Android tablets are not good overall. The hardware on offer in the market is solid, the specs are strong, and the prices are accessible and competitive. The problem is the software – especially the app support or lack thereof.
Samsung is making the most of this dire situation with the new Galaxy Tab S7 with tons of improvements including its DeX desktop interface and window apps. However, in many ways, the overall experience with an Android tablet is still insufficient. Very short.
I've been using a Galaxy Tab S7 with the optional $ 200 book cover keyboard accessory for a few weeks now. The S7's smaller 11-inch form factor compared to the giant S7 Plus tempted me to think it was a highly portable secondary machine that I can work and type on when I have less workload than my MacBook Pro necessary for .
In typical tech reviewer trope form, I wrote and edited the entire article on the S7 tab. I also took as many opportunities as possible to shut down my MacBook Pro or just leave home with the Tab S7 to see how much I can really do with it. I found a lot of good things and, unfortunately, a lot of bad things too, as Samsung makes the most of this bad situation.
Samsung does (almost) everything it can
Samsung is doing so much right in the hardware of the Tab S7. The metal body is superbly processed and looks and feels great too. It's exactly the luxury experience that an iPad Pro offers. The 120 Hz display is great in every way and is complemented by nice and loud speakers. The front camera is ideal for video calls and, unlike the iPad in landscape mode, is positioned correctly at the top of the screen. The battery life is exceptional, even if you squeeze the tablet hard in DeX mode.
And you are using DeX mode as it is the only way to use the Tab S7 as a potential laptop replacement or productivity device. I've tried using the normal "tablet" interface with the keyboard attached like I do on my iPad and it's rough. The vast majority of Android apps do not scale to a large screen, fewer change the user interface to take advantage of a large screen, and some do not even rotate to landscape. Trying to use an Android tablet for more than just light surfing or watching videos in full screen is downright frustrating.
DeX mode is the only thing that makes this Android tablet a competent laptop replacement.
DeX uses a brute force trick by implementing Windows apps like Windows and macOS. Now your apps can be viewed in phone-sized windows that you can move around. Even the most stubborn of apps like Instagram will appear in a window and at least be usable. You can still create apps in full screen mode and split the screen for two apps. You can also open multiple windows at the top.
The rest of the user interface improves too. You get a desktop-style dock that shows you which apps are running (or have recently run), and you can pin apps to stay up to date. Your status bar and notifications are now in the lower right corner. You get some desktop keyboard shortcuts like Alt + Tab for multitasking, Ctrl + Tab in apps, and Cut / Copy / Paste. In DeX mode, everything becomes a bit more predictable – and like a laptop.
I suddenly feel productive. I can use one full screen app and go to another to quickly send a message or read something without being redirected to a huge, blown up phone app. I can open an app from a notification and just have it open a new window. I can use a mouse pointer with a touchpad to press small keys and keep my hands on the keyboard.
An incomplete productivity experience
While DeX can fix many of the endemic problems associated with using Android as a tablet operating system, it doesn't fix everything. Forcing apps designed by phones in Windows helps, but it doesn't fully take into account the reality that Android apps are terrible on tablets.
There are still a lot of apps out there that shouldn't be put in full screen mode. Samsung must therefore force them to do so. Every time you switch between full screen and windowed mode, the app needs to be restarted. Other apps look fine in a window, but the window cannot be resized. Some apps just crash when switching between size and mode.
And ultimately, most apps simply scale the contents of a phone app to fill the screen – aka, everything is enlarged, huge, and not useful. So you have a choice of "using a phone app in a window" or "using a phone app that appears in full screen" – pick your poison.
Samsung is doing what it can here as it doesn't control the Play Store and can't force developers to make apps for tablets better. But it makes more casual mistakes that hurt the experience.
Samsung does what it can in the software, but it also makes mistakes with the keyboard hardware.
I want to love this keyboard. I can not. The typing experience is really great; The keys have spring travel but are springy and the layout is very spacious. But everything else is a mess. It attaches to the tablet with magnets, but has that wobbly faux leather strip between the connector and the keyboard that makes this setup completely unusable on your lap. That flexibility is, of course, such that the keyboard can be flipped over to cover the screen, but it doesn't have to be that thin. Why am I carrying an ultra-portable machine when I can only work on it when I have a table to put it on?
The biggest thing that interested me about the Tab S7 was that the keyboard has a trackpad. I am disappointed once again. The size is okay, but you can't track with a finger while your thumb is resting. Any laptop can do this. Clicking and dragging works inconsistently between apps. You can't turn off tap-to-click or change the two-finger scroll direction. These are all very basic settings that you would expect from a laptop. And then come back to app support. Each app treats a cursor differently, and text boxes on websites rarely work as you'd expect from a proper desktop browser.
It's just not enough to justify this price
The Galaxy Tab S7 is priced at $ 650 plus an additional $ 200 for the keyboard. $ 850 is a steep price tag for a device that feels incomplete and incapable of doing its job as a productivity tool near a laptop. Android apps are still terrible on tablets, even with a dramatically better DeX interface. The keyboard and trackpad fit a cheap Chromebook that you can buy from Best Buy.
Samsung charges laptop money for a tablet that is neither a good laptop nor a good tablet.
This is the same amount you would pay for a Surface Pro 7 with a keyboard – an actual experience with laptop software in a very similar form factor. (And I say this as someone who is far from a Windows fan.) Yes, it's a bad standalone tablet experience, but any large Android tablet gets used too. And as a tablet, it should go without saying that your $ 600 dollars will be much better spent on a new iPad Air. Future keyboard use can be accomplished with a keyboard accessory worth $ 159. Your total investment is less than what Samsung required for the Tab S7 combo.
I know it seems like I'm really not pecking on the Galaxy Tab S7. That depends on a hard love. I want to use the Tab S7, and it's so good, but it's a promise that is not being fulfilled. Every step of the way I struggle to get the Tab S7 to do something it wasn't intended for. and pay way too much for it.
Editor's recommendations