Small, thin and very, very bright

At less than 9mm thick, the super skinny Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 is a tablet computer that can also function as a giant mobile phone and comes with such a gorgeous Super AMOLED Plus display that you won’t want to tear your eyes away from it.

That’s because it’s the first tablet to use the very bright and colourful Super AMOLED Plus screen. All its rivals use the cheaper LCD display.

With the Super AMOLED Plus screen, Tab 7.7 is great for viewing photos, watching movies, browsing web pages and reading e-books with vivid graphic colours.

Tab 7.7 offers 197 PPL high definition of 1280 x 800 pixel resolution and because it weighs a mere 340gm and has a an internal speaker at top middle of the screen, you can use it as a phone. Unless you have big hands, you’re probably better off with a Bluetooth headset or a small talk headset when you’re having a conversation though.

In short, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is ideal if you want a smart phone that can also function as a tablet with not too large a screen. Ladies will be able to slide it easily into their handbags but guys will have to either tote it around or put it in a trouser pocket.

During the test, I had no problem carrying it in one hand while riding the bus and could walk without difficult with it stuffed in a trouser pocket.

Using it as a phone with the internal speaker, I found that the voice quality was good. And I really liked that Tab 7.7 supports all 3G frequencies of HSPA+ protocol, including TrueMove H’s 850MHz.

I tested the tablet on TrueMove H and was impressed by the performance of the tablet and the speed of the data connection.

Tab 7.7 runs on Google’s Android 3.2 Honeycomb Operating System and is powered by a very fast 1.4 GHz dual core processor. It is equipped with 8 gigabytes RAM and 16 GB storage, which is expandable with a microSD card. 

It also comes with a 3 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front camera. 

The rear camera is also capable of recording 1080p Full HD video.

Its main camera took quality photos for a mobile phone. During the test, I took photos and uploaded them to my Facebook instantly using Samsung Social Hub and TrueMove H’s 3G connection.

I updated the status and checked the feeds of my Facebook and Twitter pages very quickly with Social Hub while sitting on the bus. Checking my Hotmail and Gmail accounts was also fast. Applications from both Samsung Market and Android Market were downloaded and installed at a more than respectable speed.

Tab 7.7 has very good performance. Its menus were responsive and web pages, contact lists and other pages scrolled very fast. The video clips and YouTube clips played beautifully and smoothly.

Its Super AMOLED Plus screen displayed very colourful video clips. The screen was so bright that it could be used to frame snapshots easily under direct sunlight and text was readable outdoors.

Tab 7.7 supports Samsung Kies air. After I installed it, I could easily upload songs and video clips to the tablet as well as downloading video clips and photos from the tablet to my computer using Wi-Fi connection with my home router.

Tab 7.7 is preloaded with several useful applications, including Polaris Office for writing and reading Microsoft Office files.

The Pen memo application is very useful for taking note and writing memos, to which you can attach drawings and photos as well as maps.

Its Social Hub is great for unifying emails, Facebook and Twitter feeds as well as Facebook and Twitter messages in one place.

And I really love Samsung Readers Hub. Here I could read e-newspapers powered by PressDisplay, e-magazines from Zinio and e-books from Kobo. I especially love Kobo e-books. You can use the Kobo application to download free e-books or buy e-books. These will also be saved in Kono’s Cloud server and available when you log on to your Kobo account.

Tab 7.7 uses 5,100 mAh battery which can last more than one day after one full charging.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 retails for Bt19,900.

 

 

        Key specs

_ Network: HSPA+ 21Mbps  850/900/1900/2100; EDGE/GPRS  850/900/1800/1900

_ Processor: 1.4GHz Dual Core Processor

_ Display: 7.7-inch WXGA(1280x800) Super AMOLED Plus

_ OS: Android Honeycomb 3.2

_ Camera: Main (Rear): 3 MP AF + LED Flash, recording 1080p@30fps, Playing 1080p@30fps; Front: 2 MP

_ Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band support (2.4GHz, 5GHz), 802.11n Wi-Fi Ch. Bonding, Wi-Fi Direct, BT v3.0, USB 2.0 Host 

_ Memory: 8GB (RAM), 16GB movi NAND + microSD (upto 32GB) 

_ Battery: 5100 mAh

_ Size:  196.7x133x7.89mm

_ Weight:  340g