Samsung Ativ Tab 3

Samsung has undoubtedly already made a name for itself in the realm of tablets through its many Android-powered offerings, but does it have what it takes to play in the Windows tablet game as well? The Ativ Tab 3 tablet is the Korea-based company’s way of answering that question in the affirmative.

According to Chris Martin of PC Advisor, you can think of the Ativ Tab 3 as simply “a Windows 8 version of Samsung’s Android tablets.” And indeed, it is running Windows 8 as its default OS — the full one, too, and not just the gimped version called Windows RT.

Its main features include a 10.1-inch screen (1366×768 resolution), a 5MP camera with 1080p video recording, 64GB of internal storage plus the option for more via microSD cards, and a 25 WHr Lithium Polymer (Li-Pol) battery that is said to last up to 10 hours with continuous Wi-Fi usage.

It even has S Pen functionality, which means you can use it with a stylus in the exact same way as you could with any other S Pen-enabled Samsung device, like Galaxy-branded tablets and even Galaxy-branded smartphones as well. Additional features like this prompted Gareth Beavis of TechRadar to say that, “the sheer number of extras on offer here make it an attractive proposition.”

As mentioned earlier, this tablet runs the full version of Windows 8 as the default OS. It also has trial versions of MS Office 2013 Home & Student and Norton Internet Security pre-installed. Other pre-loaded software extras include Evernote, S Note, S Player+, S Gallery, S PhotoStudio, S Camera+ and SideSync, which allows screen-sharing between the Ativ Tab 3 and any SideSync-compatible smartphone.

As feature-packed as it is, though, it has a number of pitfalls. After spending some time with a test unit, Agent Naish of Geek Squad UK ended up saying, “it’s hard to enthusiastically recommend to casual tablet users looking for a mid-range device.” He praises it as a “great handwriting capable tablet that’s nifty for use around the office,” but concludes that, “if you’re looking for more of an all-rounder, then you may want to keep looking.”

The Ativ Tab 3 is surely a well-performing Windows tablet that packs a whole bag of useful extras, but for some people like Sebastian Jentsch of Notebook Check, it may be classed as simply “too late and too expensive.”