First look at the protected tablet Samsung Galaxy Tab Active

Ranking

Protected devices market almost does not offer plates, they can be counted on the fingers of two hands, and the maximum level of protection – is IP67, ie available devices that can sink, but you can not drop. Chinese companies have no skills for the production of such devices requires a different process chain. Those few who dare to create such products, evaluate their efforts in mad money – for example, a typical Chinese-made tablet is protected with 7, 8-inch screen on the old chipset and the minimum standards will cost about $ 350 in wholesale party. For understanding, similar to the characteristics of the tablet without protection can be easily purchased in Russia for about 2.5-3 000. See the difference?

Specifications

• Android 4.4
• 8-inch, 1280×800 pixels, 400 nits, anti-reflective coating
• Samsung Exynos, quad-core, 1.2 GHz
• 1.5 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal, memory cards up to 64 GB
• 3.1 megapixel camera with autofocus, 1.2 megapixel front camera
• BT 4.0, WiFi a / b / g / n, NFC, USB 2.0
• Battery 4450 mAh, work up to 10 hours, replace the battery connector for charging POGO
• Hexa band LTE 800/850/900/1800/2100/2600
• 393 grams, 9.75 mm thickness

Package Includes:

• Tablet
• Battery 4450 mAh Li-Ion
• Charger with USB-cable
• Optional protective cover
• Stylus
• Instructions

The high cost is also due to the fact that such devices are to a greater extent for segment B2B, rather than for the common users. And there reigns Panasonic, which began producing rugged notebooks many years ago under the name ToughBook, and then released ToughPad.

The cost will be determined separately for each country, the project manager was not able to answer the question, what will be the exact price. It is still uncertain factor, but it will be significantly less than $ 1 000. I think that the problem is Samsung – make a device similar to those from Panasonic, but the price is half, maybe the difference would be and more.

This is not a device for the open market, you can not buy it at any point of sale. The reason lies in the fact that Samsung is focused on business and, primarily, on the market of the USA. The presentation was given such data – with a population of 315 million in the United States operates 144 million, including 86 million people have jobs outside the office. I think that the proportion will continue in other countries – this is potentially a huge market, part of which is the Samsung and trying to get. The emergence of new devices to be welcomed, as an extension of the niche tablets that sales of all companies are down, and the total market is growing significantly.

The lack of Galaxy Tab Active in the open market will be due to the fact that the next generation will Tab protection IP67, the same as on the Galaxy S5. And it will make these products competitive, many buyers will be enough, and pay more for protection from falls, they will not.

Design, size, controls

The plate was certified MIL-STD-810G, which boasts a small number of devices. It comes in the outer cover, which provides protection against falls from a height of 1.2 meters, and on the cover there is a stylus holder.

Stylus funny thing – you can put a resistive screen, and then run it will not be too comfortable in everyday life, but it will work in the rain and under the water. Capacitive screen can be wet, but to work with him in such circumstances will not work. The stylus is needed to operate the device in wet conditions when you can not click on icons or menu items by hand.

The plate turned out not very large, even in its case. Wear it easily enough, it’s just a plastic cover. The entire structure weighs slightly more than 400 grams, the tablet weighs only 393 grams. The layout of the controls is quite usual for the line Tab, on the right side – the volume rocker, microUSB slot is open at the bottom, but it is fully protected against the ingress of water.

Under the traditional screen touch buttons were replaced by three mechanical buttons that can only approve. On the back you can see the surface of the 3.1-megapixel camera with autofocus. The company argued that the needs of the business are such that they need to remove the documents in good quality, but high resolution is not required, so the camera put this – worked on the autofocus speed. There is also a front camera and light sensor.

If you remove the cover, you will see a normal body made in the style of S5 Active. Do not be deceived “metal” screws in the corners, it’s a sham. The lid opens as on any device, it is necessary to pull it. Inside a slot for memory cards microSD, as well as the connector microSIM.

The assembly quality is good, but from the point of view of protection is difficult to say whether it is reliable, but within five minutes, I threw the plate 2 meters into the air, and then he fell on the floor. No impact was not, moreover, that I gathered a crowd wanting to take a picture of me and my exercise.

Display

Screen in the plate 8 inches, with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels, which is quite comfortable to work with it. Externally, the screen looks like a TFT-matrix, it is not SuperAMOLED. In terms of technology have increased the brightness and contrast, 400 nits – this is a very good indicator, automatic brightness control works well. Also added anti-reflective coating, it works fine. Promise that the readability of the sun will be as high.

In general, I liked the picture on the screen of the device, with its tasks, it will cope with a bang.

Battery

Inside Cost Li-Ion battery of 4450 mAh, which, according to the company, provides up to 10 hours, plus there is a power-saving modes, which can extend this time. Hull construction suggests that, if necessary, you can replace the battery. But also on the case brought a contact group to charge without connecting conventional device (connector POGO). It is convenient for B2B-customers, especially when you need to charge at the same time a dozen devices.

Communication features

In addition to 3G, LTE supported category 4 in 6 frequency bands have NFC, support standard Wi-Fi b / g / n / ac, BT 4.0, USB 2.0.

Hardware platform, the performance of

The quad chipset Exynos, frequency per core – up to 1.2 GHz, RAM – 1.5 GB built-in – 16 GB. From a performance standpoint in the interface device is bright enough. Absence of the latter chipset on board, quite a small amount of memory associated with the timing and complexity of the certification of such products, they become obsolete because of this, not because of the reluctance of the company to add these components in them. For the B2B market making it highly productive tablet, one of the best.

Software features

As such features in this device is not present, the system is installed here KNOX, which allows for the separation of personal and corporate data, as the camera has a built-mode read barcodes and their recognition. Basically, you can install Android on any of its programs, policies, security and things like that. Inside the Android 4.4.4. At this stop, as described by the standard functionality is not very interesting.

Impressions

For this tablet officially announced, that it can operate in temperatures ranging from -20 to +60 degrees Celsius. This sharply distinguishes it from other devices, let us call them everyday and for the broader market. This is a typical solution for B2B-segment, where Samsung has started to play an active role, but has not yet released a protected device, since it does not consider this a big niche. Model Galaxy Tab Active – this is the first trial balloon, it is possible that there will be other solutions, but obviously the speed of their output will not be very high – one or two devices per year. This is a fundamentally different market, where reliability is more important than the update rate of the ruler. Such devices are warranted for 3 years, in the same Panasonic is the same term.

As the first attempt to break into a new market segment, the plate is not bad. Unique in the market is not, and if the price is at a level of 500-600 dollars, it will be in demand, as this functionality from the Chinese protected devices simply do not and can not appear. And they are like this. It remains an open question whether such plates for ordinary consumers. That’s for you it is of interest, and if so, why?