Samsung Quietly Unveils Galaxy Tab A In Russia
Samsung has announced a new line of tablets in Russia, without much fuss or fanfare and not even an official PR statement. It's almost as if it were ashamed to let it be known that it has a new family of Android tablets, and maybe it's for good reason. Like their Galaxy A smartphone namesakes, these two Galaxy Tab A tablets are pretty much mid-range mobile devices seemingly designed for a specific use case in mind. But, unlike those smartphones, these tablets are still completely plastic.
Let's get the tech specs out of the way first. The Galaxy Tab A comes in two sizes, one with an 8-inch display and one with 9.7 inches. Despite the difference in sizes, both have the same 1024x768 resolution. And that's also pretty much the only place they differ. Both are powered by the same 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, likely a Snapdragon 410, assisted by 2 GB of RAM. The internal storage is only 16 GB but you can add 128 GB more with a microSD card.
With a 4:3 aspect ratio and a slim 7.5 mm profile, you'd almost think it were a dead knocker for an iPad. Of course, the specs say otherwise, much less the build. Although Samsung has adopted metal for its high-end smartphone, its other devices, especially the mid to low ties, are unlikely to get the same treatment. That said, the Galaxy Tab A brand almost inspired hope, only to be dashed once more by plastic.
Samsung is no stranger to "budget" devices, but it's justification for the Galaxy Tab A is a bit interesting to note. It poises the tablet to be an "Internet Tablet", one that has just enough capabilities to support browsing the web, email, and social networking. Samsung claims that these three are the most common use cases for tablets these days. Gaming, and even music or video consumption, only come second. Indeed, the switch to a 4:3 screen ratio is justified by this claim.
No word yet when Samsung plans to take the Galaxy Tab A outside of Russia. There, the 8-inch model will cost around 16,990 RUB ($276) for a Wi-Fi only version and 20,990 ($341) for an LTE-enabled one. The larger 9.7-inch starts at 20,990 RUB ($341) for Wi-Fi and 24,990 RUB ($406) for LTE.
SOURCE: Hi-Tech.Mail.Ru