Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus review

How does Ice Cream Sandwich affect the last gen's tiny Tab?

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus
Can ICS make all the difference?

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The web browser included on the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus (simply labeled "Internet") is stock Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich and includes some elements from Chrome, with features like Incognito tabs and synced bookmarks with your Google account.

It's a pretty functional browser with support for multiple tabs up top, and it can be used in either landscape or portrait orientation, as desired. Numerous other options are included, such as adding shortcuts to home, saving for offline reading, and sharing pages via email, social networks, and other apps.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus review

Seven-inch tablets aren't hugely ideal for web browsing, as the portrait view shows too much at a tiny font, and landscape focuses on such a small scope of the page, but that's not an issue exclusive to the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. Like most seven-inchers, it's really quite good in a pinch for looking something up, or for light browsing.

The pages rendered well enough for the form factor, but zooming into text with a double-tap seemed to go a step closer than desired, with words on the edges cut off in places. Additionally, using two fingers to custom-resize pages to fit our ideal size tended to cause irritation, as it wouldn't just scale to our exact movements, but continually scaled in or out until we lifted our fingers. That's just not helpful.

Connectivity

The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus model that we reviewed is limited to Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n) with dual-band support, and is the standard model of the device. Additionally, the tablet includes Bluetooth 3.0 support for accessories.

In addition to the Wi-Fi model, 4G-capable versions are available from specific cellular carriers, though be warned that each iteration has its own independent Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade timeline. Be sure to check the status of a carrier's update before committing, as the Honeycomb-equipped version of the Plus feels notably slower than with ICS installed.

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