Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0

Samsung tries to make a product for everyone: every size, every price, every feature. The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 ($299.99) tries to hit the sweet spot for small tablets, but ends up straddling an uncomfortable fence?more expensive than?the Google Nexus 7, but less capable than the?Apple iPad mini and the outstanding Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. It's a very good tablet, buoyed by its multitasking and universal remote abilities, but it's outflanked by competitors. ?

Design and Features
The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 looks like a comically large Galaxy S4?you get the same all-plastic construction, glazed finish, and faux-metal accents around a strikingly similar silhouette. Fortunately, the Tab 3 8.0 also mimics the S4's thin bezels and slim dimensions, measuring 8.26 by 4.87 by 0.28 inches (HWD) and weighing 10.9 ounces. That's right in line with the iPad mini (0.28 inches thick and 10.9 ounces) and a good deal thinner and lighter than the 7.8-by-4.7-by-0.4 inches, 12-ounce Nexus 7. This tablet is eminently comfortable to hold, despite packing a larger screen than most Android competitors.

The 8-inch, 1,280-by-800-pixel LCD is excellent. It's sharper than the iPad mini's, appears brighter side by side, and has really high contrast. The contrast isn't quite as high as Samsung's OLED displays, but you also get far more accurate color representation here. Below the display is a physical Home button flanked by capacitive Menu and Back buttons. Along the left edge is a flap covering the microSD card slot, while the opposite side houses the Volume and Power buttons, as well as an IR-emitter for remote control functions. Along the bottom edge are two speaker grilles and, thankfully, a microUSB port in lieu of Samsung's older proprietary port.

This is a Wi-Fi only tablet that connects to 802.11b/g/n networks on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. I had no trouble connecting to multiple routers in our lab, and where many tablets only have a weak signal from my desk, the Tab 3 8.0 consistently held onto a strong connection. Also on board are Bluetooth 4.0 and satellite GPS, but not NFC. Samsung offers the Tab 3 8.0 in single 16GB model for $299.99, and our 32 and 64GB SanDisk microSD cards worked without issue.

Performance and Android
The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 isn't a speed demon like its pen-wielding stablemate, the Note 8.0, but it gets the job done. Powering the Tab 3 is Samsung's dual-core 1.5GHz Exynos 4212 processor, Mali 400 GPU, and 1.5GB RAM. In our overall system benchmarks, the Tab 3 8.0 turned in numbers just shy of the Nexus 7, but gained ground in our graphics tests, outpacing the aging Tegra 3-powered tablet. Anecdotally, the Tab 3 8.0 felt very smooth in operation, whether it was flicking through heavily populated homescreens, switching between running apps, or scrolling through various websites. There was the occasional stutter and lag when opening more resource-hungry apps, but that's the case with nearly every Android tablet. My biggest complaint here is somewhat finicky touch input. The slim bezels are great for keeping this portable, but the palm rejection that worked so well on the Note 8.0 seems to be less effective here. I noticed errant touches, zooms instead of scrolls, and other inconsistencies when not careful about my hand placement.

In our battery test, which loops a video with screen brightness set to maximum and Wi-Fi switched on, the Tab 3 8.0 lasted 6 hours, 48 minutes. That's close to the Kindle Fire HD's 7 hours, but falls well short of the Nexus 7's 10 hours, 50 minutes on the same test. Battery life shouldn't be an issue, but it's not a strong point here.

Camera performance is pretty basic?you get the same lackluster 5-megapixel rear-facing and 1.3-megapixel front-facing cameras found on the Note 8.0. Images looked flat and devoid of finer detail, regardless of lighting conditions. Exposure is a problem for stills and video, as the Tab 3 8.0 tends to overexpose scenes. Video maxes out at 720p and looks pretty mediocre even in good lighting, and pretty bad in low light scenarios. The front-facing camera is serviceable for video chats, and that's all I'd recommend using it for.

The Tab 3 8.0 is running the latest Android 4.2.2 "Jelly Bean," which already gives it a leg up on most tablets that are still stuck on 4.1.2. ?Samsung is relentless when it comes to its Android skin TouchWiz, but while purists might cry out, the modifications here don't really get in the way and are, for the most part, pretty useful. You get the usual bevy of pre-loaded apps and Samsung tie-ins. These include ChatOn, Samsung's chat service; Samsung's app, game, and music stores; Group Play and Samsung Link for sharing between Samsung devices; S Planner, S Translator, and S Voice; and various other apps and services.

The great pen support of the Note is missing, but there are still a number of useful modifications to Android itself. You get Samsung features like Smart Stay that keeps the screen on when you're looking at it and Voice Commands for easily pausing videos or snoozing alarms. Even the excellent Multi Window multitasking support is here, letting you run two apps side by side in split screen mode. Not every app is supported, but there's a good selection of Samsung apps and Google apps like Chrome and Gmail that make this a pretty useful feature.

Multimedia and Conclusions
Samsung has done a good job with multimedia support and features for its Galaxy tablets. For video, the Tab 3 8.0 supports MP4, H.264, DivX, Xvid, and WMV files at up to 1080p resolution. For audio you get MP3, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WAV, and WMA support. You can also mirror your screen using DLNA with supported HDTVs or use an MHL adapter to connect the Tab 3 8.0 with an HDMI cable.

IR emitters are becoming the norm for Galaxy devices, and the Tab 3 8.0 benefits from the same universal remote control features found on the Note 8.0. You can use the pre-loaded WatchON app from Samsung or Peel Smart Remote app to browse local TV listings and control a variety of home entertainment devices, from HDTVs to set top boxes. Both apps worked in my tests, but neither can schedule recordings for DVR boxes.

The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 gets so much right, from the thin and light design to the multitasking to the built-in remote control features. But it's amazingly forgettable. There's just something utterly bland about this tablet, lacking the ineffable desirability that leads to an Editor's Choice. It's priced much higher than capable Android competitors like the Nexus 7, and just a little too close to the iPad mini with all the great tablet apps that come with iOS. The Tab 3 8.0 fills a void that may not exist. Some will find it absolutely perfect, at a price they can stomach. Most, however, will be better served stepping up or down to an iPad mini or Nexus 7.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/3bQPLya71P4/0,2817,2421847,00.asp

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