05/30/2013 12:37 (19 vote(s))

Review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 tablet

If you're looking for a compact device that's smaller and lighter than an iPad, there's good news for you. This year there have already been quite a few 7-inch new products that have excited the AV market. Among them were Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition, and there were even rumors about . It's time to review the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0).

Since the release of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Samsung has become one of the leaders in the field of Android tablets. And to this day, a whole range of add-ons and applications are released with the Tab 2 marker. But, despite the success of the Galaxy Tab, it was never able to create the same hype around itself as the iPad.

Therefore, Samsung decided to try its luck again and release another 7-inch tablet on the Android 4.0 operating system, nicknamed “Ice Cream Sandwich”. We hope that the new product will be different from the iPad and will cause a new wave of customer interest. The tablet will have 8 GB of RAM and access to Wi-Fi, and its cost will vary between 10-13 thousand rubles.

With the new Tab 2, Samsung will be able to seriously compete with tablets such as the Amazon Kindle Fire, Nook, and the top sellers in this price category, also based on ICS - the Disgo 9104 and Scroll Extreme 9.7.

We've been waiting for the release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) for quite some time, and we finally got the opportunity to test it.

Currently, Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) can be purchased for about RUR 10,000. for the version with 8 GB of memory and 13,000 rubles. for the model with 16 GB of memory.

Functions

Despite creating a very stylish design for the Galaxy mobile phone, Samsung has still not been able to develop a single concept for the design of all of its devices.

For example, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 has a lovely brushed metallic finish, while the look of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S3, which has a plastic body that looks cheap and unattractive.

From the previous model, the Galaxy Tab 2 has curved edges and a glowing company logo located on the bottom panel of the case under the screen. The logo clearly indicates that the tablet developers recommend using the device in portrait orientation, unlike the Samsung Galaxy 10.1, which is more suitable for landscape orientation. In this regard, we can assume that the Galaxy Tab 2 is considered by Ssmsung developers as a direct competitor to tablets such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and Nook.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 has a nice silver color, borrowed from its Galaxy Tab sibling. There are three buttons in the top right corner, one of which is for turning on sleep mode, waking up from sleep and turning off the tablet, and the other two adjust the sound volume.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) measures 193.7 x 122.4 x 10.5 mm and weighs 344 grams, which is slightly more than half the weight of the iPad, and quite a bit lighter than the Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition, which also has a 1-inch larger screen.

The small size of the device is very convenient for reading with one hand. This will be very useful for people living in a suburban area and forced to travel a long time by transport to work, or for young mothers who can simultaneously rock their child and read from a tablet.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) is equipped with a TI OMAP 4430 dual-core processor operating at 1 GHz. Of course, we are already accustomed to more powerful processors, and the quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 was recently released. However, in addition to the processor, the device must have enough speed to handle several tasks simultaneously. Therefore, the Galaxy Tab 2 is equipped with 1 GB of internal memory, which will allow the tablet to respond quickly enough and perform multiple tasks simultaneously.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 will be sold with 8, 16 and 32 GB of memory. In addition, you can add a memory card with a capacity of up to 64 GB to the tablet, thanks to which media lovers will not have to spend more money on purchasing a model with 32 GB of internal memory, but only purchase a microSD card for the tablet. There's also a 3G option, the price and availability of which have not been confirmed at this time.

The 7-inch TFT screen has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, and there is no hint of the AMOLED screen that was once predicted for the entire Galaxy Tab line. The display itself is quite dim, dull and lifeless, and certainly won't impress movie buffs.

To test the video quality, we took the HD version of Kanye West's film "Runaway", and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) managed to present even such a rich and varied color gamut in very dull and completely uninteresting shades, and the black color make it gray.

For the next test we chose the game "Temple Run". Most recently, we have already tested it on the new iPad and Asus Transformer Pad 300 tablets, but this time we were disappointed with how the device displayed the incredibly beautiful golden world of the game. Even after we set the screen brightness level to maximum, instead of a beautiful bright picture, we only got faster battery drain. But, at the same time, we noticed that even a lower screen resolution, compared to that recommended for “Temple Run,” does not spoil the impression of the game at all. In addition, we were able to get the highest scores in "Temple Run" and even considered purchasing a subscription for this game.

Compared to the 10-inch iPad, the difference is, of course, noticeable, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 holds its own quite confidently among Kindles and similar smartphones. We were able to fully enjoy applications, reading books, playing games and watching television series without feeling any discomfort. or discomfort.

Unfortunately, we can't say the same for the tablet's touchscreen. His sensitivity was a little lower than we expected. For example, we had difficulty registering on the site because the sensor did not respond well when trying to follow links or click on small browser buttons. Also, while watching video materials, due to the weak response of the sensor, rewinding films became a problem.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) is equipped with two cameras. The rear camera is suitable for taking photos, and the front camera is suitable for video conferencing. Considering the 3MP rear lens and the VGA quality of the front camera, we can safely say that photography is not the tablet’s strong point. But the Galaxy Tab 2's rear camera can shoot 720p video, so you can use it as a video camera and even add special effects to your footage thanks to the built-in app.

Galaxy Tab 2 is based on the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) operating system, which is a continuation of the Android Honeycomb line. This means that it has all the latest improvements and benefits of the previous OS.

Ice Cream Sandwich is a more flexible operating system, with increased multitasking, a better browser, better video processing and more customization options.

The Korean company Samsung decided to release Android with its own TouchWiz interface, which has a unique and original appearance. TouchWiz is a very decent and intuitive interface, which, however, looks a little outdated in some places and does not give the same polish as classic Android 4.0.

A good example of this is screen locking. It looks kind of uninteresting and old-fashioned, besides, Ice Cream Sandwich does not have the ability to quickly bind a button to lock the screen or camera, which would make using the tablet much easier and faster. Even the way the time is displayed on the screen still does not evoke admiration and a burning desire to immediately purchase the Galaxy Tab 2.

Let's move on to the main features of the operating system. For ease of use, Android 4.0 ICS has five home screens, which you can access by hitting the right or left edge of the screen (remember, the sensor has a weak response, so you need to hit the screen quite hard). The main screen is filled with applications for displaying weather, time, a media player for listening to music or watching movies and many other applications.

Quite quickly we cleared the home screen of all this garbage and filled it with only the add-ons we needed. To do this, we used the toolbar, which can be accessed by long-pressing the settings icon at the top of the screen.

