Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus

Available now
30th September 2011

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is an upgraded version of the original Samsung Galaxy Tab, retaining the same 7 inch display as its predecessor but with a lot of enhancements to make it a more compelling device.

The puzzling thing is why this tablet exists at all, just a fraction below the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in their tablet range. Samsung now have 4 inch, 5 inch, 7.0 inch, 7.7 inch, 8.9 inch and 10.1 inch tablets in their line-up which seems a bit like overkill.

At 345 grams it is actually a little heavier than the Tab 7.7, but a fair bit smaller at 194 x 122 x 10mm. The front of the unit houses a 7" 600 x 1024 pixel display and a 2 megapixel video calling camera, with a 3 megapixel unit on the back capable of 720p HD video recording. Inside is 1GB of RAM, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, either 16GB or 32GB of internal memory plus a microSD slot plus WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. The Tab 7.0 Plus supports 3.5G as well, although Samsung haven't mentioned if it has GPS (we assume that it does).

The operating system is Android 3.2, a huge improvement over the version 2.2 that the original Tab shipped with.. the original Tab was like an oversized smartphone rather than a tablet and the whole experience was rather disappointing, and it didn't help that the original Tab was massively overpriced at launch.

There are two rather large problems that this new Tab will face. One is Apple, who have successfully cleared the shelves of some other Samsung models in several countries, the other is Amazon with the new Kindle Fire tablet which will be a much more compelling proposition for many customers.

Samsung say that the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus should be available in Indonesia and Austria from the end of October with a global rollout happening after that.