Review: Thrive 7 tablet from Toshiba gives big performance in a small package

There's still a very limited selection of seven-inch tablets for consumers to select from, and with Apple continuously shooting down rumours of a 7-inch iPad, it appears that market will be wide open for others to capitalize on for some time.

One of the contenders in this market is Toshiba's Thrive 7, the baby brother to the Thrive, Toshiba's 10-inch tablet. I had the chance to get my hands on the Thrive 7, and here's what I thought of my time with it.

Physical appearance

Anyone who has held the Thrive 7 must have shared my initial thought: "ooh, I like the back!" It seem like a small thing, but the tablet's rubberized, textured back makes it extremely comfortable and easy to hold, and doesn't have that same sort of slippery feel that other tablets sometimes can.

As for the rest of the tablet's appearance, it looks pretty typical for what you'd expect a tablet to be. That's just fine, especially if you're the type who wouldn't want to draw attention to yourself with an overly-flashy device. The only thing that stands out on the unit is the silver casing for the front and rear-facing cameras at the top of the Thrive 7 (more on the camera to come).

At 0.8 pounds, the Thrive 7 is pretty comparable to other seven-inch tablets on the market. It's light enough where I didn't suffer any wrist-strain while using it, but not light enough to feel delicate. In fact, between its near half-inch thickness and its rubberized back, the best way to describe how the Thrive 7 feels is 'rugged' (although I still wouldn't take it mountain climbing).

Performance

What surprised me most as I first started surfing the web with the Thrive 7 was how incredibly fast it was. The speed of its NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core CPU feels almost instantaneous, especially considering it is, after all, still a mobile device.

Navigating the web is a breeze. The touch precision of the screen is good, and I found the tablet to be very responsive in general. In fact, one of the little extras I thought was a good addition to the Thrive 7 was the vibrate feedback for certain actions. You can set, to a certain extent, what actions will cause the device to vibrate, but it's a little strange having it vibrate for certain 'button' presses but not others. Generally speaking, though, tactile feedback is one of those things I always miss most about having a real keyboard, so it was a smart addition.

The keyboard itself, whether using it for Internet browsing or typing up a word document, felt quite cramped; then again, it would be just about impossible to get a keyboard on a 7-inch tablet to not feel cramped.

While I didn't do any vigorous battery testing (some web surfing, checking email, watching video), I found that the battery held up well.

Sound

What I still don't understand about the tablet market it general is why tablet makers put both speakers on the same side. Anyone who wants to watch movies on their tablet — and with such a high resolution display, it should be assumed you will — is likely to watch it in widescreen. As soon as you turn the tablet horizontally, both the speakers are on the same side, leaving you with what amounts to mono sound once again, unless you're watching with headphones in. I imagine this isn't an issue for commuters who will be keeping the viewing experience to themselves on the morning train, but if you're hoping to watch a movie with one or two other people, it's one-sided sound for you.

That problem aside, the sound quality from the built-in speakers is fine. Nothing outstanding, but the speakers do have a good range of volume and an acceptable quality of sound.

Display

One of the selling points of this particular tablet is its promise of being "one of the only 7-inch tablets to feature a high-resolution display," according to the Toshiba website. At 1200x800 pixels, the tablet's display is certainly impressive and from the second you start up the device, it's clear that the high quality display is where Toshiba has focused most of their efforts. The colours are crisp and clear, making it ideal for taking high-definition movies along with you on the road without having to lug a more cumbersome unit to get the same quality. If there's one thing the Thrive 7 excels in, it's video.

Camera

The high-definition camera is a nice-to-have, for sure, but I didn't find it to be all that useful, especially with the flash. The flash is extremely bright, even if you tweak its settings. The pictures look fine if you use the camera in bright light or outdoors, though.

Final Thoughts

Toshiba's Thrive 7 performs just like I would want a tablet to perform, in a form-factor that is convenient for regular use without weighing you down. There are small issues with speaker placement and keyboard size, but those issues are more with the 7-inch tablets in general, not with this one specifically. If you're looking for a convenient way to watch movies, surf the web and perform other basic tasks on a smaller tablet, it is definitely worth your while to consider the Thrive 7.

The Thrive 7 is available now in a 16GB version ($379) or a 32GB version ($449).

(Photo from Media Profile)