HP Slate 7+, a good gaming tablet from HP

Hewlett Packard may not be the company that is so popular in tablet world, but the company used to have some interesting offers in the market. HP Slate 7+ is one of them.

Just a while ago, i’ve already showed you 2 awesome and powerful tablets from Hewlett Packard or HP under the HP Slate series.

They are HP Slate 7 Extreme and HP Slate 8 Pro, 2 powerful gaming tablets powered by Tegra 4 chipset, which is one of my favorite mobile processors last year.
Today, i have one other tablet that is released under the same flag and it’s called HP Slate 7+.


However, unlike its 2 brothers, this tablet is actually the low-end model of this series.

Packing a 7-inch 1280x800 pixel display, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 12-core GPU and a slightly smaller 4000mAh power battery, HP Slate 7+ is definitely the cheapest version in this series.

However, don’t take a fast conclusion though, this tablet is still a good choice of tablet, especially for those of you who are only looking for a budget tablet with great performance.

Well, if you’re interested to know more about this device, then please check out my personal review of HP Slate 7+.

But first, as usual, before you go straight to read my personal review, please allow me to give you the brief introduction of HP Slate 7+.


It’s not so often to see HP homemade tablets on the market given that this manufacturer is still pretty much busy doing its job making laptops, printers and other computer-related hardware.

However, this company actually already has some Android tablets available on its website, which were released last or 2 years ago.

Unfortunately, that project didn’t manage to push HP in front of competition in tablet market, let alone to gain sales from it.

The good news is, HP has learned its lesson very well.

HP Slate 7+ is still a really good tablet though, powered by Tegra 3 chipset, which is one of the most powerful mobile processors in 2012, alongside Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro and Apple’s A6/A6X chipsets.



When it comes to design, HP Slate 7+ has its own footprint compared to its bigger brother, HP Slate 7 Extreme, not to mention its uncle (haha :D), HP Slate 8 Pro.

However, the design of this tablet actually looks kind of generic with other Android tablets out there, with simple looking design, huge bezels and almost fully rounded corners.

Compared to other HP Slate models, HP Slate 7 Extreme or HP Slate 8 Pro, which both have professional and distinctive design, this HP Slate 7+ just looks okay for today’s tablets, it doesn’t look bad either though, but it just looks generic.

The good news is, this tablet is the low-end model in this series, so you can’t complaint on its design.

Besides, this tablet still has some great specs in its class, like a Tegra 3 quad core processor, 1GB of RAM, 12-core GPU, 5MP camera, 720p resolution on 7-inch display and all bunch of other great goodies.

So again, you just can’t and in fact, are not allowed to complain on the design of this $150 tablet.

This tablet is still an impressive tablet in that price range.

And you must also know that this tablet is packing a 5MP rear-facing camera and microSD card slot, which are 2 things that can’t be found on other $150 top-shelves tablets, like Google Nexus 7 (2012) or Kindle Fire HD 7.

So yeah, with all of these goodies and pros against other 2012’s competitors, then HP Slate 7+ is definitely a worth buying tablet.

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• No SIM
• Released December 2013
• 7.0 inch Capacitive touchscreen, 800 x 1280 pixels, (~216 ppi pixel density)
• Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Nvidia Tegra 3 Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU
• 1 GB RAM
• 5 MP rear-facing camera, autofocus
• VGA front-facing camera
• microSD, up to 32 GB
• 8 GB Internal storage
• No GPRS
• No EDGE
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth
• USB
• No Radio
• GPS
• Java
• Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery
• Up to 7 hours 30 min (multimedia) Talk time

In terms of spec sheet, HP Slate 7+ just doesn’t disappoint.

For a $150 tablet, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 12-core GPU (which comes bundled on Tegra 3 SoC), 5MP rear-facing camera, a 7-inch display sporting the 1280x800 pixel resolution, microSD card slot and 4000mAh power battery, must be considered as really great in that price range (you must always remember this).

I know – compared to other today’s powerful tablets, the specs of HP Slate 7+ definitely won’t stack up against other rivals, even its fellas, HP Slate 7 Extreme and HP Slate 8 Pro, which both are just powerful with their Tegra 4 chipset.

