Techcitement Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Strikes A Good Balance

What’s Not To Like
TouchWiz once again makes an appearance in this section. I love that power widget, but combined with a screen brightness slider and a settings button taking up a full row (seriously, Samsung, you have to stop making small buttons into notifications) you actually have to scroll to see more than one notification when holding the device in landscape.

The notification area, or lack thereof.

More importantly, the rear camera was a big disappointment. While the front camera delivers fairly impressive video chat, the rear camera at only 3 megapixels is just not up to par with most smartphone cameras. That bothered me a lot less on the Tab 10.1, but the 7.0 Plus is small enough that I actually don’t feel stupid holding it up as a camera, and it would be nice if it were actually worth using as one.

Untested
This part was a bit disappointing, actually. Samsung included an IR blaster and the Peel universal remote app in the 7.0 Plus, which I was really looking forward to testing in its own right. Unfortunately, my TV isn’t on Peel’s list of supported devices, and there doesn’t appear to be any way to manually configure it. The app will help you send an email to Peel requesting that your model be added, and then you just have to hope they follow through. If the Peel remote is a big selling point for you, make sure your devices are supported.

The Wrap-up
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus represents, more than anything else, a compromise solution. It doesn’t provide the HD quality entertainment of most 10-inch tablets like the Tab 10.1, but you get quality that’s nearly as good and performance that’s actually a bit better. This is no bargain basement deal like the Kindle Fire or a $99 HP Touchpad, but at $399, it’s a pretty good discount compared to its larger competitors. If you’re looking for a great balance between price, performance, and portability, you can’t go wrong with this one.