LG is on a product launch spree and seems to be gaining momentum in the consumer electronics arena again. First it launched the much awaited G2 smartphone with much fanfare. It has now followed up the high-profile launch with the release of the G Pad 8.3 tablet – an 8-inch tablet in its G Series lineup of premium mobile devices. The G Pad 8.3 features a Full HD display in the form of an 8.3-inch screen, packs in excellent user-experience and a wide range of connectivity options.
One look at the LG G Pad 8.3 and you will realise that it borrows many features and aspects from the company’s popular G2 smartphone. The device comes packed in a very sleek package that uses both aluminum and plastic, to give it a premium look and finish. The LG G Pad 8.3 comes in black colour and looks gorgeous – the subtle contrast between the black brushed aluminum and the matte black plastic is appealing, giving the device a stealthy look without becoming too utilitarian.
The tablet’s Full HD IPS LCD display is beautiful. The viewing angles and colours are great, too. The G Pad 8.3 is a feature packed tablet – from a quad-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor to a Full HD 8.3-inch screen to Q Pair functionality, which allows you to view call and text information from an Android smartphone on the G Pad. There’s 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. For media junkies, that means a potential extra 64GB of storage just waiting to be filled with movies and music.
The LG G Pad 8.3 is a WiFi-only device and this is where the Q Pair functionality comes to rescue. The tablet’s speakers are nice and loud, too. In addition, the G Pad 8.3 comes with a 5-megapixel camera, which does a decent enough job for a tablet camera. The tablet also packs in a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The LG G Pad 8.3 also comes with some cool bells and whistles. For starters, the G Pad 8.3 comes with the “Knock on” feature similar to the G2 smartphone, which allows you to switch on and switch off the tablet’s screen by gently knocking on it twice.
The tablet also comes with QSlide apps, which are small overlay apps that float on the homescreen, useful for multitasking. In addition, the G Pad 8.3 also comes with Slide Aside feature that lets you “slide” three apps to the side to keep them in memory and recall them with a swipe from the left gesture. Using the LG G Pad 8.3 is quite intuitive – the additional LG apps are a nice touch and overall it delivers a lot of bang for the buck. LG has done a fantastic job with the G Pad 8.3 because it comes packed with everything you would want in an Android device. Hence, it earns Review Central’s Recommended nod.
Price: AED 1,399
Specifications:
Display: IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Display Size: 1200 x 1920 pixels, 8.3 inches (~273 ppi pixel density)
Loudspeaker: Yes, with stereo speakers
Memory Card slot: microSD, up to 64 GB
Internal Memory: 16 GB, 2 GB RAM
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA
Bluetooth: Yes
Infrared Port: Yes
Primary Camera: 5 MP, 2592х1944 pixels, autofocus, check quality
Secondary Camera: 1.3 MP, 720p
OS: Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
Chipset: Qualcomm APQ8064 Pro Snapdragon 600
CPU: Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300
GPU: Adreno 320
Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 4600 mAh battery
Weight: 338-gms
