Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Pro Reviews

Without Ice Cream Sandwich, we'd completely shrug off the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus in favor of newer and cheaper options. But the upgrade works wonders for last year's model, and makes it a suitable bargain-basement option. If you're seeking a capable Android tablet with expandable storage, and happen to find a refurbished or otherwise discounted model for $200 or less, we can solidly recommend the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. But that's a window that's shrinking by the day as manufacturers continually top themselves with better and cheaper seven-inch options.

We struggle with the final verdict for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus N. We liked it very much in daily use - especially because of its compact size, the low weight and the fast 3G radio. Operation also was easy and reliable, as long as you don't ask too much from the touch screen with fast finger gestures. Enough performance is available in all situations, Samsung did a very good job here and shows that their own SoC's are among the best in the market. We have both praise and complaints for the display. While the size is a matter of taste, the PLS display is unable to meet the high expectations completely. As an improvement upon IPS screens, it fails to offer advantages in our opinion. It is neither particularly bright, nor brilliant and while viewing angles are very good, they are not better than comparable IPS screens - here too, the recently tested Xoom 2 by Motorola should be mentioned. The Samsung's reflective surface is common to all current tablets.

When the Galaxy Tab 7.0 came out just over one year ago, the big question was, "is this an iPad killer?" Obviously it wasn't, but could this Android tablet be a great iPad alternative? What about its more direct Android competition — namely, the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet / Nook Color. The 7-inch tablet market has become a competitive landscape in its own right, with these very large media brands (e.g. Amazon, Barnes & Noble) releasing their own slates aimed squarely at content consumption. The 7.0 Plus is better than its predecessor in almost every way — and on par in quality otherwise. In any other case, it really comes down to your needs for a tablet and the 7.0 Plus' $399.99 price tag. Those who just want a media consumption device are probably better off going the Nook or Kindle Fire route for half the price. At just $100 more, the 9.7-inch iPad 2 is still the undisputed champion in this realm. For Android tablet lovers, however, Samsung has made its lower tier competitive again. It's not perfect — the viewing angles could be much better and there's some menu stuttering here and there — but the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus does everything its larger siblings can do but in an even more portable format, which is in and of itself and achievement.

The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus really is a gussied-up, slimmed-down, priced-right version of the original Galaxy Tab. If that tablet had released last year looking and feeling (and costing) like this one does it would have been a revolution. As it was it never found that level of success and, while the 7.0 Plus is definitely a far better device, it just doesn't have anything that makes it stand out among Samsung's increasingly busy selections. The performance is good, the IR capabilities are a nice touch and the expandable storage will definitely tempt those with a few extra microSD cards lying dormant. But, for just a little more money, the 8.9 feels like a much more comprehensive tablet and the 7.7, if it ever releases, will quickly make this guy obsolete with its 1280 x 800 Super AMOLED Plus display. And of course there's the Note, which can do proper double duty as a phone along with everything else the 7.0 Plus can do.

Lumping the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus in a general category with other 7-inch devices such as e-readers would be a mistake, like comparing a subcompact car with a sexy little sports car just because they weigh the same and have similar legroom. That’s nothing against e-readers, which are great devices for what they are, but the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus should be considered just a smaller version of the full-featured tablets we compared it to in our benchmark tests.

Seven-inch tablets may’ve been dead on arrival after all. We can think of at least a couple that match the description down to the body bag. In hindsight, we should’ve known better about the original Samsung Galaxy Tab. What we thought was the iPad honking its horn as it sped ahead, was actually a flatline beep. But well, that was then. A couple of software versions and scores of Droid slates later, it’s a different story altogether. And we may as well be looking at the best 7” tablet on the market. The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus upgrades the original seven-inch Samsung slate, which obviously doesn’t cope well with ageing. And although it doesn’t sound as a particularly thorough upgrade, it couldn’t have made a bigger difference. Honeycomb is a welcome replacement of Froyo and the dual core processor is a warning shot to the competition. It’s worth noting too that the new release is slimmer and lighter than the original. After all, people shopping for a seven-inch tablet obviously care about portability.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is a solid device, through and through. It's simple and somewhat limited in features, but that just means what features it does have are polished and work extremely well. It's up-to-date with Honeycomb 3.2, it has a powerful processor that keeps things running smoothly, and its build and screen are superb. But that's the issue with the 7.0 Plus: for all its simplicity, its price tag makes no sense to me. With no stand-out or particularly unique features beyond an IR blaster (and only Wi-Fi connectivity), why does the 16GB model go for $400 MSRP? That is far too high of a price point for a device like this, especially for the low-end 16GB model. If this tablet sees a price break sometime in the near future and you're looking for a no-frills, streamlined Android tablet experience, definitely give it some consideration. But as it stands now, it's not quite worth the money.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is as good as a midrange Honeycomb tablet can get nowadays.

On the surface, there isn’t a whole lot new to experience on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus that we haven’t seen before – especially when the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 offer the same predictable Honeycomb experience. However, we do like the fact that it sports some upgraded hardware over its predecessor, and an infrared port to provide us some light home theater functionality, which is something that’s rarely offered by most of the tablet crew out there. Above all, pricing is obviously going to be a key factor in whether or not it’ll attract would be buyers, but when you think about the competition, there are other 10.1” Honeycomb tablets that are priced the same or less than this one. Well, it’s not to say that the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is a bad option, rather, if you have the money to shell out, it’s definitely something worth picking up thanks to its balanced performance and rich feature set. Alternatively, if you take pride in getting more value for the dollar, and something with a larger screen, you can certainly think about the Asus EeePad Transformer, Acer ICONIA TAB A500, or Toshiba Thrive as other options. The competition is hard when it comes to 7” tablets as well – the Kindle Fire is $200 and the Nook Tablet is $250, and although they have rather lower specs sheets and not as much apps, they are way more affordable.

Samsung makes some of the best Android tablets on the market and the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is just another demonstration of that fact. From its excellent display to its remote control functionality, the 7.0 Plus is an exceptional tablet, that leaves its immediate competition in the dust. There is one problem, however. The 7.0 Plus is hitting the market at the same time as Amazon's Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet. To make matters worse for the Samsung, the Fire and Nook are both 7-inchers and cost significantly less, the Fire $199 and the Nook Tablet $249. So how does the 7.0 Plus stack up? That really depends on what you're looking for in a tablet. While the Fire is less expensive, it also lacks the functionality and features we've come to expect from a standard tablet, ditto the Nook Tablet. Bottom line, if you're looking for a traditional tablet experience in a travel package the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is the tablet to go for.

Despite our complaints regarding the dim display, the Tab 7.0 Plus is one of the best Honeycomb-based tablets in the small size. If we had to pick one Galaxy Tab above the others, however, we would choose the 8.9-inch model, which offers an excellent balance of size and features. The Tab 7.0 Plus may be the most capable seven-inch tablet currently available, but it may be overshadowed by the Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet and other devices that bring people to expect a small price tag alongside the little tablets. Anyone who is willing to spend $400 on a tablet may want to save a bit more to spring for the Tab 8.9, which costs $470, or any of the $500 tablets such as the Tab 10.1 and iPad 2.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus offers a lot for its $400 price: 16GB of RAM ($500 for 32GB), a sharp screen, and a streamlined, minimalist design. Its IR sensor and Peel app turn it into a pretty robust remote control, but its lack of current support for streaming services limits its appeal. The 7.0 Plus is the best 7-inch Honeycomb tablet available today, so if you're looking for a fully equipped 7-inch tablet, this is the one to get.