Analysts claim that fewer and fewer Android tablets are sold every year in the world. According to many users, they cannot compete with a bundle of laptops and smartphones, where the former win in functionality, and the latter are always at the forefront of progress and are more compact. Yes, there are products Apple, which has taken this niche well. But also on Android there is a hero. South Korean giant in the face Samsung continues to release tablet computers under the line Galaxy Tab… Recently, a model came to our editorial office Galaxy Tab S7 +which may well compete for the title of the best Android tablet. However, let’s start in order!
COMPLETE SET AND APPEARANCE
We received a test sample of a device without an LTE module with 256 GB of internal storage. The official cost of the model without LTE in Russia is 69,990 rubles, and with LTE – 79,990 rubles. In both cases, you get 128 gigabytes of on-board storage and 6 gigabytes of RAM. The version of the tablet with a configuration of 8 + 256 GB is not presented in our market.
By tradition, Samsung products are notable for very high-quality packaging, but at the same time without any frills.
In this case, a colorful image of the Galaxy Tab S7 + is applied to the outer white box. Inside, the tablet itself, a 15 W charger (model EP-TA200), a small box with a memo-instruction, on which a clip is attached to remove the SIM card tray (if it is a model with a mobile LTE module) and external memory, a wire USB Type-C and S-Pen. There is also a transport case that protects the tablet from minor mechanical damage.
The Galaxy Tab S7 + has a very nice austere design. The ends, like the entire body of the tablet, are flat and made of aluminum alloy. This gives it a chic look. The manufacturer offers the gadget in three colors: black, silver and bronze. The review was presented in black, but in fact it is more of a dark gray. The case is not easily soiled, but after prolonged use, fingerprints still remain visible at a certain angle and light.
The tablet weighs only 570 grams (the S Pen weighs an additional 8 grams, and the keyboard cover will weigh the tablet another 505 grams), its dimensions are 285 * 185 * 5.7 mm.
Even though the Galaxy Tab S7 + is metal, we still put it in the branded keyboard case that came with the device. A very useful and functional thing. The case has a place for storing the stylus, a folding stand is provided, and the keyboard is made in the same style with the entire structure and is connected to the tablet case with magnetic connectors.
Since the body of the gadget is metal, the magnetic case is easily and very securely attached to its original place, as a result of which we get a full-fledged and mobile laptop on Android. And most importantly, we protect the edges of the tablet and its magic screen from damage, because the Galaxy Tab S7 + is not cheap at all, and we want to keep it intact for as long as possible. True, the price of a keyboard cover in our market is also high – 16,990 rubles, but it’s worth it.
On the back of the tablet is a camera with dual modules and a flash. Nearby is a long mirror insert, which hides the wireless charger for the S Pen stylus.
The stylus is magnetised to the surface by its flat part; charging it does not create additional problems for the user. This is another great design decision when beauty and functionality are combined.
On the top of the metal edge there is a power button and a volume rocker, a microphone and a tray for installing a SIM card and memory card (micro SDXC, up to 1024 GB). By the way, if you wish, you can attach the stylus to this edge on a flat surface above the microphone and the slot for the SIM card and memory card. On the sides, on both sides, there are four speakers from the Austrian company AKG, two on each side.
On the left side there is a USB Type-C connector for charging and connecting external devices. It is also used to connect wired headphones through an adapter or with such a connector, since there are no 3.5 mm holes here. On the lower side of the frame, in the middle, there are magnetic connectors for connecting the keyboard, and on the sides of them there are two recesses for accuracy and reliability of the connection. In front of the screen is the front camera module, which is not only suitable for video calls and selfies, but also supports the “face unlock” function. The camera recognizes a face without any problems, both during the day and in low light, but in the mask, the sensor is unlocked only if the camera reads the face below the lips.
SCREEN, USE AND CONVENIENCE
The heart of the tablet is, of course, its screen, and Samsung is doing very well here.
The Super AMOLED 12.4 ”display is wrapped in a thin bezel measuring only 8 mm on all sides. The resolution is 2800 by 1752 pixels, the pixel density is 266 PPI. The brightness of this display is 484 nits, and thanks to the very contrast OLED matrix, black is very deep.
Even in bright sunlight under the glossy glass surface of the screen, the matrix provides excellent readability even under direct daylight. In addition, this display supports a refresh rate of 120 Hz. In order to achieve smoother navigation through the system and a more enjoyable game in projects with support of such values, the user can set a “high” refresh rate in the settings. But remember that this mode uses about 15-20% more battery power, so if the autonomy of the device is more important to you, you can put the screen in “standard” mode, in which it works at a frequency of 60 Hz. In addition, the tablet has a “blue light filter” option to reduce eye strain and fatigue by limiting the blue light emitted from the screen. But there is also a minus – PWM. Strong screen flickering is present at brightness less than 30 percent, and for some reason DC Dimming technology is not provided in such an expensive device.
There is a very useful function in the display settings – “Curved screen”. These are the so-called Edge Panels, from which you can quickly access the apps, contacts, files and more. The Edge Panels feature includes 9 sections: Apps, Live Messages, People, Select and Save, Tasks, Weather, Tools, Reminders, Clipboard. The most important applications and files are always at your fingertips, just pull on a small tab on the side of the screen, and you will immediately open panels. The 12.4-inch screen allows you to multitask with great comfort by placing multiple windows on your desktop. This arrangement can be remembered and given a specific name, fixed on one of the Edge panels under your icon. Incredibly convenient!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + has another convenient feature inherent in the company’s flagship mobile phones. This is Samsung DeX, which gives a more familiar look to the operating system for working in desktop mode. Unlike previous generations of the tablet, where DeX was only available when connected via a wired USB Type-C connection, the Tab S7 and S7 + models received support for connecting to the display via Wi-Fi. If you have purchased a branded keyboard cover with a touchpad, then you can easily turn your tablet into something like an Android laptop.