In addition to the standard buttons that allow you to go back or to the home screen and the button that opens the last closed application, there are several more buttons added by Samsung developers on the bottom panel of the tablet. For example, one of them was a button for taking screenshots, which we especially found useful for this review, and a small arrow pointing up. We didn't notice it initially, but the arrow ended up being a customizable dock for your most frequently used apps that you can call up at any time. It's a great addition and one that immediately resonated with us.

I was also pleased with the on-screen keyboard, which is especially well suited for such a small device. I especially liked the placement of the number buttons 0 to 9 at the top of the QWERTY keyboard. Keyboard input was very accurate and made it easy and quick to enter passwords, email addresses, and write letters without having to end up with an illegible string of letters misrecognized by the keyboard, as is the case on most modern tablets.

Navigation across the screen, applications and settings of the operating system was also able to please with its loading speed and there was no noticeable delay in response, which is usual for Android users.

As for the capabilities of the dual-core Ice Cream Sandwich chip, we tested many applications and games, including editing our library, but were never able to push the 1 GHz ARM chip to its limits.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) was victorious, receiving 5322 points in AnTuTu Benchmark testing. This score is about half that of the Tegra 3-based Asus Transformer Prime, and slightly higher than the Kindle Fire, Asus Transformer and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Moreover, the Galaxy Tab 2 wins due to its higher performance.

All games ran quite well, and only in “Temple Run” the image shook a little, which, however, did not interfere with the gameplay itself. You could even say that image processing was smoother than on the ever-popular Apple iPad, further proving that the Galaxy Tab 2 isn't lacking in performance at all.

As we already mentioned, the quality of the camera on the tablet leaves much to be desired. The resulting images were grainy, blurry and dull, and this was noticeable even before we started viewing them on a PC.

Usually we don't attach much importance to the poor quality of the camera, since this is far from the primary task of tablet PCs, but just a nice addition. But the camera would be very useful for capturing some important moments in your life when you don’t have a normal camera at hand. And the photo quality of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) is much worse than its competitors.

Video footage was no different from photos and also suffered from graininess, especially in low-light conditions. And that's with excellent frame rates and 720p quality.

When listening to audio recordings, we were also disappointed by the volume level. The speakers were so quiet that the sound was barely enough even for one room. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is much louder, so if you want to watch a movie or listen to music in a hotel room or at home, you will have to connect additional speakers to the tablet.

Of course, the Galaxy Tab 2 has Bluetooth headphones, but we still think this tablet has enough power to reproduce sound at a normal volume.

Battery life

Battery life was very average. Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) lasted about 5 hours of streaming video from a YouTube channel. This is a very mediocre indicator, and even with light use of the tablet, you will still have to charge the device about once every two days.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) has a battery capacity of up to 4000 mAh, which is twice the capacity of the Samsung Galaxy S3, but still significantly smaller than the battery of the Asus Transformer Pad 300. As an excuse, you can, of course, take into account the small size of the tablet itself, but in any case, if you need a reliable and durable device, then we would recommend turning your attention to larger models.

By default, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) has an Android 4.0 browser, which provides very few settings or options to change the display of pages. But, nevertheless, the browser can open several tabs at once, and when you open an empty tab, several previously visited sites will be displayed on the page.

The problem with all 7-inch tablets is that such a screen is very inconvenient to view web pages. This is especially true for portrait orientation. All sites are displayed very small, so every time you read information from the page, you will have to zoom in. The problem could be solved if the tablet automatically loaded the mobile version of sites, but unfortunately this is not the case. And even in landscape mode, you'll only be able to see part of a web page, not the whole thing.

Of course, this problem is not only due to the small screen, but also due to the settings of the sites you visit. But if the tablet loaded pages in smartphone mode, it could really make things easier. Therefore, if you are a fan of surfing the Internet, then you should still take a 10-inch tablet model.

We found the Galaxy Tab 2 browser itself to be very inconvenient to use. It creates very small tabs and has a long response time, so you won't be able to close any site quickly. If you still choose a 7-inch model, we recommend that you download the beta version of the Google Chrome browser for your tablet, which will work faster and more efficiently than the built-in browser.

We also didn't like the bookmarking process in the browser. To save a page and add it to your bookmarks, you need to click on the star, then you will have access to all your browser bookmarks, which can be opened using the small icon located on the right. In your bookmarks you will find many folders that the browser created automatically and we don’t like this at all, because half of them are not needed and we would not want to clutter our bookmarks with all this. In addition, new saved pages are attached to the end of the list, which means you have to scroll through the entire list each time to open them.

You can start incognito mode using the button in the upper right corner, then any new tab will open without unnecessary fuss and you can secretly choose gifts for them in online stores or search for some personal information in secret from your family and friends.

To view flash video, we installed a plugin that started working immediately, without the need to restart the tablet. After installation, we were able to view all types of video materials posted on various sites, which is very pleasing after using the iPad, which does not have such a plug-in.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) has access to the Google Play Store, which was previously known as Android Marketplace. In this online store you can find many Android applications, including games, movies and a large library of books. Of course, the choice is not as wide as in the App Store, but Google Play is also actively working to expand the list of applications, and, quite possibly, they will soon be able to compete with Apple. In addition, Google Play developers also focus on relevant video content and popular applications. The purchase process itself will also not be difficult, and the updated Ice Cream Sandwich interface will allow you to save purchased video materials in one folder. And prices on Google Play differ from the App Store to a lesser extent. For example, the film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” cost us 50 rubles less.

Some tablets, like the Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition, force you to use only the built-in software to be able to add photos or videos, and these programs are often completely unfinished and clunky. Luckily, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) doesn't carry that legacy.

All you need to transfer files to your tablet is a PC connection. The computer will recognize the device as a removable disk and will allow you to easily copy or move files without resorting to the use of additional programs.
Android tablets have always behaved very strangely towards different file formats. They can either read or not read any formats, without at all justifying their choice. With the advent of applications, this problem became a little easier and it became possible to expand the list of readable files. But Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) can read almost all formats of audio and video content, even without additional applications, including even HD mkv encoded in H.264. Just a couple of years ago this was almost impossible, but now we can safely enjoy smooth playback of high-quality video.

You can also easily read books from your tablet thanks to the Reader Hub app, which is a cross between Kobo and Zinio. The text on the screen is visible very clearly, and the application has a user-friendly interface. You could even say that the Galaxy Tab 2 is one of the best tablets for reading, but unfortunately, it still can't compare with E-Ink devices like Amazon's Kindle.

Applications

As we have already said, Google Play is used as a source of applications for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0), which can really compete with the so popular iPad due to the presence of free applications and a very impressive catalog of paid content.

