Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 Full Review

As the pandemic started the tablet market is starting to get saturated now. Previously we would only see brands like Samsung and Lenevo working in budget Android tablets but now even brands like Realme and Motorola are coming up with their tablets. We also saw one from Xiaomi, Xiaomi Pad 5 launched in Nepal recently. Talking about Samsung they are back with the successor of their last year’s most loved tablet from the A-series, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8. The tablet is catered towards budget users. We have been using Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 for an ample amount of time and here’s our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 along with its price in Nepal and pros and cons. 

Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 Specification

Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 Full Review: 

Build and Design 

Samsung Galaxy A8 features a really sturdy build. We have a metallic finish at the back. Despite having a large display and 7000mAh battery, the device never felt uncomfortable while using weighing at 508gm. On the front Samsung Galaxy A8 features a 10.5-inch display with rounded corners. We get a front-facing camera on the landscape orientation. The volume rockers and the power button is on the right side, which is quite tactile.

We get a Type-C port at the bottom, while the 3.5mm Jack is available at the corner. We also have support for memory expansion via the micro-SD card and kudos to Samsung for keeping that feature alive, you also get single sim support on the LTE variant. 

Display 

The large 10.5inch display is one of the major USP of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8.  The device features a 10.5-inch TFT Display with a resolution of 1200 x 1920 pixels and an 80% screen-to-body ratio. The display quality is okay I would say. It might not be the sharpest panel but for regular content consumption and online classes, the display on Tab A8 is pretty good. It’s a 16:10 display, so during web browsing and navigating you get a large vertical space.

Also, Samsung has utilized the larger display very well with its software. The Muli-Window or Split-Screen feature works really well on this tablet. I also enjoyed surfing the web on the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8. As it’s a WideVine L1 certified device you can enjoy full HD content on the OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. On top of that, the Quad speaker setup further enhances your multi-media experience. Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 is a media powerhouse for its price. 

Performance 

Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 is powered by Unisoc Tiger T618 SoC, fabricated under 12nm process. It is an octa-core CPU with 2×2.0 GHz Cortex-A75 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 CPU and Mali G52 MP2 GPU, with this you get 4GB RAM and 64/128GB Internal storage. This SoC is not a powerhouse by any means but gets your job done. During my usage, the device ran smoothly with a few stutters here and there. I was using the device for my online classes, Powerpoint presentations, editing files on Google Docs and the device was able to handle all this really well.

Talking about gaming, this device is not oriented towards gaming but a light title like Subway Surfers or fruit ninja runs really well. While PUBG can go up to HD Graphics, with Smooth graphics settings and Ultra frame rate but I won’t suggest you play heavy games on this one cause the performance won’t be very pleasing. Summing up the performance section with the benchmark scores we got 365 single-core scores and 1275 multi-core scores while running GeekBench 5.

At the starting price of NRs.32,000, Samsung is trying to sell this tab as a media-consuming device and as I told you earlier, the device excels on those departments even though the performance is not its USP and if you are in search of a flagship Tablet then you can check out the S series of the tablets from Samsung. 

Camera 

Cameras on tablets are never something to brag about especially on budget tablets and it’s similar to the Tab A8. We get a single 8MP sensor on the rear and on the front we have a 5MP selfie camera in landscape orientation. These cameras are just enough to scan your documents and attend online classes or meetings.

The front-facing camera is better than a lot of laptop cameras. The camera app packs feature like Portrait mode, Pro Mode, Panorama, Hyperlapse, and also dedicated food mode. The device can also record Full HD Videos upto 30fps. The pictures we captured other than the documents were okay, with lacking details and a lot of noise. 

Software 

The tablet runs on Android 11 with One UI Core 3.1 on top. This version of One UI on tab A8 is optimized for the tablets. The UI is really smooth and packs various features specifically for the larger screen. Features like the Samsung Edge panel, which lets you easily switch between apps and group apps for a faster split-screen experience makes things really easy and enhances your tablet using experience.

The UI is more polished than a stock Android, like on the Realme pad. We also get PC sync features to connect a tablet and a laptop for seamless sharing of files and media. The tab also comes with a dedicated Kids Mode. It has a simpler UI and a lot of parental control features and will come in really handy if you want to configure this tab for your child. 

Battery life and Charging

Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 offers a decently large 7040mAh battery and supports upto 15W fast charging. The sad part is the device gets bundled with a  7.5W charger in the box. We tested it with a 15W Samsung adapter during our review period and it took us somewhere around 3  hours to 3 hours 15 minutes to get the tablet from 0 to 100%.

Talking about the battery life, once the tablet gets fully charged it can give you a full day of endurance easily. I was able to complete by a full day of online classes with 6 hours+ on Microsoft teams with around 30% juice still left. Due to the fact it has a 60Hz screen and not so power-hungry SoC, Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 can give you up to 2 days of use easily if multimedia consumption is what you do the most. 

Pricing

Now let’s come to the pricing part, Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 starts at NRs.31,999 for the base 4GB/64GB Wifi Only variant. While the one with LTE will cost you NRs.37,999. The highest 4GB/128GB LTE variant will cost you NRs.40,999. If you take my words into consideration, the 4/64GB LTE variant will provide you the best value for your money and if you are mostly in WIFI and don’t want SIM card support, the base variant results in a much more compelling deal. 

Also, read

• Xiaomi Pad 5 Price in Nepal and Full Review
• Galaxy Tab S8 And S8 Plus Leaks And Rumors
• Samsung Mobile Price In Nepal [Updated January 2022]

Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 Full Review – Final Verdict

Summing of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 Full Review is a decent offering from Samsung and for its intended usage of consuming media and attending online classes it really provides a good value for your money. If what you are looking for is a powerful Android tablet then the Tab A8 definitely not for you. But if you are someone who wants a tablet for attending meetings, working with Word documents, online classes, and also multimedia consumption then Tab A8 will provide you best value for your money, considering other tablets from the competition in the market.