Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 310 Review

We have had a love-hate relationship with Samsung’s 7-inch tablets. The first one, the P1000 was downright ridiculous as it was bulky, glitchy and simply too expensive, especially with the iPad coming at a similar price. The one thing that was good was the portable 7-inch display, which made the tablet easy to be carried around. That was followed by the Galaxy Tab 620 or the Galaxy 7.0 Plus and that device did impress us enough, but the price was still quite high. Enter the Galaxy Tab 2 310, the umpteenth device in Samsung’s Galaxy Tabs range. 

Not AMOLED, but good enough

For the record, Samsung has been manufacturing tablets in various form factors - from the 10.1 to the 8.9 to the 7.7 and the popular 7-inch screen size. Well, that was just round one, as Samsung tossed all of them back into its rabbit hole to get the second generation of Galaxy Tabs, which this device, the Tab 2 310 is also a part of. The Galaxy Tab 2 310 is one interesting product. It’s under the 20k price tag, has 3G (and calling) support and a nice portable form factor. But does it withstand our litmus test? Read on to find out. 

Design and Build Quality

The Tab 2 310 is a fine looking tablet. We’re starting off with this line, because most people have started discounting the plastic-y design of Samsung products. It has a premium feel to it, something which has not often been synonymous with Samsung’s earlier offerings. The tablet comes with a metallic back and a black bezel around the front, which is extremely prone to fingerprints. Let’s have a quick tour of the device. 

It can make calls too

The front consists of a 7-inch WSVGA PLS TFT display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. It has a earpiece (for calling purposes) and a front VGA camera above and the Samsung logo below the screen. The bezel was a bit too large for our liking, though. The SIM card and microSD card slot are located on the left, while the power button and the volume rocker are located to the right. The buttons have a good amount of feedback and the flaps for the slots are sturdy enough for prolonged use. The 3.5mm headphone jack is located on the top, while the proprietary connector jack and the speaker grill are located on the bottom. The Tab 2 310 comes with a 3 megapixel rear camera sans flash. Under the hood is a non-removable 4000mAh battery. 

Portable

With a weight of 345 grams, the Tab 2 310 is light enough to be portable and that chunky feeling of the old tablets disappears, which is definitely a good thing. At 10.5mm, it’s slightly bigger than the Tab 620, but we’re not complaining as the tablet still feels sturdy and durable. Probably, the Samsung Galaxy S III could have learnt a thing or two from this model.