Hot topics

Hands-on with the pleasantly affordable Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019)

samsung galaxy tab a back
© nextpit

Read in other languages:

Samsung, once again, is trying to start a trend with the new Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019) despite a steadily declining demand for tablets. With small external changes, fresh hardware and a new feature with potential, the new Galaxy Tab A can't save the entire tablet market, but it can find a place in many households.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019)
Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019): All deals

The price is pleasantly affordable

With the new Galaxy Tab A and the Galaxy Tab S5e, also presented today, Samsung is cautiously changing its Android tablet portfolio. The Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019) tested here is the new entry-level tablet in the world of Samsung. With a price of 210 euros ($240) for the WiFi-only and 270 euros ($305) for the LTE version, this is a bargain for a Samsung product.

A Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite is in this price range for Android tablets, while Apple's iPad 9.7 starts at around 349 euros ($329). Samsung has scheduled the launch and availability of the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019) for April 5th in Europe. We're still waiting on confirmation of US and UK prices and release dates.

Quality build and chic design

Even though the trend in the tablet market is constantly pointing downwards, it does not mean that Samsung has lost its love for design or flair when it comes to craftsmanship of its tablets. Rather, in the case of the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019), Samsung's claim to be a premium brand is also reflected in the starter tablet.

samsung galaxy tab a side
Aluminum instead of plastic: the housing is largely made of metal. / © NextPit

You can already see this in action. A large part of the new Tab A is made of aluminum rather than plastic. Well, Samsung couldn't completely do away with plastic. So that the antennas for wireless communication can send and receive without problems, an approximately two-finger-wide strip on the back is made of plastic. This solution ensures that you don't have to have any antenna bands in the frame.

samsung galaxy tab a back
Only the upper part is made of plastic, so that the antennas have good reception. / © NextPit

A TFT display with an 'outdoor mode'

If you are looking for a tablet that can shine with an AMOLED panel and, therefore, has very good contrast and black levels, you should not go for the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019). For this entry-level device, or family tablet, Samsung has gone with a TFT display with a resolution of 1,900 x 1,200 pixels. The positive thing about this display is that it is equipped with an outdoor mode.

This 15-minute mode allows the display to remain legible with increased brightness even in direct sunlight. We have to find out how bright the display shines in this mode after receiving a production model, but the product manager promised us it would hit around 400 nits at the hands-on event.

samsung galaxy tab a front
Samsung's new Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019) will also be used by the youngest in the family thanks to a children's mode. / © NextPit

OneUI comes to Samsung's tablets

As far as software is concerned, Samsung has released the new OneUI for its Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019). Instead of just the same smartphone variant from the Galaxy Note9 or the S-series, this is a slightly adapted version for tablets. During the hands-on event,  the final version wasn't available yet, but even in its not-final status, the software proved that OneUI uses the larger screen effectively. For example, in the multitasking switcher, the open apps are not displayed next to each other in a carousel, but rather in a grid, making better use of the entire screen.

In the case of the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019), the software highlight of the new OneUI for tablets is not the new interface, but a feature with which the tablet offers additional added value. It is called Smart Things and turns a pure multimedia tablet into a smart home control center.

This software can be used to control smart home products from a wide range of manufacturers via a single interface. This saves you the hassle of switching back and forth between the different manufacturer apps. According to Samsung, it already supports about 400 products worldwide and not only those from their own line, but also from third-party vendors such as Philips Hue, Netgear Arlo, Ring and many more.

samsung galaxy tab s5e tab a
Samsung's OneUI is now also on tablets / © NextPit

Better performance from an in-house SoC

Inside the new Galaxy Tab A this year Samsung has once again reached into its own store cabinet. An in-house Exynos 7904 with eight computing cores will once again serve as the processor. The fresh Exynos 7904 promises better performance compared to the Snapdragon 450 that could be found in its predecessor. Instead of eight ARM Cortex 53 cores, as with the Qualcomm's 450, Exynos now has two Cortex A73 cores for performance-hungry applications and six Cortex A53 cores for everyday use.