SOUND
As mentioned above, the tablet has 4 built-in speakers (two on each side). The Austrian company AKG was traditionally responsible for the work on them. The maximum volume is very high and the sound quality is extremely pleasant. Even low frequencies have a very good depth. For watching movies and playing games, these speakers will be enough for your head, and you will not need an external speaker on the road. Wired headphones or a headset can only be connected via USB Type-C. Or you can use wireless headphones, but we did not find HD Audio support, so you only get the best sound quality over the wire.
CAMERA
As mentioned earlier, the back of the tablet has a main camera with two lenses. The camera block protrudes about 2 mm from the body. The first 13MP widescreen module (4128 x 3096) with f / 2.0 aperture and a focal length of 3.08 mm. This camera has an 8x zoom. The second module here is ultra-wide 5 megapixel (2576 x 1932) with a viewing angle of 120 degrees, aperture f / 2.0 and a focal length of 1.13 mm. The quality of photos, of course, is far from the level of the company’s flagship smartphones, but for a tablet it is quite enough.
Noise is present both during the day and at night, but if the overall picture looks good during the day, then in the night mode the system tries to reduce the noise, greatly blurring the image, which sometimes makes certain parts of the photo look dirty. The ultra-wide module allows you to capture more objects during shooting, but the details are naturally worse due to the low resolution of the module. There is also a professional shooting mode in which you can set the desired ISO, white balance and exposure. In addition, like most of the latest Samsung smartphones, the tablet has got a “Multi-shot” mode. The function allows you to shoot a video from 3 to 15 seconds, which the system then processes and divides into short clips and photos with various effects. In the future, they can be used for mounting rollers.
There is also the possibility of creating HDR-pictures, panoramas and time-lapse videos. As for video recording, the main camera is capable of recording video at a maximum resolution of 4K at 30 frames. The camera uses optical image stabilization to reduce shake when shooting videos, and it performed well in tests. Professional mode is available for videos with the same settings as for photos.
The front camera here is a whopping 8 megapixels (3264 x 2448) with an f / 2.0 aperture and a focal length of 2.61 mm with the ability to record video in 1080p / 720p at 30 frames. For a selfie in the daytime, it is quite enough, and the night mode is not available for it. Its head resolution should be enough for a high-quality image when making video calls in popular instant messengers. It did not receive stabilization during video shooting, but the “Multi-shot” function is still supported.
BATTERY, IRON & COMMUNICATIONS
A lot, if not all, in such things is decided by the battery, which means that the battery life of the device is important. And with this, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + is also in perfect order. The battery capacity is 10090 mAh. This battery lasts about 8-9 hours of web surfing and 11-14 hours of watching videos, which is quite a good result for a model with such a bright and large screen.
As mentioned above, the base kit includes a 15W charger. With it, you can charge your tablet up to 5% in 10 minutes. For a quarter, the Galaxy Tab S7 + charges in 46 minutes, and it reaches 50% in 1 hour and 32 minutes. In 2 hours and 19 minutes it will be possible to charge the battery by 75%, and completely in 3 hours and 5 minutes. Taking into account the large volume of the built-in battery, it charges very quickly.
We also managed to leave the tablet for 3 weeks with Wi-Fi on and activated notifications from various services, but not use it. After this time, we checked the level of its charge and found that it was not discharged yet – about 13% of the battery remained.
The device runs Android 10 operating system with Samsung’s proprietary One UI 2.5 version. The core is last year’s 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ chipset, built using a 7nm process technology (1 Kryo 585 Prime (Cortex-A77) core at 3.1 GHz, 3 Kryo 585 Gold (Cortex-A77) cores at 2.42 GHz and 4 Kryo 585 Silver (Cortex-A55) cores at 1.8 GHz), which works in conjunction with the Adreno 650 graphics accelerator. Our test model has 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256 GB of internal memory of the UFS 3.1 standard. As we mentioned above, the device has a memory expansion slot with support for Micro SD cards up to 1TB.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + (SM-T970) is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 6 modules, as well as a GPS, GPS, GLONASS and Beidou navigation system.
SYNTHETIC TESTS AND GAMES
In basic AnTuTu and 3D Mark tests, the tablet was identified as a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + and SM-T970. All running tests Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + passed with a bang. In AnTuTu, it scores 569452 points and is ranked 13th in the ranking of Android devices:
- CPU 154 046
- GPU 232 115
- MEM 94 8114
- UX 88477
We test this device in projects such as Genshin Impact, World of Tanks Blitz, Dead Trigger 2, Fortnite and Asphalt 9. In the process, we noticed minimal drawdowns only in Fortnite with maximum graphics quality. In the tablet menu, the average processor and battery temperatures were 30 and 29 degrees Celsius, respectively. In heavy games, after an hour of gameplay, these values already rise to 36 and 32 degrees, respectively.
RESULTS
Today it is perhaps difficult to find an Android tablet that has the same level of performance as the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 +. Both work and entertainment when interacting with this gadget bring only positive emotions. Lightweight, bright, long-lasting and with attention to detail. The price, of course, is far from small, but still slightly lower than that of a direct competitor from Cupertino.
Author: Sergey Dyakonenko (Madnfs)
Read also: Solid sub-flagship: Review of the vivo X50 smartphone…
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