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We told you guys about Samsung’s newest line of affordable tablets — the Samsung Galaxy Tab A — back when they went up for pre-order last week. Available in either 8 or 9.7 inch varieties, these tablets wont blow you away with their spec sheet, but then again they wont break the bank either.
Officially available today in the US, both models come with 1024×768 resolution displays in a user friendly 4:3 aspect ratio. The 8-inch version (16GB) retails for $230 and only features a single speaker, while the 9.7-inch (16GB) is available for $300 and comes with 2 speakers.
The rest of the specs include a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, micro SD card slot (up to 128GB), 5MP rear/2MP front facing cameras, and a 4,200mAh battery — all of this running on Android 5.0 Lollipop with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.
Buy from Samsung: Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8-inch | Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7-inch with S Pen
Buy on Amazon: Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8-inch | Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7-inch with S Pen
1024×768 :-(
Any rumblings on a new, high-end Tab from them? They released the Tab Pro early last year, then the Tab S a few months later. Since then, nothing. I’m not even sure if anybody’s making high-end Android tablets anymore smaller than 9″.
Technically the nexus 9 is under 9 inches. Sony has the z3 compact tablet, then there’s the shield tablet.
The shield tablet is about as high end as it gets aside from the build materials
There’s a new S2 on the way, in 8 and 9.7 sizes.
and it will be 4:3 so it will always be terrible.
Not for me. I’ve been waiting for a high-end non-widescreen tablet for a long time. Widescreen is only adequate for video and terrible for anything else.
I use to be a Regional Trainer fir Samsung abd seeing things like this and the S6 makes me sick. There product use to be better then Apple and offer lots of things Apple never provided. But now this thing is pretty much a Ipad with a android operating system. A 4:3 display really come on….and the S6 no removable battery noe Sd card slot its just sad.
Apple didn’t invent 4:3.
I never said they invented 4:3 the was the standard screen size for old tvs. I said Apple uses the 4:3 screen on Ipads when Samsung slways had 16:9 Screens.
So? Just because Apple uses it, Samsung can’t? Besides, the Nexus 9 uses the same ratio and if anything that’s what Samsung is following.
Gee, some people just get a rash when everything that even smells of Apple.
Yea i get a rash from anything apple because they are a cancer to the industry. There stuff is basic and they love to give customers old outdated product and call it new. Its a rip off that people love to buy into and keep stoking there ego. Force them to surpass the narket like they use to not make them rich off of old tech thats the only thing that annoys me sbout apple.
The National Television System Committee in the 1950s.
I agree that 4:3 absolutely sucks for watching movies, total disappointment and a big step back not to mention that low resolution but it is a budget device.
Considering how many different product lines Samsung has for every category, I think making a 4:3 tablet is actually a nice differentiator. I mean really, between the Galaxy Tab 4, Galaxy Tab Note, Galaxy Tab S, Galaxy Tab Pro, and any other Galaxy Tab whatevers they have on the market, one more 16:9 might have trouble standing out in the crowd. Of course fewer product lines and better naming schemes might not be a bad idea either, but that could just be me.
I Agree but 4:3 makes no sense in a world where everything is produced in 16:9.
4:3 is better for reading.
I find myself reading better using 16:10 in portrait mode over 4:3 any day.
books I bought from Google Play or Kindle scale dynamically anyway. 16:10 only means that more words fit on a page thus less page flipping occurs.
However, if you are going to read a lot of scanned forms 4:3 is the way to go
Since most of my stuff is epuds/mobi anyways they scale dynamically with cool reader. So yeah 16:10 fits more words and its quicker reading for me. Hence why I prefer my 8.9″ 16:10 Kindle Fire HDX over a 4:3 tablet anyday.
The only 16:9 tablets I am aware of are the Surface and Surface 2 by Microsoft.
All other Windows or Android tablets are 16:10 which is the perfect balance for a mix of all content (productivity, reading, medias and games).
4:3 might appeal more to those who have to view a lot of static scanned documents that were scanned from letter sized paper. All other content available from Google Play Books/newstand/kindle is going to scale dynamically to fit your screen.
The only other thing that does not scale are TV shows and movies. Unless you are going to never watch TV shows or movies on the tablet, 16:10 is the best way to go.
