After very little build up, LG Electronics introduced the LG G Pad 8.3, the company's successor to the LG Optimus Pad of 2011, early last month. Now it's coming to store shelves on Nov. 3.
The LG G Pad 8.3 enters an increasingly crowded market, with the new Google Nexus 7 2, Samsung's Galaxy of small tablets, the iPad mini, and now a bevy of new small tablets running Windows 8.1. The LG G Pad 8.3 comes with decent hardware, but at the price it's going for, it may or may not make sense. You decide.
Display
The LG G Pad 8.3 comes with (obviously) an 8.3-inch display - slightly larger than most of its competitors at the 8-inch level. The display is a Full HD IPS touchscreen, with a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200, which matches, for example, the new Google Nexus 7 2. It's an impressive screen for LG, though with the larger display size, the G Pad's pixel density drops down a bit to a somewhat disappointing 273ppi.
Processor
With the LG G2 running a bleeding-edge quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, you'd think the only tablet from LG Electronics in two years would feature that kind of power as well. But it doesn't, running instead a slightly less speedy quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 at 1.7GHz and 2GB of RAM.
Battery
If there's one thing you can't skimp on with a small tablet, it's battery life. The LG G Pad 8.3 runs on a 4,600 mAh battery, which should power the device through the day, though it's unclear how much the larger high resolution screen will eat into your use time. For comparison sake, the Nexus 7 2 has a 3,950 mAh battery and lasts up to 9 hours with mixed multimedia use.
Size
LG claims its battery is "as light as a newspaper," and it's certainly slim. The full depth of the 8.3-inch tablet is a fitting 8.3mm, which is very pocketable and narrower than the iPad mini. With length and width dimensions of 216.8 x 126.5mm, the G Pad will still be slightly larger than most small tablets because of its 8.3-inch screen. The G Pad is a little hefty at 338g, but nothing out of control.
Other Features
The LG G Pad 8.3 only comes with a 16GB internal storage, but, unlike the LG G2, there's a microSD card slot for up to 64GB more. The G Pad has a decent 5-megapixel main camera (though you should not take pictures with a tablet) and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel shooter for video chats. The LG G Pad will feature Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean instead of the latest Android 4.3 though, which obviously the Nexus 7 2 has. If you own an LG G2, the G Pad's LG software facilitates both interacting with each other over Bluetooth through QPair.
Release Date
The LG G Pad is coming to stores and online on November 3, but Best Buy has a pre-order up and running for the device right now.
It costs $349.99, which, at 16GB and WiFi -Only, is more expensive than the 32GB LTE Nexus 7 2.