However, always keep in mind that even today’s powerful tablets in $199 price range, like Google Nexus 7 (2013) and Kindle Fire 7 HDX still don’t have microSD card slot (and will NEVER have), not to mention, Kindle Fire 7 HDX also doesn’t come with rear-facing camera (while Google Nexus 7 has) so this makes HP Slate 7+ a good choice for a budget tablet, despite having lower quality specs than those 2 rivals.


Even though this tablet is only packing a 720p display (1280X800 pixels), its screen still looks good, if not great, for a tablet in $150 price range.

Besides, most of $150-priced tablets today are still sporting that same quality 720p display, even the $199 HP Slate 7 Extreme and Tegra Note.

So that means, the display on HP Slate 7+ is still considered as great in that price range.

And given that this tablet is using a 7-inch display, which is ideal for 1280x800 pixel resolution, then everything that you throw on the screen, either books, magazines, movies, web pages or HD games, all will look sharp and clear in your naked eyes.

It may not have the best and sharpest resolution on the market right now, but for that $150 price range, having a 720p resolution a 7-inch device is still good for today’s standard.

As a matter of fact, movies or videos with 720p or HD resolution (1280x800) actually already look quite sharp on any device, even on the much larger 14-inch device like my laptop.

However, given that this is a 7-inch tablet, which is quite smaller than my laptop, then the detail and sharpness of the screen will not be as great as other 1080p tablets.

So you always zoom in zoom out the screen if you can read the text or see the images perfectly, especially when reading books, magazines or browsing the web.


Just like other HP Slate series, HP Slate 7+ comes pre-installed with the standard light UI of stock Android OS, which doesn’t implement too many heavy bloatwares or pre-loaded apps on its software.

So as a result, the performance of this tablet will be fast and smooth consistently just like Google Nexus 7 (2012 edition), especially thanks to its Tegra 3 and 1GB of RAM.

So executing tasks, even the heavy ones at the same time, will not give a huge impact to the whole performance of this tablet, given its light and simple UI plus Android Jelly Bean that comes out of the box.


On the performance sector, HP Slate 7+ has what it takes to be one of the best fast performing tablets in its class.

With the specs like a quad-core 1.3GHz Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM and 12-core GPU, everything on this tablet will run smoothly and effortlessly.

And the fact that this tablet is only packing a 720p display (1280x800), then its performance will be consistently fast and smooth because its hardware (CPU and GPU) are only required to deliver the power to the medium resolution screen, which requires less pixels than those tablets using 1080p display.

So doing things like watching movies, reading books or magazines, browsing the web pages and playing games, will be so pleasing to do because this tablet runs really fast with no lag whatsoever.


And there is also one great thing of having this tablet than 2012’s Google Nexus 7 (given that they both are packed with the same exact specs).

As you may know, the first-gen of Google Nexus 7 has some issues with its flash storage.

Some users of this tablet experienced that after using it for several months, this tablet became laggy and buggy if it’s crammed with too many files on its storage.

Many believe that its flash storage is the one to blame because Asus doesn’t use the best quality NAND flash on this tablet.

The good thing is, Google already addressed this issue, however, on the second-gen Google Nexus 7, not this first-gen 2012’s Google Nexus 7.

And given that HP Slate 7+ is made by Hewlett Packard, not Asus, and it was just released a few months ago, not 2 years ago like Google Nexus 7, then i’m really sure that the whole quality of this tablet, including its flash storage, will be so much even better than 2012’s Google Nexus 7.

So you don’t need to worry about the laggy problem that happened on the first-gen Google Nexus 7.

Besides, HP has been known as one of the best laptop manufacturers in the world. So i’m really sure the quality of this tablet will be so good.

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Despite being a cheap $150 tablet, it’s still good to hear that HP chooses Tegra 3 as the processor inside this tablet.

And that means, HP Slate 7+ will be a good gaming tablet, if not the best, and in fact, better than other $150 tablets out there.

