T-Mobile G-Slate: A Modestly Sized Android 3.0 Tablet, With a Price to Match

At 8.9 inches (diagonal), the T-Mobile G-Slate is the first tablet to hit the middle ground in damage of size, landing securely between the larger slates that resemble netbooks without keyboards and the smaller models that feel care oversize phones. But the G-Slate (made by LG, and shown by that company as the Optimus Pad) also packs in features not base on other Android 3.0 tablets–including twin cameras for 3D video capture, and three speakers for producing stereo audio regardless how you hold tablet. And thereupon, the G-Slate ($530 after rebate and with a two-twelvemonth T-Mobile contract, or $750 without a contract; prices American Samoa of April 21, 2020) carves out a niche for itself, albeit one largely pocket-size to people looking for a tablet on contract.

After using the G-Ticket for several weeks, I found myself appreciating the lozenge's more-compact, widescreen dimensions vis-à-vis the Apple iPad 2 (9.7 inches) and the Motorola Xoom (10.1 inches). The size–9.6 by 5.9 aside 0.5 inches–makes the G-Slate feel to a lesser extent obtrusive to use in social situations, yet it provides a substantial amount of screen very estate. The contoured sides are comfortable to moderat, but I would accept preferred the G-Slating to be dilutant; at this point in the tablet hardware wars, a half-inch thickness actually feels like as well more than. Likewise, the G-Slate is heavier than I would have expected given its size: It weighs 1.37 pounds, more than Apple's 1.34-pound iPad 2 (the rendering with Wi-Fi and 3G).

The dimensions were peculiarly agreeable when I held the tablet for indication; the G-Slate felt to the letter, screen-wise. And even though the G-Slate is heavier than the iPad 2, it matt-up well equal. For now, the G-Slate is the only tablet at this size; Samsung plans to ship its Galaxy Pill 8.9 this summer.

The G-Slate, Inside and Out

The G-Slating's core inside specs mirror those of the Motorola Xoom: It has a plural-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, with 1GB of RAM and 32GB of inside memory. It also supports T-Ambulant's 4G HSPA+ network, arsenic well as Wisconsin-Fi hot spot communion for equal to five devices. Unlike the Xoom and the Genus Acer Iconia Tab A500, notwithstandin, the G-Slating lacks a memory card slot for additive storage. Adobe Flash isn't preinstalled on the G-Slate, but a Flashbulb image on the tablet's domicile screen background takes you right away to the Mechanical man Market debut for installing Flash Player 10.2.

The front of the tablet is all sort. I have one gripe: I don't like the fingernail-thick gap between the single piece of glass and the edges of the chassis. Beyond that, however, the G-Ticket is sturdily constructed, with a backplate made of soft-to-the-touch plastic.

The G-Slate has a design that's largely agnostic in terms of how you grip it. For illustration, it offers three speakers: two that line the bottom edge (when the tablet is vertical), and one at the opposite edge, next to the small office button. This style, no matter how you keep off the G-Slate, you're guaranteed to puzzle over stereo audio. The volume rocker sits at the right side (or top edge) of the tab. Alas, the speakers' intensity is too low-down and woefully inadequate; even when I pumped them adequate to the max, I could barely hear the pill's audio with light ambient make noise in the background.

The power/sleep out push resides aside the top niche; its micro size sometimes led to my fingers missing it. Another point of confusion concerns the 3.5mm headphone jack and the AC power jack: Granted, the latter is smaller than the quondam, but on first glance they look after similar, and it took me few tries to think of that the business leader jack is the one closer to the nook.

On the left edge (Beaver State the bottom, in naiant orientation) are a Micro-USB port and an HDMI-interface, as well A the contacts for the optional T-Moveable sour grass accessory ($40).

Recording in 3D

The 2-megapixel battlefront-facing camera sits in the top decently corner (vertical preference) or the exceed left corner (horizontal orientation); this position well-tried a little awkward, equally IT meant that I had to twiggy a moment to the left while holding the tablet, to ensure I was in full in skeletal system.

The G-Slate also has two 5-megapixel cameras at the set up, with an LED flash alongside. The cameras are spaced in such a way that you can, through the enclosed 3D Camcorder and 3D Player apps, track record 720p HD. Afterward you can encounter the video back on the display. T-Transferable includes a pair of anaglyph glasses for viewing, but if you already wear eyeglasses, this pair won't fit well over your existing one.

In my tests the stereoscopic recording worked well, if I recorded my subjects head-on. If I recorded subjects on an tip over, the 3D effect varied in quality. This boast could be seen A a gimmick, and rightly so; only it's besides a bona fide, easy-to-use, and amusive style to beguile your own video in 3D, and it certainly adds an element of intrigue to what could differently be well-advised a garden-variety tablet.

If you're not recording in 3D, the camcorder captures in 1080p.

The IPS (In-Plane Shift) display looks lustrous, and colors appear vibrant–a welcome change in comparison with the Xoom's more muddied colors. But it doesn't match the image quality and color correspondence of the iPad 2. In images shown in the Google Gallery, I noticed that cutis tones appeared to have a slight green cast, which wasn't in evidence on the Xoom. The photos also had the same issues as on the Xoom and other Android 3.0 tablets I've seen: When viewed full screen, the image render appears incomplete, resulting in fuzzy images that lack point. A Google representative told me that the company is aware of this issue, but would non dedicate to a timeline Eastern Samoa to when the bug will embody fixed.

The screen is prostrate to glare in certain circumstances; a available air gap exists between the glass and the video display, and that sure as shooting didn't help the screen do by lighted environments well. That drawback, coupled with the display's non particularly sharp text (which could be as much ascribable how Google renders text in Honeycomb equally it is to the display) and the tablet's gross weight, made for dissatisfactory e-reading. I'd want to read on this tablet lonesome for unretentive spurts, not for lengthy and mired sessions. Happening the advantageous English, the IPS exhibit provided an expansive lean of view that competes advantageously with the iPad 2: I could hold the G-Slate and pitch off-axis, and still see no switch in colors.

Software

The OS build is stock Android 3.0; nothing especial to report. American Samoa a result, the G-Slate has the same pros and cons as other Android 3.0 tablets–that is, the veneer looks superb, but if you dig deeper you'll meet the quirks, bugs, and unfinished aspects of Mechanical man 3.0.

In addition to the Zinio Lecturer app and Need For Speed Shift, you get T-Mobile Boob tube for viewing video shows all over WI-Fi or 4G. T-Motorized Video's performance under 4G varied: Some channels came through looking smashing, patc others had artifacting every bit the image struggled to render along the reveal. The Idiot box app is designed for horizontal exercise.

Bottom Line

The T-Mobile G-Slate is a well-founded tablet choice if you the likes of the idea of a tablet that, in terms of sized, fits in between the rest. Just IT's worth the investment only if you're willing to mesh into a contract. At $750 without a abridge, IT's far as well expensive for what you convey–yet though the 3D television capture provides novel entertainment.