You’ll also find some internal updates, most notably a move from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipsets to a Unisoc Tiger T618 processor. Samsung’s new display is 10.5 inches in diameter compared to the 10.4-inch panel on the Galaxy Tab A7. It features slightly rounded corners and a 16:10 aspect ratio, ready for media streaming. The tablet’s body is metal with a thin plastic strip housing the power button and volume rocker. Color options now include grey, silver and rose gold. The Galaxy Tab A8 comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage in its base configuration, with the latter being expandable by up to 1TB of additional storage via a microSD slot. In the US, you can choose up to 128GB of onboard storage, while Europe and India also have the option of an LTE-enabled version. Overall, the updated design looks and feels like it belongs to the modern Samsung Galaxy family. Small touches like the redesigned camera and updated color options go a long way in building a seamless ecosystem as, despite the price, it wouldn’t look out of place next to a Galaxy S series phone. The metal construction also feels good in the hand – much higher quality than a plastic tablet. You’ll find that the 10.5-inch LCD screen has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200, which is sharp enough for most applications. It’s only a 60Hz screen, but unlike phones, you won’t see faster refresh rates on tablets unless you pay a lot more. Samsung doesn’t make any fancy claims about the Galaxy Tab A8’s battery life, but it does like to boast of the 7,040mAh battery. After all, it’s a fairly large cell to keep the 10.5-inch display going all day. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 is right in line with the introductory price of its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab A7. As such, it can be difficult to decide whether or not you should upgrade. Both have similar display sizes and overall specs, although the newer Galaxy Tab A8 gets longer software support and has a slightly larger display. The Galaxy Tab A8 is also competitively priced against other budget Android tablets like the Lenovo Tab P11 Plus. While Lenovo’s tablet is more expensive, it packs 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in the base configuration. It sports a more powerful Helio G90T chipset and an 11-inch IPS touchscreen with a sharper 2K resolution. The overall designs are relatively similar, with two-tone rear finishes and Dolby Atmos speakers. However, the Lenovo Tab P11 Plus offers sharper cameras if that appeals to you.
