Samsung Galaxy Tab (Wi-Fi)

Five months after releasing the original 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab, the company has finally shipped a Wi-Fi-only version, as it promised to do way back when the Tab debuted in September 2010. This Tab offers no surprises: We've seen the hardware before. What's different here is that it lacks the wireless connectivity available on the tablets from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon. And since it has no carrier involvement, there's no need to mess around with contracts: Instead, the Galaxy Tab Wi-Fi is priced at $350 (as of April 27, 2011), with no additional costs. Of course, $350 is still 75 percent more than the current $200 price for an original Galaxy Tab at T-Mobile. It's also considerably cheaper than the HTC Flyer, another Wi-Fi-only tablet, which just went on presale at Best Buy for $500.
Nonetheless, before you decide that this tablet is a bargain, consider whether you want to spend this kind of money on a product that isn't the newest technology in town.
When I first reviewed the Tab, I noted that Samsung had succeeded in delivering the smoothest implementation of Android on a tablet to date--and that it had done so on a smoothly designed piece of hardware that was a far cry from the generic slabs coming out of Asia. What's also clear is that although the Galaxy Tab is a fine 1.0 product, the tablet has room to grow.
We should see that growth in the Tab's larger cousins, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab 8.9. Both of these larger-screened yet more sleekly designed models will use the newer, tablet-optimized Google Android 3.0 instead of the Android 2.2 on the 7-inch Galaxy Tab Wi-Fi. The 10.1-inch tablet ships in June, while the 8.9-inch tablet is coming this summer.
With those revamped models so close, the question is whether the 16GB, 7-inch Galaxy Tab Wi-Fi is too little, too late. Right now, I'd answer that question with a qualified maybe. It has a smaller screen than the 16GB 9.7-inch Apple iPad 2, but at least the price reflects that difference, unlike the price of the HTC Flyer.
The 7-inch Galaxy Tab Wi-Fi still feels zippy and responsive; in fact, while I was typing, it somehow felt even more responsive than I recall from my early experiences on the first Tab (more on that below). The Tab also still looks nice, thanks to Samsung's TouchWiz interface. I know that the interface has its detractors, but I continue to appreciate how it makes icons and text pop more than they do on stock Android 2.2.