Samsung's Galaxy Tab 7.0 breaks the sub-$300 tablet price barrier.

(Credit: Samsung)

Today at a Samsung media event in San Francisco, the company unveiled pricing and release dates for both its Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 tablets. We took a brief look at both tablets at Mobile World Congress in February, but this is the first time they've been officially shown in the U.S.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 will be released on April 22 for $250 with 8GB of storage. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 follows a few weeks later on May 13 at a price of $400 for 16GB of storage.

While the $400 price for the Tab 2 10.1 still seems a bit too expensive given its specs, I am pleasantly surprised at the $250 price for the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, which puts it in Kindle Fire price territory, with cameras!

The tablets are being billed as lower-priced successors to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, both released last year.

Each Wi-Fi-only tablet ships with the latest version of the Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich and includes an as yet unidentified 1GHz dual-core CPU bolstered by 1GB of RAM.

We're currently at Samsung's event getting some hands-on time with the devices. Check back soon for some in-depth impressions, detailed pics, and videos.