LG today unveiled the G Pad 8.3, however, the actual date of market launch wasn’t specified. The device is expected to hit Asian markets (including India) by the end of this year. The tablet comes with an 8.3 inch screen, as the name suggests, which is, in a way, a totally new form factor as far as tablets are concerned.
The device packs powerful specifications that include a quad core Snapdragon 600 processor. Would you give the iPad mini a miss and go for this device instead? Confused? Read on as we talk about the device’s internals in more detail.
Camera And Internal Storage
The camera feature on tablets is probably the one about which potential buyers a least bothered. This is because, given the larger size of tablets, it becomes very difficult to use them as photography devices. However, coming back to the G Pad 8.3, it comes with a 5MP shooter on the back for photography purposes and a 1.3MP unit on the front for video calls. You can expect the device to come close to the iPad mini when it comes to photography. The G Pad 8.3 comes with a good 16GB of on-board storage which does look impressive. We expect the device to have a microSD slot as well, which should take cards up to 64GB in size.
Processor And Battery
The G Pad 8.3 packs a tried and tested Snapdragon 600 processor which comes with 4 cores clocked at 1.7 GHz each. The powerful processor would be able to handle most of today’s apps and games without hassles.
The fact that the processor will come coupled with 2GB of LPDDR2 RAM means that users will probably not experience any lag whatsoever, and at the same time, the device will have smooth UI transitions due to adequate availability of shared memory to the GPU. The battery on the unit is an impressive 4600mAh unit which should give you plenty hours of usage of the device on a single charge.
Display And Features
As mentioned in the title, the device comes with a full HD display on the 8.3 inch screen. However, the resolution won’t be the usual 1920x1080p, but 1920x1200p, also known as WUXGA. You can expect the device to provide a very good multimedia experience, be it games or movies. Games would be enjoyable thanks to the powerful processor and the high resolution screen, which movies will be fun to watch thanks to the large enough screen and of course the decent pixel density. Other features of the device include availability of Android v4.2.2 out of the box. The device will be available in two colours, Black and White.
Looks and Connectivity
The device, thanks to it’s 8.3 inch screen, will not only provide ample space for users to enjoy multimedia and text, but will make it fairly pocketable as well. You probably will feel the device to be much more mobile and handy as compared to other 9.7” and 10.1” tablets in the market. The device’s connectivity features are not known completely at the moment, since it still awaits a market launch. However, we’re sure that the device will have WiFi and Bluetooth support at the very least.
Comparison
The device won’t have many competitors in the market, however, the iPad Mini and a host of 8 inch devices including the Galaxy Tab 3 series from Samsung can be seen as competitors to this upcoming tablet.
Key Specs
Conclusion
LG would hope to gain some market share in the tablet segment, which is currently ruled by Apple and Samsung. For this, LG will have to give the device a very competitive price tag – probably lower than what Samsung asks for the Galaxy Tab 3 series. However, it would be unfair to judge these devices on the same level since they all come with different specifications, out of which the LG G Pad 8.3 undoubtedly seems like the most powerful one. We would love to see the device being launched with a sub-25k INR price tag in the country.