The Google Play store shortcut is always located on the tablet's home page and launching it takes only a few seconds. And the process of downloading applications itself requires only clicking the “download” button, and after downloading the application will be ready to launch.

Google Play also has a specialized section for Samsung devices called “Samsung Apps”. In this store you will find a mix of their popular apps from Google and some apps from Samsung developers.

For example, we found Angry Birds in the list of free applications, and, perhaps, it was the only familiar name from the entire list. Of course, there are also games such as Tetris or Sudoku, but all of them cannot become strong arguments in favor of the Galaxy Tab 2.

Games

If you are a fan of simple, unpretentious games, then the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) will be a real discovery for you. The tablet's screen is too small to run full-fledged serious games on it, but it has enough performance to play them without a hitch. For example, Temple Run and Riptide ran very smoothly and flawlessly, and the 25 seconds for which we were interested in the Angry Birds game also did not reveal any performance shortcomings.

The list of applications is quite impressive and soon we filled the entire tablet with free games: Sims, Tower Defense, cricket and cards, as well as a very interesting Color Splash application.

The small screen did not affect the quality of all these games, but we still felt more confident on the 10-inch tablets. Although at 7 inches we were able to have fun and pass the time pleasantly.

Samsung developers have done a lot of work to make the Galaxy Tab 2 competitive with models like the Amazon Kindle Fire and Apple iPad. And one of these successful steps was the use of the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and an online application store.

But don't forget about the shortcomings: a dim screen, a cluttered TouchWiz interface and poor sensor response will prevent the tablet from becoming a direct competitor to leading models.

pros

At the moment, there are many models on the AV market, the cost of which varies between 10-13 thousand rubles, but not all of them have the same capabilities as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0).

Samsung was able to release a multifunctional tablet that can seriously compete with the Apple iPad and fill the gap in the line of Android devices. In addition, the tablet has a very affordable price.

In addition, despite the rather small screen of 7 inches, we were able to fully enjoy watching HD movies and playing games on it.

The tablet was able to show off all the advantages of the new Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, including a very easy and simple way to copy and move files from a personal computer. And this is just one of many indicators that bring the Galaxy Tab 2 closer to the iPad.

Minuses

Throughout our testing, we noticed a number of shortcomings that could prevent the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) from becoming a top seller. Most of the shortcomings are most likely caused by the developers' attempt to reduce the cost of the device, but this does not stop them from being unpleasant.

For example, the Touch Wiz user interface, which has already proven itself on other devices, suddenly appears in a very boring and old-fashioned light. And the screen of the Galaxy Tab 2 itself looks very lifeless and pale.

In addition, it is difficult to use a browser that displays pages extremely small and has an inconvenient configuration system.

Conclusion

If you are ready to part with 13,000 rubles for a small, convenient, fun and multifunctional tablet, then the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) will be the best option for you.

However, those who are looking for a reliable, high-quality device with a good screen and excellent build quality should look past Samsung.

In any case, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) can confidently occupy a niche among budget tablets and please its users with excellent performance and versatility.

There has been a revolution in the tablet market. How did you not notice her? This is normal, because it hasn’t really reached Russia. They don’t sell Amazon Kindle Fire for 200 dollars or Nook Tablet for 250 in the vast expanses of our Motherland. They are only transported “in gray”, distributed only through online stores - and this, unfortunately, does not have much impact on the overall picture. And when in the West everyone is frantically reducing prices for 7-inch tablets to $200-300 in order to at least sell something, in Russia no one will even move and the HTC Flyer from a year and a half ago is still collecting dust in retail for 16-17 thousand rubles.

Samsung, it seems, has decided to change this situation: the new Galaxy Tab 2 tablets on the American market should compete with the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, and on the Russian market they will come with an inflated, but still quite decent price. For example, the younger Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 without a 3G module is recommended to be sold at a price of 9,990 rubles (overseas this amount turns into an even more tempting 200 dollars, but flying across the ocean will obviously be more expensive). Actual prices, naturally, will be somewhat lower.

⇡ Appearance: what you were is how you remain

Both tablets look quite recognizable, despite the changed color scheme. It is because of this that the predecessors looked a little thinner: the white color is “slimming,” while the combination of gray and black used in the Galaxy Tab 2 family, on the contrary, is “plumping.”

The front panel of the tablet is difficult to make special: a black frame, a camera eye, a gray edging. The 7-inch Galaxy Tab also has a voice speaker (hello to those who like to make calls on tablets), and the 10-inch has two chrome meshes behind which the stereo speakers are hidden.

The latest design element is borrowed from a special German version of the 10-inch Galaxy Tab, released after a long showdown with Apple. Apparently, Samsung no longer wants to develop different versions of tablets for different countries - and they are doing the right thing. And Apple won’t find fault.

With the sides, everything is also standard, except that for the description you will have to decide where the top of the tablet is and where the sides are. We are guided by the Samsung inscription. The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (aka P3100) has a Samsung-style power button located on the right side, next to the volume controls; the left side is occupied by slots for MicroSD and SIM cards. Full-fledged SIM cards are installed here, no MicroSIM. There is a microphone on the top and bottom, a 3.5 mm mini-jack still fits on the top edge, and a pair of stereo speakers and a proprietary multi-pin connector on the bottom. On the “back” there is only a camera with a chrome edging. By the way, the “seven” is slightly thicker than the “ten”.

Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 (P5100) has an identical set of connectors and buttons. All of them, except one microphone and a multi-pin connector, are located on the top edge. The second microphone could not be found.

The back sides use the same plastic: silver-gray, matte, quite durable and scratch-resistant. On both tablets, when you press hard, it bends a little and comes into contact with something inside, most likely the battery, with a soft knock. Perhaps this is a feature of the samples - Samsung does not distribute commercial versions for testing.

Our Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 sample had a problem with the assembly: in the upper corners the glass moved away from the body by almost a millimeter (company representatives assured us that this applies only to the very first pre-production samples). We took a closer look at this problem and found another: the dark gray glossy plastic of the edging is still scratched. Over time, lighter abrasions will appear on the corners, which did not happen with the previous generation. But on the top ten, the glossy white back cover was scratched and dirty, while the Galaxy Tab 2 is not susceptible to this disease.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 first generation (left) and Galaxy Tab 2 10.1

From an ergonomic point of view, the second generation is no different from the first: everything remains as it was.

