Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) vs Apple iPads: Tablet Price War Gets Fiercer

Apple introduced the first tablet a couple of years ago at impressive and decent price points, and the tech giant's dominance in tablet market has been really entrenched since then. Consequently, the rivals in the market have to come out with innovative marketing strategies to face the competition.

Most of the tablet manufacturers have come out with a new strategy of reducing the prices of their existing and upcoming devices with wholesome features to lure consumers in every aspect possible.

According to Engadget, Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) would be available for just $399. Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) has been priced by Office Depot, the online retailer at the same price. However, the device is still not available for purchase.

In March, when the new iPad 3 was launched, Apple slashed the price of iPad 2, giving it a new price tag of $400 for 16GB Wi-Fi only and $530 for Wi-Fi + 3G.

Talking about the new iPad price points, the device was released in the market last month with the following price tags -- 16 GB: $499, 32 GB: $599 and 64 GB: $699. Further, the new model came with variants triggered with the LTE capability. Hence, the in that case, the price tags were $629, $729 and $829 respectively for the 16, 32, and 64 GB variants.

The Wi-Fi only 8GB version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) was spotted at Office Depot website, priced for $399.99 and similarly the other advance versions are expected to be priced. Hence, it doesn't matter what kind of tablet the buyer is looking for. A 10-inch tablet with less than a $400-price tag could make a difference. Besides all this, a consumer should be smart enough and fully aware of what a $200, $300 or $400 device should look like.

Since a detailed discussion of the price tags of each of these hot tablets has been done, let's take a look at the specs and features these biggies.

Operating System

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) will run on Google's latest Android 4.0 operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich. It will feature a redesigned user interface with a new app gallery layout, embedded Google applications, a Face Unlock feature employed with a facial recognition software, and access to a wide variety of multimedia through Samsung Hub services.

On the other hand, iOS 5 is featured on iPad 2 while Apple's New iPad, which is the successor to the second generation iPad and has got iOS 5.1, will boast a support to all the high-end specifications in place of the prior.

Processor

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) would be powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and the device would be loaded with its unique TouchWiz panel. On the other hand, the iPad 2 ran on a dual-core A5 processor, the same chip found inside iPhone 4S.

As an improvement, the New iPad runs on a dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU and Apple A5X chipset. A PowerVR SGX543MP4 GPU has been added to give some extra boost in the performance.

Display

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) would feature a 10.1-inch PLS TFT display with a resolution of WSVGA (1024x600pixels) and would offer a pixel density of 149ppi.

Talking about the iPads, the New iPad 3 comes with the 9.7-inch screen display as that of its predecessor iPad 2, which had 1024x768 pixels of resolution.

However, a major addition which had led the device far ahead against its rival tablets is the LED backlit Retina display which comes power-packed with 2048 x 1536 pixels of resolution at 264 pixel density with 44 percent increased color saturation and an astounding 3.1 million pixels.

Camera

In Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1), the cameras would be limited to 3MP with LED flash, autofocus, geo-tagging and 720P video capture. Moreover, it would feature a VGA camera in the front which would offer a high quality video calling as a result.

Apple has done a great job when it comes to improving the camera of the New iPad. While iPad 2 cameras (0.7 MP backside and VGA front side) have always been at the center of criticism, the latest tablet sports a 5 MP rear camera that comes with welcome features like iSight and CMOS sensor setup, auto-detection, flash, HDR and face detection and a host of other improvements and with video capabilities of 1080p at 30fps and video stabilization. A front-facing secondary VGA camera is also available.

MicroSD Card Slot:

Initially, it was informed that the Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) will be rolled out in two variants - 16GB and 32GB - which would be expandable up to 32GB using a microSD card. But now, according to the Office Depot website citing via Engadget report, it is leaked that the device would have an 8GB Wi-Fi Only version as well.

This is a feature which all iPad lovers wanted to see in the latest device, but Apple disappointed its fans once again. And whether it is iPad 2 or the new iPad, Apple doesn't offer expandable memory option. However, it does offer variants. Both the devices come in 16, 32, and 64 GB variants.

Connectivity

The latest version from Apple is not a complete redesign of iPad 2, but takes advantage of faster 4G wireless technology. The new iPad baseband chip covers it all from EV-DO to HSPA+ and LTE.

At the same time, iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2(10.1) lack 4G connectivity. Both of them come with 3G and Wi-Fi variants.

Battery Life

Galaxy Tab 2(10.1) is equipped with a 7,000 mAh battery (up from 4,000 on the 7.0), which will hopefully ensure stamina that is similar to its predecessor.

However, for the new iPad, the company claims to support a sufficient battery life of nine hours. Without LTE, it would run up to 10 hours. On the same lines, the iPad 2 also boasted a battery life of up to 10 hours.

Dimensions And Weight

With Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) has a profile of just 256.6 x 175.3 x 9.7 mm and it weighs around 588 grams.

The new iPad has dimensions of 241.2 x 185.7 x 9.4 mm and weighs about 652 grams (Wi-Fi Only) and 662 grams (Wi-Fi + 4G). When it comes to iPad 2, it measures in at 241 mm x 186 mm and weighs about 600 grams and is 8.8 mm thick.