Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 P6800 Review

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 represents the best tablet Samsung can offer the market. It’s the thinnest tablet in the market and the only one so far that comes with a Super AMOLED Plus display. Check out our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 (P6800) after the jump.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7. is arguably the thinnest tablet in the market. At 7.9mm, the Tab 7.7 is thinner than all tablets and almost all ultrathin smartphones including the Galaxy S2 (8.49mm), Galaxy Note (9.7mm), Xperia Arc S (8.7mm), iPhone 4s (9.3mm), LG Prada 3.0 (8.5mm).

That tells us a lot about how much effort Samsung placed into the Galaxy Tab 7.7 to make it a premium tablet.

Like many other Galaxy Tabs before it, the Galaxy Tab P6800 follows a similar design signature — slim, simple design and plastic build. Samsung added a few additional design accents on the 7.7 model — a two-toned silver back plating, a much thinner bezel and a gorgeous display.

Compared to the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is wider but not any taller.

The power button and the volume control are found on the left side of the tablet while the 3.5mm audio port is found at the top side (along with the mic pinhole).

The SIM card slot and the microSD card slot are both found on the right side while the USB charging port is at the bottom along with the two speakers.

The Super AMOLED Plus display might be common among a lot of smartphones but its the first time we’ve seen it used on a tablet of this size (the closest is the Galaxy Note).

While we’re all too familiar with what Super AMOLED Plus brings to a large display but the one on the Galaxy Tab is just plain gorgeous.

When placed side by side the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 looks way crisper and brighter at full settings.

The high screen resolution and bright screen makes for a great experience especially when watching movies — great contrast, deep blacks, rich colors and just brilliant video quality.

The built-in speakers are good but you will find yourself hooking up to a headphone to really appreciate the sound effects.

The 3.15MP rear camera takes decent shots, not really that good but usable. If I remember correctly, the camera on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was way better. Even the video at 720p isn’t that very good. Perhaps, Samsung had to settle with a smaller optics to fit into the very slim profile.

And since this is Samsung’s flagship or premium tablet, they did not scrimp on the hardware. I think, besides the camera, the hardware specifications on the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is impressive.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 P6800 specs:
7.7″ Super AMOLED Plus display @ 800 x 1280 pixels
1.4GHz ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core processor
Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset
1GB RAM
16GB, 32GB, 64GB internal storage
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
HSPA+ 21Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
Bluetooth 3.0 w/ A2DP
3.15MP camera with 720p video recording
2MP front-facing camera
micro-USB port
GPS with aGPS support
5100mAh Li-Po battery
Android 3.2 Honeycomb
TouchWiz UI 4.0

There’s no NFC capabilities here nor a dedicated micro-HDMI port but you can always get that USB adapter if you want to plug the tablet to an external HD TV or display.

Since the Tab 7.7 has full cellular functionalities, you can actually make phone calls and send SMS with the tablet. It might just look awkward holding it up to your ears when making a call so you’d either want to get an handsfree earphone/mic or a Bluetooth headset.

Too bad Samsung wasn’t able to give the tablet the new and well-polished Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Considering that they had first dibs on ICS for the Galaxy Nexus, I would assume they had a good lead in customizing it for their own smartphones and tablets ahead of the others.

Performance of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is pretty impressive. Both the Nenamark 2 and the Quadrant Standard scores are very good.

Nenamark 2 gives the Tab 7.7 an average score of 41.0fps. Quadrant Standard rating gave it a 4128 and Antutu Benchmark gave it a score of 6499.

As for battery life, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 did not disappoint. We’re able to get around 8.5 hours of continuous video playback on a single full charge, thanks to that generous 5100mAh internal battery.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 P6800 has a suggested retail price of Php32,990USD 562INR 47,657EUR 535CNY 4,094. Not a bad price point for a premium tablet and it’s even cheaper than the Galaxy Tab 10.1 model.

While the suggested retail price is a bit far from that of the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, the Tab 7.7 has a few more features that might convince you to make the additional investment. If you’re interested what’s the difference between the two, check out our comparative chart here.