⇡ Screen: PLS - this is rather good

In both displays, Samsung used PLS matrices of its own production. They differ not only in diagonal, but also in resolution: the 7-inch model has a standard resolution of 1024x600 for such sizes, while the 10-inch model has 1280x800 pixels. The pixel density of the “smaller” one is slightly higher: 169 ppi versus 149 for the 10-inch model. I must say that after the new iPad, the ill-fated ladder of pixels is visible both here and there. But for those who have not encountered high-resolution displays, the screens of the new Galaxy Tab will seem completely normal in this regard.

In both cases, the PLS matrix produces a characteristic slight “bluish” black color even at viewing angles close to right, especially in the 10-inch model. In most situations this is not noticeable, but when watching dark scenes in movies it catches your eye.

In terms of characteristics, both screens turn out to be very good. The 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 has a maximum white field brightness of 370 cd/m2, while the black field remains almost black at 0.52 cd/m2, giving a resulting contrast ratio of 711.5:1. Not bad, although it doesn’t smell like records. The brightness of the “ten” is a little higher - 375 candelas per square meter, but black is also not so saturated - 0.66 cd/m2. So the contrast ratio of the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is lower - 568:1. The color gamut of the matrices, which is logical, is also almost the same and falls slightly short of sRGB.

sRGB color space (white curve), Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 color gamut (gray curve) and Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 color gamut (black curve)

In general, there is no particular difference between IPS and PLS - both types of matrices give an equally good picture, so the Galaxy Tab 2 screens differ little from the displays in previous generation tablets.

⇡ Performance: sudden downshift

Let's take a quick look into history: the first 7-inch Galaxy Tab was based on a single-core Hummingbird processor with a PowerVR SGX540 graphics core. Its successor, Galaxy Tab 7.0+, has already received much more powerful hardware: dual-core Exynos with a frequency of 1.2 GHz and Mali-400MP graphics. Until recently, Samsung had only one 10-inch tablet - the Galaxy Tab 10.1 on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 platform: with a dual-core processor operating at 1 GHz and GeForce ULP graphics.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 (bottom), Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 (middle) and Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (top)

The balance of power for the above-mentioned hardware is approximately as follows: at the very bottom is the Hummingbird + PowerVR combination, then Tegra 2, and the first of three places goes to the fairly productive Exynos 4210 (aka Exynos 4 Dual 45 nm) and Mali-400MP. It would be logical in its own way if the Galaxy Tab 2 tablets received even more powerful hardware, overtaking the Galaxy Tab 7.0+. But, to our surprise, both Galaxy Tab 2 have the same average filling: a dual-core TI OMAP 4430 processor, known from the Blackberry Playbook, Amazon Kindle Fire, LG Prada 3.0 and many other gadgets, as well as our old friend - the PowerVR SGX540 graphics chip. which has been tirelessly riveted since 2007. All this comes with a gigabyte of RAM.

Technical characteristics of Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 tablets
Model	Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0	Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
CPU	TI OMAP 4430, 1 GHz, dual cores (ARM Cortex A9)
Graphics core	PowerVR SGX 540, 304 MHz, LPDDR2 memory
Screen	7 inches, 1024x600, PLS technology	10.1 inches, 1280x800, PLS technology
RAM	1 GB
Flash memory	8 GB (16 in tested sample)	16 GB (8 in tested sample)
Interfaces	1 x SIM
	1 x MicroSD
	1 x 30 pin
	1 x headphone output/microphone input 3.5mm
Wireless connection	Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
	Bluetooth 3.0 + A2DP
	GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA+850/900/1900/2100 (up to 21 Mbit/s)
Sound	Two speakers, two microphones	Two speakers, one microphone
Nutrition	Li-Pol battery n.a. Wh (n.d. B, 4000 mAh)	Li-Pol battery n.a. Wh (n.d. B, 7000 mAh)
Other	Front webcam 2 MP, rear camera 3.2 MP, rotation sensor, light sensor, GPS module, ability to work as a phone
Size, mm	193.7x122.4x10.5	256.6x175.3x9.7
Weight, g	349	588
Recommended price, rub.	9,990 (without 3G) / 13,990 (3G)	14,990 (without 3G) / 19,990 (3G)

Naturally, before, say, the more expensive Galaxy Tab 7.7, both new “Tabs” are like the moon. Moreover, in the graphics disciplines, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 shows exactly the same results as its predecessor on the Tegra 2, and the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is ahead of it only due to its lower screen resolution. In processor tests, the OMAP 4430 performs better than the Tegra, but only slightly. Quadrant results for ICS cannot be compared with the results obtained in other versions of this benchmark, so we have nothing to compare them with yet. In general, tablets have not become faster, so even the Galaxy Tab 7.0+ remains the preferable option for games. True, it is more expensive, but we will return to this later.

The internal memory capacity of tablets is different: Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 will be imported into Russia only with 8 GB of ROM (regardless of the presence of a 3G module), and Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 - only with 16 GB. However, we received somewhat specific samples: we got the “seven” with 16 GB, and the “ten” - on the contrary, with 8 GB. Of these, 11.5 and 5 GB are available to the user, respectively. There’s no need to be sad about the small capacity: MicroSD cards are cheap these days, so you can expand the memory without any problems.

⇡ Battery: how much it costs, how much it works

After getting acquainted with the Galaxy Tab 7.7, we were somehow determined to expect a long operating time from Samsung tablets. And the Galaxy Tab 8.9 also performed well in its time... The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 has a 4000 mAh battery (voltage unknown), and the new “top ten” has a 7000 mAh battery. Since the models differ only in screens, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 should live at least a little longer than its brother with a smaller diagonal. We set up the traditional trailer for the third Fallout at maximum brightness and minimum volume, turned on Wi-Fi and decided to see who could last how long.

In fact, everything turned out as we expected: the “seven” was discharged to 5% in 4 hours 45 minutes, the “ten” lasted exactly an hour longer. The result is average, and for Samsung tablets it is completely low. When the charge remains less than 5%, the Galaxy Tab 2, regardless of the diagonal, automatically lowers the brightness and begins to act up: the camera is not allowed, this is not allowed, that is not allowed. True, it plays video and music correctly.

The tablets are successfully charged from the computer’s USB ports, although they “swear” and deceive the user by showing an icon with a crossed out battery. By the way, the Mac OS X system still does not see the Galaxy Tab family of devices, so Macs are only suitable for leisurely charging these gadgets. But USB OTG is supported by both Galaxy Tab 2 - with the appropriate adapter.

⇡ Communication: normal flight

When testing the connection, we had to deal with one minor problem: it was not clear which side to insert the SIM card into the tablet. It makes a characteristic click in three out of four possible positions, but the plug does not close and the net does not catch. In the last position, the SIM card simply does not fit into the tablet. It turned out that the last position is just right, you just need to grow long nails - without them it will be difficult to manage and put the SIM card in its rightful place.

