Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 review: An excellent tablet at a premium price

The 8-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 is the latest example of the company's weird pricing decisions. At $300, the Tab 3 is expensive for a small tablet that -- aside from its 1.5GB of RAM -- has fairly modest specs and hardware features.

In the "small tablet" space -- 7- to 9-inch screen sizes -- great models are more affordable than ever. The Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD, Fire HD 8.9, Nook HD, and Nook HD+ are all available for $269 or less. Of course, one reason they're so affordable is that they're all 2012 models that are effectively on closeout, with new models due imminently (or likely not at all, in the case of the Nook).

That's where the 8-inch Tab 3 steps in. Of the three new Tab 3 models -- there's also a $400 10-inch version and a $200 7-incher -- it's the one with the best feature set: a sharp bright screen, good performance, a light comfortable design, and Samsung's multiwindow feature that allows two select apps to run concurrently on the screen. It also has an easy-to-set-up remote control/TV guide component and microSD expandable storage.

My initial reaction to the Tab 3's price was, "wow, if only it was a tad lower, they'd have my money!" After all, $30 more would get you an iPad Mini, which still boasts the best app ecosystem around.

On the other hand, the 8-inch Tab 3 is $100 less than the nearly identical Note 8 -- and all you're not getting is the stylus that comes with that model. So, while I would have liked to see the 8-inch Tab 3 clock in at closer to $270, it's still a pretty satisfying package at $300.

Thankfully, the 8-inch Tab 3 is a great tablet with a sharp, bright screen, good performance, a light comfortable design, and gobs of useful features. It has an easy-to-set-up remote control/TV guide component, microSD expandable storage, and Samsung's multi-window feature that allows two select apps to run concurrently on the screen. So, it's not like Samsung didn't pack the 8-inch -- I make that distinction because the 10.1-inch didn't fair so well -- Tab 3 to the rim with features; the question is whether those features are worth the tablet's asking price.

For some, they will be. Others however will prefer to get their tablet fix from cheaper, yet still capable devices like the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD. And despite having the heftiest price for a small tablet, the iPad Mini can still compete because it plays host to what's overall still the best app ecosystem around.

Design While other 8-inch tablets like the iPad Mini and Galaxy Note 8 push the one-handed cupping limit, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 feels slim and trim by comparison and fits comfortably into not only my considerably large hands, but based on anecdotal usage around the CNET office, much smaller hands as well. It's essentially a thinner, narrower version of the Note 8 without any S Pen Stylus slot to worry about; it's bezel width and overall girth have received a notable cleaving. It's a hair heavier than the iPad Mini, but its narrower design makes it easier to hold.

The Tab 3 is still obviously plastic, but with its smooth, rounded corners and well-placed physical features, it doesn't feel cheap. The navigation array from the Note line makes a return here with the bottom bezel playing host to a home button, menu button, and back button; features typically found on the actual screen of pretty much every post-Honeycomb (Android 3.0) tablet. The removal of the array from the Tab 3 screen translates to apps and games getting just a little extra room to stretch their legs, resulting in a game like Real Racing 3 using the full screen as opposed to only some of it, as it does on most Android tablets.

I've always been a fan of physical home buttons, and unlike the iPad Mini, the one featured here is raised just enough above the bezel to be easily found while not attracting many errant presses. The back button functions as you'd expect and the menu buttons provide quick access to options like search, settings, and create folder. Recent apps are accessed by holding down the home button for a complete second. The hit boxes for the menu and back buttons are calibrated accurately, so you likely won't press unless you actually intend to; something with which the 10.1-inch version of the Galaxy Tab 3 struggles.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Along the right edge of the Tab 3 are the mic pinhole, power/sleep button, volume rocker, and IR Blaster. The bottom edge includes a pair of dual speakers surrounding the Micro-USB charging port. On the left edge is a microSD card slot and on the top, a headphone jack. The top bezel has an ambient light sensor and 1.3-megapixel camera. The smooth, plastic and "gold-brown" (it also comes in white) backside houses a 5-megapixel camera (thankfully) in the top left corner, where all back cameras should be.

Software features The Tab 3 ships with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and includes Samsung's TouchWiz UI skin. Though some take issue with the somewhat Fisher-Price-ian look of the interface, Samsung of late has added a number of useful features to balance out the over-use of pastels. The most useful feature is the easily accessible shortcut tray that lets you turn off features like Smart Stay, Multi Window, Screen Mirroring, Wi-Fi, Reading Mode, and GPS among others by simply swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the feature on or off.

Samsung's multiwindow feature allows for two select apps to run simultaneously onscreen with a fairly deep pool of compatible apps, including Twitter, Facebook, and Chrome. Each window can be easily resized to support virtually any ratio, but doing so with your finger is a little less precise compared with using a stylus to accomplish the same thing on the Note 8.

(Credit: Screenshot by Eric Franklin/CNET)

Smart Stay is the now overhyped feature that should put your tablet into sleep mode if, using the front camera, it detects that your eyes aren't watching the screen. While the feature works on our 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 3 unit, it didn't function correctly on our 8-inch tablet.

Group Play lets you share files with other Samsung users on the same Wi-Fi network and alter the files in real time. This ranges from pics, docs, music and select multiplayer games. It's a cool concept and something I could see being used effectively in work meetings, but I can't think of many practical uses for a consumer. Also, once you've joined a group, you won't be able to connect to the Internet until you manually disconnect from the group.

(Credit: Screenshot by Eric Franklin/CNET)

Watch On Watch On is Samsung's universal remote/video hub app that integrates streaming-video content and OTA and cable TV. It includes typical social sharing "this is what I'm watching" options and is a pretty effective and accurate TV guide, but the real standout feature is its powerful and potentially very useful search.