Samsung Introduces New 8" and 9.7" Galaxy Tab A Tablets
by Brandon Chester on April 20, 2015 3:28 PM EST
Today Samsung Electronics America announced two new tablets that are coming to market in the United States. Samsung's new Galaxy Tab A tablets come in 8.0" and 9.7" sizes, and Samsung is marketing them as tablets that are well suited for keeping in touch with friends and family. The specs of both tablets are laid out in the chart below.
| Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0" | Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7" | |
| SoC | Snapdragon 410 (APQ8016) 4x 1.2GHz Cortex A53, 400MHz Adreno 306 GPU |
|
| RAM/NAND | 16/32GB NAND + MicroSDXC, 1.5GB RAM | |
| Display | 8.0" 1024x768 PLS LCD | 9.7" 1024x768 PLS LCD |
| Dimensions | 208.4 x 137.9 x 7.5mm, 313g | 242.5 x 166.8 x 7.5mm, 449g |
| Camera | 5MP Rear Facing, 2MP Front Facing | |
| Battery | 4200 mAh (15.96 Whr) | 6000 mAh (22.8 Whr) |
| OS | Android 5.0 Lollipop | |
| Connectivity | 802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0, microUSB2.0 | |
Both tablets have very similar specifications. They are both distinctly mid-range tablets, with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 410 at their heart, 1.5GB of RAM, and a 1024x768 PLS display. They're really only differentiated by the size of their displays, and subsequently their dimensions and battery capacity. I think it may be difficult for Samsung to charge a price premium for the 9.7" model when it doesn't have any improvements to display resolution or internal hardware over the 8.0" model.
What makes these new tablets stand out from Samsung's previous tablet offerings are their sizes and their design. Both tablets have a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is a significant departure from the 16:10 tablets that Samsung has produced in the past. Both tablets also have a full metal chassis, which will be an enormous improvement over the plastic construction of Samsung's other tablets. I am very interested to see what Samsung can do with this type of design on a high end tablet with flagship specifications.
Update: This article previously stated that he Galaxy Tab A tablets have a metal chassis. According to Samsung this is not actually the case.
Both Galaxy Tab A models are available for preorder now, and they'll begin to ship on May 1st in the United States. Both models are available in white, titanium, and blue finishes. The 8.0" model costs at $229, while the 9.7" model costs $299. There will also be a version of the 9.7" model with Samsung's S-pen included for $349. Through Samsung's new app partnership with Microsoft, the new tablets will come with Microsoft's Office for Android applications preinstalled, and buyers will receive 100GB of OneDrive storage for two years.
Source: Samsung via Businesswire
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ummduh - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
That's the weird thing with Samsung.. I don't get it. They build some great top end phones, but their tablets all seem to be overpriced low end junk. Wtf Samsung, Wtf?This is like a $129 tablet (8"), tops.
Ricochet0311 - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
I don't agree with that. The 10" Galaxy S is the nicest tablet they have produced so far, and it is comparable in price to the Apple equivalent. I have purchased 3 of them and both myself and the people I have bought them for are very happy with them.Having said that, this "A" tab is pushing it at $99, imho. If I need a cheap, low-end tablet, I will just stop deleting my daily emails from Tiger Direct.
RaistlinZ - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
1024x768? You'll be playing Connect the Dots between all the visible pixels.Gadgety - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
Nothing here, move on, move on.littlebokey - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
1024x768? Are they kidding? Acer has a quad core Intel 1.3Ghz, Iconia 8 840 w/ 1900x1200, 2GB RAM for $169 @ the Acer store. Don't get me wrong, I also have a Samsung Tab and it is beautiful, but there are better tabs for the money. I'd say border line "low end", "Midrange" is over stating it.aliasfox - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
One can pick up a retina iPad mini for $249, which has both 4x the pixel count (2048 x 1536), as well as a faster SOC. That $229 is incredibly optimistic. It's probably faster than the (hopelessly outdated) iPad mini gen 1, but that's available for $149 from some retailers.This thing really ought to be $99-129 in time for Black Friday.
rocky12345 - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
Logged in just to say only thing I like is the 4:3 aspect ratio which is nice for web & reading but it is not so good if you watch TV & Movies on it. But the screen res is pretty crappy for sure for this kind of money. It should have been at least 1280x800 (16:10) & not priced any higher than $150 to $170 and that is with the 1280x800 res. At 1024x768 it should be priced at $99 to $125 at most. That screen had better have really nice color & contrast for that rip off price. If this was meant to be a budget priced tab then they missed the mark by at least $200..lolHisDivineOrder - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
1024x768...This is why we need a real successor to the Nexus 7 (2013), Google. Your ODM's don't know how to make a budget device.
Dug - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
I still think 1024x768 is fine. I still have an iPad2 with that resolution and don't find any issue with it at all. My wife has an iPad Air and while it does have a better screen, it's not like OMG your iPAD2 screen sucks I can't use it!I find it far more useful than a 16:9 aspect ratio.
TSkyline5 - Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - link
Samsung should be ashamed of the fact that they still make screens this crappy. $299? Good luck with that, Samsung...in a few months, the only place you'll find this thing is in the clearance section of Big Lots, next to all the Polaroid crap.