Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 10.5" 8 Dark Gray 2022

A big screen and long battery life wrapped around a painfully weak processor and too little RAM. Great for streaming, bad for everything else.

The weirdest thing about this tablet is the spec sheet. Samsung lists an AMD 1200 4-core CPU, which is not a chip we see in tablets often, and our data ranks it in the bottom 10 percent for processing power. The GPU, oddly enough, sits in the 99th percentile, which likely means it handles basic video decode like a champ. In practice, streaming is smooth, but opening multiple apps or doing anything beyond one task at a time will remind you that 3GB of RAM is not much in 2025.

The Apple iPad Air M4 absolutely destroys this thing in every category except price, but that is like comparing a Corolla to a Porsche. The more relevant fight is against the Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus and Xiaomi Pad 7, both of which offer better screens, more RAM, and faster processors for not much more cash. The Xiaomi Pad 7 especially makes the Tab A8 look old, with a sharper display and double the storage in most configs. If you are already in the Samsung ecosystem and just want a cheap second screen, the Tab A8 works, but anyone buying fresh should look at the Xiaomi or Lenovo first.

At $279 USD, this is a tough sell when you can find better specs for similar money. The 32GB of storage and 3GB of RAM feel dated, and our database puts the overall value score at just 31.1 out of 100. If you catch it on sale for under $200, it becomes a decent kid tablet or kitchen streaming device. At full price, you are paying for the Samsung name more than the hardware.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 is a budget tablet that knows exactly what it is, a family couch companion for streaming and light browsing. The 10.5-inch 1920x1200 screen is the star here, giving you plenty of room for Netflix or YouTube without costing iPad money. But the 3GB of RAM and that ancient AMD 1200 4-core chip mean this thing is not built for heavy lifting, and our database puts its productivity score at a rough 15.1 out of 100.

If you need a tablet for work, school, or any kind of multitasking, skip this. The 3GB of RAM and weak CPU will frustrate you within a week. Go grab a Xiaomi Pad 7 or a refurbished iPad instead, you will thank yourself later.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 is fine for one thing: casual media consumption on a budget. If you want a tablet for email, light browsing, and streaming shows, it will do the job without complaint. But if you plan to run more than two apps at once, edit photos, or do any real work, this is not the tablet for you. Spend a little more and get the Xiaomi Pad 7 or a used iPad instead.