Packaging and Accessories

The Samsung galaxy tab 7.0 2 comes in two colours black and white and im not sure if there are any other colours. I have the 8 GB white version which is Wi-Fi only I bought it in store and so packaging may be different. There are also two versions of the tablet that you can buy in terms of size, you can have an 8 GB version and a 16 GB version the 8 GB is cheaper than the bigger version, you can also expand the memory by a micro SD card.

The Samsung galaxy tab 7.0 2 comes in an all-white box which is actually quite strong and durable and so should be fine when in transport. On the top of the box there is a picture of the device itself and on the sides there is a just some galaxy tab 7.0 2 branding in silver writing. On the back there is some information about device itself such as the specifications and some of the features of the galaxy tab 7.0 2. The actual presentation of the box is very good and looks great and so the packaging is excellent and I cannot fault it.

When you take off the plastic strip that is holding the box together you can just lift the top of the box up and then you come to the 7 inch tablet itself, covered in a protected plastic cover that is easily stripped off. Underneath the device you have a small cover which has all of the usual books on how to use the device and the warranty information. Underneath that are the accessories which are all individually wrapped in a plastic wrapping and they come separated. You get a wall charger and a usb to micro usb wire that is used to charge and sync the tablet. You also get a pair of Samsung headphones. The wire and the charger are black but the headphones go with the tablet and are a nice white colour. Overall I think that the accessories that you receive and the packaging are excellent and Samsung have done a great job of presenting the Tablet.

Specifications

These specifications are all from the back of the box that the device comes in.
1 GHz dual core processor
1 GB ram
2.0 inch wsvga 1024x600
4,000 mAh battery
3mp and vga camera
The tablet also comes in two versions of 8gb and 16gb versions mine is 8gb.

Build and Features

The entire tablet is white with white plastic and a small silver plastic that runs along the edge of the device. The top of the device has the headphone jack and nothing else, the headphone jack is a standard 3.5 mm jack and so the device should be compatible with most headphones. On the right side of the device is the lock screen button and also this works as the turn off button too and there is the volume rocker which is up and down. and on the left side there is a micro SD card cover which when you pop off shows where you would put an micro SD card , this compartment is shown to you from the back with a small diagram and that is all.

On the bottom of the tablet there is the port where you plug in the device to charge and there are also two speakers with a silver mesh. On the back of the Samsung 7 inch tablet there is the camera which is 3 megapixels and there is also a picture to show you how to input a micro SD card. On the front of the device is some silver writing which says Samsung and there is a 7 inch touch screen which takes up most of the front of the device, above the screen there is the front facing camera which is used for video calls and for taking pictures, you can record video with it as well.

The screen is very scratch resistant and is also good at resisting finger prints however after some heavy use you may need to clean the device as the fingerprints start to show up and can be annoying. The colour scheme is great and I think that the silver on white goes very well together, I think it makes the tablet look sleek and professional. The device is very strong and durable, I have accidently dropped the tablet one or two times and it has left no scratches or marks on the device at all. The tablet is 7 inches and I think that the way that the tablet has been designed has made it easy to hold in one hand. The plastic does mean that the tablet can slip more easily and also feels cheap , but it also means that it is lighter.

As I said the entire device is made of a white and silver plastic, there are many benefits to this but there are also some disadvantages. The plastic means that the device is finger resistant and scratch resistant, also it means that the device looks very sleek and cool, it is also durable and strong and has no flex at all. However when you hold the tablet it does feel and look cheap because it is made out of plastic and it is also easier to drop the tablet as the surface is quite slippery. You can get a case though to stop those problems. The design is very good and the only thing I don't like is the plastic. There are no buttons on the front of the device like past tablets, all the buttons are now touch buttons that pop up when you turn the screen on and click on something. The buttons are back, home, task manager and apps.

Interface and software

The interface of the tablet is very simple and easy to use. You can learn to use the tablet properly in a few days and if you have had an android device before you will already know the layout. All the buttons are touch buttons that come up on the screen, this allows you to go back, search for something and also bring up the keyboard. There is also a button for the task manager which makes it easier to close programs if you are not using them. The interface is very well designed and almost everything is done for you, if you click on a search bar or something like that then the keyboard will automatically come up and if you tilt the device to the side then the keyboard will automatically turn to the size and get bigger.

