Samsung has officially launched the Galaxy Tab A 8.4 (2020) in the US. This is an affordable tablet designed for the masses. It offers LTE connectivity, strong battery life, and more all under $300.
Priced at $280, the Galaxy Tab A 8.4 (2020) features an 8.4-inch TFT display of 1920 x 1200 resolution. The system runs on the Exynos 7904 octa-core chipset paired with 3GB of RAM. The 32GB internal storage capacity can be expanded by up to 512GB via a dedicated microSD slot.
The new tablet packs a 5,000mAh battery which Samsung rates for up to 99 hours of music playback or 12 hours of video playback or 11 hours of internet use time on a single charge.
The battery charges via a USB Type-C port and supports fast charging. Samsung claims up to 10 hours of battery life on typical use.
The new tablet is equipped with an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus and a 5-megapixel front-facing sensor. It supports FHD (1920 x 1080) video recording and UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) video playback at 30fps.
For connectivity, it has Bluetooth 5.0 LE and dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz Wi-Fi. This single-SIM tablet also offers LTE connectivity. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack and dual-speakers with Dolby Atmos.
The Galaxy Tab A 8.4 (2020) has a full metal design with dimensions of 7.95 x 4.93 x 0.28 inches and weighs 10.9 oz (309 grams). Sensors onboard include GPS and accelerometer.
While Samsung isn’t detailing the OS version, this tablet appears to be shipping with Android 9 out of the box. That’s disappointing considering how long Android 10 has been out. Hopefully, it’ll be upgraded to the latest Android version soon.
Galaxy Tab A 8.4 (2020) availability
The Galaxy Tab A 8.4 (2020) is currently only available for Verizon Wireless in the US. Samsung says the tablet would release for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, as well as U.S. Cellular in the coming weeks. Of course, you can still use it as a WiFi-only tablet if you’d prefer to.
Samsung is offering a 30-day free trial to its Samsung Kids Plus service with the new tablet. Samsung Kids Plus provides educational content that parents can show to their children.
The company is also running a promotional offer under which users can get a second month after the 30-day trial ends for just $0.49. The service usually costs $7.99 per month.
The Galaxy Tab A 8.4 (2020) should eventually launch in other markets as well. However, Samsung isn’t yet saying when and where. Hopefully, we’ll get to hear about it once it becomes widely available in the US. The Verizon model ships this week in a “Mocha” color from Samsung.com.