Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Unboxed

Samsung Galaxy Tab Front

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 came out yesterday for the rest of the US, so this morning I stopped by a local Best Buy in hopes of seeing a display model.  Part of being a young and upcoming tech website is the disadvantage you have compared to some of the big boys.  We don’t get a review model shipped to us to pour over for a couple of weeks before it hits the market.  We have to buy our toys if we really want to review them for you, or we have to hoof it out to stores and hunt them down.  That’s the case today.  The Galaxy tab 10.1 has been highly anticipated, and I was really hoping an active model would be on display so I could give you a first-hand look at Honeycomb 3.1.

Alas, it was not to be.  Best Buy has no display for it.  It’s locked away in a cage, and you’d never know it was there if you don’t ask.  Fortunately, when I mentioned that I was from gggadgets.com, and was hoping to get some pictures of the new Tab I was met with, “Hey I read you guys all the time” and he took me to the side, let me open one up and snap some pics for you all to see.  Unfortunately I didn’t get any shots of 3.1, but I’ll try to check back in a few days and see if they have the display up.

It’s hard to tell a lot about the guts of the new Tab when you can’t turn it on, but at least I can compare the package with my Acer Iconia Tab A500.  The first thing I noticed when I held the Galaxy Tab was the weight.  Compared to my aluminum-coated Acer, the Tab was unimaginably lighter.  I know it’s not really that much lighter, as the Tab weighs in only a couple of grams under the Acer, but the plastic body lends a much lighter feel to the Tab over the Acer.

Galaxy Tab Back

On the back, the rear camera is pretty much dead-center, where the Acer’s is off to the side.  This seems far more practical for lining up shots.

Galaxy Tab Top

Looking at it side-on, it’s super thin.  The Acer tablet isn’t really all that thick either, but Samsung’s definitely shaved a few milimeters off the thickness here for a much sleeker appearance.  On the top you can see the volume rocker, power, and the headphone jack.

Galaxy Tab Side

On the side is 1 speaker.

Galaxy Tab Side

On the other side is another speaker.

Galaxy Tab Bottom

Finally along the bottom is the docking port for something that hasn’t been released yet.  Best guess is a media dock, hopefully with some good external speakers for music and movie playing.  The biggest disadvantage over the Acer tab i have is the lack of connectivity on the Samsung.  There’s no USB, no HDMI, and no SD card slot.  What gives Sammy?

I’ll update this post a little later if I can get some good shots of the update UI for Honeycomb, but until then at least you have something to salivate over.  I know I did.