This is supported by 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage in Europe. If more storage space is required, it is possible to expand up to 400GB with the help of a microSD card.

Surround sound on paper...

Two loudspeakers are built into the lower part of the frame, providing good sound. However, this year they can output surround sound with Dolby Atoms. We will have to find out in our final review whether surround sound can really make a difference on this tablet. The Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019) has already been given the all-clear in terms of a headphone jack, as Samsung continues to include it on its entry-level tablets.

Who uses cameras on a tablet?

Whether you really need good cameras for tablets is a matter of taste. But when it comes to tablets, you need at least half-usable cameras for video chats. The Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019) comes with a 5-megapixel camera on the front and an 8-megapixel camera on the back. We'll put them through their paces in our full review.

Enough endurance for gaming and video

To ensure that the tablet also has enough endurance for longer gaming sessions and TV show marathons, Samsung has included a 6,150 mAh battery in the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019), which is charged via USB-C. The battery can be recharged via a USB cable. Due to the aluminum housing of the tablet, it does not support wireless charging. How good the real-life battery life turns out to be on the new Tab A, we'll have to decide once we get our review device.

samsung galaxy tab a port
Despite USB-C, there is no quick charging possibility. / © NextPit

A good family tablet and smart home control HQ

Samsung is rearranging its own tablet portfolio and is now placing the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019) as its entry-level device. The target group will be consumers who want a family-friendly tablet. Even children can use this tablet in a secure children's mode - parents can relax a little by pre-setting the usage time.

The use of the tablet as a smart home control center via Smart Things is also exciting. Smart Things will certainly enable more and more Samsung products to be controlled in the future but, above all, the fact that Samsung could also integrate third-party manufacturers into the Smart Things world will give the tablet a new raison d'être in the future.

Comparison: The best foldable phones

  Best large foldable Best clamshell flip Best foldable alternative Best passport foldable Best flip alternative Price pick
Product
Image OnePlus Open product image Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Product Image Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Product Image Google Pixel Fold Product Image Motorola Razr+ (2023) Product Image Motorola Razr (2023) Product Image
Rating
Rating: OnePlus Open
Rating: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
Rating: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Rating: Google Pixel Fold
Rating: Motorola Razr+ (2023)
Rating: Motorola Razr (2023)
Price Comparison
Go to comment (3)
Shu On Kwok

Shu On Kwok
Senior Editor

Since 1999, Shu has written about the colorful world of IT and telecommunications. His career started as a presenter at the five-hour TV show NBC GIGA, which led him through several career stages until he finally joined the AndroidPIT team in May of 2015. His passion for mobile devices and gadgets knows no boundaries. Whether Android, iOS or Windows, Shu feels at home with any OS.

View all articles
Liked this article? Share now!
Recommended articles
Latest articles
Push notification Next article
3 comments
Write new comment:
All changes will be saved. No drafts are saved when editing
Write new comment:
All changes will be saved. No drafts are saved when editing

  • 2
    daniel58 Jul 5, 2019 Link to comment

    I spoke with a authorized Samsung sales representative at Best Buy in regards to whether the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 Android Tablet supports expanded internal memory via "adoptable" internal memory expansion; so if one were to put in a 512Gb micro SD memory chip card into the external memory chip slot one could only access the memory via external memory only and not using the "adoptable" internal memory expansion feature since android Marshmallow/ Nougat/ Oreo and android Pie versions have come out; that is both a pity and a shame really to not be able to actually expand ones internal memory on ones Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 that way unfortunately.


    • 1
      Diamonds4ever Jul 16, 2019 Link to comment

      @daniel58: Hi, this is probably a dumb question but can I store video files on the external memory card and does this tablet support Ultra microSDXC ?


  • Travis Mills 1
    Travis Mills Feb 27, 2019 Link to comment

    Hi Androidpit does this tablet have Samsung Dex?

Write new comment:
All changes will be saved. No drafts are saved when editing