Samsung Galaxy Tab a 8 Inch 32gb Review

Whether yous're looking for an inexpensive tablet for weekend-long Netflix binges, or need something you tin easily toss in your bag for your morning commute, Amazon isn't your only pick. The $199.99 Samsung Galaxy Tab A is an viii-inch slate with decent specs and some software features y'all won't detect on similarly priced competitors. And unlike Amazon's Fire tablets, y'all get unfettered admission to the Google Play app store. That makes the Tab A a solid budget-friendly option for media consumption and Android gaming, though Amazon's Fire HD 8 and HD x continue to offer stronger value for your dollar.

Design, Display, and Connectivity

Samsung's midrange A-serial tablets are created with casual users in listen. Sizes in the Tab A family range from vii to x.5 inches. For the almost part, there are both Wi-Fi and LTE variants for each tablet in the series, with LTE models coming in at virtually a $50 premium, depending on the carrier. We tested the viii-inch Wi-Fi model.

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The Galaxy Tab A 8.0 sees a slight refinement in blueprint over its 2015 predecessor. An improved screen-to-trunk ratio makes it a little less squat, and the camera bump on the back is less pronounced. The frame is constructed of smooth polycarbonate while the dorsum is a glossy aluminum crush that easily picks upwards fingerprints and smudges.

The slate measures 8.35 by 4.89 by 0.35 inches (HWD) and weighs 12.65 ounces. It's not the lightest tablet on the market, but we had no problem holding it on a busy train for a long commute home. And although its frame is plastic, the overall build quality feels notably more than solid than Amazon's Fire tablets. That said, we definitely recommend a case if the tablet will be used by children or if you programme to use information technology for your daily commute.

On the right side of the Tab A, you'll find the power button and volume rocker. Both are responsive and provide a satisfying click when tapped. There's a microSD carte slot on the left that accommodates up to 400GB of external storage in addition to the 32GB of internal storage. A USB-C charging port sits at the bottom, alongside a bottom-firing speaker that provides all the audio. At 86 decibels, the Tab A is loud plenty for watching streaming video, only don't look a high-end audio experience. The speaker sounds hollow and tinny at higher volumes.

Display quality is decent. The front panel is home to an 8-inch, 1,280-past-800 TFT brandish with 189 pixels per inch, the same every bit y'all'll find on the Lenovo Tab 4 8 and the Fire Hd 8. The screen looks skillful for multimedia streaming, merely text and drawings are a trivial fuzzy. Brightness and viewing angles are excellent, so yous should accept no problem using the slate in direct sunlight.

The Tab A supports 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi, and we received excellent wireless range and connectivity on both bands in testing. Bluetooth 4.2 is also on board for wireless audio.

Processor, Battery, and Camera

The tablet is powered past a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor clocked at 1.4GHz. It's a common processor for budget tablets, though at iii years old, it'southward nearing its expiration date. At that place's likewise 2GB of RAM, making the Tab A feel slightly snappier than tablets with 1 or one.5GB of RAM (like the Fire Hard disk 8). Apps opened speedily and bones multitasking worked without a hitch in testing. Nosotros were even able to play Asphalt eight without issues. We did, however, begin to feel slowdown once more than a one-half dozen apps were open.

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Battery life is strong. When streaming full-screen video over Wi-Fi at maximum screen brightness, we managed to eke out an impressive 6 hours and 37 minutes. That'southward slightly longer than the Fire Hard disk drive x (half-dozen hours and xiv minutes) and should easily get you through a long flight with conservative utilise.

When it comes to the camera, the Tab A'southward 8-megapixel rear shooter is underwhelming in most circumstances (similar most tablet cameras, particularly at this price). While daytime photos are passable, our low-light photos were both grainy and blurry.

Performance on the v-megapixel front-facing sensor offers much the same experience. Video calls are passable in a well-lit room, but quality quickly degrades in low light.

Software and Features

The Tab A ships running Android 7.1, however there'southward an OTA udate to Android Oreo 8.1 with Samsung Experience ix.5 in one case you lot accept information technology out of the box. Samsung's custom UI has improved vastly over the last few years. Unfortunately, there are still a handful of redundant apps like Samsung Mail, Samsung Internet, and Samsung Notes that cannot be uninstalled.

In addition to Samsung Experience 9.5, there are a few other software flourishes worth mentioning. Secure Binder allows you to designate a private location on the tablet where you tin can shop documents and secondary instances of apps you'd like to go along away from prying eyes. Samsung Flow lets y'all to share photos and information between your tablet and Samsung smartphone. And if you're a parent with immature children, you'll definitely capeesh Kids Mode, an app that lets you create a custom homepage with kid-friendly content.

For the most part, Samsung's UI adds only minor changes to the stock Android experience. Yous still have access to almost whatever app in the Google Play shop, and can easily add together your own custom skins. Information technology's a sharp dissimilarity to Burn OS, Amazon'south custom UI that not only replaces the Play Store for its own App Store, simply also changes the entire user experience. Fire Bone is built to showcase Amazon's products and services and has no resemblance to the interface you may already exist accepted to if yous apply an Android smartphone. That said, Fire Os is easier to utilise and offers more guidance toward finding content if you lot aren't already familiar with Android.

Conclusions

At $200, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.0 is nicely built, but a footling pricey for what you lot get. Its compact size and long bombardment life make it a expert option for media consumption or basic productivity tasks on the go, especially if you desire access to Google Play.

If you lot're not absolutely sold on the Google Play bending, however, you should check out the Amazon Burn Hard disk 10. In addition to being $50 less than the Tab 8, it has a larger, sharper brandish and performs improve thanks to a more than powerful processor. If yous're looking to save even more coin, the Burn HD 8 is available for less than half the price of the Tab A and offers a adequately similar feel from a hardware perspective.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0

The Bottom Line

The Samsung Milky way Tab A 8.0 is a relatively affordable Android tablet with decent specs, but you can get more bang for your buck if you don't need access to Google Play.

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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/samsung-galaxy-tab-a-80

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