The tablet runs Android ice cream sandwich which means the tablet has many home screens and is very customisable, you can cover the home screens in apps and widgets that are fun and very useful. You get access to thousands of apps from the play store and also the Samsung store. Because it is a Samsung tablet you get some other cool things like s memos and other apps that are exclusive to Samsung tablets. Some of the new features of android is the new search function which allows you to talk and the Google search function will use voice recognition to search for you. You can also take a screenshot and it will be kept in your images for you to edit or delete.

All of your home screens have the ability to house widgets and apps for things like Facebook, twitter and other things. There is also a app menu which when you click on the button in the top right hand corner then all of you apps and menus will come up, this makes it easier to adjust you tablet and to find the right apps. Android is laid out so that the buttons are very easy to find and easy to use. There is too much to describe with the interface as there are so many buttons and different things with the tablet however the most important thing is adjusting the settings or finding files and things like that, theses settings are all found in the apps menu which allows you to change the tablet to your preferences. Overall I think the interface is brilliant and the custom things that Samsung has put on top of android gives a great customer experience.

Features/Sound Quality/ Other.

There are many features that come with the Samsung Galaxy 2 7 inch tablet and so I will only go over some of the best or the most useful. The sound quality actually surprised me as it is very good. The volume goes up very high and you only start to hear some distortion at the very high volumes. If you watch a video or a film on the tablet then you will easily be able to hear everything, the speakers are only small but they are incredibly clear and work extremely well, the Samsung tablet also supports many media formats so you can watch many different files and songs, I think that the sound quality is very impressive from such small speakers.

The Samsung galaxy tab 7 comes with 8 GB of internal storage but I think you can get a bigger storage version, also you do not get all the 8 GB because of other files and if you download apps and so on. One of the great things about the Samsung galaxy tab is it is compatible with a 32 GB micro SD card and so you can have a huge amount of storage for songs and films. You can also use the usb cable to sync the tablet to your computer so you can transfer files and charge your tablet from your computer, you can do this with most things now but it works flawlessly with the galaxy tab.

I have previously mentioned that the tablet comes with two cameras, the main camera which is located on the back which is 3 Megapixel and the front facing camera which is vga. the back camera can shoot hd video but to be honest I do not think that the camera is that useful if im honest because 3 megapixels is not enough to get a good enough picture. The front facing camera can shoot vga video so it is not HD but I think that it is suitable for what it does. In my opinion the cameras are not that good as there is no flash on the black and the picture and video quality is not great. The front facing camera is better and servers its purpose but I don't not use the cameras at all, however I like how Samsung have included the cameras and they are there.

The tablet does have built in Wi-Fi which is standard with most tablets now; this means you can use the tablet outside if you can get a Wi-Fi connection. There is a version of the tablet however which has 3g which means if you cannot get a Wi-Fi connection you can use the tablet however it is quite pricey compared to the WI Fi only model. The included in ear headphones that come with the Samsung galaxy tab7 2.0 are reasonably good, much better than some of the cheap headphones that come with some devices but far from the best. They are reasonably clear and go to a sensible volume.

Good Points

There are so many good points with the Samsung galaxy tab 7.0 but I will start with the screen which is excellent. The screen is very bright and vibrant, the colours are amazing and the screen also has great viewing angles. The screen is great for watching movies and videos and you can see the screen even if the sun is on the tablet. The tablet is great for reading books and newspapers too as text are crisp and clear. The touchscreen is also excellent, there is no lag at all and the screen is very responsive, there are no problems with the screen at all.

As I have previously mentioned the Samsung tablet runs on Android the latest version available at the moment and the software is superb, it works well and there is no lag at all. There are so many things that you can do with android and the fact that Samsung included a few of their own apps and software bits is great and a big bonus in my opinion. I think that something else that should be mentioned is the way that all the apps work, an example is the music player that comes with the device is designed very well with the different colour schemes and it is very easy to use, and most of the apps are like that.

Another great thing about the tablet is the battery life, the battery is huge and can last for a few days with average use and a couple of days with heavy use, this is great as you don't keep having to waste time charging the device, also you can get apps and different things that help you save battery life and make it last even longer, I was very impressed with how long the tablet lasted on one full charge and shouldn't be a problem unless you are doing something that is very power drawing.

