Today LG Electronics announced that its latest tablet, the LG G Pad 8.3,
is officially available for sale in the U.S. Just days after making a
similar European announcement, LG has revealed that the new tablet will
be available at bestbuy.com starting immediately. The tablet will roll
out to physical Best Buy stores and other offline merchants on November
3.
With a retail price of
$349.99, LG is targeting midrange consumers, but it isn’t skimping on
features. The centerpiece of the tablet is its 8.3-inch IPS screen,
which features an impressive 1920x1200 pixels of resolution (more
detailed than 1080p High Definition). At the same time, the smaller
screen means the tablet is compact enough to fit (albeit just barely) in
a single hand.
The LG G Pad 8.3 is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon
600 processor, features 2GB of RAM, 16GB of ROM, and a microSD slot
that allows for memory expansion of up to 64 additional gigabytes. The
camera is a standard 5 megapixel model, and Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 is
installed under the hood. A beefy 4600mAh battery should offer ample
running time for a full day’s worth of adventures.
LG has enhanced the G Pad
8.3 with a few sweet software extras, including QPair connectivity. This
software lets G Pad users open a window into a paired Android smart
phone. With QPair, you can access recent apps directly through the
tablet, read your incoming text messages, and even see who’s ringing
when a new phone call arrives. Notes written on the G Pad can also be
quickly synced to your phone with the tablet’s QMemo software. Best of
all, these tools are manufacturer agnostic and don’t require an LG brand
secondary device in order to work.
Another recently upgraded
app included on the device, QSlide Function 2.0, lets you multitask by
“floating” up to two apps over the home screen. You decide how large the
windows for these apps are, and can even set the transparency level of
the windows. This is a great time-saving trick for users who don’t like
constantly tapping and swiping to navigate back and forth among multiple
open apps.
In a curious coincidence,
the tablet is just 8.3mm thick, which makes it amply portable. As well,
its metal body is a testament to higher-grade construction and a focus
on durability. The $350 price tag has some potential buyers concerned
that it may be priced a little too high compared to the competition, but
the sleek design, build quality, dazzling screen, and thoughtful
add-ons may ultimately be persuasive enough for LG’s newest entry to
make a serious showing in the tablet race.
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