When we tried to look at the speed of cellular communications, we received suspiciously low results, which, it seems to us, should be attributed to operator problems: it is very strange when the download speed is lower than the upload speed from the tablet to the Internet. So we won’t bring them here. Otherwise, everything works well: Wi-Fi is received reliably, GPS found as many as 14 satellites in 5 minutes. You can make calls on the tablet, you can hear the interlocutor normally.

⇡ Camera: what did you want?

The main cameras in both tablets are the same and quite sad even in terms of characteristics: 3.15 megapixels, no autofocus, no flash. They take appropriate photos: soapy and noisy - the noise canceler only copes with its job with a C grade. If something is brightly lit, it will appear white in the photo. On the other hand, what else can we expect if even the flagship Galaxy Tab 7.7 has a camera module that is not much better?

General gallery of images for Galaxy Tab 2

Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and 10.1 also shoot approximately the same video, its maximum resolution is 1280x720 pixels. As for quality... there are worse things on Youtube. Both tablets have front cameras, so they are suitable for Skype.

⇡ Software: Welcome to the world of ICS

Both tablets run Android Icecream Sandwich 4.0.3, but you won’t find any significant differences from the interface of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 with its Honeycomb 3.2 - Samsung tried to carefully cover everything with a thick layer of TouchWiz.

A nice bonus that ICS still left behind is stretchable widgets - however, only a part of both Samsung and Google ones. For example, Notes and Task Manager allow resizing, while Analog Clock and, say, S Planner do not.

All the “delights” of TouchWiz have not gone anywhere: hubs and all kinds of S-services along with the Samsung branded application store. As before, they are of very little use.

It was also not possible to get rid of a decent amount of useless third-party software: here you have demo versions of games, and somewhat more relevant Yandex services, and the Yota Play store.

There are also useful programs: Polaris Office, which Samsung installs on all its devices, as well as a simple video editor and photo editor. But in general, the idea of ​​pre-installed software on a “smart” device consistently smells of intrusiveness and advertising - even useful programs make you want to hide somewhere, because they were handed to you without asking.

The Phone app looks fun on a 10-inch tablet. A 10-inch tablet next to your ear is even more fun. But from both Galaxy Tab 2 you can make calls and send SMS messages - in some situations this can be useful, and there are also those who seriously consider a tablet with a headset as a replacement for a phone.

In the comments to the previous review of the Samsung tablet, readers were indignant that, they say, you can’t write large files on it and, accordingly, you can’t watch movies in decent quality. We checked: the 4.37 GB film fit perfectly into the small Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, so writing the review was interrupted by an almost two-hour session of Kevin Smith's creativity. The file system does not set any restrictions.

In general, there are no special complaints about the software, with the exception of one traditional one: TouchWiz is slow. And no upgrade to ICS can save it. Apparently, Samsung was too lazy to rewrite the crooked code: the shell reliably “started up” under the fourth “Android” - and that’s enough. Moreover, the hardware may not be top-end, but it is quite decent - the same ADW Launcher literally “flies”. We wish Samsung success in the search for sane programmers and move on to conclusions.

⇡ Conclusion: price is everything

So, what we ended up with seemed to be mediocre tablets: with decent screens and a modern OS, but not very modern hardware and relatively short battery life. However, it is logical to evaluate devices in terms of price-quality ratio.

Tab 2 7.0 with 8 GB ROM and without 3G costs, as we have already said, 9,990 rubles, adding a 3G module raises the price to 13,990. For the “ten” with 16 GB without a cellular module they officially ask for 14,990 rubles, and with 3G - already 19,990 rubles.

Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire, with almost the same price as the “seven”, are not equipped with cameras, one of them does not have a slot for MicroSD, the other has less built-in memory. It’s better not to think about Acer Iconia and tablets from lesser-known brands at all: they last even shorter, are heavier, and are generally inferior in almost all respects. There are no normal tablets with 3G for the right price either.

But the “ten” has a serious problem - and its name is iPad 2, which in the lower configuration (16 GB, Wi-Fi) has fallen in price to 14,990 rubles, and with 3G - to 21,490. Which is better - decide for yourself, but we We are leaning towards the Apple tablet. As a result: Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 can be safely recommended to almost anyone who has decided to buy a 7-inch tablet. And we don’t recommend buying the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 without carefully weighing everything, although it has few competitors among Android tablets.

Well, one last thing: we do not advise owners of older Galaxy Tab to upgrade under any circumstances - you will change the awl for soap, and if you had a Galaxy Tab 7.0+, then you will get not an upgrade, but a downgrade. It’s just a pity that the Galaxy Tab 8.9 wasn’t updated: it would also be a little cheaper, and everything would be great.

Advantages:

• Adequate price
• Decent screens
• Good body materials
• Availability of two cameras
• Relatively light weight
• Ability to use your tablet as a phone

Flaws:

• Low battery capacity of Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
• Laggy TouchWiz

2 years ago

He is good! The card is 32GB and that’s it, the price is a bit low for a device of this level. I bought a USB adapter to the port for 1000 and now I use it as a second computer! Flash drives, hard drives, keyboards (does not change the language), bears and everything your imagination suggests. If there are no huge number of shortcuts on the screen, then there are no brakes. GTA III runs at almost maximum, that's a +! Sensitive GPS, convenient Internet and a large number of applications, but I’m a sinner, I downloaded the office for 400 rubles from the black market and use it to the fullest! Battery? For the first 3 days I didn’t understand where there was so much charge, then I realized that there was already 7000ma/h) the charge lasts 2 days when playing and watching movies and 3 in e-reader and calculator mode) I have a screen with film, no complaints, a good case eliminates scratches, but the tablet has enormous potential

2 years ago

The build quality is very good, there is nothing loose, the buttons are comfortable and easy to press. The screen is super Amoled (I personally am very pleased with them). The battery lasts 3-4 movies, music indefinitely (from experience - 7 hours ~11% charge). It’s thin (my phone is thicker), and it’s extremely convenient to carry in a bag without a case (but I still took the case, since I travel on the subway). The performance is high (better than tegra 2) - average toys without brakes, movies in HD smoothly, several applications at the same time without lags, surfing the Internet via chrome is fast (via wi-fi). It reads everything I give, music not only mp3, movies of any format, even large files (I haven’t tried 4-8 GB), texts including pdf are a pleasure to read. Received it as a gift with ICS 4.0.1, immediately updated to 4.0.4. Easy settings and most importantly, the axis out of the box was enough for me (custom

2 years ago

No lag Easy to use Surprisingly good battery life Worth the money spent

2 years ago

price battery screen memory card slot support usb-otg (for external flash drives and other usb devices)

2 years ago

Design, screen size, good Wi-Fi reception, dropped it many times and nothing broke.

