Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: Lite on the cash

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite

Whereas sacrifices had been made to drop the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite’s base value, it provides nice worth for youthful youngsters and older family. It lacks the efficiency and show high quality of the easiest inexpensive slates, nevertheless it will get 4 years of software program assist and options expandable storage. It is also out there with LTE for these all for an affordable on-the-go pill.

Samsung created the Galaxy Tab A collection to supply consumers a less expensive various to their higher-end gadgets. Don’t be mistaken: these gadgets usually are not “flagship killers” however entry-level trailblazers, designed to be the perfect low-budget choice for these wanting a bit extra display actual property. Discover out if it’s the pill for you in Android Authority‘s Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite

About this Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: I examined the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite over a interval of 20 days. It was operating Android 12 (One UI 4.1) on the July 1, 2022 safety patch. The unit was bought by Android Authority for the aim of this review.

What you want to know concerning the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite

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• Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite (Wi-Fi, 3GB/32GB): $159.99 / €169 / £149
• Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite (Wi-Fi, 4GB/64GB): $199.99
• Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite (LTE, 3GB/32GB): $199.99 / €199 / £179

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite has been probably the most in style entry-level tablets since its launch in June 2021. Basically, it’s a smaller, extra stripped-down model of the Galaxy Tab A7. The 2 gadgets share the identical facet ratio, however the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite has a extra compact 8.7-inch show, lacks a gyroscope, has a smaller 5,100mAh battery, and is powered by a slower Mediatek Helio P22T chip.

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is available in two variations: Wi-Fi solely (32GB or 64GB) and LTE (32GB). The 32GB fashions include 3GB RAM as commonplace, however the US-exclusive 64GB mannequin has 4GB RAM which ought to provide a lift for multitasking. The entire fashions have expandable storage by way of microSD (as much as 1TB) and cost and switch knowledge by way of USB-C.

By way of aesthetics, the machine seems and feels nice for the worth. It’s out there in grey (with black bezels) or silver (with white bezels).

You should purchase the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite from all main retailers beginning at $159.99. This contains Amazon, Finest Purchase, and Samsung’s official retailer.

What’s good?

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With the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, you get all of the naked requirements of a pill — a bigger display, up-to-date software program, and succesful {hardware} — for an entry-level value. Moreover, as a result of it got here out in 2021, Samsung commonly holds gross sales on all variants of this machine.

Despite its age, the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite has been promised three years of main OS updates and 4 years of safety patch updates. This implies Samsung’s price range slate — which has already acquired the Android 12 replace — is slated to get Android 13 and 14 upon launch. With One UI’s speedy evolution right into a feature-rich interpretation of Android, we take into account this to be a significant boon.

With the LTE model, you may add a SIM card to ascertain a connection anyplace via service knowledge. Taking the pill on a number of commutes and highway journeys, we discovered the GPS performance to be nice. Nonetheless, when you go along with the bottom mannequin, you may all the time obtain maps for offline use or depend on Wi-Fi hotspots.

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite’s physique is made up primarily of sturdy aluminum metallic, with plastic areas on the prime and backside ends. Using metallic lends a high-end really feel to what’s a budget-oriented pill.

For battery life, in real-world conditions like watching films and looking the online, you may anticipate 10-12 hours of screen-on time from a full cost, relying on the brightness setting. In the event you’re utilizing the machine closely at max brightness, you may anticipate to get nearer to 4 hours earlier than it dies.

Charging from zero to 100% takes roughly 4 hours on the 15W most cost fee. That is fairly regular for many price range tablets.

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The tall 5:3 facet ratio is reasonably pleasing, particularly contemplating many cell video games are optimized for that elongated panorama mode.

Expandable storage bolsters the pill’s worth as a media consumption machine. The bottom mannequin ships with a mere 32GB, however you may add as much as 1TB of storage by way of microSD. With more room for photographs, video games, films, and different media recordsdata, you gained’t see that “nearing most storage” warning as usually.

Lastly, whereas there are some show points (we’ll get to these), the comparatively low decision shouldn’t be a significant concern. As a result of it’s solely 8.7 inches from nook to nook, the person pixels aren’t as instantly apparent as you would possibly discover on bigger ~10-inch price range tablets. The tall 5:3 facet ratio can be reasonably pleasing, particularly contemplating many cell video games are optimized for that elongated panorama mode.

What’s not so good?

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The MediaTek Helio P22 struggles considerably with gaming.

On the coronary heart of the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is the Mediatek Helio P22T. From the get-go, it’s evident this entry-level ARM processor lacks the snappiness of most low to mid-range Snapdragon chips. In our testing, cell video games like Minecraft, Pokémon Unite, and Genshin Impression struggled to open and run easily. Much less intensive video games like CUE and Destiny/Grand Order would launch so long as nothing else was open within the background — however efficiency was nonetheless sluggish. Even navigating the system UI may very well be a little bit of a chore at occasions, with on-screen actions usually lagging behind bodily inputs.

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite seems nice on the surface, however the internals aren’t fairly as much as commonplace.

Restricted reminiscence is regular on price range tech. Nonetheless, the RAM limitations don’t do a lot for the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite’s responsiveness along with the slower processor. We continually had to make use of RAM boosting apps in our testing to clear up reminiscence as a result of we had been nearing the utmost far too usually. We additionally needed to clear the cookies and cache commonly.

