Lenovo IdeaTab A2107A vs Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
The Korean manufacturer Samsung has the record amount of sales in the smartphone market thanks to their flagship Galaxy devices. Especially, Samsung Galaxy S II was integral in upraising the reputation of Samsung to such a level that some tech geeks consider the company as revere. It is backed up with good reasoning as well since Samsung is trusted to come up with great products. After all, they don’t become the smartphone manufacturer with the highest sales by manufacturing crappy products. Their strong suite is that they offer a range of smartphones that satisfy everyone’s needs. However, this success wasn’t seen in the tablet market for Samsung. We have discussed the reasons before and let us brief it now. Samsung was indifferent in identifying the usage patterns of a tablet for some time which left other competitors at a competitive advantage over Samsung. When they caught it up, they experimented with various sizes offering 7.0 inch, 8.9 inch and 10 inch tablets. This was a good move for Samsung was able to set a sail to a new 7.0 inch tablet getting the attention they deserve. But Samsung did not appeal the tablet with the best performance for some time and even now, the crown is with another manufacturer.
Hence we thought of comparing a moderate tablet offered by Samsung with another moderate tablet offered by a relatively new competitor, Lenovo. Lenovo has revealed a trio of tablets at the IFA 2012 giving them a unique position in the market if they succeed in releasing them. One of those tablets is directly aimed at the market a Samsung tablet covers; Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. So it was only fair that we gave them a common arena to compete with each other and show you the clear winner. We’ll let them boast about each other first before moving on to compare them concisely.
Lenovo IdeaTab A2107A Review
Lenovo IdeaTab A2107A is a 7 inch tablet that is more or less like Amazon Kindle Fire. It features a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels and is powered by 1GHz dual core processor on MediaTek MTK6575 chipset with PowerVR SGX 531 GPU and 1GB of RAM. The version we are talking about is with the 3G connectivity whereas the Wi-Fi only version has 512MB of RAM. The operating system is Android v4.0.4 ICS, and we hope there will be an upgrade to Jelly Bean soon. It is slender, but a bit to the heftier side of the spectrum scoring a thickness of 11.5mm and dimensions of 192 x 122mm. However, Lenovo has made it refreshingly light at 400g which makes it a pleasure to hold on to its smooth matte back plate.
Lenovo boasts IdeaTab A2107A to have professional level GPS support deeming that it can lock the location in 10 seconds top which may be an attractive option. It comes with a 2MP camera on the back and 0.3MP camera on the front that can be used for video conferencing. In terms of storage, there will be three versions having 4GB, 8GB and 16GB of storage all with the option to expand using microSD card up to 32GB. It is a rugged tablet which is stronger and more resistant to falls and bruises than your regular tab with its roll cage enclosure. It has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity as well as 3G connectivity enabling you to use internet seamlessly without any connectivity issues. It also has micro USB support and built-in radio element. The tablet aims at 8 hours stretch from a single charge. The battery is said to be 3500mAh but no official indication on that either. Lenovo has been silent about the price and the release information as well although we are hoping the tablet will be released sometime in September 2012.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 Review
This sleek slate seems to be the second generation of the 7.0 inch tablet range which has created a unique market for itself with the introduction of Galaxy Tab 7.0. It has 7.0 inch PLS LCD capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels at a pixel density of 170ppi. The slate comes in either Black or White and has a pleasing touch. It is powered by 1GHz dual core processor and 1GB of RAM and runs on Android OS v4.0 ICS. The processor seems somewhat mediocre; nonetheless, it would serve well for this slate. It has three variants with 8GB, 16GB and 32GB of internal storage with the option to expand using a microSD card up to 64GB.
Galaxy Tab 2 stays connected with HSDPA reaching a maximum speed of 21Mbps. The Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n ensures the constant connectivity, and it can also act as a Wi-Fi hotspot enabling you to share your fast internet connection generously. The built-in DLNA functions as a wireless streaming bridge that enables you to stream rich media content to your Smart TV. Samsung has been miser with the camera they include for tablets, and Galaxy Tab 2 is no exception. It has 3.15MP camera with Geo Tagging and fortunately it can capture 1080p HD videos @ 30 frames per second. The front facing camera is VGA quality, but that suffices for the purpose of video conferencing. Unlike Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, Tab 2 comes with attractive TouchWiz UX UI and additional components from the ICS operating system. Samsung also boasts smooth web browsing and full compatibility with HTML 5 and flash rich contents. Another addition in Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is the support for GLONASS as well as GPS. In layman’s terms, GLONASS; GLObal Navigation Satellite System; is another navigation system with worldwide coverage, and it is the only current alternative for USA’s GPS. With the 4000mAh standard battery, we are expecting Galaxy Tab 2 to work well for 7-8 hours.
A Brief Comparison of Lenovo IdeaTab A2107A and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
• Lenovo IdeaTab A2107A is powered by 1GHz MTK Cortex A9 Dual Core processor with PowerVR SGX 531 and 1GB of RAM while Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is powered by 1GHz dual core processor and 1GB of RAM.
• Lenovo IdeaTab A2107A runs on Android OS v4.0.4 ICS while Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 runs on Android OS v4.0 ICS.
• Lenovo IdeaTab A2107A has 7 inch capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels while Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 has 7.0 inch PLS LCD capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels at a pixel density at 170ppi.
• Lenovo IdeaTab A2107A has 2MP camera on the back and 0.3MP camera on the front while Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 has 3.15MP camera on the back and VGA camera on the front.
• Lenovo IdeaTab A2107A has the same size yet thicker and heftier (192 x 122mm / 11.5mm / 400g) compared to Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (193.7 x 122.4mm / 10.5mm / 344g).
Conclusion
It’s rather uncanny to give a conclusion comparing these two tablets. They are more or less alike featuring the same performance matrices. For instance, the processors are of the same caliber, having the same display panel featuring the same resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Even the optics offered are indifferent with a slight increase in pixels in Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. However, from the looks of it, what we can gather is that Lenovo will offer IdeaTab A2107A for a lesser price than that of Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. When we analyze the situation, Lenovo IdeaTab A2107A seems to be targeted at the market covered by the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. Hence we expect to see a tight competition between these two and hopefully Samsung will give in and offer a discount for their tablet, as well. So my suggestion is to wait some more time before making your decision if you’re thinking of switching between these two tablets. When the price ranges are released, I’m sure you’ll be able to make a clear decision for these two tablets are more alike than you see from the outer shell.