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In short, there are too many faults on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 to declare it the new gold standard in Android tablets.
The lacklustre performance and plasticky build are the main offenders, but it's the lack of any standout reason to part with your cash that's disappointing. While we liked the slim design and fantastic size, the likes of Google and Asus have upped their games with standout features at reasonable prices.
Meanwhile, Samsung's even managed to out-price Apple, the undisputed king of expensive tech, and without any justifiable reason.
We liked
The design is fantastic, and it's certainly our favourite member of the Tab 3 family, with thin sleek lines punctuated by an attractive aluminium rim. We love the fact it can be held in one hand yet still packs an extra inch of screen real estate, and we'd hazard to say that it's more attractive than the new Nexus 7, if perhaps not the iPad mini.
While we have criticised the screen for its lack of pixel density, we have to give a mention to the fantastic brightness, which saves the Tab 3 8.0 from mediocrity, instead making it an eye-catching movie mogul.
Battery life, while not breaking any records, certainly impressed us, and it's good to see decent performance at high loads.
We disliked
The plasticky build quality is inexcusable really, and really degrades the feel of this tablet – which we remind you is more expensive than the Apple iPad mini.
When you consider this high price, it's also perplexing that Samsung only included a dual-core processor. The penny-pinching takes its toll, with poor performance in our benchmarking tests and noticeable sluggishness across the whole user experience.
Final verdict
If you look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 and add up all of these factors, it doesn't look good for the Samsung. Combine the high price, poor performance and below par build quality, and it's hard to find any reason to recommend this new Samsung Tab.
