Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 joins the company's expansive tablet portfolio but targeted towards budget shoppers. Priced at Rs 17,999 for the Wi-Fi model and Rs 21,999 for the 4G variant, the Galaxy Tab A7 presents a suitable option for those who are looking for an affordable tablet for all entertainment and education needs. With schools shut, schools have opted for online classes and it makes perfect sense to invest in a reliable tablet for your kid (class 1 till class 10) and Samsung has just the device.
The Galaxy Tab A7 carries Samsung's brand trust and signature design, which is quite appealing. We've covered the design aspect of the tablet in our first impressions and after having used the tablet on and off for over two weeks, it looks like the tablet for masses.
Samsung Galaxy Tab A7's metallic back, sleek design rounded corners and minimalistic form factor makes it casually fit for all your needs that cannot be fulfilled on your smartphone. The 10.4-inch display is bright enough to make sure you don't miss out on the action even on-the-go. But if you're looking for domestic use for things like online classes and binge-watching your favorite shows, Tab A7 is more than capable to satisfy your needs. Those bezels around the display are hard to ignore, but we found them to be useful to hold the tablet without any mistouch.
For the sake of comparison, the Tab A7's display is far from its higher-end sibling - the Tab S7, which is too good in every way but for a price. After all, the Tab A7 packs an LCD display, which is bright but don't start counting those pixels and color accuracies while watching high-def content.
What we found quite useful in Tab A7 is the fact that there are four speakers, two on each side. Whether you're watching content on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video or taking online classes, the Tab A7 is loud enough to be used without earphones in a quiet room. But you can always plug your good-old earphones with the 3.5mm jack for concentration during online classes.
During our time with Tab A7, where we used it for binge-watching TV shows on OTT platforms and did a few video calls to catch up with family and friends, it handled the tasks pretty well. There's a Snapdragon 662 processor paired with 3GB RAM, 32GB onboard storage with microSD card support. It's a decent configuration, but we felt the integrated storage was at least 64GB even with the microSD card slot.
The tablet even came in handy for some productive use, for instance typing out some quick articles or taking notes and simply scribble some art to keep the Picasso in me alive. The OneUI 2.1 based on Android 10 is a clean interface for tablets, which we loved in the Tab S7 as well. You will get used to it in no time, and your kids won't have trouble either.
The tablet also packs an 8MP sensor, which we rarely found any use for besides scanning documents. Even if you can get comfortable holding up that huge tablet against people's faces in public, we'd recommend your smartphone camera for better results.
Finally, the Galaxy Tab A7 has a massive 7,040mAh battery, which can last days depending on your usage. If the tablet is used by a school kid, chances are the battery would need a recharge every night. That is due to not just online classes, but occasional gaming and a lot of toons and funny cat videos on YouTube. We tracked the tablet's battery life to easily deliver 6+ screen on time. The battery lasted more in our case, when we had to use it for productive purposes such as checking emails, social networking, editing articles on the go, creating images using Canva, editing photos and watching work-related videos.
Doing all this without facing any lags made the Galaxy Tab A7 more than just your kid's gadget. You can even borrow it for your professional use when you are lazy to fetch your laptop while watching TV with your family.
Verdict
The question you must be really asking is whether this tablet is worth buying. Given the current pandemic, we'd say the Galaxy Tab A7 is a good investment. It may be marketed as a multimedia device, it comes in handy for work and some educational use for your kids. It's perfect to be shared in a small family. You can do some basic work stuff, wifey can make some delicacies watching those Masterchef videos, kids can be left unattended after playing some of their favorite toons or everyone can catch a movie together cozying up in the bed just before hitting the rack. For Rs 17,999, the Wi-Fi model is a solid investment. Then again, for just Rs 3,000 more, you get a 4G model, which you can carry around that is if you are stepping out these days.
We wish the tablet had at least 64GB storage, the bezels were slimmer and the battery charging really didn't take 4+ hours. But we have to settle somewhere if the cost of the tablet is kept on the affordable side.