Even still, Android has always been about offering something for everyone. So a 4:3 does offer something different, and the commercial does say “be together, not the same”.
I agree with your right to be different :P
Galaxy S6: 5.1″ 1440 x 2560 pixels. Galaxy TabA: 8″ 1024×768.
Someone at Samsung has swapped the screen specs between the two models. Probably a copy & paste error when writing the product description brochure.
Surprisingly the error followed through the entire chain to production release. I am the only one in the world who spot this error.
Unless you’re a total Samsung devout, the Nexus 7 2013 or Shield Tab are way better deals in the price range. Sad part is that they’ve been out for a long time and Samsung still can’t compete.
well, the N713 was a high end tablet that’s now old… and the shield tablet still is a high end tablet. whereas, the galaxy tab As are budget tablets.
completely different markets. . it’s like asking, why buy a moto G when you can get an old optimus G that’s better in one or two aspects, or hey, the g3 is way better than the moto g in general. just a silly comparison to make.
Well I would agree with you on the Nexus 7 but the shield tablet is still a great deal .
8″ is too wide, I can’t hold it in one hand or put it in my back pocket.
That’s what she said!
Wonder when samsung is gonna quit confusing the average consumer? They have way to many models and costumers find it really confusing
I wonder when automobile manufacturers are going to quit confusing the average consumer? They have way too many models, colors, styles, sizes and price ranges and customers find it really confusing.
I wonder when television manufacturers are going to quit confusing the average consumer?
I wonder then clothing manufacturers are going to quit confusing the average consumer?
I wonder when washing machine manufacturers are going to quit confusing the average consumer?
I wonder when coffee shops are going to quit confusing the average consumer?
The world would be so much simpler if everyone had exactly one iPhone, one iTV, one set of iClothing washed in the same iWasher, and everyone drank the same iCoffee (or iKoolaid).
I agree with you, but Samsung really has a terrible naming scheme. That doesn’t help differentiate their various product lines given how similar tablets are.
With so many products, Samsung should improve their product naming scheme and marketing message. That is a different issue than what I replied to, which suggested having fewer products instead of fixing their confusing product naming.
Yet again, I agree with you. But this time only to a point. I think the S6 may be the beginning of Samsung righting the ship, but so far they have had a habit of flooding different product categories with multiple lines of varying price and quality that all tend to blend together until you can’t really tell what is premium, midrange, low-end, etc.. Like now they have Note and S lines in tablets and smartphones. Which is the true flagship? Now they have the Tab A, so will there be a Tab 5, and if so which is the budget device? Not that I think Tab A is budget priced, but that is another story.
You need to get a life man. Samsungs tablet line is really confusing to the AVERAGE consumer. I sale phones and tablets and samsung floods it with way to similar models and NAMES! And you also sound like you have a hatred for Apple products and you should probably get that checked out by a professional before you start slitting your wrists. WRITTEN FROM MY NOTE 3!!
You only attack the substance of the issue with half of one sentence.
The rest is about attacking he messenger.
You seem to think that everyone should have blind adoring love for Apple. Here is a clue: people can have rational, well considered, thoughtful reasons to dislike Apple.
You can find professional help for spelling and sentence construction.
What device I am posting from is irrelevant. (Although I am presently on my fourth generation of Samsung phone.)
It’s not just apple. The nexus line isn’t confusing. Lg’s line isn’t confusing. Maybe if they would seperate the tablet line by not putting the galaxy name in every single tablet they sell would probably help out alot.
There are two ways Samsung could improve their confusing marketing message. 1. have fewer products. 2. Clarify how products differ from one another to enable consumers to make more informed choices.
The examples you give of Lg and others are perhaps some happy mid point between Apple and Samsung.
Tab s 8.4 was the perfect size. But having options isn’t bad. But these are low end tablets. Who really cares about these except for the uninformed. Let samsung release what they want.
Terrible tablet.. should have only been like $99 at most LOL
Similar size Galaxy Tab S2 will be and Samsung is planning to announce it on June. But the specs and tech are bit better.
https://techloverhd.com/2015/05/samsung-galaxy-tab-s2-incoming/