The market for affordable tablets below the $300 price point is alive and thriving, as best evidenced by Amazon's popular $200 Kindle Fire. Now, Samsung is entering the fray with the 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2, which actually costs $50 more than the Fire or Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet. The Galaxy Tab 2, however, has some superior features, such as a dual-facing camera, and a not-so-secret weapon: A full working version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, instead of the watered-down operating systems of other so-called "cheap" Androids. Will consumers ignore the slightly more expensive price and buy the Tab 2?
They should. It's the best Android tablet yet: The Tab 2 may be more expensive than other tablets, but don't rule it out. The extra $50 is "a small price to pay for the full Ice Cream Sandwich Experience," says Eric Ravenscraft at Android Police, which, among other pluses, gives users access to the Google Play App Store. One of the tablet's standout features is the Smart Remote app, which turns the Tab 2 into a slick universal remote for your home entertainment center. With added incentives like 50GB of free Dropbox space for a year, Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 is clearly "the way to go."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Living the 'pura vida' in Costa RicaThe Week Recommends From thick, tangled rainforest and active volcanoes to monkeys, coatis and tapirs, this is a country with plenty to discover
-
Without Cuba, US State Sponsors of Terrorism list shortensThe Explainer How the remaining three countries on the U.S. terrorism blacklist earned their spots
-
Codeword: January 21, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
