Quietly, Samsung has refreshed its Galaxy Tab line, which is the South Korean tech giant's answer to Apple's iPad, earlier this year, giving it some bump up to fit prevailing tablet lovers' demands and trimming some excesses at the same time.

The tweak reduced the Galaxy Tab to two models as Samsung saw it fit to kill the 8.9-inch version to focus on the 10.1 and 7.0 screen sizes, deemed as the company's direct challenge to its chief rival's two tablet sizes - the regular-sized iPad and the 7.9-inch iPad Mini.

Also, these two slates are now known as Galaxy Tab 2, and should be easily distinguishable from the high-end Galaxy Note 10.1, notable for its stylus-aided touch navigation and the for the supersized specs that made it a lot more expensive, almost in the same league of iPad.

Without doubt, Samsung has intended to slowly eat away significant tablet market shares from Apple and judging from the latest data provided by various tech research firms, the Asian company appears to be succeeding.

It has now reached a double-digit status in the constantly heating up tablet race, significant enough for a company that in early 2012 has admitted that its slate products were not making any dent. Obviously that situation has changed for the better, as far as Samsung is concerned.

The tech firm found the right formula this time around in the Galaxy Tab 2, analysts said, which mainly centres on selling tablets that were not only attractive and highly usable but also easy on the budget.

Samsung deployed dual-core processor with the Tab 2, which reaches maximum speed of 1.2MHz, and is paired with 1GB RAM that experts said should provide just the muscle for the average users that the tablet line is geared for.

But to compare these specifications, which also include pixel density of only 170ppi, to competitors, the Tab 2 without a doubt is a compromise product in order for Samsung to keep the price tag at manageable level, which ranges from $250 to $400 depending on connectivity and storage configurations.

In terms of performance, however, early reviews of the Tab 2 proved that the tablet is able to deliver as oppose to its giant contemporaries. The general verdict is, users not intending to push the envelope too far on the tablet will still get to enjoy the same Samsung pedigree as rendered in the Android Ice Cream Sandwich environment.

The bottom line about the Tab is it has both the upside and downside but shoppers wanting to enjoy a decent gadget for the holidays will be far from disappointed. This brick, any version of which such as LTE or Wi-Fi connectivity and 32GB storage capacity plus expansion capability, reflects two names that are synonymous to quality device experience.

As an Android gadget, the Galaxy Tab 2 is a window to more than 700,000 apps that Google said can now be found on its Play Store. And as a Samsung tablet, it carries a name responsible for proving that entrancing global consumers is not a monopoly of Apple.

Indeed, the Galaxy Tab 2 is a worthy addition to consumers' holiday shopping list, a move that would not necessarily bump off any other essentials from the same list.