Lenovo Tab7 Essential Specs: Here Is Everything You Should Know

The Lenovo Tab7 Essential is a 7-inch Android tablet with a price tag starting at just 79 US Dollars. As is usual at this price point, it does not feature any kind of premium hardware. However, unlike most of its competitors it is running almost vanilla Android. In addition to that, the LTE version offers phone and SMS capabilities. Let’s take a closer look at the Lenovo Tab7 Essential.

Update: You can already get the Lenovo Tab E7 which is the newest version of this series.

Highlights

• 7-inch screen
• MediaTek quad-core processors
• Almost vanilla Android 7.0 Nougat
• Optional LTE & phone & SMS support

Lenovo Tab7 Essential: The Basics

As you might expect at this price, the Lenovo Tab7 Essential has a full plastic body. However, it does not feel as cheap as most of its competitors. It resembles the more expensive Lenovo Tab4 8. The tablet has two 2-megapixel cameras, a MicroSD card slot and a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack. With the LTE version, there is room for a Nano SIM too.

The 7-inch screen is an IPS panel with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Unlike most of its competitors, the display is fully laminated.

Inside the Tab7 Essential sits a 1.1GHz or 1.3GHz quad-core processor from MediaTek, depending wheather you get the LTE or WiFi version. Both chips are supported by 1GB of RAM and a 8GB to 16GB internal storage. That is very low-end hardware and as you can read in my full review, the performance is disappointing.

Not many tablets feature almost vanilla Android these days but the Lenovo Tab7 Essential is an exception. In fact, except for two apps from Microsoft and some standard ones like a file manager, no spammy third party apps are pre-installed. That is one of the highlights of this tablets. It is running Android 7.0 Nougat and I think an update to Oreo is unlikely.

Full Specifications

My Review & Videos

I reviewed the Lenovo Tab7 Essential and my final verdict is not good at all. While the build quality, display and battery life are surprisingly good for this price, the performance is a huge disappointment. The tablet works fine with simple tasks like RSS readers or podcasts apps. However, it struggles with intensive web browsing and often times I had to wait several seconds when switching apps or going back to the home screen. You can read my full review linked below and watch my embedded video.

Read now: My full Lenovo Tab7 Essential review

Alternatives

The Lenovo Tab7 Essential has a couple of interesting competitors. Its major rival is the Amazon Fire 7 with similar hardware. During my time with that tablet, it performed noticeably better. With that being said, the display is not as nice as Lenovo’s is.

If you are looking for noticeable improvements, you could check out the Amazon Fire HD 8 and Lenovo Tab4 8. While both tablets are quite similar, the Fire HD 8 is a bit cheaper in most countries. However, you will have to use Amazon’s Android. If you want the Google experience, like with the Tab7 Essential, you could go for the Lenovo Tab4 8.

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Lenovo Tab7 Essential

Read now: Our Lenovo Tab7 Essential Review

The Lenovo Tab7 Essential is a very cheap 7-inch tablet running almost vanilla Android. Considering the price, the display, build quality and battery life are great. However, in my opinion, it is too slow for everyday use. Some of its competitors are noticeably faster.

Positive

• Very inexpensive
• Good display
• Decent build quality
• Almost vanilla Android 7.0 Nougat
• Good battery life

Negative

• Way too slow – even for its price
• Major software updates unlikely

Buy on* Amazon

Articles about this tablet

• Lenovo Tab7 Essential Review: Great Surprise Or Slow Disappointment?