Just like Google Nexus 7 (2012), with this tablet, you’ll be able to play any kind of games, even the most graphically intense ones, across the Google Play Store, of course the ones that were released back in 2012 and before it, like Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Asphalt 7: Heat, GTA Vice City, Dead Trigger 1, ShadowGun 1 and 2, Horn (a masterpiece RPG game), Modern Combat 4, N.O.V.A 3 and many more.

Not to mention, all of these games can be played in buttery smooth performance and in full graphics.

That’s for sure because i’ve already see many 7-inch Tegra 3 tablets with 720p display capable to run all high-performing games in 2012).

The bad news is, when faced with the latest games released in 2013, especially the most graphically demanding ones, like Asphalt 8: Airborne, GTA San Andreas or Dead Trigger 2, this tablet definitely will struggle a lot when running this games, even in medium graphics setting.

As for GTA San Andreas, i don’t think this tablet is capable to run this game perfectly and smoothly, even in low graphics.

So you must set the graphics setting to the lowest level and see if this game work and run great on HP Slate 7+.

But don’t get your hopes to high because i’ve already seen this game run on the second-gen Google Nexus 7 (2013 with the Snapdragon S4 Pro).

And it runs really laggy in full graphics.


As a $150 budget tablet, you can’t complain on the camera quality of this tablet.

It’s still considered great to have a 5MP rear-facing camera on cheap tablet like this.

The photo and video quality may not have something to write home about, but at least, it gets the job done and the photos are still worth bragging on your social media accounts like Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

So you must appreciate HP’s efforts to bring this camera on this cheap budget tablet.


The other great thing found on this tablet is that, it’s packing a 4000mAh power battery, which is a tiny lower than the 4100mAh battery of its older brother, HP Slate 7 Extreme.

So you can expect more on the battery life of this tablet, despite being a budget tablet.

Doing some heavy stuff in mixed usage, like watching videos on YouTube, reading books or magazines that you subscribe, browsing the web, checking emails, listening to some music or playing games, this tablet is more than capable to last around 8 to 10 hours.

So that means, this tablet can survive in one solid day in 1 full charge.

However, if you’re gonna use this tablet for doing some heavy intense tasks without resting the screen, like watching HD movies in marathon or playing games in the row, then you can only expect to see this tablet last about 4 to 6 hours of battery life, which is still considered as good for a budget tablet.


So my overall impression of this tablet is, i honestly like the whole thing about this tablet.

In fact, i even like this tablet more than i like the first-gen Google Nexus 7, given that this Google’s tablet doesn’t have rear-facing camera, microSD card slot and it also has that issue with its NAND flash (or its flash storage i’m not really sure, sorry).

So it’s just an easy decision if you’re still confused to pick either Google Nexus 7 (2012 edition) or this HP Slate 7+. Hands down to this HP’s tablet.

It has microSD card slot, it has rear-facing 5MP camera, it’s made by HP (which is known for its great quality products) and it has no issue or problem with the storage. So you’ll get more on this tablet that you just can’t have on the first-gen Google Nexus 7.

HP Slate 7+ is definitely a good choice, one of the best choices in low-end tablet market.

As a matter of fact, in my opinion, i think HP Slate 7+ is the best 7-inch tablet in $150 price range, more than any other tablets in this market.

• It has a great gaming performance,
• it has some powerful hardware,
• good sharp display,
• it has 5MP rear-facing camera,
• it has microSD card slot (while Google Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire 7 HDX don’t have),
• it has fast and smooth performance for daily tasks (thanks to its Tegra 3)
• and pretty much everything on this tablet is just great.

So if you’re planning to buy a budget tablet in the near future, and you only have $150 budget in your pocket, then HP Slate 7+ is definitely a great choice in this price range.

However, if you have more money to add your current budget, i insist you to pick either Tegra Note 7, HP Slate 7 Extreme, Google Nexus 7 (2013 edition) or Kindle Fire 7 HDX.

These tablets are just way more powerful than HP Slate 7+, in many ways, especially for gaming.

Have any question? Leave your comment here!