Tablets

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 and 10.1 announced

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Samsung added another pair of tablets to its repertoire this morning as it has officially announced new size options in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 range. In addition to the 7-inch model we already have, we can now expect the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 (8 inches) and the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 (10-inches).

These tablets come donned in your typical Samsung garb, which is really interesting for the 10.1 inch version — it features a physical home button and capacitive buttons for menu and back. That’s actually pretty atypical for a 10-inch tablet, but it looks like Samsung really has its heart set on that setup.

GALAXY Tab 3 8-inch (5)

The models do vary a bit on the inside. For the 8-inch version, we can expect 1,280 x 800 resolution, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB and 32GB variants (you can expand that with a microSD card slot), WiFi-only or data (with LTE) variants, a 5 megapixel camera on the rear, a 1.3 megapixel sensor on the front, a 4,450 mAh battery and more. It’ll also launch with Android 4.2.2 and Samsung’s usual sprinkles.

With 10.1 inches, you’re getting a 1.6GHz dual-core chipset, that same 1280 x 800 resolution, 1GB of RAM, 16 or 32GB of internal storage with microSD card slot, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi, 3G and LTE support, a 3 megapixel rear camera, a 1.3 megapixel front camera and more. Again, software experience will be Android 4.2.2 with Samsung’s customizations.

GALAXY Tab 3 10.1-inch (1)

On paper you might be asking yourself why the 10.1 inch variant seems weaker in some areas, but you have to remember the Galaxy Tab 3 line is meant to stay affordable. Samsung likely had to cut some corners in order to keep price down. We applaud their decision on the 3 megapixel camera, because it just looks plain silly to take photos with a 10.1 inch tablet anyway.

Still, we would have loved to see this thing outfitted with a higher resolution display and a bit more RAM. We can’t judge it until we can touch it, though, so with that I’ll direct you to the press release to see all the juicy details for yourself.

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

6-inch ASUS FonePad Note announced

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41 Comments

  1. Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 with 1GB of RAM? common…

    1. Exactly

  2. WTF is the deal with samsung? They keep coming out with the same tablet every year. They are trolling hard……

    1. The common folk who want a tablet, but not an iPad, are drawn to the Galaxy name. So, release a simple iteration that doesn’t cost much to make and works well for the average user, you don’t need to sell a ton and you still make a profit. Making something bleeding edge and still cost-effective just doesn’t make enough sense, even though it’s the tablet we’d all drool over.

      1. Oh I definitely agree but what if the price isn’t exactly on the low end, then what?

    2. That’s what I’m saying lol

  3. >1280×800 TFT panel

    This is how they compete with Apple’s retina display?

    1. You mean Samsung’s retina display right?

      1. When a consumer is in a store looking to purchase a tablet, the iPad will have a retina display and the Galaxy tab will not. It doesn’t matter who makes it, by that logic we might as well just brand everything electronic under the Foxcon brand.

  4. GaLAXY NOTE 8.0 is a better tablet than this new one. I have had it and have the iPad 4 and I prefer the note8.0. And I am a total apple fan!!

  5. Note 8.0 is better than both of these new ones. They are running out of steam quickly

    1. The note 8.0 is supposed to be better, the Tab line is cheaper than the Note line of products.

      1. Yes I agree. I have the note 8.0 and it is a lot better than the other tablets I have used. I was just trying to understand why they needed to make another inferior tablet. They already have the galaxy tab 2 line. This is basically the same as the other units.

  6. Physical home button and capacitive buttons? Really?

  7. Looks like the Note 10.1 will be the Samsung’s top tablet for another year.

  8. “On paper you might be asking yourself why the 10.1 inch variant seems
    weaker in some areas, but you have to remember the Galaxy Tab 3 line is
    meant to stay affordable.” exactly, and if i expect anything from Samsung is that these tablets will be relatively cheap. but if they come out high priced then yeah,,,,i would say “go home Samsung you are drunk.”

  9. Pretty dissapointing

  10. yeah, that’s great Samsung! Okay Asus what you got for me????

    1. Nothing better as of yet for Asus either, it looks like 2013 is just going to be a mediocre year

      1. Are you kidding? Did you not read the front page yet today?

        1. Yeah I did and it had nothing that really popped out that made me say I would have to get it. 2gb of ram might be fine for some smartphone/tablet users, but with the increase of resource-hungry programs it isn’t enough anymore, my note 2 uses about 1.4-1.5 gb at all times with all my programs constantly running and you can tell the decrease in speed that occurs to the OS during that time. Also I won’t touch any device that has a tegra SOC anymore, yes it allows you to play some awesome graphics in games, but on the cpu side it’s slow and the battery life is horrendous. For some people these devices might sound pretty good, but what I was going at was that IMO nothing with a wow-factor has popped up yet.

