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Samsung P6200 Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Review

Price
Euro260

Samsung P6200 Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Review

Samsung P6200 Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Review

Introduction

The first tablet from Samsung was came out around two years ago and from that time the company has released around dozens of other tablets that very in their sizes and form factors. Apparently the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is a fresh version of the very first model. Samsung has a huge variety of tablets to offer – ranging from 7 to 10.1 inches screens, AMOLEDS to LCDs, resolution from WSVGA (600 x 1024) to well above HD, from 3G and Wi-Fi enabled combos to only Wi-Fi versions and inbuilt storage capacity from 16 GB to 64 GB. With the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, the company decided to go back to where it all started.

If compared with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 or 8.9, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus looks like the fraternal twin of these earlier versions. The hardware configurations as well as the design of both of the compared entities are almost the same. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus with its 345 grams and 9.9mm thickness is the thinner and lighter tablet.

Design wise, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus’s back panel is quite glossy with the white plastic with a sliver accent wrapped around the edges. The Samsung tries to deluge the market with Android tablets in all sizes in the direction of catering to particular requirements and lifestyles of the consumers.

What Is In The Box?

While unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, you will find a very modest package.

  • The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus
  • A USB cable
  • A Two-Piece Charger
  • A Set of Earphones

Design And Build Quality

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is a pocket friendly tablet that sits in the middle of the Galaxy S WiFi at 5 inches and the Galaxy Tab 8.9. At 7-inche, the screen of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is quite usable and is reasonably bright with good contrast. The 7.0 Plus boasts smooth and slim looks. You would not see any buttons by looking at the device and can hardly notice the sliver of the case glancing around the edges. This gives the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus a very nice iPad like screen appearance.

Advantages

  • The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is comparatively slim and features a nice brushed aluminum look on the back cover. The device comes with a rear facing camera and flash on the back side.
  • The 7-inch display of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus features the same 1024 x 600px resolution and 170ppi density as that of its predecessors which is approximately exactly on par with the Galaxy Tab 8.9 (170ppi / 1280 x 800) and still better than the Tab 10.1 (150ppi / 1280 x 800).
  • The viewing angles are still somewhat good along with satisfactory brightness levels and performance.
  • The front camera is present at the top right corner rather than at the centre, thus can be used in both orientations – portrait and landscape.
  • The Tab 7.0 Plus is nice-looking however portability and comfy hold are clearly its top priorities. The back of the Tab 7.0 Plus is made entirely of glossy plastic, but the white paintjob does well to hide smudges.
  • The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is powered by a 4000 mAh Li-Ion battery. Along with the screen resolution, it's one of the things that remained unchanged since the original.

Disadvantages

  • Though the viewing angles are good but any light source in the vicinity will cause nasty glare that you have to bear.
  • The screen size is the smallest in the Samsung tablet lineup and comes with the lowest resolution.
  • The device has a 7.0” PLS LCD screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels which is not the best screen for the Samsung slate however, you can expect convincingly good image quality.
  • The battery of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is non replaceable and possesses the lowest capacity in the Samsung tablet lineup.

User Interface & Hardware

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus features the latest Android Honeycomb 3.2, along with TouchWiz UX overlay and five customizable screens that you can swipe through on the desktop. The device also features some custom touches that make the Tab 7.0 Plus stand out in the Honeycomb crowd. The device is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core Exynos processor, 1GB of RAM, 16 or 32GB of internal storage and a pair of cameras. The Tab 7.0 Plus has a 3 mega pixels camera on the rear (with flash) as well as a 1.3 mega pixels camera up front for the occasional chatting.

