Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 Review: Great For Media Consumption

People are shifting to smartphones to be their main devices to watch movies or listen to music. You will come across a lot of people watching videos and movies in the bus stations, on the trains, … Therefore, many phone makers are making their smartphones’ display bigger and bigger, as smartphones have become an important device for many people.

But if you are spending a lot of time watching media on the mobile devices, then a tablet would be a better option. With its much bigger screen compared to that of the smartphones, it will give you a much better experience in watching TV and movies or playing games. But, the question is which tablet to choose among a ton of choices?. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 would be a prominent option. The device features a large screen, Android, and a quad-speaker system to provide you with an excellent experience. But besides that, what is this Rs. 29,990 tablet capable of?

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 Specifications and Features

In terms of specifications, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 may be a bit disappointing when you take its Rs. 29,990 price into consideration. It is powered by a Snapdragon 450 chipset, with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage which is expandable, and a 7,300 mAh battery under the hood. In terms of camera, it sports an 8MP camera on the rear and a 5MP front-facing sensor. It comes with Android 8,1 Oreo and cellular connectivity. Most of those specifications may seem a bit lackluster for a tablet worth Rs. 29,990. However, it is a tablet so its set of feature may be a bit different from a smartphone.

Let’s start with one of the most significant positive specs -- its battery. The Samsung tablet is backed up by a large battery that can keep it up and running for hours. It will not run out too fast when you are watching movies or YouTube videos, and it will power suitably the large screen. You also won’t have to wait long for the device to fully charge, thanks to the USB Type-C port and its fast charger. It will take you around 3 three hours to charge the tablet, which is pretty decent as it comes with a big battery capacity.

Samsung also uses a quad-speaker system and also Dolby Atmos tech tuning on the sound which makes the tablet decent at playing video-based and cinematic audio without having to use a headphone. Though you may still have to use a headphone in a noisy environment. Those speakers are placed in different corners of the Samsung device to make sure that you can enjoy a good sound no matter how you are holding the Galaxy Tab A 10.5.

Given the fact that the tablet is commonly used by the whole family including children, its Kids Mode will be pretty useful. Parents can use this feature to limit the apps that their children can use, even when they are not supervising. The device will use Samsung Experience UI, which is quite similar to the ones on Samsung handsets. It may not the best UI out there, but it still does a pretty good job. Finally, you can protect your tablet with Face Unlock system, which though is not amazingly reliable and fast, is still a decent way to secure your tablet.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 Display and Design

Tablets are very much the same as smartphones in many aspects with some notable exceptions being battery capacity and display. Moreover, smartphones are more handy to make calls, while tablets can be too much to hold and place on your ears and have a long conversation. That said, many tablets also have data connectivity, and so does the Galaxy Tab A. It supports regular SIM cards and general data services as on smartphones.

The device’s design is mostly focused on delivering the best screen experience. It doesn’t have any button on the front, not even the signature physical home button of Samsung. That makes the device slightly wider than the regular 4:3 ratio on most of the tablets, while it still maintains a comfortable shape and size for hand-held use. Its rubber-like finish at its back makes it much easier to hold the device.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 Performance

Your impression of the device may depend on your usage and the way you use it. This tablet mostly focuses on buyers who are looking for a media machine with a large screen for playing games or watching videos and movies. If that is indeed what you need, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 will definitely not let you down. Its large FullHD+ display makes the tablet really great for long watching sessions.

However, with only 3GB RAM and not so powerful Snapdragon 450 chipset, its performance is not really that impressive. While you will still be able to play casual games, audio playback, video streaming; graphically intensive and heavy usage tasks tend to cause the device to be laggy.

Overall, this tablet should be best for media consumption and basic games. If you want to have a better performance, it would be better for you to buy the high-end Samsung tablet - Galaxy Tab S4.

Final thought

The product segment of the tablet came and went quicker than expected. At this point, there are only a few buyers who would want a large screen tablet tend to shift their interest on Apple's iPad. Not a lot of players stay in the Android tablet segment, with Samsung being pretty much the only brand still holding somewhat strong. And while its latest Tab A 10.5 still has a decent positioning and strong advantages, its price of Rs. 30,000 may be a bit too high for such a device.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is an excellent device for media consumption with its big screen, good audio output and cellular connectivity. High battery capacity, fast charging and useful software also contribute to making this device better. However, it is held back by the high price and average performance, and maybe an iPad would be a better option.