With Samsung revealing its original 7in Galaxy tab in IFA 2010, it’s only fitting that IFA 2011 sees the arrival of the all-new Galaxy Tab 7.7.
As the name suggests, the new baby of Samsung’s tablet range sports a 7.7in, 1,280 x 800 pixel screen. It’s not just any old display, though: Samsung has squeezed in a Super AMOLED Plus panel, and the eye-popping vibrancy of the thing just has to be seen to be believed.
Even under the viciously bright spot lighting in Samsung’s (still half-built) hall, the Galaxy Tab 7.7’s display looked glorious. Colours are super-saturated – so much so, that it doesn’t feel like you’re looking at a screen at all.
Reach out and touch the tiny tablet, though, and it’s beautifully petite. Measuring just 7.89mm thick, the gently curved edges felt great in our giant hands, and it feels just as barely-there as the 335g weight suggests.
As you’d rightfully hope given the dual-core 1.4GHz processor inside (we’re waiting on confirmation of the actual architecture) the Tab feels pretty alert in use. We did experience the odd hitch here and there while surfing the web, but we’d be more inclined to blame the variable quality of IFA’s wireless airwaves than the tablet itself.
Indeed, delve through a copy of the Washington Post with the supplied newspaper reader, and there’s no lag at all while zipping around the front page and zooming in and out.
The tweaked home screen gives the little Galaxy Tab a touch of individuality, and Samsung’s keen to make a big splash on its four Hubs. The Game, Music, Readers and Social Hubs are pretty self-explanatory, but the Social Hub appears to be by far the most useful, aggregating email, contacts, calendar and friends across multiple social networks, it’s the perfect addition to such a temptingly portable tablet.In fact, the only issue we noticed during our time with the Tab 7.7 was that its metal back became noticeably warm to the touch. After around 15 minutes of surfing the web, it was warm enough to start making our hands feeling fairly sweaty: obviously, squeezing a dual-core 1.4Ghz processor into such a tiny chassis has its downsides.
Still, the Galaxy Tab 7.7’s specifications are nothing to complain about. The presence of 5GHz 802.11n is a welcome – especially so given the congested state of today’s 2.4Ghz spectrum – and as channel bonding is supported, streaming or transferring gigabytes of music or movies will be swift and speedy.
There’s nothing lacking elsewhere: GPS and Bluetooth 3.0 make the grade, and the 3-megapixel front-facing camera is partnered with a 2-megapixel one at the rear. And, in contrast to some of the competition, Android 3.2 is installed as standard.
In fact, there’s only one major problem that Samsung has to deal with, and that’s the Galaxy Tab 7.7’s likeness to a shrunken iPad. Going by the message in the picture below, our German chums might have to wait patiently until the Galaxy Tab 7.7 finally arrives on Amazon.de.
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