Android tablets are nice and all, and often quite a lot cheaper than the iPad. But they’ve never possessed the same lust-worthy aura, build quality and overall sexiness. Until now: the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 has it in spades.
We’ve just got hands on with the latest slate in Samsung’s Galaxy Tab series, and trust us when we say it more than makes up for the delays and sales withdrawals the 10.1 and 8.9 models have suffered. It’s nothing short of breathtaking.
This doesn’t just match the iPad for build quality, it beats it. It’s smooth, super thin, and the brushed metal backing is far more attractive than the scruffy iPod touch-back side of the iPad 2.
What really sets the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 apart though is the screen: sooner or later, Samsung had to start using its Super AMOLED Plus display technology in tablets, and now that it has, there’s not a lot to say, other than that you will never settle for Apple’s IPS screens again after witnessing it. It’s world class, and gives us hope for when it finally starts appearing in TVs that don’t cost a billion quid.
Android Honeycomb has been skinned the same way as it has on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, so we didn’t see too many changes there. What really did surprise us though, is that the extra 0.7-inches of screen space on regular 7″ tablets makes a lot of difference.
We’ve long said that 7 and 10 inch tablets are only in the same category solely by both being luxury products, but this blurs the boundaries. It may sound silly, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 feels a lot closer in size to 10-inch models, like a compact edition of a magazine.
Android Honeycomb may be lacking the dedicated apps it desperately needs to compete with the iPad, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 gives us hope for its future: this is the finest tablet we’ve yet seen. If you build it they will come, as they say.
Out TBC | £TBC | Samsung