All of this has us questioning if Samsung might have prioritized the pill’s internals over the premium construct. Might they’ve gone with a plastic construct over a metallic one in favor of a sooner processor? Whereas it’s worthwhile to say the chip scarcity, this trade-off would’ve been greater than acceptable at this value level.

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The low brightness paired with the reflectiveness of the glass equates to a poor out of doors expertise.

The TFT LCD show of the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is reasonably unremarkable. The glass is reflective and plasticky, and smudges stand out at each viewing angle. The brightness maxes out at 360 nits, which means it doesn’t get brilliant sufficient to chop via the glossiness more often than not. For indoor use, the brightness is passable, although from sharper viewing angles you would possibly encounter some rainbowing results which make it laborious to see the content material on display even in well-lit situations.

Shade-wise, the show is enough. Movies and apps don’t look washed out, and the colours have good vibrance — particularly reds and yellows. Nonetheless, when there are transferring scenes with each deep darks and brighter areas, the haziness and blurriness give away the cheapness of the show.

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The highest and backside ends of the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite are plastic.

The pill’s audio system aren’t nice both. Whereas they’re marketed as stereo audio system that assist Dolby Atmos, you could handle your expectations right here. They emit subsequent to no bass and might sound a bit tinny at excessive quantity. We might suggest utilizing the built-in headphone jack or connecting a separate Bluetooth audio machine.

One other cost-cutting space is the absence of any gyroscope {hardware}. The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite contains the accelerometer and compass from the common Galaxy Tab A7. Nonetheless, it’s devoid of any gyroscope sensors, which means apps and video games that require gyroscope performance is not going to work.

There’s a purpose why Samsung doesn’t go into an excessive amount of element concerning the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite’s 8MP major camera and 2MP selfie camera.

The cameras are seemingly there for the sake of getting cameras. They aren’t a focus of the machine, and, at this value level, you wouldn’t anticipate distinctive cameras.

8MP major8MP major2MP selfie2MP selfie

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite specs

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite review: The decision

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The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a strong selection for folks desirous to upsize their Android expertise with out overspending. It doesn’t boast the entire options or efficiency numbers of extra expensive gadgets, however at $159.99 — and infrequently cheaper on sale — what extra are you able to fairly ask for? With well-rounded software program, premium construct supplies, a headphone jack, and expandable storage, this budget-oriented pill will proceed to have worth even on the finish of its lengthy life cycle due to Samsung’s glorious long-term replace insurance policies.

Specifically, the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a good choice for youthful youngsters and older people who’re more likely to be much less delay by the low-res show and weak efficiency. Samsung Children is a Samsung-exclusive “youngsters mode” app that lets you flip your machine right into a protected digital setting and leisure hub. Moreover, it doesn’t require an excessive amount of processing energy, which means the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a major candidate to be became a devoted Samsung Children machine.

Funds tablets may also be nice for a lot of totally different area of interest use circumstances. For instance, whereas the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is nowhere highly effective sufficient to run demanding video games constantly, it might simply be used as an affordable, devoted Twitch chat show for checking in on feedback whereas streaming on a pc or console.

With that mentioned, when you’ll be utilizing your pill various hours per day, the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite in all probability isn’t your finest guess. In the event you can afford it, we extremely suggest spending a bit bit extra to ensure your self a greater expertise.

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Samsung has alternate options to the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite inside its personal lineup. With a bigger show, larger battery, and higher total efficiency, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 ($229.99 at Amazon) is by far probably the greatest price range tablets in the marketplace. In the event you’re keen to half with a bit bit more cash, the Galaxy Tab S7 FE ($404.99 at Amazon) is a much bigger 12.4-inch pill with a extra highly effective Snapdragon 778G chip. Be sure you keep away from the 5G model, although, because it homes a weaker chipset.

The Tab A7 Lite is an efficient purchase if you wish to upsize your Android expertise with out spending some huge cash.

In the event you’re trying past Samsung, different producers have choices on the prepared. The Amazon Fireplace HD 10 Plus ($179.99 at Amazon) is an excellent cheaper various which will suit your scenario higher when you’re extra ingrained in Amazon’s ecosystem. In the event you’re an Apple individual, ease of use will include its value premium. Nonetheless, the bottom iPad ($269 at Amazon) remains to be a really compelling choice. It additionally options the A13 Bionic chip, which is way superior to the Mediatek Helio P22T whenever you consider how properly Apple optimizes its software program for its {hardware}.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite: High questions and solutions

How outdated is the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite?

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite got here out in June 2021.

Does the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite include a charger?

Sure, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite does include a charger within the field.

Can the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite make calls?

When you have the LTE model, you may make calls via the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite.

Is the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite 5G?

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite (LTE) doesn’t assist 5G. There’s a mobile model that helps LTE, nevertheless.

Does the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite include a pen?

Artists might wish to look elsewhere. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite doesn’t include a stylus (S Pen).

Does the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite have wi-fi charging?

No. The Samsung Galaxy A7 Lite can solely cost by way of USB-C 2.0 at a most cost fee of 15W.

Is Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A7 Lite good for teenagers?

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite would possibly simply be the quintessential youngsters’ pill. It’s cheap and well-built, they usually gained’t be utilizing it an excessive amount of outdoor as a result of display’s glossiness and low most brightness.

Does the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite have an SD card slot?

All variations of the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite have a microSD card slot that helps as much as 1,024GB of additional storage.

Is the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite waterproof?

No. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite doesn’t have any IP score or water resistance certification.

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