.3-megapixel VGA.

The Galaxy Tab is a better prospect without being anything too marvellous, it sports a 3.15-megapixel primary at a respectable 2048x1536 pixels, with autofocus and LED flash. Video capture is 720p while the secondary camera is 2-megpixels.

You could probably see this coming but we prefer the Galaxy Tab on cameras.

Winner – Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9

Final Thoughts:
The Galaxy Tab 8.9 is a fine piece of kit and wins out in a lot of areas, but it is by no means perfect. Likewise the Apple iPad 2 is an extremely well put together device, but it is simply lacking in one or two areas which stains an otherwise standout tablet.

Performance wise the iPad 2 takes the lead, plus it’s prettier, but in most other areas, particularly the display, memory and camera the Tab excels over the iPad.

It’s difficult to recommend the Galaxy Tab 8.9 when we’d rather have a 10.1, and we have to say the iPad 2 isn’t really better or worse than the Galaxy Tab, it’s just different.