samsung tab 3

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 was a success and proved that there was room in the Indian market for a hybrid device, which combined the best of both phones and tablets. The Galaxy Tab 3 series is hoped to mark a comeback for the company in the tablet segment, after quite some time.

The South Korean giant unveiled the Galaxy Tab 3 series with three new tablets for the Indian market, and rather than experimenting with an odd screen size, this time the company has gone back to its roots and come out with a 7-inch tablet and two 8-inch tablets. We got the chance to play with the new Galaxy Tab 3 211 (7-inch) tablet. Will the new Galaxy Tab 3 211 carve a niche for itself or further muddy the already distinctly murky 7-inch tablet segment? We try to find out in our review.

Design/ Build
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 211 is built along the lines of Samsung's high-end smartphones. Out-of-the-box, the tablet looks like a blown-up version of the Samsung Galaxy SIII or Galaxy Grand smartphones. But unlike them, it comes with a 7-inch display that's surrounded by grey trims, which manages to give it a decent look overall.

The Galaxy Tab 3 211 is built from the same slippery plastic that we have been seeing on Samsung's other smartphones and tablets. This does allows the tablet to be light at 304 grams, a favourable figure compared to other 7-inch slates in the market. At around 1cm (9.9mm) thickness, it is not the thinnest tablet in the market but is comfortable enough to hold.

The front of the Galaxy Tab 3 211 sports three buttons below the display, a hardware middle-button for home, and two capacitive buttons on either side for back and options menu. The front also houses a 1.3-megapixel camera for video chats and self-portraits, a speaker and the light and proximity sensor. On the bottom side are the stereo speakers accompanied by a Micro-USB port, and the top houses the 3.5mm audio jack. 

Other physical buttons on the tablet comprise the volume rocker and power button, which are both on the right side of the device. On the left side, one can find two slots -one for the SIM card and another for a microSD card. We wish that the illustration on the SIM slot was more indicative of the way to insert the SIM into the tablet-we wasted quite a bit of time trying inserting the SIM in the right direction. Samsung has chosen to use a micro-SIM design.

The rear panel of Galaxy Tab 3 211 features the primary camera, which lacks a flash. There is a Samsung logo branding the centre of the rear panel. We felt that the back panel of the device was very glossy and at times slippery after using the device for prolonged periods. We wished that Samsung might have shipped the tablet with a soft touch material at the back, or even a textured back, which would have solved the issue of slipperiness.

One can even make phone calls using the Galaxy Tab 3 211 like one does with a regular phone, using the integrated microphone. We felt the tablet had the right width to hold in one hand, and it was relatively comfortable making/taking calls. However, our recommendation is to not put it next to your face, and use the supplied earphones instead.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 211 comes with a 7-inch TFT display with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels, which translates to a pixel density of 169ppi (pixel per inch). The display resolution of the Galaxy Tab 3 is far lower than some of its 7-inch competitors in the same price segment, such as the Nexus 7 (2012) which has a resolution of 1280x800 pixels.

Aside from screen resolution, the Galaxy Tab 3 211's display is let down by its colour reproduction, which is not particularly accurate and the colours appear to be washed out. We noticed that the screen is very reflective and this hampers visibility under the sunlight. Viewing angles were also not that great.