Samsung Tab S7 FE Review: A Good Tablet that Could Have Been Better

Samsung started shipping out ‘Fan Edition’ devices with the Samsung S20 FE. It was hugely popular and received lots of positive feedback.

Likewise, Samsung tried to replicate the same success with its flagship tablet Tab S7 and S7+. Samsung Tab S7 FE, the fan edition of the Tab S7 and S7+ was launched on May 27, 2021. However, it is more of a mid-range device rather than a flagship with some compromises.

So, what can we expect from the Samsung Tab S7 FE? let’s take a look at this review of the Samsung Tab S7 FE.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE Review

Design

Samsung Tab S7 FE actually looks like the Galaxy Tab S7+ at first glance. It uses a similar metal chassis with curved edges, a pill-shaped camera module on the rear, antenna lines on the left and right edges, and Samsung branding on the top left corner.

The only difference between the two is the omission of a glass strip nearby the camera module on the S7 FE. That’s because the Tab S7+ comes with an active S Pen that charges wirelessly when placed on the glass strip. But the S Pen of the S7 FE is just a regular stylus.

The metal build of the S7 FE is remarkable as the tablet feels premium with the brushed finish. The power and volume buttons feel premium as well and it includes a slot below the buttons for a micro SD and sim card. On the opposite side, it has a proprietary pin for Samsung’s Keyboard cover.

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Each speaker is placed on the top and bottom, making it a dual speaker system instead of a quad-speaker system that is used on the S7+. But, these AKG branded speakers are an excellent pair of speakers with very good loudness. It has enough punch in the low frequencies and the highs also sound pretty good.

So, it almost has everything except the fingerprint sensor. A fingerprint sensor would have made life much easier as the face unlock is not reliable.

Overall, the Tab S7 FE has really good build quality to go along with a premium design.

Display

Upfront, it has a huge 12.4 inches LCD panel with a screen resolution of 1600 x 2560 pixels. The omission of an AMOLED panel on the Fan Edition device is surely disappointing but it is also a regular 60Hz panel.

While it is not an AMOLED panel, the display is not bad. The screen is sharp thanks to the QHD resolution and the colors are punchy for an LCD panel. I did not have any problem with the brightest as well. I was easily able to use it outdoors and I enjoyed watching content on this LCD panel.

But, I sure did miss the high refresh rate smoothness on its big display. Many Samsung phones now offer HRR displays at affordable prices, so, weirdly, Samsung didn’t include HRR on the Tab S7 FE.

S Pen

The included S Pen is a standard one without Bluetooth connectivity for remote control and air gestures. And, because the screen works at 60Hz, the S Pen doesn’t benefit from its low latency, therefore, doesn’t have the pen-to-paper feel.

You are still getting the best stylus package considering you can use Samsung’s excellent Notes app and various other features such as Screen Write, Live Messages, and AR doodle. The Tab S7 FE also comes with third-party apps like Clip Studio, Canva, and Noteshelf for enhanced drawing and writing.

Performance

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE rocks a Snapdragon 750G chipset which is paired with either 4GB RAM and 64GB storage or 6GB RAM and 128GB storage.

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Given, the S20 FE rocked the same chipset as its flagship counterpart, it would have been better if S7 FE had the same Snapdragon 865+ that powers the Tab S7 and S7+.

Nonetheless, this tab is great when you’re just navigating through the UI, running apps, or using S Pen to draw or take a note. Using two apps on multi-window was also not a problem, it did pretty well. However, using the tab on DeX mode is a bit of a problem on the base variant with 4GB of RAM. Some apps might even refresh when you have many apps open at a time in DeX mode.

On to the gaming, the Snapdragon 750G can provide you good performance. But, you will run into some problems with games like COD Mobile as it tries to push pixels onto a high res display.

Battery Life

Samsung Tab S7 FE boasts a massive 10,090mAh battery. And, I was expecting it to be a solid performer with more than a day of battery life.

It did get through a day on heavy usage when I was binge-watching on Netflix. So, it can provide more than a day of usage if you are just watching videos. But, I was having to charge it by the end of the day when I was using it heavily.

For charging, I did not receive any charger with my review unit but it comes bundled with only a 15W charger. The 15W charger is supposed to take more than 3 hours to fully charge the battery. Luckily, I have a 33W charger with me, which took around 2 hours to fully charge it.

Cameras

Tab S7 FE has an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera.

They are usable cameras for video calls and occasional snaps of documents. But, that’s about it. You won’t be taking amazing photos with this tablet. Well, tablets were never meant to offer impressive cameras.

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Software

Tab S7 FE comes with One UI 3.1 on top of Android 11 out of the box.

The software experience is similar to what you expect from a flagship Samsung smartphone with One UI. There have not been any major changes to One UI for tablets. One of the major issues is the app compatibility with orientation as some apps do not support landscape mode.

As for the DeX mode, it is pretty good if you want to quickly write up an article with Samsung’s keyboard while you’re surfing the internet. With the wireless display mode, you can also use the tablet as a second screen of your PC or use it as a pad for drawing.

While the Android experience on a tablet is not as good by default. Samsung probably provides the best experience you can get on an Android tablet.

Conclusion

Samsung Tab S7 FE is a good tablet but I don’t think it justifies the Fan Edition label. It provides a massive display with impressive sound quality, good battery life, S Pen, and a good android experience. The performance is not an issue either.

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Samsung Tab S7 FE price in Nepal is Rs. 69,999 (4/64GB) and it is actually cheaper in Nepal than in India. So, it is a good tablet but it is far from a perfect Fan Edition tablet.

What do you think about the Tab S7? Let us know in the comments!

Also, check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy M32 in Nepali.