Catching Up – Preview Of The Galaxy Tab 8.9
Perhaps a bit of a late exposure on our part, but here we have a users experience preview with the Galaxy Tab 8.9, thanks to Stewart Wolpin of Uberizmo. To brief you before we delve in, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 is powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor, runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb and has an 8.9-inch screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800. Its specs are impressive, however as we’ve all come to learn by now, specs aren’t everything. It’s the experience you have with a tablet that counts. And Stewart managed to experience a Galaxy Tab 8.9 first-hand during the CTIA event. Read what he had to say after the break.
Like most major tablets out on the current market, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 was also compared to the iPad 2. We’ve heard news stating that the Galaxy Tab 8.9 is thinner than the iPad 2 as well as news that it isn’t, but according to Stewart, the unit he had was slightly thinner as well as slightly lighter and cheaper. The Galaxy Tab 8.9 (GT8.9 for short) also has higher resolution front and rear cameras than the iPad 2, and has an easier grip due to its ridged back. It is also landscape-centric, whereas the iPad 2 is more portrait-centric which can be clearly seen in the image of the two. Specification wise, the GT8.9 is practically on par if not better than the iPad 2.
Design and Features
The GT8.9 has its volume, on/off button and 3.5mm headphone jack on the top perimeter, whilst the SIM card slot, multi-pin propriety Galaxy Tab jack and twin speakers can be found no the bottom. The tablet has no buttons on its bezel, but instead has its navigation and menu access located on the touchscreen: back, home and the Samsung TouchWiz Task Manager icons are on the lower left of the home screen, and the app and customization view (marked as a “+” sign) are on the upper right. Another plus point for the GT8.9 in comparison to the iPad 2 is having its camera on the landscape side – much like on the HTC Flyer. The reason this is better is because the front camera tends to be used more for self portraits (especially with groups) and not video chats.
Size
The GT8.9′s 8.9-inch size is said to be pocket perfect, however not so for typing. In landscape, you can two-finger type but not thumb-type as it’s too big. This isn’t good for a tablet that’s made for whipping out of your pocket and typing on the go – especially since there’s no Samsung made case/stand. Holding it vertically does allow for thumb typing, although it puts the tablet off balance and therefor isn’t ideal – there’s only so long Stewart could awkwardly hold the tablet up from the bottom end before his wrists started complaining.
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The screen was said to be beautiful, crisp, colourful and bright. Video and still images shine and the screen’s off-angles were decent. On landscape, the screen size also offered enhanced web viewing, unlike the original 7-inch Galaxy Tab. Stewart also witness the GT8.9′s superior camera quality over the iPad 2′s as the images taken on the GT8.9 came out as crisp and clean as any other photo or video loaded on to the tab. With the iPad 2, indoor images came out grainy.
Multiple Interface
This is where Stewart ran into the GT8.9′s biggest issue. The tablet runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb as its OS which is already an operating system that promotes user customization. On top of that, the tablet also has Samsung’s own TouchWiz 4.0 UX – another customisable interface that techies will no doubt enjoy – however it may all be too much for your standard user. With so many widgets, apps and mini-apps that Stewart noticed were quite often multiple access points to the same thing, it makes them almost redundant. An example of this is in the Task Manager which is a list of open widgets in a vertical column on the left. However, not only where these widgets already on the home screen, but scrolling down the task manager proved impossible as the “down” icon instead leads to the home screen. Adding or eliminating items on the Task Manager was also something Stewart and the tablet’s demonstrators failed to figure out. Other examples Stewart came across was the Live Bar, a bar that came up from the bottom when swiped – much like on an Apple Mac – that housed seven mini-apps that according to the demonstrators came pre-installed and could not be changed. As for the purpose of the mini-apps – again, both Stewart and developers were left scratching their heads. There was also more than enough Google search access points (an icon, a widget and an app) on one of the multiple operating systems which really puts across Stewart’s point of over complicating things to the point of them being redundant.
Conclusion
A conclusion was made that despite that the tablet may have some kind of logical reasoning behind the overly complex user interface, it still felt a mess. For an Android tablet to make a dent in the competitive market, it’s going to need to rely on mainstream buyers for its success, and confusing (even for a tablet veteran like Stewart) user interfaces are just going to push those buyers away. So back to the first point made – good specs are good, but good user experience is better. For the full review, click on the source link.
via ubergizmo
Categories: Android Tablet, Samsung, Tablet
