We see how Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.7 looks against Sony’s folding P tablet.We compare two brand new tablet contenders with Sony’s quirky clamshell P tablet against Samsung’s new 7-inch Galaxy Tab.
Form:Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 - 196.7x133x7.89mm, 335g
Sony P Tablet - 180x158x14mm, 370g
Samsung is typically adept at making sleek and good-looking devices and with previous Galaxy Tabs this knack has scaled up well from its smaller smartphone designs.
The same is true of the Galaxy Tab 7.7, it’s extremely thin and light which gives a flattering profile while making it very comfortable to carry around.
Much of the tablet is taken up by the screen, it pushes out right to the very edges leaving very little in the way of a border, which looks good to us.
There appears to be only so much designers can do with the standard tablet format though, we quite like the Galaxy Tab’s design but to some the squared off shape might appear generic and uninspiring even if it is born out of function.
Sony’s P tablet is anything but generic in the looks department, for starters it’s a clamshell split-screen tablet which has lent the designers plenty of creative freedom.
Most notably the curved outer surfaces which make the tablet look like a sleek, metallic wallet when closed up.
There’s quite a bit of space around the screens but it has been filled with shiny black plastic, doing a good job of drawing your attention to the screens themselves.
Functionally, the split screen could be more or less useful depending how app developers approach things.
Visually we don’t have a problem with it but some may find it a bit jarring to have such a clear break in the screen space.
It may be a bit heavier and considerably thicker than the Galaxy Tab but the ability to collapse it down goes a long way to compensating for this.
We like the Samsung’s style but we’re also drawn by anything innovative and different and the Sony certainly delivers here.
Winner – Sony P Tablet
Display:The Galaxy Tab 7.7 is the first tablet sized device to use Samsung’s Super Amoled Plus screen technology, which offers more vivid colours, a clear picture quality and is more power efficient to boot.
As the name suggests the screen measures 7.7-inches and sports a resolution of 1280x800 pixels, picture quality should be suitably high with a pixel density of 196 pixels-per-inch (ppi).
Behind the scenes there’s Samsung’s TouchWiz UX user interface (UI) and an array of sensors including a three-axis gyro and an accelerometer.
The device also supports multi-touch input. The P tablet’s setup is unique, it uses two 5.5-inch TFT capacitive touchscreens at 1024 x 480 pixels and around 200ppi each and both feature multi-touch.
Like the Galaxy Tab it also features accelerometer and gyro sensors. Sony has used its signature TruBlack technology for the P tablet’s screens to give sharper images and greater colour depth.
Sony’s offering may be quite impressive but we prefer the continuous screen of the Galaxy Tab even if the pixel density is a bit lower.
The Galaxy’s resolution and the benefits of the Super Amoled Plus screen are also both more appealing than the Sony’s.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
Storage:Sony has given the P tablet an ample 4GB of internal storage and 512MB of RAM while the Galaxy Tab boasts three storage variants with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB to choose from.
Samsung’s official blurb says the Galaxy Tab 7.7 will have a colossal 8GB of RAM, considering that is pretty generous even for a high-end laptop or PC we’re fairly sure this is a mistake.
We’ve got in touch with Samsung to try and clear things up and will bring you a conclusion as soon as we hear more.
Both devices have a fairly standard setup for external storage supporting Micro SD cards up to 32GB.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 (pending further updates)
Processor:The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 has some pretty powerful stuff going on under the bodywork with its 1.4GHz ARM Cortex-A9 dual core processor on the Exynos chipset.
Visuals are handled by a Mali-400MP graphics processing unit (GPU).
Sony’s P tablet also uses a dual core ARM Cortex-A9 setup, this time clocked at 1GHz and running Nvidia’s Tegra 2 T20 chipset.
Graphics come from another piece of Nvidia tech in the form of a ULP GeForce GPU.
Neither tablet is going to leave you wanting on power but the extra clock speed on the Galaxy Tab makes it our choice.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
Operating System:Both devices run on the latest build of Google’s tablet specific Android Honeycomb, version 3.2.
Honeycomb made substantial changes from the Gingerbread smartphone build, most notably with a much faster and more intuitive browser, complete with tabbed browsing, smooth scrolling and pinch zoom.
Javascript support was also added and it’s now a much more refined browsing experience than any of its predecessors.
Smarter visuals are on offer this time round thanks to OpenGL graphics acceleration and a tailor made Renderscript 3D graphics engine, this means the latest games and apps can be dealt with easily.
The interface has been improved all round and now features an applications and notifications bar for quickly switching between active apps.
The signature Android notifications bar is still present but it now has more detailed text information alongside images to give you a clearer picture of what’s going on.
As each device is on the same system there’s nothing to compare here, but Android Honeycomb is a good choice for these tablets.
Winner - Draw
Camera:Sony’s P tablet comes with a 5-megapixel primary camera at 2560Ñ…1920 pixels with video capture at 720p and video calling support.
The features line-up includes autofocus touch focus, image stabilization, geo-tagging and face and smile detection, plus there’s a secondary VGA camera.
Samsung’s Galaxy 7.7 is, surprisingly, not quite so impressive with a primary camera rated at only 3.15-megapixels.
The resolution is still rather good at 2048x1536 pixels and video capture equals the Sony at 720p.
Video calling is also supported and the tablet sports a 2-megapixel secondary camera.
The features on offer here are a bit more basic than the P table but are still a useful and functional lot with autofocus, LED flash and geo-tagging.
Ultimately the Sony P tablet has much more going for it in this category with a higher resolution, a better quality primary and a more feature-packed setup.
Winner – Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
Final Thoughts:The Sony P tablet is innovative and interesting, frankly we are glad it exists because it’s nice to see something pushing the boundaries occasionally.
Although the Sony performs excellently in its own right and we’d be more than happy to own one it is outpaced by Samsung’s Galaxy Tab thanks to a faster processor, a better camera and much more memory.
Make no mistake though this was a close call and both tablets have plenty to recommend.
10:24 AM
Simranpal SIngh
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