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MagyarReview Samsung ATIV Tab GT-P8510 Tablet
For the original German review, see here.
At IFA 2012, Samsung officially introduced the new ATIV family. In addition to the already reviewed ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C, the model with Microsoft's Windows RT makes its debut. The Samsung ATIV Tab has a 10.1-inch PLS display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The ATIV Tab features an ARM-based Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus system-on-a-chip, running at 1.5 GHz, and an integrated Adreno 225 graphics chip. The hardware list includes 2 GB RAM, 32 GB flash memory, a 5 MP camera, and the latest wireless technologies.
This sums up the available configurations. At the moment, our test model is the only one on sale. An internet connection is only possible via the dual-band WLAN module, because the tablet lacks UMTS and LTE chips. Is this the ideal tablet for the lazy hack on the couch? You will find the answer to that and other questions in this review. At a suggested retail price of 750 Euros (~$980) we are excited about the performance of Samsung's ATIV Tab.
Case
The chassis of the Samsung ATIV Tab is made entirely of plastic. But it still makes a good impression. The tablet is well made, is pleasant to the touch, and overall seems of high quality. The only color option so far is”Metallic Silver". The tablet is not actually made of metal - the light gray back only imitates an aluminum surface. The darker gray display bezel is a good design addition. A slight sparkle can be observed under direct sunlight. This color combination is available for the whole ATIV family, which currently includes the Samsung ATIV Smart PC and the ATIV S GT-I8750 Smartphone with 4.8-inch screen.
In addition to the workmanship, quality, and material choice, stability is also an essential factor. Even when using two hands and a lot of force, the tablet can only be twisted slightly. This produces no audible noises. Overall the tablet looks very solid. The covers for the ports are a very good idea. They completely stop any dirt from accumulating. These covers also facilitate the quick finding of the needed ports.
The Samsung ATIV Tab measure 266x168x9 mm (WxDxH) and weighs 574 grams, without the additional keyboard dock. The Samsung ATIV Smart PC with the optional keyboard weighs 1.46 kg. The rival Asus Vivo Tab RT TF600 is slightly slimmer and lighter - it is 8.3 mm thick and weighs 525 grams. The Google Nexus 10 and the Apple iPad 4 are heavier, weighing 603 and 652 grams respectively.
Connectivity
The Samsung ATIV Tab is available with 32 GB memory which is the only option at the moment. After the initial installation, in Windows Explorer we see only 14.1 GB free out of 23.6 GB (net capacity: 44%!). The missing 8.4 GB was not displayed in the Explorer (safety feature). Thanks to the integrated micro-SD card reader, the internal memory can be increased. The tablet supports up to 64 GB, but no applications can be installed on the memory card.
A definite advantage in this category of tablets is the USB 2.0 port at the top of the device. This allows the use of USB flash drives and other peripherals. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 does not have this port. Our test unit also has a 3.5-mm stereo jack, a compact charging port, a micro-HDMI port (1080p), and a magnetic port for keyboard docking. The twodocking sockets are protected by two plastic covers.
Software
The operating system is Microsoft's new Windows RT. Similar to the mobile operating systems of Apple and Google, only applications from the Windows Store can be installed. But the number of apps currently available is very limited. In addition to the standard apps, Samsung has also pre-installed ChatOn, box, doubletwist AirSync, and a photo editor. You can find more information on Windows RT in our previous reviews: Asus Vivo Tab RT TF600, Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11, and Microsoft Surface RT.
Communication & GPS
The tablet features the latest wireless technologies. The WLAN connection is possible via the 802.11a/b/g/n standards over 2.4 or 5 GHz spectra (Dual Band). Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC (Near Field Communication) allow the exchange of data between two similarly equipped devices. 3G and LTE modules are not available. The use of a USB dongle is also hardly possible due to Windows RT being based on another platform and the drivers necessary are not available for it.
S-GPS and Glonass provide the tablet with location-based services. There is a pre-installed maps application, but it does not feature any navigation functionality. We tested the positioning and a lock-on was established in a couple of seconds. None of the usual navigation apps are available in the Windows Store. Some of these include Google Maps and the costly Navigon and TomTom.
