Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 Review

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 Review. You could make fun of Samsung for their "tablet in every inch increment strategy", in fact we have. But as Samsung's tablet lineup evolves, it's clearly about more than making tablets the way Levis makes jeans. There are variations in price and features that allow a variety of customers to buy into Samsung's ecosystem. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus might seem redundant with the Galaxy Tab 7.7, but it's a lower cost tablet that's primarily sold in WiFi-only configurations.


The Tab 7.7 is a higher end tablet with impressive display resolution, a very fast 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos CPU and Verizon Wireless LTE 4G that targets higher end buyers who might be on their second or fourth tablet. The 7 Plus is for buyers who don't want to spend too much but want the full set of tablet features that eReader-centric products like the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet lack (dual cameras, GPS and full Google Play Store app access).

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 has quickly become our favorite smaller tablet (7-8 inch category). It has a stunning Super AMOLED Plus display; in fact it's the first tablet with that display technology. It has higher than average 1280 x 800 resolution-- that's the same resolution used in 10.1" Android tablets and it fits better in 7.7" than 7" for readability. The Exynos dual core CPU with Mali graphics is unbeatably fast among dual core mobile CPUs, and only the quad core Tegra 3 (still a rarity) surpasses its performance. It has both dual band WiFi 802.11b/g/n and fast LTE 4G on Verizon Wireless. In other words, it's the cream of the 7" crop.

Here's the catch: you'll pay dearly for it. The 16 gig Tab 7.7 sells for $499 with a 2 year contract and $699 without a contract. Ouch! That's $70 more than the no-contract 16 gig iPad 3 on Verizon. You and I may prefer Android or a more portable tablet, but the average buyer will be hard pressed to pay more for a smaller tablet that lacks the new iPad's miraculous market power and app selection. It's also more expensive than the Motorola Droid XYBoard 8.2 ($429 contract/$599 retail) with LTE and a 1280 x 800 IPS display.

Design and Ergonomics

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 is pure Samsung: it's super thin at 7.89mm (0.31"), light at 12 ounces and comfortably curvy. Happily, it diverges from traditional Samsung design language by dropping the glossy plastic back in favor of brushed aluminum. It's by no means rubbery and rugged like the XYBoard 8.2, but it's one of the most pocketable and light Android tablets on the market. The controls are nicely integrated and easy to operate, and the tablet has a microSD card slot for expansion (again, fairly new for Samsung tablets and a most welcome addition).

The tablet has a 3.5mm stereo headset jack, a micro SIM card slot for the Verizon LTE SIM card and a 5,100 mAh Lithium Ion battery that's sealed inside. The end caps on the back are plastic for better wireless reception and the tablet uses Samsung's usual tablet 30 pin connector for charging and peripherals. It's compatible with Samsung's existing selection of chargers and adapters for USB host and HDMI. There is no USB port or HDMI port on the tablet itself so you must use adapters. Bummer.