Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite test

Our Verdict

Samsung's Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a decent, surprisingly small and affordable Android tablet.

For

- Cheap p>

- Light

- Full access to Android and the Google Play Store

Versus

- Low resolution display

- Bad cameras

- Slow performance under pressure

Today's best Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite deals

$129

on Amazon p>

$199

at Samsung

$199.99

at BestBuy

Specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite

CPU:

MediaTek MT8768T

RAM:

4GB

Display:

8.7-inch display, 1340 x 800 pixel resolution

Storage:

32-64GB

Ports:

USB-C, microSD card reader

Battery life:

10:07

Dimensions:

8.37 x 4.91 x 0.31 inches

Weight:

0.81pound

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite was unveiled in May 2021 as a cheaper and lighter version of the

Galaxy Tab A7

, one of our top picks for the

best android tablet< /p>

you can buy it.

After spending a few weeks testing and using the A7 Lite, I can confidently tell you that it's far from the

best tablet

on the market. But it's a pretty handy little device that deserves your attention if you need a capable Android tablet for not a lot of money.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: price and availability

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite on Amazon for $129

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is available for purchase through third-party retailers and on Samsung's website

at a starting price of $159, though you can often find it on sale for less.

What you get in return is a lightweight Android tablet with a MediaTek MT8768T octacore chip, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of memory, although you can pay an additional $40 to upgrade it to 64GB. Alternatively, you can use the drive of the tablet's MicroSD card to insert up to 1 TB of additional storage. It's also possible to purchase a model that supports 4G LTE (via Verizon or AT&T) for an additional $40.

(Image credit: Future)

The unit we reviewed is Wi-Fi only and came with 64GB of memory, which means it costs $200. However, at press time, Samsung is running a big sale on its website that slashes the price to $40, which is incredible value.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: Design

As the name suggests, the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a lighter and smaller version of the Galaxy Tab A7 tablet launched by the company in 2020. It measures 8.37 x 4.91 x 0.31 inches and weighs only than 0.81 lbs. That means it's lighter and more compact than almost any tablet on the market. The notable exception is the

iPad mini

from Apple, which is still a bit smaller and lighter (at 8 x 5.3 x 0.24 inches and 0.66 pounds) than the Tab A7 Lite. p>

(Image credit: Future)

Of course, the iPad mini still relies on Apple's proprietary Lightning port for charging, while the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite sports a more ubiquitous USB-C port instead - although

rumors

suggest that Apple swap that for USB-C on an updated iPad mini due out in late 2021.

(Image credit: Future)

Along the bottom edge of the Tab A7 Lite, you'll find a USB 2.0 Type-C port which is primarily used for charging the device. The power/wake button and volume controls are tucked away along the top right edge, while the microSD card slot is located on the left edge.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: Display

The Tab A7 Lite's 8.7-inch, 1,340 x 800-pixel screen looks good enough in most situations, although in bright light I found myself staring at my reflection more often than I did. would have liked.

(Image credit: Future)

The colors are beautiful and bright, and the bright reds and yellows have appeared in movies like The Tomorrow War and Knives Out. However, there was noticeable blurring and smearing of detail in dark or fast-paced scenes. It could have something to do with the Tab A7 Lite's rather low pixel density. At around 179 dpi, it's not as sharp as the

Fire HD 10 2021

(224), the

Galaxy Tab A7

(224) or the

iPad 2020

(264ppi).

(Image credit: Future)

Based on our colorimeter testing, the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is able to display 81.8% of the sRGB color spectrum. That's a bit below ideal at 100% and a bit less snappy than the 2020 iPad (97%) or Galaxy Tab A7 (101.7%).

The screen gets bright enough to be usable in broad daylight, but it's not the brightest tablet you can buy. In our tests, the Tab A7 Lite screen had a peak brightness of 315 nits, which is good enough but not as bright as the Galaxy Tab A7 (329.3 nits) or the 2020 iPad (484 nits) .

(Image credit: Future)

These results match up well with the Tab A7 Lite's affordable asking price, and they help explain why it can sometimes be difficult to make out dark scenes or use the tablet in bright conditions. light. However, the screen works well as an input device. I had no issues tapping and swiping in Android, and the gesture controls worked well.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: Audio

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite has two speaker grilles, one along the top right edge and another along the bottom left edge. Together they put out good quality sound, and their placement along the edges makes it easy to hear what's happening when the tablet is flat.

