Not to be left out of the spotlight, Samsung has finally unleashed the newest slate in their Galaxy Tab series. Releasing the smaller tablets first, the Samsung  Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (say that 5 times fast)  is now available to purchase on Amazon. While it’s nice to have an alternative to the everyday 10.1 inch screen, the  Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 ships with last year’s hardware. While it does come with Ice Cream Sandwich preinstalled, the year old specs is already ancient compared to the new batch of upcoming tablets.

Priced at $250 the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (whew, mouthful), while carrying Samsung premium tittle, is targeted to compete against the Kindle Fire. Indeed at $50 extra, the tablet offers more powerful hardware and a somewhat pure Google experience. I say ‘somewhat’ because while the GT27.0 offers Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, it has the signature Samsung Touchwiz. While I’m not a fan of OEM skinning, the tablet version of Touchwiz does offer useful apps taking full advantage of a larger screen. Though (wishful thinking) I prefer Samsung gave the users an option to turn it off.

Like I mentioned earlier, the hardware is a year old. With the slew of upcoming Tegra 3 device, specially the NVIDIA’s $199 quad core tablets, GT27.0 internals already places it as a mid-range device. Even the camera’s scream mid-range. The slate comes with 3 megapixel rear camera and an early 2000′s VGA front camera. Though, I applaud Samsung for finally allowing users to expand the memory with the addition of a microSD slot.

If Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet or Amazon Kindle Fire feel too constrained, the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 gives an alternative choice. Though I highly suggest those unconvinced to wait a little longer.

Specs:

Android™ 4.0
(Ice Cream Sandwich)

Main (Rear) : 3 Megapixel Camera

Sub (Front) : VGA for Video Call

HSPA+ 21Mbps 850/900/1900/2100

1 GHz Dual-Core Processor

7” WSVGA (1024×600) PLS TFT

Codec : MPEG4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, DivX, WMV7, WMV8, WMV9, VP8

Format : 3GP, ASF, AVI, MP4, WMV, FLV,
MKV, WebM

Playback / Recording : Full HD@30fps, HD@30fps