Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Review

Despite some pretty stable performance, the Tab 7 Plus’ market price of around Rs. 26,000 is pulling it down a bit. For the same amount of money, you get the Sony Tablet S. Admitted that the Tab 7 Plus has 3G as well, but then again, the Galaxy Tab 730 makes a lot more sense, for a bit more money. Or even the Galaxy Note, which is infinitely more portable.

Look & Feel
As we have already mentioned, the design cues from the Galaxy Tab 730 and the Galaxy Tab 750 (read our review) are more than clearly visible here. While it is thicker than the Tab 750, it is still a pretty slim tablet. The reason the Tab 750 is slimmer is because there is a wider bed for the components to be spread across, something a 7-inch tablet cannot afford. There is the black bezel around the 7-inch display. The charging port and two sets of speakers are on the bottom panel. The left spine has the SIM card and the microSD card slots, both clearly marked. The protective covers for both are well made, and easy to open and close. That isn’t something we have been able to say for most smartphones and tablets off late. On the top is the 3.5mm headphone jack. The right spine has the power key and the volume rocker.

Flip the Tab 7 Plus over, and the enamel white finish is welcomed, considering the alternative could have been a fingerprint and scratch magnet glossy finish. Towards the top left is the 3MP camera with the LED flash right next to it. The silver strip running around the tablet like a frame does bring out the curves quite well. And a good slim design deserves that!

Overall, despite the generous use of plastic, we are very satisfied with the build quality. No rough edges or flimsy bits to the entire package. It is light, and slimness ensures it is comfortable to hold. Having said that, we would have loved a dash of metal, just to move away from the plasticky look. However, you cannot really use the Tab 7 Plus with the same hand that is holding it – something that the Galaxy Note allows, with ease. And if you want a slightly bigger display for better web and multimedia experience, you have the 8.9-inch display of the Galaxy Tab 730 will make a lot more sense.

Features & Performance
A 1.2GHz dual core Exynos 4210 processor powers the Tab 7 Plus, which is a shift considering a 1GHz dual core Tegra 2 processor powers the Tab 730. There is 1GB of RAM to help the processor along. Samsung has preloaded this with Android 3.2 (Honeycomb), and the TouchWiz UI wrapped around the OS. The UI is the same as the one we see on the rest of the Galaxy smartphone and tablet family – widgets and backgrounds. While it has the power on paper, the Tab 7 Plus seems to have some weird UI lag issues. While flicking through it, the app list will stutter once in a while, orientation change isn’t smooth and even the web browser doesn’t zoom in and zoom out a webpage with the aura of fluidity. Not to be mistaken with slowdown in performance, these stutters are usually the cause of not perfectly optimized additional UI. Apps and games work perfectly fine, with loading times similar to the ones we see on most similarly powered Android tablets. The background app load doesn’t bother the Tab 7 Plus at all. The benchmark scores all prove that point – the Tab 7 Plus is no slouch when it comes to sheer grunt.

The 7-inch display is the PLS LCD type, with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. The brightness level is better than the Sony Tablet S, and at par with the elder siblings, despite a different display type. While it definitely doesn’t have the colour vividness of a Super AMOLED display on the Samsung Galaxy Note, the PLS LCD doesn’t do badly at all. What is a letdown is the low resolution of the display, something that will hamper the experience of watching videos, particularly if you are watching HD ones. What impresses the most is the crispness of the display – absolutely brilliant to read text on. Viewing from a side angle is fine as long as the brightness is above 60%, anything below that and the reflective nature of the display takes over and bounces off everything in the surroundings.

TouchWiz UI is the same as what we have seen on the other Galaxy family tablets. However, the similarities end with the visual bit. On this tablet, the UI tends to stutter quite often, something clearly visible if you are using the Galaxy Tab 750 and the Galaxy Note side by side with this. Surprising, considering the hardware is quite capable, at least on the spec sheet. Just to be sure, we factory reset the tablet multiple times. However, let us make it plainly clear that no, any if at all, app load doesn’t have any bearing on this issue. Even a freshly reset tablet faces the same issue.

Where the Tab 7 Plus has the advantage over most rivals is the battery life. Under standard usage, this will last about 3 days Wi-Fi connected throughout and the standard mix of web browsing, video and music, games and even a whole lot of social networking. While not in the iPad 2’s league, this is definitely sitting amongst the upper echelons of the Android tablet category.

Our Take
We have seen this retailing for around Rs. 26,000 in the market. Equally important, the Galaxy Tab 730 is retailing for Rs. 2,000 more. We would suggest you consider that as well, since the 8.9-inch display will offer a better experience for web browsing and most multimedia consumption. If portability is a factor, the Samsung Galaxy Note will make a lot more sense to buy. As you can see, the choice is quite wide, and each device has its unique points. We suggest checking all three out before spending the cash on any one.

Price: Rs. 30,350

Contact: Samsung India
Phone: (Prefix Local STD Code) 3030 8282
Email: N.A.

Check comparative benchmarks of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and other tablets, below. Find individual benchmarks and other test scores, on the next page.

Find individual benchmarks and other test scores, on the next page…

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Vishal Mathur

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