Cameras
For photos, the tablet has a main camera with 5 megapixels (2592x1944) and an LED flash. Contrary to the trend, only videos in 720p (1280x720, autofocus) can be recorded. The front camera of the ATIV Tab has a resolution of 1.2 megapixels (1280x720, 720p). This is perfectly acceptable when compared to other devices.
The system offers almost no settings when taking photos and videos. The camera application only allows you to change the resolution and set a timer. No pinch-to-zoom and no video recording in Full HD (1080p, 1920x1080) are available. This is very disappointing compared to Google's Android and Apple's iOS. A consolation is the “Camera Extra Settings" app by Samsung, which can be downloaded for free. This extra does not come pre-installed. It allows additional options to be set (white balance, image effects, exposure, AF mode, flash, etc).
The camera performed very well in our field test. Compared to the Apple iPad 4, the images look natural and sharp. Light coming at an angle was also not a challenge. The front camera is designed for video chats. Its quality suffices for its application, but leaves room for improvement. The iPad 4 does not perform better in this test either. Overall, this is good attempt for software which is limited by the operating system. The extra software by Samsung is a must.
Accessories
In addition to the tablet itself, Samsung has included only the absolute necessary accessories. Next to the device, we find some printed documents and a 45 W adapter with cable, which is something we expect of a subnotebook, not a table. It is a modular USB adapter and it requires a micro-USB port. The USB 2.0 port on the tablet can be used only for data transfer or connecting peripherals. A carrying sleeve and other goodies must be purchased separately.
Samsung is holding back on optional accessories. Currently there are no products specifically available for the ATIV Tab on the company's website. The keyboard dock is shown attached to the bottom side of the tablet via the dock connector. There is no detailed information about this accessory though.
Warranty
Samsung delivers the tablet with a warranty period of 24 months. Additional accessories and the internal battery are covered for only 12 months.
Input Devices & Controls
The device is controlled via the capacitive touchscreen. Under Windows RT, it can recognize up to five fingers simultaneously. Actions are registered quickly and the overall use of the screen is smooth. The optimized user interface of Windows RT also helps with usability.
Text input is done via the virtual keyboard, which pops up automatically. Only when using the normal desktop does it require a manual access via a small icon on the taskbar. The layout leaves a good impression, although the Shift key could have been a bit bigger. The keys shrink in portrait mode. With a bit of practice, typing becomes quick and pleasant.
One criticism in portrait mode is the tablet's height. When typing, it must be held far down. But the center of gravity is above that point and thus the user has to hold the tablet tightly. Unfortunately the position of the "thumb typing" keyboard cannot be changed.
Display
The Samsung ATIV Tab has a glossy 10.1-inch display, which works at the Windows RT standard 1366 x 768 pixels resolution (in 16:9 format). It is based on the Samsung PLS technology with small LEDs for backlighting. The Plane-to-Line Switching (PLS) technology is an advanced version of the popular IPS technology, but requires less power.
Samsung does not offer a higher resolution display for the ATIV Tab. The rivals Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T, Google Nexus 10, and Apple's iPad 4 can display native 1920 x 1080 content without any problems. Another weakness of the display is the low pixel density of just 155 DPI. Google's Nexus 10 has almost twice as many pixels (300 DPI) in the same length.
With the help of the tool Gossen Mavo Monitor, we have tested the brightness of the LED display. The average value of the nine measurement points is 369 cd/m². Thus, the tablet is on par with the ATIV Smart PC and the Microsoft Surface RT. The illumination variance is also very low. With a maximum difference of 24 cd/m², we determined a sound level of 90 percent distribution. The Asus Vivo Tab RT TF600 is a bit brighter, although the illumination is a little worse. The Apple iPad 4 with its 300 cd/m² is easily surpassed.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 90 %
Center on Battery: 380 cd/m²
Contrast: 826:1 (Black: 0.46 cd/m²)
The other measurements also leave a good impression. The black level of 0.48 cd/m² is relatively low. In combination with the good illumination, we determined a contrast ratio of 826:1. Overall, the colors seem natural and consistent. Images look sharp for a display with 155 DPI. Samsung offers no information on the color accuracy of the panel. Last but not the least; we have to again mention the LED illumination. In dark surrounding, there are small bright patches on the right edge of the display. These can be especially disturbing when watching a movie.
