Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus - Keeping Up with The Competition

Overview, Design and Features

Samsung Taking Charge

The South Korean company celebrated the end of 2011 with a record breaking global sales of over 300 million handset sales. This is largely due to the success of its Galaxy portfolio of phones. The momentum is set to swing over to the tablet scene as Samsung increases its presence in the market with new devices covering new screen sizes, such as an 8.9-inch tablet. It also refreshed its original Galaxy Tab slate by launching the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus last week. Does the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus have what it takes to keep up with the competition? Read on to find out. 

Key highlights of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Android Honeycomb 3.2v 1.2GHz dual-core processor 7-inch HD PLS LCD / 1024 x 600 pixels 1GB RAM 3-megapixel rear camera / Autofocus / LED flash + 2-megapixel front facing camera 16 GB (microSD expansion, up to 32GB) Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz / 5GHz) GPRS / HSDPA+ 4000mAh battery 345g 193.65 x 122.37 x 9.96mm Price and Availability: S$768 (available from 7th January 2012)

Design Aspects

The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is like a smaller sibling to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in terms of physical attributes. The obvious difference, comes from its screen size. While some consumers may be able to live with the plastic build for a lighter Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus at 345g, we prefer a more sturdy device such as the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime. 

While we had no major problems with the design and handling of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, the plastic feel that we got out of the Samsung tablet didn't give us much confidence in handling it. Though one should take extra care in handling their devices, we were more worried about scratching the tablet and leaving a trail of damage on its exterior. Light as it may be, it doesn't have the solid and durable build that we are accustomed to on many other 7-inch tablets, such as the Huawei MediaPad.

Not Ready for Android 4.0 Yet

Despite the fact that Google has made the source code of its latest Android 4.0 platform available, we were disappointed to find the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus running on the one-year old Android Honeycomb operating system. The delay could be due to the fact that Samsung has to spend extra time to adapt its customized user interface for Ice Cream Sandwich. Fortunately, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is among the few Samsung devices that are getting the Android 4.0 update. However, the company hasn't given a specific time frame on when this update will commence.