Is Samsung’s Galaxy Tab Active Right for the Enterprise?

by Don Reisinger

While Samsung has been known to go overboard on screen size—look no further than the 5.7-inch display in the Galaxy Note 4 for proof of that—the company hasn’t done so with the Galaxy Tab Active. The enterprise-focused tablet comes with an 8-inch screen that’s perfect for mobile employees who don’t need the largest available display. Kudos to Samsung for not overdoing it.

While the Galaxy Tab Active isn’t the most powerful device on the market, Samsung has included enough firepower to handle most corporate apps. The device comes with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 1.5GB of RAM. The processor might seem underpowered, compared with some of the octa-core chips Samsung is bundling in other devices, but for enterprise apps, it’ll do just fine.

The vast majority of security threats surfacing in the mobile space these days are still targeting Android, according to security experts. Android 4.4 KitKat, the latest available version of Google’s mobile OS, is running on most new Android mobile devices these days. So it’s questionable whether security would be the only reason to convince corporate buyers to select an iPad or a tablet running Windows 8.1 Pro.

Samsung has built a rather interesting customer support service into the Galaxy Tab Active. For one thing, the device comes with an extended basic warranty of up to three years and includes a feature called Smart Tutor that provides on-device access to technical support. That feature is available 24/7 to handle issues when the need arises.

The Galaxy Tab Active’s main selling point is its rugged design. The tablet comes with an IP67 certification, meaning it can continue to operate underwater and in dusty environments. The device can also withstand drops that exceed 3 feet. For corporate customers who have long wanted a device that can survive a lot of abuse, the Galaxy Tab Active seems like a solid choice.

Samsung announced that the Galaxy Tab Active will come with a C Pen, not the familiar S pen found in its Galaxy Note devices. The C Pen sits atop the Galaxy Tab Active’s cover and is employed instead of users’ fingers to manipulate the touch-screen. Samsung envisions the feature being used when employees are holding the device with gloves on, but users could work with it in any environment.

Samsung’s Knox security platform has, of course, made its way to the Galaxy Tab Active. With Knox, enterprise customers will find a strong security platform that employs a wide range of safeguarding techniques, like sandboxing and system monitoring that are supposed to keep data safe from hackers. Samsung claims that its Knox platform is on the same level as U.S. Department of Defense standards.

One of the important aspects of the Galaxy Tab Active’s design is that it’s fully capable of lasting all day on a single charge. In fact, Samsung is promising 10 hours of battery life with the tablet. That should be just fine for employees who are on the road and constantly checking their slates to get work done.

The 3.1-megapixel rear-facing camera built into the Galaxy Tab Active won’t light the world on fire, but it’s a business tablet and digital photography isn’t supposed to be this unit’s strong suit. Samsung envisions the camera being used as a barcode scanner suitable many business applications. The Galaxy Tab Active’s camera is about practical functionality. Corporate customers will be happy to see that.

On the storage front, the Galaxy Tab Active comes in toward the bottom of the pack. Out of the box, the device has 16GB of internal storage, but includes a MicroSD slot for additional capacity. Those who want the additional storage will be able to boost it by 64GB with a MicroSD card. That’s not a ton of storage, but it should suffice.