Advantages

  • The navigation keys are in the bottom left corner of the home screen: Back, Home and Task switcher (plus a screenshot key courtesy of TouchWiz).
  • The taskbar at the bottom is no longer static. A tap on the arrow flips it to its side to reveal eight shortcuts. Clicking on any of them opens a widget that you are free to move around the screen and it stays on top of everything until you close it or you open its full-screen app.
  • The device features a notification area with the connectivity toggles that offer additional functionality as compared to the stock Honeycomb quick settings. These additional functionalities include GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth controls thus saving your extra effort that will be required to enter the extended settings menu.
  • The notification area has the connectivity toggles that we’ve come to know from the smartphone edition of TouchWiz. They offer more functionality than the stock Honeycomb quick settings - including GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth controls - which saves you the extra effort of entering the extended settings menu. The rest of the toggles are Notifications, Sound, Auto-rotation and Flight mode.
  • The functionality of the other buttons has not changes or altered. Back, home and task switcher is what you get with stock Honeycomb.
  • The device comes with a micro-SD port for expanded storage. This is something really appealing for the tablets users who wish to get one.
  • Audio quality is amazingly loud for such a small device and appears on par with the majority of larger tablets. The lightweight design feels great and comfortable in the hand although the plastic scratches a bit easy.

Disadvantages

  • Regardless of Samsung doing away with the capacitive buttons under the screen (Honeycomb doesn't require them), the front of the device is no smaller on the 7.0 Plus — it's actually a bit larger.
  • The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus uses a proprietary 30-pin connector port for charging and connectivity.

Software, Camera & Connectivity

Talking about software and apps, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus has a handful of built-in apps that are quite useful. However, if you prefer not to use them, you can easily delete them. The device comes with a 3 mega pixels camera that is not exactly impressive but generates surprisingly good results. In terms of connectivity, the device is well equipped. You will get quad-band GSM radios plus 3G speeds of up to 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA. It is GPS equipped as well.

Advantages

  • The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus comes with loads of built-in apps including the Media Hub, Social Hub, “Samsung App”, and the Peel Smart Remote. You can swipe the screen to the left to access a unified email inbox buddy icons for IM, and a couple of bookmarks. Another swipe to the left will get you to a screen where you can store frequently used apps or widgets.
  • If you swipe to the right, you will get a page displaying your Social Hub feed, a calendar, and a Yahoo Finance widget. Another swipe to the right will get you to another empty page so that you can put widgets or apps. All these screens are customizable.
  • Talking about apps, Samsung is kind enough to provide a number of pre-loaded apps. For example AllShare that allows you share your media content with other devices like PC or TV. There are many other useful pre-loaded apps that you would enjoy using!
  • Camera, however, is not exactly impressive but despite of being only 3 MP it produces reasonably good results. The outdoor shots result is quite nice even in the low light the camera is capable of producing good images. The camera controls and settings are intuitive to use and simple to understand and navigate.
  • The front facing 2 MP camera is also there that can be used for video-chatting. Video quality is also acceptable. The device can give good results if the lighting conditions are good.
  • For connectivity purpose, there is almost everything available. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is well equipped with all the connectivity tools ranging from quad-band GSM radios plus 3G speeds of up to 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA to GPS. Furthermore, there is Wi-Fi support as well that includes a/b/g/n versions, with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz band compatibility. Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA support are also available.
  • A microSD card slot will provide extra storage apart from 16/32GB of internal storage.
  • USB-on-the-go is also supported and you only need to buy an adapter for that. Additionally, an infrared port is also integrated with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus.

Disadvantages

  • Although the camera’s 3MP spec isn’t exactly impressive, it produces surprisingly solid results.
  • Although, there is proprietary 30-pin USB connector for computer connection, but there is no USB charging.

Should I Buy The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus?

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is a premium device that connects you to the Internet via WiFi, and definitely worth the money you would spend on it. It is a niche device in the phone market. The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus truly is a slimmed-do, decorated and price right version of the original Galaxy Tab. the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus certainly is a far better device although it does not have anything extraordinary to offer that makes it stand out yet it holds its place in the Samsung's increasingly busy selections.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is crammed with loads of nice hardware and apps, thus you would never leave anything wanting that is not there in the device. The device is portable and comes with a better camera that is of course a plus point. You can also use it as a media server because of its built in DLNA support. Although the GPU's ability to decode video by means of hardware suggests that it can be better used with an HDMI dock to power a large screen directly.

The performance is excellent, the IR capabilities are a nice touch and the expandable storage will certainly attract those with a few extra microSD cards lying dormant. Although the original Galaxy Tab was rather an innovation, and since the market is no longer the same today, the new the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus for sure tributes the original Galaxy Tab pretty satisfactorily with this updated version.