The Samsung galaxy tablet is very fast and does not have any problems with loading different apps and different things at the same time in fact the multitasking works brilliantly and there is even an option to close things to speed up the device even more. As I said the tablet has no problem loading games or any heavy power drawing things like that. The graphics on the tablet are also excellent, if you play a 3d game that is demanding the tablet has no problem loading everything and you can easily play any game without any problems.

One thing that I think that android and Samsung do exceptionally well is handling the updates for the device. If there is an update than a notification pops up on your screen and if you click update than it will automatically update and install it without any problems, also it does not destroy any of your information or anything like that. So far there have been a few small updates that are very quick but they are yet to upgrade the operating system to the next version so that will probably be a larger update which will take longer.

The price of the tablet is also something that I think is worth mentioning, the Samsung galaxy tab 2 7.0 is very cheap for a tablet with so many features I have seen the tablet in various shops at many different prices but all under the £200 mark, bear in mind that there are new tablets released each day and so the price may move down to accommodate with the new competition. I think that for the price this tablet is great and that Samsung has done a great job of making it affordable but still great quality.
The last good point that I will mention is how easy it is to find things that you have transferred to the device. Once you have put something on to the tablet you just go on to files and then you have everything that is on the device or a micro SD card in a huge easy to read list. This is a great feature in my opinion as it makes it so easy to find what you are looking for and you do not have to set anything up at all. There are many other good points that I could cover with this tablet but I have done the most important or most useful as I could continue on an endless list I will say that almost everything about this tablet has been thought of and designed brilliantly.

Bad Points

There are not many things that I would consider bad with the Samsung galaxy tab 7.0 however one thing that I think that could have been improved is the camera which is on the back, the pictures are alright but they are not amazing and also the video quality is lacking, the front facing camera works well and serves its purpose, also they could have included an led flash on the back too, I don't use the cameras at all really but it is something that if improved I would probably use them more often.
The other bad thing about the tablet is that if you have a micro SD card installed in the tablet you cannot put apps on it as the tablet will not recognize them. This means that if you have a 8gb version like me then you have a very limited amount of space for apps on the device itself. I have found out that apparently this is a fault to do with Samsung and I am not sure if there is a way of fixing it and it isn't a huge problem but there may be an update in the near future that sorts it all out.

The only other thing that can be a bad point is that the 3g version of this device costs considerably more and so if you only have the wi fi model and you do not have a Wi-Fi connection then there is no way for you to get the internet, this isn't so much as a problem if you are in your house or if you don't use the internet but if you are travelling and want to use the tablet with the internet then you can't unless you can get a Wi-Fi connection from outside. I don't travel with the tablet much but this can be a problem sometimes. I think that isn't such a big problem just that the costs is quite a bit more just for one small feature.

Conclusion

Overall I think that the Samsung galaxy 7.0 2 is a great tablet and I would definitely recommend it. The tablet has so many great features like the screen, the speed and the software with so much more. I think that Samsung has made an excellent product; the build quality is very impressive, and so is the specs and the whole tablet. I do think that there could have been some slight improvements like a better camera to see more use and maybe less plastic but you can only have so much for the cost and I think that the price for the tablet is excellent for what you get. I think that in a growing market this Samsung tablet is a great competitor and would rate it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation

I would definitely recommend this device but if you are looking for a tablet I would say look around as there are so many tablets out now. I have seen a few tablets that are cheaper and that have better specs then the Samsung galaxy tab 7 2.0 so I would look around and read other reviews on newer tablets, as for this device though there is very little wrong with it and I find no reason why it shouldn't be recommend. I would also mention that as new tablets come out that this tablet may become cheaper and so that is something to think about to.

I would recommend this Tablet to Anyone as I think it is an excellent Product

Where to Buy

You can get this tablet in two colours as far as I know and they are both at around the same price. I have seen both the black and white versions being sold on amazon and other online retailers for around £193 and cheaper, And if you go in store to places like curry's or pc world then it is around £200 or around the same as the online retail prices.

this review will also be on ciao under the same username.