        2. Actually I like the look of the Transformer Book Trio, figures cause I just got the Transformer Book X300!! Just want a high end 8in tablet. Guess I am holding out for Google Nexus…

      2. :-(…been waiting for a worthy replacement for my Galaxy Tab 7.7 that my wife fried with water…

  11. The thing about Asian and innovation is this.

    The smallest social unit in the US (don’t know about Europe enough to
    make a comment) is the individual. An individual is defined by the
    merit of the individual and the individual is free to make choices
    (within the rule of the society but with a wider range). Therefore, the
    individual has less pressure to conform and is able to act and think
    more freely.

    In Asia, the smallest social unit is a family, in essence, a group.
    That means a person is defined by what group he/she belongs to and that
    means the pressure to conform is tremendous. A free thinking individual
    is radical and wild card and in many parts of the Asian society, not
    tolerated. Under such social structure, free thinking in its purest
    form cannot exist thus innovation is will be extremely limited. The
    individual’s greatest accomplishment is its self-sacrifice for the
    greater good of the majority.

    Samsung has no true innovation. All its “innovations” are variation
    of different themes from other true innovators. One perfect example is
    when Bill Gates visited SKorea, he was criticized for shaking SKorean
    president’s hand “properly. The Koreans never thought that shaking hands
    is a western tradition but Koreans wanted a westerner to shake hands
    the way Koreans want in order to show respect.

    I will get a lot of flames from Korean posts (even from
    Korean-Americans) but keep in mind they are all ready to self-sacrifice
    for the greater good. Read carefully how they will protect their “brand”
    but not having any individual thinking. Here is to add more fuel to
    their flame.

    THIS SAMSUNG TABLET LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE APPLE TABLETS.

  12. The tab line is typically the economy line so this isn’t too surprising. the note line is where they throw all of the top of the line specs.

  13. Why they are so beautiful?

  14. I actually like the physical buttons (more screen real estate)..However, they really need to improve the screen and internals…

    1. I agree.with the new tablet UI having a black bar on the top and bottom of the screen takes up too much real estate. I would rather have the hardware buttons. hopefully they will come out with a high end note later this year

  15. Obviously this is total garbage… This is nothing compare to apple tab. Dear Samsung, Come with something believable. to my acknowledgement the GHz is still the same.

  16. 10.1 will be powered by Intel processor. Cool!

  17. Ths unfortunately makes sense. Samsung makes the Nexus 10 which is subsidized by Google. If they came out with a 10 inch Galaxy tablet with Nexus 10-like specs it would cost more than the Nexus. Why set yourself up to compete against yourself and lose? True it would be a little different with additions like sd card but that isn’t enough to push volume. Better to cut the specs way down and come out with a low cost 10 inch that appeals to a broad market. If they price this at $250/$299 for the 10 inch 16/32gb it will sell. They have the Nexus10 at the $399 price target. The only other move is to try and add enough features to make it compelling as a high end tablet (high Rez display, S-pen, and other cool new never seen before specs) hopefully there will be a new 10inch note that blows out socks off and justifies a $500 or geater price.

  18. Id rather buy a galaxy tab 2 with near same specs….

    1. This one is apparently Intel-based, opens the door to muliboot into Windows, Linux, etc.

  19. I like the narrow bezel but otherwise a small incremental improvement.

    My next near future tablet will likely be Intel based so that I can multiboot to Android, Windows, Linux, etc. Multiboot might be a way for Intel to get back in the game. In the meantime, N7 still rules the low end tablet.

  20. wow how disappointing can it get? why even release something that has the same specs as the previous model why such low resolution screens?

  21. People… please read the whole areticle… These tablets are not ment to be high end. There ment to be cheap and affordable. Not everybody can afford a $500 tablet nore do they have any need for a tablet that powerful. These tablets will be priced at affordable points, not at high end points.

  22. what happened to IR? My tab 2 7″ is still within its return period and I want to switch to the tab 3 8″ but would like to keep IR.

  23. 3 Galaxy S3’s, 1 Galaxy tab 2 7.0 all junk. Save your money. By a chalk board and colored chalk. Will be a much more reliable purchase

  24. Even as a Samsung fan, I am NOT impressed.

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