Listening to some of my favorite playlists on the A7 Lite, I was pleasantly surprised at how well this little tablet did to produce crisp, precise sound. Sure, you won't feel the bass notes in your gut, but vocals, synths, and other high-pitched sounds are crisp and clear. You can also crank up your music quite loud; even at three-quarters volume, I could clearly make out vocals and drum patterns playing on the A7 Lite from the opposite end of my one-bedroom apartment. However, if you crank it all the way up you might notice some distortion, like I did on tracks like The Who's Baba O'Riley and Elton John's Rocket Man.

To check out all the capabilities of the A7 speakers, be sure to go to the Settings menu, tap on "Sound quality and effects" and enable the "Dolby Atmos" option. This setting promises to make the sound coming out of the tablet sound better and more immersive, especially if it's been mixed for Dolby Atmos. While there still isn't a ton of Dolby Atmos content readily available to Android users, enabling this setting (in my experience) will make most music and movies feel a bit deeper and richer. .

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: Performance

The MediaTek MT8768T chip powering the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite isn't exactly a powerhouse, but its 4GB of RAM makes switching between apps and playing games nice and fast.

(Image credit: Future)

However, be prepared for some glitches and slowdowns when opening many apps simultaneously or trying to play more demanding Android games. When I opened 15 tabs in Chrome and tried to quickly switch between them, I regularly noticed a slight slowdown. I could play games like Asphalt 9 and Call of Duty Mobile pretty well on the Tab A7 Lite, but it often struggled to maintain a smooth frame rate when the screen was busy in either game, and cutscenes promoting new content in Call of Duty Mobile often felt more like slideshows.

In short, using the Tab A7 Lite for anything other than browsing the web and watching media is often a lackluster experience, and that's confirmed by our lab tests. The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite scored 907 in the Geekbench 5 multi-core performance benchmark, which we use to measure overall tablet performance. It's a mediocre score that puts it quite behind tablets like the 2021 Amazon Fire HD 10.

Amazon Fire HD 10

(969), the Microsoft

Surface Go 2

(1.563) and the

iPad 2020

(2.685).

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: Battery life

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite's battery packs enough power to get you across the country or spending a few nights on the couch without having to search for a charger. On our battery test, which involves surfing the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, the little tablet lasted 10 hours and 7 minutes.

(Image credit: Future)

It's good enough for everyday use, but it's still a far cry from larger tablets like the

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7

(13:13), the Amazon Fire HD 10 (13:14), or the iPad 2020 (12:57). The Tab A7 Lite doesn't charge very quickly either: I plugged it in at 8% battery and after 90 minutes of charging it was at 55%, which is good enough for occasional use but not great when you need the juice fast.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: Cameras

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite's 2MP front camera and 8MP rear camera are good enough to get you through video calls and occasional photo ops without too much embarrassment, but in my experience they leave a lot to be desired. . Photos I took with the front camera tended to look washed out, and it struggled to adjust to changes in ambient light.

The Tab A7 Lite's selfie camera isn't great at capturing fine detail, or the pathos of a man who's barely left his apartment all year

(Image credit: Future)

Shooting with the rear camera produced better results, but colors still looked soft and fine details like wood grain and surface highlights were nearly indistinguishable. In short, the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite's camera lineup is usable enough for day-to-day use, but if you're carrying around a relatively newer smartphone model, it will almost certainly produce better quality photos.

(Image credit: Future)

There's one good thing to say about the Tab A7 Lite's camera setup though: the front-facing camera supports login via facial recognition, a security feature that most tablets under $500 ( including iPads) still does not offer. Setting up facial recognition on the Tab A7 Lite was a painless experience for me, although I had great difficulty reliably identifying myself while wearing my glasses.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: Software

If you like stock Android, you'll enjoy the experience of using the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, as Samsung thankfully held back from shipping it with a lot of added headaches.

When you set it up it comes pre-installed with the Samsung app store, but it's otherwise a relatively pure Android experience. This means that unlike Amazon's Fire tablets and their Android-based Fire operating system, you get full access to the Google Play Store and its hundreds of thousands of apps and games.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: Verdict

Samsung touted the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite as a useful little Android tablet that's easy on your wallet, and in my experience, that's exactly what you get when you buy one.

While reading this review, you've probably noticed the phrase "good enough" a few times, and it's for good reason: if you're looking for a compact Android tablet for browsing the internet, watching videos, or playing games, the Tab A7 Lite is good enough to satisfy your needs.

Don't expect to be blown away by its performance, display quality, or battery life. Competing tablets like Microsoft's Surface Go 2 or the 2020 iPad will outperform the A7 Lite on all these fronts, and while you'll have to pay a few hundred dollars more for them, you can still get them for less than $500. $.

Alex Wawro

Alex Wawro is editor at Tom's Guide and covers everything about computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice. Got a good tip? Contact us via

alex.wawro@futurenet.com

.