The glossy screen and the finger prints make outdoor use troublesome. But thanks to the high brightness and contrast, the tablet can be used in most situations. You might need to adjust your seating position in direct sunlight, because reflections cannot be avoided completely. A possible solution is a matte screen protector.
Thanks to the PLS panel, the display content can easily be read even at very flat angles. Theoretically, up to 178 degrees should be possible. The reality is somewhere between 130 and 150 degrees. Watching a movie with several people is not a problem. The image on the left shows the good performance. The bright patches at the edges are caused only by the sensitive camera. In everyday use, the two lines are completely black.
Performance
The heart of the Samsung ATIV Tab is a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus SoC, Typ APQ8060A. This system-on-a-chip has two cores running at 1.5 GHz, and is home to the Adreno 225 graphics chip. The Krait processor is manufactured using 28 nm technology. Despite fewer cores compared to the Nvidia Tegra 3 SoC, the integrated solution can still perform on par. Our American colleagues at Notebookcheck.net have already reviewed the Lenovo IdeaTab S2110A with the Qualcomm chip and Google's Android.
Currently, there are no popular benchmarks in the Windows Store for the Windows RT. Thus, we have to resort to three browser benchmarks in which the pre-installed Internet Explorer 10 by Microsoft must prove itself. The opponents in these tests are Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari. Subjectively, we have nothing to complain about. The system runs extremely smoothly and with low loading times.
In Browsermark 2.0, Samsung's ATIV Tab scored 1459 points in the overall rankings. The Asus Vivo Tab RT TF600 was 29% slower with 1043 points. The Google Nexus 10 and the Apple iPad 4 on the other hand were more than 50% faster. Interesting is the performance of the Samsung ATIV Smart PC with Windows 8 and Intel SoC. Scoring 2373 points, it is 63% quicker. This tablet was marginally slower than the iPad 4.
The second benchmark comes from Google. To nobody's surprise, the Google Nexus 10 took the first place in the Google V8. The comparison table also shows that Windows RT tablets with Internet Explorer 10 perform poorly. Our test unit scored 785 points. Apple's iPad 4 was twice as good with a score of 1661 points.
With 895.3 milliseconds, the Apple iPad 4 wins the last test. In the Java Script benchmark Sunspider 0.9.1, lower means better. Samsung's ATIV Tab is right behind Cupertino's tablet, scoring 997.3 milliseconds (9% difference). The Google Nexus 10 is the loser in this test (1345.7 milliseconds).
| Google V8 Ver. 7 - Google V8 Ver. 7 Score (sort by value) | |
| Samsung ATIV Tab GT-P8510 | |
| Asus Vivo Tab RT TF600 | |
| Microsoft Surface RT | |
| Google Nexus 10 | |
| Apple iPad 4 | |
| Browsermark - --- (sort by value) | |
| Samsung ATIV Tab GT-P8510 | |
| Asus Vivo Tab RT TF600 | |
| Google Nexus 10 | |
| Apple iPad 4 | |
| Samsung ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C-A02DE | |
| Sunspider - 0.9.1 Total Score (sort by value) | |
| Samsung ATIV Tab GT-P8510 | |
| Asus Vivo Tab RT TF600 | |
| Microsoft Surface RT | |
| Google Nexus 10 | |
| Apple iPad 4 | |
* ... smaller is better
Emissions
Temperature
Cool runnings. Although the cooling of the hardware is only passive, the external temperatures are all in the green. At idle, with a maximum of 33.3°C, the ATIV Tab remains cool to lukewarm depending on usage and ambient temperature.
Under load, the temperatures rise slightly. A maximum of 37.1°C was measured in the middle of the back of the tablet. This is where the system-on-a-chip (SoC) by Qualcomm is located. Our test unit fared very well in comparison to its rivals. Most of the other tablets reach temperatures of around 40°C under load.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 35 °C / 95 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F, ranging from 20.7 to 53.2 °C for the class Tablet.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 37.1 °C / 99 F, compared to the average of 33.3 °C / 92 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 29.9 °C / 86 F, compared to the device average of 30 °C / 86 F.
