The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE is probably the next Android tablet we'll be seeing from Samsung - well, that could be 'tablets' ...
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE is probably the next Android tablet we'll be seeing from Samsung - well, that could be 'tablets' plural, as some rumors suggest there will be two new mid-range slates from the company.
We've heard loads of rumors about the Galaxy Tab S7 FE, and the prospect of there being a plus-sized version of it, likely with a different name, is just the tip of the iceberg. Scroll down for everything we know so far.
While originally we thought this new tablet would be the Galaxy Tab S7 Lite, subsequent rumors called it the Tab S7 XL Lite, and finally an official listing named it the Tab S7 FE. This ties it into the Galaxy S20 FE, or the company's 'fan edition' line of lower-cost versions of top-price items.
Forget the name, this is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and Galaxy Tab S7, and is thought to have a large screen, 5G connectivity, and mid-range specs, likely coupled with a price that will be substantially lower than its non-FE predecessor.
Below you’ll find everything that we’ve heard about the Galaxy Tab S7 FE so far, including the likely specs and release date, followed by a list of the things that we want the tablet to offer.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE was officially listed on Samsung's German store, though was quickly removed. We now know its price and specs, though.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? An affordable alternative to the Galaxy Tab S7
- When is it out? Possibly June
- How much will it cost? Expect a mid-range price
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE release date and price
It looks very likely that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE will land in June, as multiple sources have suggested as much.
Most recently, Evan Blass (a leaker with an excellent track record) shared a roadmap of Samsung product launches, which has the Tab S7 Lite listed for June. Prior to that, another leaker also said June, and back in December 2020, a source claimed that the slate was in the early stages of development, which sounds about right for a June 2021 launch too.
No sources so far point to any other month, though the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite was unveiled in April 2020 and hit stores in May, so this would be a little more than a year after that if it does land in June.
As for price, there’s no news there, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite launched with a starting price of $349 / £349 / AU$649 (rising with more storage or the addition of LTE connectivity), so we might see a similar price for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Lite – though the rumored addition of 5G might push the price up.
News and leaks
The biggest Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE leaks so far come from Evan Blass (a leaker with a great track record) who has shared a render of it in black, along with several other images showing pink, blue, green and white book cover cases for it, complete with a holster for the S Pen stylus.
You can see thick bezels and a dual-lens camera in the image below, and Blass additionally shared that the Galaxy Tab S7 FE will apparently have a mid-range Snapdragon 750G chipset. Subsequent leaks from Blass have included even more color options.
Here's your best look yet at the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Lite (5G): https://t.co/8RwRKwBiJT pic.twitter.com/dxT36ExgS4April 15, 2021
Elsewhere, Twitter leaker WalkingCat has claimed that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE has a 12.4-inch 1600 x 2560 LCD screen and 5G support.
They’ve also shared the image you can see below, though it doesn’t show much beyond a large screen surrounded by black bezels. Given the screen size it's possible that this is actually the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE Plus (more on which further down), but we're not certain.
pic.twitter.com/AJHLIKrOhYFebruary 18, 2021
All that information was corroborated by Samsung itself when it accidentally listed the Galaxy Tab S7 FE 5G on its website. That also listed a 5MP front and 8MP rear camera, 10,090mAh battery, 45W fast charging and stylus compatibility.
We’d expect there will also be a version without 5G sold at a lower price, and indeed GalaxyClub has claimed as much. The site has also said that the Galaxy Tab S7 FE will come in black, silver, pink, and green shades, and in two different storage options.
They don’t know what storage sizes exactly, but a Geekbench listing linked to the slate fills in some specs gaps, pointing to a Snapdragon 750G chipset, Android 11, and 4GB of RAM – though we wouldn’t be surprised if there were also models with more RAM.
As for the battery, a Chinese certification listing suggests that will be able to charge at a speedy 44W - though there apparently won't be a 44W charger bundled with the slate, so you might have to spend extra to take advantage of that speed.
We’ve also heard from another source that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE might come in two screen sizes. They don’t say what those sizes would be, but it could mirror the main Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 range and come in 11-inch and 12.4-inch sizes – the latter of which has specifically been rumored above.
It’s the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus that currently comes in that larger size, so perhaps the larger FE model would be called the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE Plus, but we’re not sure yet.
A listing for a slate believed to be the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE Plus mentions 5G, unsurprisingly, but it raises the possibility that only this model - and not the standard Tab S7 FE - will have 5G.
What we want to see
We were impressed by the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, but with the following changes the Tab S7 FE could be even better.
1. Snappier performance
There’s a lot to like about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, but one thing we weren’t so fond of was its performance, which in our review we noted was sometimes slightly sluggish.
While we don’t expect blazing fast performance from a mid-range slate, we don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect it to be generally smooth, so we hope the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE has some improvements there.
2. An improved stylus experience
The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite supports Samsung’s S Pen stylus, which is appreciated, but the experience isn’t a match for using an iPad with an Apple Pencil.
There are two main reasons for this. One is that the screen felt slightly less responsive, as if there was a hint of friction or resistance, and the other – arguably bigger – issue was that the Tab S6 Lite doesn’t have palm detection, meaning that if you rest your palm on the tablet’s screen while sketching for example, it will register this as an input, which can be quite frustrating.
So for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE we want to see these problems solved, so the experience rivals the iPad range for sketching and other stylus-based tasks.
3. An official keyboard accessory
While the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite comes with stylus support, it didn’t launch with an official keyboard accessory, which slightly limits it as a productivity device.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 does support a physical keyboard though, so we’re hopeful that the Tab S7 FE will also come with support for an optional keyboard accessory.
- The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 could also land this year
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