Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Updated 9/21/22 Beware the model they send you. There is more than one model of the TabA8. Unfortunately I received model SM-X200. The Samsung updates to this model are horrendous and as a result pose a security risk to the user. it is still on Android 11, One UI 3.1 and Android May 2022 security patch. I read somewhere, not confirmed that Samsung is not updating this model of the TabA8 to Android 12 and may update it to Android 13 at some point in time after Android 13 becomes available. I also have a TabA7 released one year before the TabA8 and Samsung updated my TabA7 to Android 12 months ago. Also, Samsung keeps the TabA7 up to date on Android Security patches The TabA8 works fine that is why I am not giving it a one star rating It is also very slow to charge. A lot slower than the TabA7. I can not recommend the SM-X200 model of the TabA8 at all. Maybe if you are in a different location this model of the TabA8 will update. Updated 3/22/22 See bottom of review Not reviewed for typos. I ordered a 4 x 64 version. The box said 4 x 64. The actual device as a 3 x 32. I contacted Amazon about the problem and they sent the correct replaement immediately and I received the replacement on the same date that i was scheduled to receive the original Now about the Tab A8. I had previously purchased a Tab A7 3 x 64 from Amazon. You should be able to find my review of it on Amazon. This review is bascially a comparison of the A8 with the A7. First off. I recommend against buying the A8, 3 x 32 It wasn't unitl I had used Switch to copy over my apps and data from the A7 to the original A8 that I received that I discovered they had sent me a 3 x 32 intead of a 4 x 64. If you order the 64GB version of the A8 it automatically comes with 4GB RAM. In any case the transfer of the apps and data from the A7 3 x 64 to the A8 3 x 32 took close to two hours using Samsung Switch. Transferring the data from the A7 to the A8, 4 x 64 took less than 15 minutes. There is no doubt that the extra 1GB RAM and 32GB of memory makes a big difference. The Tab A7 with 64GB is a very nice tablet but compared to the Tab A8 with 64GB the Tab 8A is signficantly faster. I opened multiple apps and switched between them without any lag. As I have posted before I am no gamer so I can't comment of the gaming capabilities of either tablet but when it comes to everything else including downloading and installing updates the Tab A8 64GB is noticeably faster than the Tab A7 64GB The display comparison is bit more complicated. The sharpness of the display is better on the A7 but the Tab A8 display at 10.5" vs 10.4" of the Tab A7 is more boxy and looks more like a desktop display than a tablet display. I put up a video on the Tab A8 and a 23" Samsung desktop display monitor. While some of the picture is lost on the Tab A8 it isn't a lot compared to the Tab A7 which crops off a good deal of the top and bottom. For some reason, the Tab A7 has a better; i.e., signficantly louder audio than the Tab A8 both running on Android 11 with Samsung UI 3.1. The Tab A8 audio is good for watching videos etc but the Tab A7 can give you room type audio when you are listening to music. I can't judge the distortion but in any case while the Tab 8A audio is fine the Tab A7 audio is better. While neither the Tab A7 or A8 batteries will charge very fast I haven't noticed much diffenece between the two with the Tab A8 charging a bit faster using the Samsung charging block and cable that came with the Tab A8. No comment on battery draing speed as that will always vary based upon usage. I ams satisfied with the battery drain speed on both the Tab A7 and Tab A8, Then again I don't play games. Final comment. The Tab A8 is year newer so it came with Android 11 vs Android 10 for Tab A7. So it should get one more Android update and Samsung related UI update down the road. Both are nice tablets but the extra GB of RAM along with a different CPU makes the Tab A8 a lot more enjoyable to use. Update 3/22/22 Heptics - The heptics on the Tab A8 are super sensitive which makes for very light touches. On the Tab A7 the heptics are not nearly as sensitive. Startup - With the Tab A8 there is very little impact on usage immediately upon startup after logging in. Upon login you should be able to alsmost immediately begin doing whatever. On the Tab A7 you have to wait for software like anti-malware to do their thing after login before you can do much of anything. The wait time will vary depending on your software. For that reason I don't turn off the Tab A7 except when I know I won't be using it for an extended period, like a day or more. I think the extra GB of RAM in the Tab A8 makes the difference since both my Tab A8 and Tab A7 are loaded with identical software including Android 11 and Samsung 3.1 UI. Battery - Samsung UI 3.1 does a good job of saving battery after it learns which takes a few days. Therefore, leaving the Tab A8 or Tab A7 on does not drain much battery once the devices are optimized by the Samsung software as long as you turn off the display when the devices are not in use. I also recommend turning off the display for playing music, streaming or otherwise if you want to save on battery drain. In order to assure continuous playing of music when the display is off you have go to the music playing app and turn on allow in battery saving mode.