2 years ago

PRICE, now you can find it for ten thousand. Screen, bright, clear Andryusha 4 is fast, charges from scratch to capacity in 3.5 hours, catches everything, sees everything, plays everything, reads everything.

2 years ago

value for money!

2 years ago

Used it for over a year. The video camera is two-way. Good photos and videos.

2 years ago

Very good display, excellent colors and viewing angles. The display is better than the iPad 2 - more brightness (370 nits versus 300 for the iPad) and higher resolution (1280x800 versus 1024x768 for the iPad). Due to the high brightness, you don’t have to use anti-glare film - in the subway, for example, the display simply “breaks through” all the glare. Plays any video in common MKV and AVI formats without any problems, both with the built-in player and external ones, such as DicePlayer or MX Player. You can record videos of any size, including those larger than 4GB, into the internal memory (about 12GB is free). The battery lasts a very long time, with the most active use it lasts me for a day with a large margin. Light, thin, very well made, pleasant to hold, looks great. There is a USB-Host, so you can connect external keyboards

2 years ago

The sensitivity of the screen is excellent as always) The large screen is ideal for watching videos on YouTube. Excellent Wi-Fi reception, even after a long period of use. No matter how many times I fell, I never broke the screen, and nothing cracked.

2 years ago

Camera, but in general if you remember that this is not the main function of the device, then it’s normal.

2 years ago

The buttons could be made tighter so that they don’t get pressed in the bag under the weight of the tablet. The screen resolution is a little behind, although it is enough for a movie. I’m surprised that there are no normal browsers for tablets yet, so that you can watch full-size sites without compression and cutting down functions (even in Chrome you have to turn on the “full” mode every time). You need to clean the RAM manually (I installed different programs, but it doesn’t work better than by hand), or reboot periodically. I have a version of the P5113 tablet, unfortunately, without a module for a SIM card, this is a big minus, because... Wi-fi is available in few places. It’s better to overpay for it, but have the Internet wherever you want, even at low speeds. Weak wi-fi module, the speed is a third lower than that of smartphones, I haven’t figured out what to do about it yet, I’ll have to read the forums.

2 years ago

Camera is only 3MP
No 3G support

2 years ago

if you're too picky, the filling is outdated
lack of new firmware for the Russian Federation

2 years ago

After 2 years of use, it started to freeze, at first a little, but then it went and went... Today some garbage loaded (I didn’t seem to download it), it seems Apus, I can’t delete it, it freezes terribly, now I don’t know what to do ...
I also want to say about the camera... Hmmm. Well, of course, it’s not a camera or even a phone, but still, if you need to take a photo of something, then... it’s a terrible camera in general (Well, I’m generally silent about the front camera)
If he didn't lag it would be PERFECT)))

2 years ago

The weight is a bit heavy in my opinion;
leisurely screen rotation

2 years ago

cannot be charged from the computer, there is no flash on the camera

2 years ago

Hung up. Slow to turn on and off. One year warranty (in Europe - 2 years). A year and four months after the purchase it broke down and did not turn on. The private service department was unable to disassemble it for diagnostics. We were afraid to break the touch screen. I took it to the service department from the seller's store. They checked it for 400 rubles. It turned out that the motherboard was faulty and an element in the processor power circuit had burned out. They indicated: “Repair is not economically feasible.” They said there was a manufacturing defect. The repairs were estimated at more than 9,000 rubles. The price of the tablet is 14,000 rubles. And the warranty is over!

2 years ago

The processor and 3D accelerator are somewhat outdated; as a result, games with good graphics on this tablet often slow down or do not start at all.
The camera is bad, there is no flash and autofocus, so it is of little use for regular photography or document shooting.
Non-standard power and data connector, just like on other 10" tablets.
Some applications, such as Google Play, slow down. On large Internet pages, the built-in browser also does not work very smoothly; on the iPad 2, for example, it is clearly smoother.

2 years ago

A year later I started slowing down very rarely for 2-3 seconds.
Why do you need a camera on a tablet, it’s not a camera, but as soon as you need to take a picture of something, you’ll cry 3mp.
The speaker worked, but after a year one of the speakers failed, then randomly worked again.
The assembly is not bad, but there are crunches in the speaker area.
Weak battery.

Updated: 10/01/2019 - 5 months ago

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 P5100 16Gb tablet is the second version of the popular tablet computer, which has even more extensive capabilities thanks to a 10.1-inch display with which you can quickly and easily control the device, a dual-core processor with which any application will launch quickly and hassle-free operating system 4.0 Android with an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, pre-installed programs and services like Google Maps, YouTube, Google Search, etc.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10 - detailed tablet review

Separately, it is worth mentioning the multimedia capabilities of this model, according to which the user will be able to play various games, watch movies, listen to music, video chat with friends and read books without much difficulty. In addition, the tablet has AllShare Play technology, thanks to which you can quickly and easily exchange data with any devices if these devices support DLNA (for example, with laptops, computers and phones).

Another advantage of this model is its rather thin but durable body, 9.8 mm thick, as well as its low weight (only 580 grams), so you can constantly carry the tablet with you and not feel heavy or inconvenient.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10 - technical specifications and features of the model

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 P5100 16Gb operates on the Android 4.0 operating system and features a 10.1-inch capacitive multi-touch TFT screen with a resolution of 1280x800, a 1000 MG dual-core processor, 1 GB RAM and 16 GB internal memory.

A set of functions typical for Samsung models:

• 16 GB internal memory;
• Bluetooth 3.0 HS support;
• Standard 3.5mm headphone input;
• There is a GPS receiver;
• MicroUSB, HDMI connector.

