Verizon Galaxy Tablet unboxing, first impressions and gaming preview

Samsung Galaxy Tablet, the first real Android tablet? While a lot of other companies have released tablets using Android, the Galaxy Tablet has so far been considered the real first tablet. Available on multiple carriers, this 7" tablet is available with or without contract. Verizon just dropped one off on our doorstep so we did what any good site would do, recorded myself unboxing it!

Right away just looking at it makes you feel good inside, at least for us Android nerds. However, gamers should feel the same as this tablet has some great hardware which will make gaming a hell of a lot of fun. We are jumping ahead of ourselves though. Let's get into the details first...

Specs:

• Android 2.2
• Enhanced TFT display with WSVGA resolution (1024x600)
• Rear 3MP camera and camcorder
• Front-facing 1.3MP camera and camcorder
• WiFi/3G/Bluetooth
• 2GB internal memory
• 16GB pre-installed MicroSD Card
• 4,000 mAh battery
• 1GHz Hummingbird processor

Extras:

• USB Cord
• Plug adapter
• 2 Gameloft demos
• MediaHub

Initial Impressions:

Screen, graphics and sound: The screen is nice and big, displaying images and graphics very well. Bright and crisp. Tapping on the screen seems pretty responsive with no lag at all so far. Transitions between screens, whether to the app drawer or another screen, happen right away. Pinch zooming while browsing the internet also worked well.

Gaming-wise, the Galaxy Tablet renders 3D graphics quickly and they look great. Coming with Let's Golf and NOVA by Gameloft, you can check right away how the graphics will look and feel even though these are only demos. Seeing graphics like this just makes me want a Tegra 2 device even more after looking at the possibilities the Galaxy Tablet is showing.

The sound is crisp and, when you turn it up full blast, very loud. Something I'll have to get used to since I'm used to the loudness of my Nexus One while playing games.

Physical aspects: Holding the Galaxy Tablet in your hand, it still doesn't seem like it is too big. It isn't overly heavy, pretty thin and feels good just sitting there resting against your palm. While obviously too big for your pocket, this would easily fit into your laptop case with little difference to the weight of it making it a great addition to your mobile workplace (or gaming center in our case).

The border along the screen is just wide enough where your thumbs aren't messing with the screen which is nice. Buttons on the side are raised just slightly so you know where they are when you are holding it but without being annoying.

Performance: So far the performance of the Galaxy Tablet has been smooth and fast. Games with heavy 3D graphics run nicely on it and loading apps takes no time at all. The game demos from Gameloft took a few seconds to load but once the game was loaded there was no interruption or lag in gameplay.

Using the on-screen touch controls for NOVA was easy and actually made the game much more enjoyable then on the smaller Android phone screens. Even with the larger graphics and resolution though, controls were quick and responsive and I had no problem blowing up some enemies in-game. Games like Pocket Legends will really see an improvement when being played on a tablet.

Browsing the internet, sifting through apps and generally just using the tablet for whatever came to mind, all was executed quickly and efficiently.

Overall: So far my overall impression in such a short time handling the Galaxy Tablet is a very positive one. While it has only been an hour, if not slightly less, since it arrived, I find myself wanting to play with it more and more. However, it is still early on and I have yet to finish testing it out fully. When I do, I will post a complete full review but so far, I'm liking it.

Gaming Preview:

Let's Golf - One of the demos on the Galaxy Tablet from Verizon is Let's Golf by Gameloft. In the video below of the unboxing, near the end, I decided to load up Let's Golf quickly just to show everyone how the graphics look and the responsive gameplay of not just the game, but the tablet running the game. Enjoy!