Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 review: Cute, compact, but functionally challenged

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 stylishly embraces a more simple aesthetic compared with its predecessor. For a 10-inch tablet, it manages to be a rather compact device; it's lightweight and sleek, with thin bezels and a clean, cohesive design that would make any iPad melt with flattery.

Unfortunately, Samsung continues its trend of lackluster updates to its 10-inch Galaxy Tab line. While I appreciate the Tab 3 10.1's stylish turn, its specs are only a modest upgrade from the Tab 2 10.1, resulting in noticeably lackluster performance. In fact, "change" -- instead of "upgrade" -- is a better way to describe its new components.

Also, the tablet's design is plagued by trigger-happy menu and back buttons. The two buttons can too easily be activated, and I found myself accidentally pressing them a lot, even after I'd become painfully aware of their over-sensitivity. However, its design -- certainly not its functionality -- is what prevents it from being completely forgettable.

Samsung didn't attempt to push the envelope with the Tab 3 10.1 and succeeded in producing a mediocre device. Thanks to its dull hardware upgrades and the resulting underwhelming performance, the tablet proves an inferior product in a sea of much wiser choices.

For the same price, the Google Nexus 10 offers a higher-resolution screen, faster performance, and is much more functional.

Design The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, the largest in the Tab 3 family, boasts a simpler and smaller design than any previous Galaxy Tab 10.1 model. Its trim size is because of its skinnier bezels and revamped metallic border. While the Tab 2 10.1's thick frame housed front-facing speakers, the Tab 3 10.1 relocates them to the left and right edges.

The 10.1-inch tablet is relatively thin and light, although it's no Sony Xperia Tablet Z. It's also comfortable to hold in both hands and feels solid, but the tactile sensation of the smooth plastic back gives it an inexpensive feel. Thankfully, it isn't slippery and you can actually get a pretty good grip when holding it.

On the bottom bezel there is a navigation array that consists of two capacitive menu and back buttons with a physical, slightly raised, Home button in between them. This design choice is reminiscent of Samsung's Note line but, thanks functionality issues, it doesn't translate well onto the 10-inch Tab 3. Although a physical Home button is a useful addition that offers quick access to the home screen and a view of all open apps, the menu and back buttons are unwelcome intrusions to the basic usability of the tablet.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

In order to trigger the menu and back buttons, you don't need to directly touch the icons, but merely place a finger in their immediate area. The active space, or hit-box, on the bottom bezel that initiates the menu and back functions spans for a little over 3.5 inches.

There shouldn't be a learning curve to holding a tablet, but the Tab 3 10.1 has one. The navigation array's hit-box is hard to avoid while using the device in its designated landscape orientation because it's the same space your hand casually occupies when holding it.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

My left thumb unintentionally grazed the back button consistently -- it's really more like a back-space -- and exited me out of whatever I was doing; I became accustomed to continually checking my fingers to make sure they were in an area that wouldn't touch its hit-box, instead of, you know, actually enjoying my time with the tablet. The last time I touched something this sensitive, I was comforting my best friend after a bad breakup.

The back and menu buttons on other Android devices are usually placed in the onscreen navigation bar, and, although the extra space freed up on the Tab 3 10.1's screen is nice, I would gladly sacrifice it for a less frustrating experience. In addition, there is very little control over the capacitive buttons; you can only change the amount of time they stay lit. Despite this option, the buttons remained bright while streaming Netflix and while using a few other apps.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

The tablet's top edge is home to the power/sleep button, volume rocker, microSD expansion slot, and IR blaster. Sitting not too far away is the headphone jack on the top-left corner, which is right above the speaker on the left edge. A Micro-USB port and microphone pinhole are located on the bottom edge, and the right edge houses its speaker at its top. There's an ambient light sensor and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera in the center of the top bezel and a 3.2-megapixel rear camera in the top-center of the tablet's back.

Software features The Tab 3 10.1 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung's TouchWiz UI skin. Features include Smart Stay, which puts your tablet to sleep when you're not looking at it, and a useful notification panel that's somewhat customizable.

The Smart Stay function worked fine but not as well as advertised. It often had trouble detecting my eyes, even though I was looking directly at the screen and, because of its inconsistencies, the feature proved to be as useful as a normal screen sleep setting. The amount of time it took to detect that I had taken my eyes off of the screen was around the same amount of time it took for my selected screen timeout function to kick in. The Tab 3 10.1 doesn't feature the Smart Pause or Smart Scroll options that other Galaxy devices have, so the setting is more like Smart Stay lite.

The shortcut tray that is easily accessible by swiping down from the top of the screen allows you to turn features like Wi-Fi, GPS, Smart Stay, and screen rotation on and off, as well as adjust the brightness level. You can customize which order these settings are in, but you cannot add any new ones to it. Below these settings are notifications and a small black bar that lets you know which Wi-Fi network you're connected to.

The Tab 3 10.1's built-in IR blaster allows it to be used as a universal remote, and it offers a few apps to help you do just that. I couldn't get Peel's Smart Remote to work with my cable box instead of my television, so instead I favored Samsung's universal remote/video hub app Watch On. I was able to easily browse TV listings, set reminders, change channels, and turn my television and cable box on and off.

The setup took some time because of connectivity issues, but otherwise the feature worked smoothly, however, slowly. The app is responsive but suffers from some serious lag issues; it took some time to launch, and navigating from one screen to another always took a couple seconds.

The integrated streaming-video content through the app is convenient for on-demand viewing but its search option isn't very thorough. Search results are often limited to Samsung's own Media Hub service, Hulu Plus, and Blockbuster Video, even though Netflix and Google Play offer the same content.