Toshiba Excite 7.7 Tablet Review: AMOLED in a Fun Size
by Dustin Sklavos on August 29, 2012 2:01 PM ESTConclusion: If You're In the Market, It's Worth a Look
Without even playing with them you could probably easily argue that the Excite 10 and Excite 13.3 tablets just don't have much to offer an already saturated Android tablet market, but the Toshiba Excite 7.7 is another story entirely. With the Excite 7.7, Toshiba has produced a relatively speedy Android tablet with a knockout screen and an impressively light form factor. Tablet size is bound to be a matter of taste for individual users; some may prefer the increased screen size and real estate of a 10" tablet (Big Buddha knows my eyesight is going and I'll probably be one of those in a decade or so) while others will likely fall over themselves over the Excite 7.7's small-but-still-useful dimensions.
If you're looking for a smaller tablet and price is a primary concern, odds are you've either already clicked "Add to Cart" on the Kindle Fire and are anxiously awaiting its shipment or you're planning on ordering a Google Nexus 7. Google's (and ASUS's) entrant is liable to basically just knock the Kindle Fire right out of competition, but in the process it does take a lot of the shine off of Toshiba's Excite 7.7. It has similar dimensions and weight, and even benefits from a newer version of Android as well as NFC capability.
.jpg)
With those things in mind, though, the existence of the Nexus 7 may wound the Excite 7.7, but it doesn't kill it. Toshiba's tablet sports both superior battery life and a much nicer display, and for some users these factors may very well be enough to warrant the extra money. The dynamic brightness can be on the irritating side, especially with no way to disable it, but it's not quite as bad as it sounds. Personally it was far more frustrating for objective testing than it was for actual use, where it was easy enough to ignore.
I think the Toshiba Excite 7.7 is probably going to wind up being lost in the shuffle, and that's a shame because it's worthy of attention. Toshiba learned a lot from the Thrive and they're clearly willing to experiment a bit with the technology if the AMOLED display is any indication. That display alone may be worth the price of admission; either way, the Excite 7.7 is at least worth considering.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
50 Comments
View All Comments
solinear - Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - link
Seriously, this read like an upbeat funeral, sans the wake.I think that is the sign of two things: The tablet market is about as exciting as a yawn and that maybe they need to get someone that doesn't dislike the platform they are reviewing before they even start the review.
VivekGowri - Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - link
There's a few interesting tablet products out there - every new iPad, the Nexus 7, Surface, the headlining ASUS and Samsung W8 and Android tablets, and not a whole lot else. Sony comes up with some interesting ideas, but the execution is rarely there so I'm not sure I can count them. Basically, there's a lot of tablets out there and not a whole lot of differentiation between most of them, so for the most part they're really not particularly interesting. With that said, I really like the 7.7" form factor so combining that with Tegra 3 results in an intriguing device that I would never want to pay for.teiglin - Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - link
I think the timing here is pretty unfortunate. I bought a Galaxy Tab 7.7 just over six months ago, because I wanted a tab small enough to hold comfortably with one hand. Back then, the alternatives were Kindle Fire/Nook Tablet, which suffered from poor performance and middling 1024x600 panels, or the Galaxy Tab 7+, which had good hardware but suffered the same display woes as the ultra-budget tabs while still being around $400. In that landscape, it wasn't a hard decision to spend a bit more on a tablet that had a top-notch display (not to mention, I've always been a huge OLED fan) and solid internals. Also at that time, the Excite 7.7 wouldn't appear for another four months or so.Today, things are much worse for premium, small tabs. When you can have a tegra3, 1280x800 Nexus 7 for $250, it's a lot harder to justify spending nearly twice as much just to get OLED in a slightly thinner package, instead of a perfectly good IPS LCD.
wiyosaya - Thursday, August 30, 2012 - link
"There's a few interesting tablet products out there - every new iPad"IMHO, personal preferences reveal bias which, after having read only the first page of this review, and the first few comments, has made me stop reading the review.
Where's the "rolleyes" smilie?
Whatever. I suppose it is almost impossible to get an unbiased review these days.
wiyosaya - Thursday, August 30, 2012 - link
Opps. My fault. Not the reviewer's comment. Just someone enamored in the iWorld. Again, where's the "rolleyes" smilie?EnzoFX - Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - link
Also, why not compare this directly to the Nexus 7? 7" is more the target audience with a 7" tablet, be it amoled or not.RamarC - Thursday, August 30, 2012 - link
"can it really justify the $499 starting price?"No. Twice as much as Nexus 7 but only slighty different -- not really any need to beyond that...
mcnabney - Thursday, August 30, 2012 - link
Yeah, the device is identical to a Nexus 7 - only swapping a 7" IPS for a 7.7" AMOLED. The additional cost of that display is a few dollars - not $250. Toshiba clearly isn't interested in selling these.smartypnt4 - Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - link
Seriously?I mean, seriously?
I fail to see how this is not an interesting product. The only thing that stops it from being truly competitive in my book is the price tag. Granted, Samsung came out with the Tab 7.7 a while back, but its internals weren't good enough, and Touchwiz remains the worst Android skin I've yet used.
Also, are we really complaining about having more product reviews on here? That's the only thing anyone could possibly take issue with in regards to this site: they don't have as many reviews as other sites do on mainstream products like tablets. Then again, they don't get sent as many tablets as places like Engadget.
As far as the reporting goes: if you don't like it, you don't have to read it. Honestly, it didn't read to me like he didn't care about the platform he's reviewing. He made disclaimers up front about the fact that he's not the go-to tablet guy here, and that he doesn't typically use a tablet. Even if his review had come across that way, I fail to see how you would take issue with it.
Origin64 - Thursday, August 30, 2012 - link
"Just keep scrolling" is a mantra that few take the trouble to remind themselves of, sadly.