Speakers
The Samsung ATIV Tab features two speakers that are located to the left and right of the display. The positioning already convinced us in the reviews of the Google Nexus 10 and Samsung ATIV Smart PC. The sound is fine. Medium volume levels are enough to play background music and movies, although the sound is a bit distorted. Overall, mainly the highs are present. Bass and lows are lacking. External speakers can be connected either via the 3.5-mm jack, or the micro-HDMI port (an HDMI adapter costs 7 Euros, ~$9). The transfer of the sound is flawless.
Battery Life
Power Consumption
In addition to the Qualcomm chip, the other large energy consumer is the 10.1-inch display. At idle, the ATIV Tab draws about 2.3 to 5.8 W. Thus, consumption is in the green. The Asus Vivo Tab RT TF600 is on par. The Google Nexus 10 consumes more - 9 W (35.5% difference). On the other hand, we have the Samsung ATIV Smart PC with an Intel Atom Z2760 SoC. It consumes just 4 W and is thus significantly more energy efficient than the ATIV Tab (31% difference).
Under load power consumption reaches a maximum of 8.9 W. The ATIV Smart PC is on par. The Asus uses up to 11 W in this test (23.6% difference). The Google Nexus 10 draws 9.4 W. The Apple iPad 4 is the loser here, with a consumption of 12.5 W (40.5% difference).
The good run times are thanks to the lithium-polymer battery with a capacity of 8200 mAh. We did not receive any more details about the battery from Samsung. As soon as we learn more, we will update the specification.
| Off / Standby |   0 / 0.1 Watt |
| Idle |  2.3 / 4.8 / 5.8 Watt |
| Load |
6.7 / 8.9 Watt |
    
| |
Battery Life
We start off with the maximum run time at minimum brightness and with wireless modules disabled. This scenario simulates reading a document. After 26 hours and 30 minutes the battery ran down. This is a new record. The Asus Vivo Tab RT TF600 only managed about 16 hours. Even the Microsoft Surface RT cannot keep up (15 hours and 32 minutes). In this case, the difference is more than 10 hours. The Google Nexus 10's result in this test was 17 hours. With around 21 hours, the Apple iPad 4 was better than Google's tablet.
During the realistic “WLAN surfing“test, a new website was loaded every 40 seconds. The results were compared with brightness set at the standard 150 cd/m². The battery of the Samsung ATIV Tab lasted for 12 hours. The difference to the aforementioned Asus and Google tablets is now lower. Microsoft's Surface managed only 8 hours and 36 minutes. The Samsung ATIV Smart PC cannot compete with the ATIV Tab and its Windows RT operating system.
And finally, we played a Full HD movie (1920x1080, .wmv) with maximum brightness and activated WLAN modules. In this test, the tablet was out of juice after 8 hours and 40 minutes. Assuming a standard length of 120 minutes, a total of four movies can be watched.
Verdict
The Samsung ATIV Tab is the company's first tablet running the ARM-optimised Windows RT operating system. The plastic case is of very good quality. The latest wireless technologies, the performance of the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus SoC, and the positioning of the speakers are all convincing advantages. The Samsung 10.1-inch display surprised us with its values, but the resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels seems somewhat antiquated.
Unfortunately there are no UMTS modules and other memory options. Speaking of memory: after the initial installation, only 14.1 GB out of the advertised 32 GB were available. In this case, every 16 GB Android or iOS device has just as much free memory. Other weaknesses include the lack of apps in the Windows Store and the austere camera application, which offers basic functions only after the installation of an additional tool.
We were pleased with the low heat generation and long battery life. Thanks to the efficient hardware and large battery, the tablet reached more than 12 hours in our realistic test. Overall, it is a good tablet with convincing advantages, but also very few disappointing weaknesses. In our view, the recommended price of 750 Euros is excessive. Google's Nexus 10 with the latest Android version and 32 GB memory is more than 300 Euros cheaper. Even similar Windows RT tablets are cheaper. For these reasons, we cannot give it an unconditional recommendation.
