Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE

The Galaxy Tab S7 FE is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G  processor with Adreno 619 GPU. The phone has 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage which is expandable using microSDXC. The Galaxy Tab S7 FE runs on Android 11 and all this is powered by a 10090mAh battery with support for 45W fast charging. The 12.4-inch display can be used for both streaming entertainment and boosting productivity. 

Variants

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE price in Kenya is:

• Kshs. 49,000 for the 64GB 4GB RAM
• Kshs. 72,500 for the 128GB 6GB RAM

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE Specs and price in Kenya

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE design

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE looks similar to its pricier siblings, the Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7+. The all-metal body feels incredibly premium and you can get this device in multiple colours, including Mystic Black, Mystic Silver, Mystic Green and Mystic Pink. At around 608g, it is relatively heavy making it tough to hold and use for long stretches of time.Along the flattened sides, you'll find all the buttons, ports and connectors. There are also exposed antenna bands along the edges of the tablet for LTE reception. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE lacks a headphone jack, which is the first thing I noticed upon examining it. I know it's fashionable to remove this from smartphones these days but with a tablet this size, it should have been included. On the right (or the top, if you're looking at it horizontally), we have the power and volume buttons at one end and a SIM tray at the other. The latter can hold one Nano-SIM and a microSD card.

You get two AKG-tuned speakers placed in a way that they offer proper left-right stereo sound when the tablet is used in landscape orientation. This is two speakers fewer than what you get with the more expensive Tab S7 models, but Dolby Atmos is still supported. There's a USB Type-C port on the bottom, and contact pins and grooves on the left for docking the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE with an optional keyboard case.

The display measures 12.4 inches diagonally with a 16:10 aspect ratio, just like the Galaxy Tab S7+. However, the resolution is a bit lower at 2560x1600 pixels and it's a LCD panel instead of AMOLED. The refresh rate is also a standard 60Hz, which is a bit disappointing. The panel still gets plenty bright, contrast is very good, and HDR videos play just fine. The bezels around the display are evenly thick with rounded corners, and this offers a good place to rest your thumb when holding the tablet.

The front camera is placed such that it sits above the display when in landscape mode, rather than the portrait orientation on all iPads. Samsung hasn't provided any fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy Tab S7 FE, which I think was a big mistake, but we'll get to that later.

The back of the tablet is pretty nondescript except for a small camera bump in one corner. The included S-Pen is larger than the ones that come with Galaxy Note smartphones. It has a flattened side that helps you align it magnetically with either the back of the tablet, near the camera module, or the right side, just below the volume button. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE ships with an S Pen stylus, a USB Type-A to Type-C cable, and a 15W charger.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE specifications and software

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G SoC. Phones that we've reviewed with this same SoC support 5G, but this tablet only works on 4G (LTE) cellular networks. The Galaxy Tab S7 FE can be used to make cellular phone calls too. Other connectivity features include dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5, and all the expected sensors and satellite navigation systems. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE features a 10,090mAh battery and fast charge support of up to 45W, although you'll need to buy a 45W charger separately. The tablet runs Samsung's OneUI 3.1 which is based on Android 11. The experience and features are what you can expect from any recent Galaxy smartphone, just supersized for the big screen. The standard interface lets you open up to three apps at once in split-screen mode but the procedure for this is a bit convoluted. After you've launched the first app, you'll need to open the other two via the Edge Panel, a floating carousel of shortcuts. You'll have to manually populate this floating tray with the apps you need, and you can even set up combinations of apps you wish to open together. It works well, but the initial setup can be a chore.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE performance and battery life

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE had no trouble with standard tablet duties. The Qualcomm SoC was powerful enough for UHD video playback and games. Asphalt 9: Legends, Battlegrounds Mobile India, and the like ran just fine. The tablet did get a bit warm but nothing that was unmanageable. Videos looked very good too and I found myself using this tablet a lot for watching on-demand content.The one feature that I really missed is a fingerprint sensor. Face recognition is sluggish and almost never works in low light. Plus, you need to be in direct line of sight with the camera for it to work, which is not always easy if you're not sitting at a desk. A capacitive fingerprint sensor in the power button would have fixed this unnecessary problem.

The LTE functionality in the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE is definitely handy if you're willing to pay for a data plan. Sure, you can always use your phone as a hotspot, but seamless switching between Wi-Fi and LTE on a 4G tablet ensures you're always connected, which can be a life-saver if you're doing sensitive work that requires a reliable Internet connection.

The cameras on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE are serviceable. The 5-megapixel front camera is more than adequate for video conferencing and is miles better than your average laptop webcam. The 8-megapixel rear camera is strictly average for photography but is useful when it comes to scanning documents. An LED flash would have really come in handy for such a use case, especially when trying to scan documents in low light.

Battery life was very good. When using Chrome and a bit of Netflix with about 8-10 hours of screen-on time, I was able to get through nearly one full day on a single charge. I could drain the battery quicker if I played a lot of games, but on average, I was quite happy with the amount of runtime I got from the tablet. I did run our HD video loop test, and it lasted for 13 hours and 47 minutes which is lower than what I expected.

Charging such a large battery with the bundled 15W charger took around three hours, but it does charge quicker when connected to a higher wattage USB PD charger.