Now more details for specialists:

• Memory: 1 GB RAM, 16 GB built-in memory;
• There is a slot for microSDHC memory cards;
• Dimensions (width-height-thickness): 257x175x10 mm, weighs 588 g;
• 7000 mAh battery;
• Cameras: front for video calls 0.3 MP, rear for photography 3 MP with optical quadruple zoom and autofocus;
• Supports operation as a cell phone;
• Supports USB connection of external devices, USB connection to a computer;
• Multimedia: media player, Internet browser, games;
• Internet: Wi-Fi 802.11n, GPRS, 3G;
• Useful functions: automatic screen orientation, A-GPS, compass, accelerometer, light sensor;
• Additional characteristics: built-in speakers with stereo sound, built-in microphone.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10 - photo review and interesting videos

Figure 1. Appearance of Galaxy Tab 2 10.1

Figure 2. Front panel of Galaxy Tab 2 10.1

Figure 3. Rear panel of Galaxy Tab 2 10.1

Figure 4. Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 thickness

Figure 5. Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 package

Technical video review of Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10

Repair Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10

If you are the owner of a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 tablet and it began to work poorly (for example, the touchscreen began to react poorly or stopped responding to touches, or the screen began to display poorly or cracked, or moisture got inside the case and it partially or completely failed, or the tablet fell or was hit, which could cause the case, screen, built-in boards and other parts to fail), you should contact a specialized service center, where they will diagnose the device and replace all the necessary parts with new original ones.

The fact is that the reasons for the breakdown of this tablet model are similar to the reasons for the breakdown of other tablets, but their accurate identification requires careful diagnosis using special equipment, as well as with the involvement of professional technicians.

What problems do Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 users encounter most often:

• Failures due to incorrect software installation;
• Incorrect flashing of the device;
• Failure of the touchscreen or tablet screen;
• The battery discharges quickly (does not hold a charge);
• Instability of the Internet via the WiFi module;
• Malfunctions of the tablet associated with physical impact on it (moisture, shock, etc.).

Real reviews about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10 tablet

Alexander

• I bought this tablet when I was going on vacation with my wife and small child and did not want to carry a laptop with me. I almost always took the tablet with me, in the daytime I even used it instead of a camera and video camera, and was pleased. In the evenings I used it as a video player (played cartoons for the child) or went online - there were no difficulties or glitches. When I bought it, I immediately bought a film and a soft, good case for the tablet - you shouldn’t skimp on this either - only thanks to them, the tablet remained alive several times even after quite significant falls or impacts.

Olga

• In my opinion, it is a very good device, especially since my loved one gave it to me. Very practical and convenient, and most importantly, it fits in any bag and can always be carried with you. It was only thanks to him that I forgot about the piles of textbooks and notebooks. Of course, this is my very first tablet and I can’t compare it with anything else, but I can still say only positive things about this model: free programs that are easy and quick to install, various applications, fast Internet, a good camera, the presence of an audio player and video player, social networks, etc. – I can’t imagine how I managed without him before.

Irina

• When I bought the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, I was first captivated by its appearance (the device is large, but at the same time very compact, and can fit in any handbag), as well as the screen, for which I immediately purchased a protective film and a case. Only later, during active use, I appreciated the excellent, loud and clear sound while listening to music and watching movies, the clarity of the screen and the brightness of colors, the presence of a slot for a memory card, WiFi, GPS navigator, Bluetooth, 3G, etc. . To those who complain about the camera, I can say - carry cameras with you if you want to take high-quality photographs. But for video communication via Skype, the front camera is more than enough. The tablet's battery is also good; its charge lasts for several days of communication, which is quite important if there is no way to recharge the device. As for me, this tablet has only one drawback - the lack of headphones included.

Maria

• This compact, lightweight, beautiful and fast tablet is a godsend. And this is if we evaluate only his external qualities. In terms of its technical characteristics, it is generally a leader among devices with similar parameters and can even replace a laptop or personal computer. The battery holds a charge for a long time and well, even if I play all day, surf the Internet, watch movies, listen to music or write something. The only thing is that I would like to make the camera on the rear panel more than 3 MP, but for a tablet, thank you very much for that.

Anton

• Until recently, I considered Samsung to be an ideal technology manufacturer, but I bought this tablet and was even somewhat upset. I’ll say right away that I didn’t like the quality of workmanship, because... Within a few days I took the device in for warranty repair. After some time, repairs were needed again, because... A bright spot appeared on the screen and the screen was replaced. Just a day later, the camera malfunctioned and the cell phone calling program was disabled. Today I will take the tablet to the store, exchange it for something else or take the money. True, sometimes I think that I just came across some kind of defective device and that’s the only thing I console myself with.

Opinion of the SOTAFRESH project about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10 tablet

Among the advantages that I managed to notice between trips to the service center, I would note the quality of the camera, 3G Internet speed, the ability to install free programs, high speed games, excellent quality of the voice recorder and a bright screen.

Users generally say good things about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 P5100 16Gb model, but some disadvantages are worth mentioning.

The positive aspects of the model include:

• Stylish design and small thickness;
• Availability of two stereo speakers;
• 3G support;
• Capacious battery;
• 16 GB of built-in memory;
• Availability of a slot for memory cards;
• GPS navigation;
• Bright and high-quality screen;
• OS Android 4.0;
• Possibility of playing HD movies;
• Availability of two cameras;
• Build quality.

The negative aspects of the model include:

• The screen coating is easily soiled, for which you need to purchase a film;
• Weak camera;
• Special connector for synchronization and charging.

In other words, we can conclude that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 P5100 16Gb tablet based on the latest OS will please speed connoisseurs with a dual-core processor and 1 GB RAM, and those who like to spend their free time on the computer will delight with 16 GB built-in memory, a slot for memory cards, support for Bluetooth and WiFi technology, the presence of a GPS receiver and a high-quality 10.1-inch touch screen, characterized by increased brightness and color rendition.

What do you think about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10 tablet? Share with us!

The world of seven-inch tablets did not exactly shake with Apple's entry into this market, but most likely this event will soon change it. Analysts are trumpeting with might and main the prospects of the segment, foreshadowing its rapid growth. The eternal rival of the apple company, Samsung, mastered the segment much earlier and released more than one seven-inch tablet into the world. Unlike last year's Galaxy Tab 7.7, the hero of today's review, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, is neither a flagship nor a prestigious model. Nevertheless, its characteristics are worthy of respect and make it worth a closer look for those who need an inexpensive tablet that is convenient to carry with them every day.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.7.0
Display	7 inches, PLS, 1024x600 pixels, capacitive, multi-touch 10 fingers
Dimensions	193.7x122.4x10.5 mm
Weight	342 grams
operating system	Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich
CPU	Texas Instruments OMAP 4430, dual-core, Cortex-A9, 1 GHz
Graphic arts	PowerVR SGX540
RAM	1GB DDR 3
Persistent memory	8 GB + micro SD card support up to 32 GB
Communications	IEEE 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Connectors	mini-USB, 3.5 mm headphone jack, card reader
Camera	3 MP, front 0.3 MP;
Battery	4000 mAh
Additionally	orientation sensor

Design and connectors

Describing the design of tablets in general is not easy, but the design of Samsung tablets is doubly so. They are too similar to each other. The pictures, in principle, show that this is the child of its eminent Korean parent, but, unlike the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, the body here is traditionally plastic, quite slippery to the touch. The back, fortunately, is not glossy. Several barely noticeable scratches appeared on it even before my intervention in his life. True, I don’t know how much time the sample I received for testing spent in operation.

