Toshiba Excite 7.7 Tablet Review: AMOLED in a Fun Size
by Dustin Sklavos on August 29, 2012 2:01 PM ESTDisplay
Evaluating the Toshiba Excite 7.7's display has turned out to be more difficult than anticipated, due in no small part to the AMOLED panel used. That difficulty is exacerbated by what Toshiba calls their "AutoBrite" technology. This is a fundamental issue that has been brought up in other reviews of the Excite 7.7 that I've read, and it could very easily be a dealbreaker.
Depending on what's displayed on the Excite 7.7, the screen will dynamically brighten or dim. This isn't the usual ambient light sensor brightness control, this has to do with the content itself, and unfortunately it can get distracting. I suspect it's an "extra mile" to try and optimize what's already a beautiful AMOLED display, but in practice even scrolling through a Facebook page can become slightly annoying when the display pops up a bit, then dims a bit depending on how much white is on what you're looking at. If you're looking at content that's a bit more contrasty and tends towards darker hues more, the display becomes brighter to compensate.
There is no way that I can find to turn this off.
The black level is bulletproof, but I'm ambivalent on the white level. I measured it with the same hardware I use to measure notebook displays, but 175 nits seems extremely low and that's only exacerbated by Toshiba's own dynamic brightness modulation. When I look at the display, it's definitely not 175 nits; eyeballing it I'd say maximum brightness is easily past 300 nits.
With all that said, it's hard not to be wowed by the display. AMOLED technology produces the deepest blacks you're going to get in any kind of portable display, and the colors are equally vibrant and impressive. Even with the brightness adjustments going on, I personally think it's still more desirable than even an IPS display, but your mileage may vary.
Performance
NVIDIA's Tegra 3's performance is already pretty much a known quantity, but it's still impressive to see Tegra 3 stretching its legs in a tablet this small.
Performance isn't out of the park, but it's definitely competitive with other, larger tablets. You're definitely not making any sacrifices for the form factor here, the Excite 7.7's about as fast as any other Tegra 3-powered tablet out there.
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Kegetys - Thursday, August 30, 2012 - link
How are the OLED black spots/blobs on this screen? As far as I know, every OLED screen has or can have them and they can be very distracting ie. when watching video in the dark. For phones its tolerable since the screen is so small anyway but a tablet it would surely be very annoying.Jaybus - Thursday, August 30, 2012 - link
It is not true that all OLED screens have black spots. It is simply a matter of binning. Screens that don't pass QC due to black spots are sold cheaper. It is just like LCDs. LCDs with a few dead pixels are sold cheaper and still end up in devices. It doesn't mean that all LCDs have dead pixels.teiglin - Thursday, August 30, 2012 - link
From reading various feedback on xda, the standard pattern (which mine also has) is four circles, each about 2" in diameter, and my device has these as well as maybe 3-4 other small (<0.5") blobs. However, I don't notice them even when watching movies in the dark at minimum brightness; for me to see them, it requires a solid black or dark gray screen at near-minimum brightness. The only times it comes up in actual use is when I'm reading and there is a page with almost no text--even the small illumination given by minimum brightness white text hides the irregularities.I've read that some people have perfect screens, and I've read that some people's screens are worse, and of course, some people are just more and less sensitive to these issues. So YMMV.
B3an - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
Way too expensive.And no Android tablets are interesting anymore as far as i'm concerned. I totally agree with the reviewer in that the OS is an unintuitive mess that gets bogged down easy and needs excessive processing power in order to function remotely well. Android was the only option before to anyone smart enough to not buy Apple. But now that Win 8 or even RT tablets are coming i have zero interest in a Android tablet.
sos_sifou - Saturday, September 1, 2012 - link
sir, the main device you should compare the Toshiba 7.7 with, is the original samsung galaxy tab 7.7adsgasdgsadg - Friday, October 26, 2012 - link
Dear Fellow Excite Owners:PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION! Only 177 more signers to go!https://www.change.org/petitions/toshiba-america-i...
The reason we cannot root the Toshiba Excite currently, is because Toshiba decided to LOCK THE BOOTLOADER!In order to be able to root, Toshiba needs to get their developers to unlock the bootloader! To get Toshiba to agree to do this, we need to get this petition signed!
Please sign it for yourself and the benefit of all Toshiba Excite (AT300, AT305, etc.) owners so we can get this tablet rooted!
You need root to:
* Increase battery life (JuiceDefender)
* Improve battery life (AutoKiller Memory Optimizer)
* Restore/make backups (Titanium Backup)
* Manage startup (Startup Auditor)
* Manage autorun programs (Autorun Manager)
* Increase SD speed (SD Speed Increase)
* Use full features of Ad-Blockers (Droid Ad-Free)
* Use Firewall* Compile apps
* Pair PS3 controller
* Connect as bluetooth keyboard for PS3 (BluePutDroid)
* And many more things you need root access for!
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION!https://www.change.org/petitions/toshiba-america-i...
my baby - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
Toshiba Excite 7.7 is one of the best small Android tablets currently available. It's also thin, light, boasts the latest version of Android (4.0), and includes a microSD slot for storage expansion. I like this tablet capable for gaming.www.toshiba-tablet.commy baby - Monday, April 29, 2013 - link
Toshiba learned a lot from the Thrive and they're clearly willing to experiment a bit with the technology if the AMOLED display is any indication.www.toshiba-tablet.comJenaii - Wednesday, May 1, 2013 - link
that is right, the tablet market is targeting high performance tablet but that doesn't mean this tablet is out you may check the further review @ http://toshiba-tablet.com/Jenaii - Thursday, May 2, 2013 - link
The Toshiba Excite AT305T64 runs the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system, which builds on the things people love most about Android–a simplified UI, easy multitasking, customizable home screens, re-sizable widgets, and a full suite of familiar Google mobile services.http://toshiba-tablet.com/