Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, 10.1 Revised

Available now
22nd March 2011

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 is an Android tablet with an 8.9" touchscreen, sitting in the gap between the original 7" Galaxy Tab and the revised Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 which was originally announced just last month but is now a lot thinner. Both tablets have a very similar specification - the difference is the physical size of the screen and the price, with just $30 separating the two units in the US.

Of the two, perhaps the reworked 10.1 is the biggest surprise. In response to the announcement of the Apple iPad 2, Samsung engineers have managed to slim the tablet down to just 8.6mm thick from 10.9mm, and have smoothed out and simplified the rear panel. The Galaxy Tab 8.9 looks almost identical and is just as thin, but it is about 20% smaller and lighter.

Underneath the new slimmer exteriors, these two Galaxy Tab devices are pretty much the same as before. There is a 1GHz dual-core processor, a 1280 x 800 pixel display, 8 megapixel primary camera with HD video capture, video calling and Android 3.0 plus everything else that you would expect from an Android tablet.

Despite the remodelling, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 should still meet its Q2 release date, slated to come to market from June onwards. The new Galaxy Tab 8.9 will be around in the second half of the year, and an LTE option will be available (where supported) as well. A top-of-the-range Galaxy Tab 10.1 with 32GB of flash will cost around $600 in the US, a 16GB Galaxy Tab 8.9 will cost around $470, with various models priced in between.

These are two nice looking devices, but perhaps Samsung could have stolen a march on Apple if it had made the Galaxy Tab 10.1 that they announced last month as thin as this one.