As expected, Samsung is updating its Galaxy Tab A line of budget tablets with a new 8 inch model.
The new Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2019) features a 1280 x 800 pixel display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage.
Samsung will offer WiFi-only and WiFi+cellular models, although the latter option will only be available in select markets.
The tablet features a microSD card reader with support for up to 512GB of removable storage, stereo speakers, an 8MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera. It’s powered by a 5,1000 mAh battery.
I haven’t seen an official price tag for the new tablet yet, but smart money is on more-than-an-Amazon-Fire-tablet but less-than-an-iPad. Not only does this 8 inch tablet have a relatively low-performance processor and just barely higher-than-720p display, but it also features a micro USB port and lacks support for 802.11ac WiFi.
On the bright side, it does support dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and Blueooth 4.2. So there’s that, I guess.
The tablet weighs about 12 ounces and measures about 0.3 inches thick.
Meh. I don’t see much reason to buy this over the $64 Walmart Onn. It only beats the Onn by having twice the internal memory, but that’s not an issue with the way Android 9 handles microSD storage. Where’s the $150-250 successor to the old Nexus 7? It should be an 8″ tablet with 1080p and a fingerprint reader. Huawei seem to be the only one in this space, and who knows for how long?
That’s kind of why I switched to a Fire 10 tablet a while back. It has the higher resolution that I want, and there’s every expectation that a cheap, 1080p Amazon tablet will continue to be available for many years to come.