From iPhone 4s

The thickness of 10 and a half millimeters does not allow the tablet to be considered very thin, but it still allows it to fit into the pockets of jackets or jeans (not just any, though). Although the book-shaped device weighing 342 grams, in my opinion, is more convenient to carry in a bag than in clothes. But this weight allows you to hold the tablet with one hand for quite a long time.

The top end contains an audio jack, the bottom - a pair of speakers and a charging socket.

On the right are the power and volume control buttons, and on the left side there is a place for a microSD card reader covered with a flap.

It will clearly be appreciated by those who are looking for an inexpensive tablet with a well-known name on the case and at the same time plan to frequently transfer data (the last phrase contains warm greetings to the Galaxy Nexus and its biggest drawback, the lack of memory expandability). The plastic of the case is quite simple, but durable: the tablet is assembled well, the parts are adjusted to each other, and there are no creaks when pressed.

Screen

1024x600 pixels is not God knows what resolution by today's standards, but it is much more important that the tablet does not have a TN matrix, but a PLS one. Let me remind you that PLS is a technology similar to IPS, only produced by Samsung. It’s similar in that it provides good viewing angles, no matter how you look at it, everything will be visible. However, in terms of clarity, brightness and contrast, it seemed to me that this screen is inferior to its mid-class IPS colleagues. The colors are not calm in an oriental way, somewhat pale, which, for me personally, is preferable to the flashy SuperAmoled colors.

On a sunny day, the screen is difficult to see, but the letters can be distinguished. But it’s better to set the brightness to maximum, and in general it’s better to adjust it manually: auto-correction does not always work correctly. It is convenient to read or watch a movie indoors using a tablet. The Galaxy Tab 2.7.0 reacts to touch quite sensitively and understands up to 10 fingers at the same time.

Comparison with iPhone 4S screen

Performance, functionality and software

The tablet has Android 4.0.4 with the proprietary TouchWiz shell, in a version similar to the Samsung Galaxy SIII. For details, we refer the reader to that review, but here we will briefly mention that this interface is quite close to pure Android, there is a convenient division into applications and widgets. There is a built-in file manager, a simple but convenient “program tracking” widget, which allows you to quickly deal with the eternal problem of Android - applications hanging in memory forever.

I also liked the cute clock widgets with an alarm clock, a program for writing notes (though only via the keyboard, without the ability to draw), a rather convenient S Planner organizer and, as always, not the most convenient browser.

The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 also has a “Contacts” item, which pulls up information from your Google account, and also, in the case of the 3G model, from the phone book.

The control keys here are on-screen, and in addition to the three standards, a button has also been added for quickly taking screenshots. This is convenient, but is it really necessary for the vast majority of users?

The multimedia capabilities of the tablet are quite good. Firstly, as always with Samsung devices, the Galaxy Tab 2.7.0 supports a variety of audio and video formats. So, you can listen to MP3, OGG, AAC, AMR-NB, WB, WMA, WAV, MID, IMY and, fortunately, FLAC. The sound from the speakers is of medium volume (at maximum you can watch a movie in a quiet place) and average level. Of course, not a music lover, but it will do for a tablet. In headphones it immediately becomes softer and more pleasant, quite clear, at about 80% volume, then wheezes slightly. True, the sound is flat, there is no special bass here.

A fairly progressive hardware platform - and the Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 chipset with the ARMv7 instruction set and the PowerVR SGX540 graphics accelerator is installed here - has an IVA3 multimedia accelerator, with the help of which video in 1080p resolution is encoded and decoded in hardware. I launched a FullHD video in MKV, it played generally without problems, although the picture began to slow down a couple of times. Overall, TouchWiz, although nice, is not the fastest shell. Sometimes the smooth transition between pages was lost, although I did not observe any critical “brakes.” The tablet demonstrates normal average results both in benchmarks and in games. Let's say Dead Trigger is quite possible to play. For toys and everything else in the device, 400 MB of RAM is available out of a total of 1 GB, and the storage capacity in our case was only 8 GB. However, there is an option with 16 GB, and fortunately there is a slot for microSD here.

The tablet found WiFi points quickly enough and did not lose them, but the GPS is not always stable: without the Internet, when driving in a car, it sometimes takes a very long time to find a location.

Camera

The main camera has a resolution of 3 MP, which, of course, is quite a bit. But its biggest problem is not the number of megapixels, but simple optics, lack of autofocus and flash. More or less decent pictures are obtained only with ideal lighting. However, tablets, even seven-inch ones, are not the most convenient tools for capturing the world around us. However, if really necessary, poor pictures can be taken, as well as videos in a resolution of 1280x720 pixels at 30 frames per second. The front camera works for video calls. Tested: it works, you can recognize a person, however, if you are not in the twilight of a rainy day.

Autonomy

Under normal load (Internet, movies, music, reading - periodically throughout the day) with screen brightness varying from 70 to 100%, the tablet lasts about 2.5-3 days without recharging. The FullHD video with maximum screen brightness and sound volume, and WiFi turned on, Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 played for 4 hours 23 minutes. Decent performance, although somewhat behind the Nexus 7.

Competitors

Obviously, in the budget segment of 7-inch tablets, Nexus 7 is one of the main leaders, and it is the main competitor of the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. At the same price, Google/ASUS Nexus 7 has a higher resolution screen and is somewhat faster. However, the lack of support for external media is a reason for many not to buy the brainchild of Google and ASUS, as is sometimes the lack of a 3G module. We received a version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 without 3G for review, which costs about $200, while the 3G module adds another hundred to it. However, we have already released this very module, let’s see how quickly and at what price it will be available to us. Also worth mentioning is the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, which is slightly heavier and larger than standard 7-inch tablets, but has a 16:10 aspect ratio screen, which may be more acceptable for some users than the generally accepted 16:9 standard.

Bottom line

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 may be a good choice for those who are looking for a fairly powerful, inexpensive 7-inch tablet with a decent screen for surfing, reading and watching videos, for those who need GPS and memory cards, as well as a 3G module. 4 reasons to buy Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0:

• Price/quality ratio
• Good performance in games and videos
• Supports a wide range of audio and video formats
• Good build

2 reasons not to buy Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0:

• Slowdown in the TouchWiz shell.
• Weak camera.