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Galaxy Tab S7 Plus: The drawbacks and advantages of the large Samsung tablet

The Galaxy Tab S7+ with the S Pen.
The Galaxy Tab S7+ with the S Pen.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ is currently the largest tablet in the Android space. Our review reveals that Samsung has made a couple of missteps with its slate with the 12.4-inch Super AMOLED display. Read our review to find out what those missteps are and what makes this tablet especially good.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ offers high-end hardware such as the powerful Snapdragon 865+, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of fast UFS 3.1 internal memory. The storage capacity can be expanded by up to 1 TB with the help of a microSD card. A quad-speaker system from AKG, Samsung DeX, optional 5G modem, Wi-Fi 6 and the versatile S Pen round off the package. The main selling feature of the tablet is its 120-Hz 12.4-inch Super AMOLED display. Prices for the Samsung slate start at 954 Euros ($1117).

Drawbacks

The devil is in the detail, because the display is not particularly bright and only achieves a brightness of 451 cd/m², which is not enough for a high-end device. The direct competitor in the form of the iPad Pro achieves a screen brightness of 638 cd/m² and the MatePad Pro’s display can reach up to 617 cd/m². 

Another flaw has to do with Wi-Fi performance. Even though the tablet supports Wi-Fi 6, which is the latest iteration of the technology, the Tab S7+ performs much worse than expected. Both the transfer rates and the stability leave a lot to be desired. When it comes to upload and download speeds, the Samsung tablet offers a comparable level of performance to devices with fast Wi-Fi 5 modules. 

The battery runtimes are very disappointing. Moreover, Samsung’s claims concerning battery life could not be substantiated. In our Reading Test, in which we set the screen brightness to minimum and run a script that simulates reading e-books, the Tab S7+ lasted 14 hours. In our realistic Wi-Fi test, the Samsung slate died after seven hours. For comparison: The iPad Pro lasted 15 hours in our Wi-Fi test.

Advantages

The display is not only large but also offers a superb contrast ratio, great colour reproduction and a 120-Hz refresh rate. The high refresh rate offers advantages not only when gaming but also elevates the user experience to another level.

The S Pen is a powerful tool with a lot of ancillary functions. You can use it to make presentations but also to launch applications or execute certain actions without touching the device. The base functions such as note-taking, drawing or sketching also work well. And the best part is that the S Pen is included in the box. 

Thanks to a 5G modem and update promises from Samsung, the Galaxy Tab S7+ is quite future-proof. The versatility of the Samsung slate means that it is suited not only for media consumption but also for professional work. In combination with the optional BookCover Keyboard and Samsung DeX, the tablet can be used as a full-fledged laptop.

Buy Galaxy Tab S7+ now on Amazon

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Galaxy Tab S7 Plus: The drawbacks and advantages of the large Samsung tablet
Daniel Schmidt, 2020-10- 5 (Update: 2020-10- 7)