Review: Galaxy Tab 3s 7-, 8- and 10.1-inch

Samsung has released its latest Galaxy range of tablets, which include 7-, 8- and 10.1-inch versions. We’ve managed to get all three in our hot little hands and give them the once over.

By Mike Wheeler

Samsung has released its latest Galaxy range of tablets, which include 7-, 8- and 10.1-inch versions. We’ve managed to get all three in our hot little hands and give them the once over.

 

The Verdicts:

7-inch Tablet
The 7-inch Galaxy Tab 3 came with a cover, but that didn’t add to the weight of the unit, which seems a little hefty compared to other 7-inch devices. That is not to detract from it, because weight also equals solid in our book and does fit easily into the hand.

 

Its WSVGA display is nice and crisp, it’s powered by a 1.2GHz dual core processor, and it has the 4.2.1 Android operating system (Jelly Bean). What really impressed was the videos which offered up 1080p full HD – this is a good tablet to have on the train or bus travelling to work and you want to watch some video files because it’s picture is bigger than what you’d get on a standard smartphone and not that large it becomes cumbersome to carry around.

 

It has wifi connectivity, which is pretty straightforward, and is preloaded with a tonne of apps/features including dropbox, a music player, games, Samsung’s Music Hub, YouTube plus a host of others. This one is ideal for uni students, or maybe even high-school kids whose parents want their child to have a high-end tablet that can not only handle the knocks, but is not at a high-end price.

 

It has 8GB of storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB by using a microSD card and has a 5 megapixel rear facing camera and a 1.3 megapixel front facing shooter.

 

8-inch Tablet
What surprised us initially about this device is how markedly different it is in size from its 7-inch cousin. I was wondering what the point of having a tablet only one inch bigger, but when you see them side-by-side it is very noticeable.

 

As you would expect it is slightly heavier than the smaller iteration, but there are also other, subtle differences. It has a slightly faster 1.5GHz processor (not that you would really notice the speeds of uploads, downloads, playing games or watching clips); 16GB of memory expandable to 64GB using a microSD card.

 

Its touchscreen is slightly better being WXGA (1280×800), and has the slightly updated version of the Android (4.2.2). It has a 3 megapixel rear camera and 1.3 megapixel front-facing snapper.

 

We’re not too sure where you’d put this one as far as niche – perhaps a cross between a work tool and pleasure, with its higher specs being the main draw card to consumers.

 

10.1-inch Tablet
This is the Big Daddy and the one designed to take on the King Of the Hill, Apple’s iPad. It is basically an updated version of the last Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, with a couple of exceptions. The last version had a 3.2 megapixel front camera but this one comes in at just 3 megapixels. What is even more weird is that the 8-inch version has a 5 megapixel camera. Not that it really matters, just seems strange.

 

It has the 4.2.2 version of Android, and like its 8-inch sibling comes with 16GB of storage expandable to 64Gb with an microSD card.

 

Again, the screen is nice and bright and clean, something that Samsung has been at pains to ensure on not just its tablets but its smartphones, too.

 

All three seemed to have a reasonable battery life with it going down to just under half power during the six hours we had them. Too be sure we didn’t watch a lot of video files, but enough to drain it a little. The rest of the time we surfed the net, sent a few emails and played some basic games. They were also left on standby for a few hours.

 

Overall Samsung has again come to the party with a series of tablets that cover the gambit of peoples’ needs. But what we really like are the price points – something that the other big player in this market , Apple – should take note of when its latest iPad is released.

 

4.5 Shacks Out of 5 for the series

 

RRP
7-inch $249
8-inch $349
10.1-inch $399