Toshiba’s first entry into the Android tablet market, was a bit of a disappointment. A 10-inch Android 3.0 Honeycomb device, the Thrive looked like someone had seen an iPad and said “I know what this needs. Ports! And a removable battery!” Thrive made for a thick, somewhat cheap-feeling device, and it wasn’t a concept that went far with consumers. Fortunately, a year later, it seems like Toshiba has gotten the message; thin is in. The Toshiba Excite 7.7 is a totally different animal.
First Impressions
The Excite is impressively skinny. At 0.3 inches, it’s actually a hair thinner than the iPad 2. Despite that, there’s no impression of fragility in the build quality, thanks to a sturdy plastic frame and metallic rim. Also, due in large part to the small size of Excite 7.7, it’s extremely lightweight at only 0.77 pounds. Taken altogether, this is a device that confirms my belief that there are a lot of advantages to the portability of a 7-inch-range tablet.
Software Experience
Toshiba deserves high praise for providing the Excite 7.7 with a nearly untouched version of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), which was the latest version of the OS when this tablet was released. While the company did add its share of bloatware apps, left out are any major UI overhauls like Samsung’s TouchWiz, which normally slow the update cycle. Unfortunately, Toshiba seems to have let the Excite fall behind anyway. With Android 4.2 rumored to arrive on October 29, the Excite shows no sign of an update to 4.1 yet.
Performance
Stock Android 4.0 plus a powerful NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor results in an amazingly smooth experience. Even without the enhancements Android 4.1 brought to the Nexus 7, this tablet is responsive, handling visual effects with ease.
The Excite’s 7.7-inch AMOLED display makes for a visually stunning experience, with incredibly rich colors. Audio playback is, however, extremely unimpressive by comparison. I found the integrated stereo speakers to be too quiet for use in any practical environment.
The Strengths
Extreme portability, great performance, and a beautiful screen make it easy to see the appeal of this tablet. Toshiba clearly learned last year’s lesson well. Ports on this device are limited to micro-USB, micro-SD, and proprietary charging. That’s a far cry from last year’s Thrive. It also means this tablet can compete in the size race to an impressive degree.
The Weaknesses
The Excite 7.7 has a few quirks I could live without. An oversized proprietary docking port (the cable connector is actually thicker than the tablet) seems totally unnecessary on a device that also has micro-USB. Of course, it becomes rather more necessary when you realize that the micro-USB port can only transfer data. You can’t charge the battery from the port, and that’s bound to be confusing for the average consumer.
The volume rocker on this tablet is one of the oddest design choices I’ve ever seen. Unlike most Android tablets, when you hold this one in landscape orientation, the visualization on the screen matches your button presses. When you press the right side of the rocker, you see the volume meter increase to the right. Unfortunately, these buttons aren’t orientation-sensitive. The result is that when you hold the tablet in portrait mode, if you want to raise the volume, you need to press the down side of the volume rocker. I never got used to this reversal.
The biggest weakness of the Excite 7.7, however, is the price. Since the original Amazon Kindle Fire launched last year, it’s become accepted wisdom that if you want to sell a smaller tablet, you also have to sell it cheaper. Most tablets of this size go for $199, maybe $249. The Excite 7.7, despite a release date weeks before the Nexus 7 (which, as expected, is in that previously-mentioned price range) came out at an astonishing $499. Worse, that price has barely budged since, with many retailers selling it at full price. For half the price, you can get a Nexus 7 with the same storage and the same Tegra 3 processor. All you lose is the super thin profile, the AMOLED display, and 0.7 inches of screen real estate. Even Apple didn’t price its 7-inch competitor this high.
Wrap Up
Despite the limitations, the Toshiba Excite 7.7 is one of the best 7-inch tablets on the market. The build quality is stellar, and I can never get enough of the quality AMOLED screens. If price isn’t a major concern for you and you want a small, super-lightweight tablet, the Excite 7.7 is certainly worth a look.
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