Only a few weeks is left to the festive season but this year shopping list demands are different because of the pandemic. People want to buy things that are useful. Keeping this in mind Samsung has come up with the Galaxy Tab A7, which is a mid-range device to take care of online learning, videoconferencing and watching films. Here’s a look at the basic features.

The first element that strikes the user is the position of the selfie camera. Like the premium Galaxy Tab S7, it’s on the centre of the long right bezel, which makes sense because tablets are usually held in horizontal mode to watch films, play games and, most importantly, during videoconferencing. Also interesting is that the Galaxy Tab A7 doesn’t come with a fingerprint scanner, so one has to use face ID or pin code. In our review of the device we will check if the face ID works in the dark.

The body is mostly metal, which gives it a premium feel. If not anything, it looks like a well-designed mid-range tablet. On the back is an 8MP main camera but tablets are not about top specs. The areas of focus are entertainment and education. Keeping the price low will certainly make parents consider the tablet as a festive season gift for children attending online classes. In our initial testing, there are no lags while switching between tasks and most apps run smoothly. Being a mid-range device, it would be ambitious to use resource-draining software like Adobe Premiere Pro.

In way of sound, it’s good to see the presence of quad stereo speakers to complement the 10.4-inch display. Weighing just 476g, it’s light enough to hold and watch movies. And before you ask, a 3.5mm headphone jack is present. It is also important to know that you can watch Netflix with full HD resolution. It gives the feeling of Galaxy Tab S6 Lite but that has a higher configuration and price.

Out of the box, it comes with 32GB storage but some of it is used by the software, yet there is enough left to work around with, especially if you plan to use it for online classes or for watching films. There is a big 7,040mAh battery which should be enough for heavy use. There is no Samsung DeX or S Pen support, which is kept for more premium devices.

Let’s see how the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 — Wi-Fi edition is priced at Rs 17,999 and 4G edition at Rs 21,999 — stacks up next to the new eighth-generation iPad which has been given a big boost with the powerful A12 Bionic chip.