Table of Contents
Last Updated on March 27, 2020
After a rocky period, LG has recently been buoyed by modest success in the smartphone market. Turning its attention to the uber-competitive tablet world, the manufacturer boasts that its tablets are the result of extensive research into the usage habits of its prospective customers.
It sure sounds good, but does it translate into real-world results? Well…
Hands-On Impressions
Compared to tablets on the lower end of the price spectrum, the LG G Pad 8.3 is premium through and through. The 8.54-by-4.98-by-0.33 inch, 11.97-ounce body is extremely well-made, and the plastic material feels much better than, say, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.0.
The bezel is quite thin, which means the front is mostly glass. The design takes cues from LG’s G2 smartphone and the Motorola Moto X, and the result is very aesthetically pleasing.
Tablet Tour
The arrangement of ports and buttons on the LG G Pad 8.3 is pretty standard fare. Along the right edge are the power button and volume rocker, though you can also double-tap the screen to power the tablet on and off.
A standard 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, IR blaster and microSD card slot are up top, while the bottom sports a micro-USB port. The selection isn’t great compared to tablets with larger form factors, but it’s about what you’d expect for an 8.3-incher.
Resolving the Details
The LG G Pad 8.3 features a 1,920-by-1,200 pixel display, which is immediately noticeable in a tablet comparison with the Galaxy Note 8.0’s mediocre 1,280-by-800 panel. It doesn’t quite measure up to the ultra-high resolutions found in the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and iPad Mini with Retina display, but it’s plenty sharp enough regardless.
Being an IPS screen, the viewing angles are very good as well. The color and contrast are excellent, though it isn’t particularly bright.
Under the Hood
With a quad-core 1.7-gigahertz Snapdragon 600 processor and two gigabytes of RAM, the LG G Pad 8.3 performs about as well as you’d expect. It handily outperforms most of last year’s models, though the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and iPad Mini with Retina display are clearly superior in head-to-head tablet comparisons.
In real-world terms, there’s little to complain about. The device boots in moments, most apps launch very quickly, and gaming performance is smooth and steady. Battery life is pretty average for this form factor.
Tablet Roundup
The LG G Pad 8.3 is a very good tablet, and it’s hard to find much of anything to complain about. Unfortunately for LG, there are plenty of other very good tablets out there as well. Comparing tablets, the LG G Pad 8.3 is superior to the Galaxy Note 8.0 in nearly every way, though the Note’s S Pen is a handy inclusion.
The LG’s display is qutie nice, but the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and iPad Mini with Retina display are both dazzling in that regard. Performance is a similar story, with the Kindle and iPad Mini both outpacing the LG G Pad. The iPad Mini also has access to Apple’s endless App Store, which is a unique advantage.
All three devices offer excellent build quality and appealing aesthetics. You can’t go wrong with any of the three, but ultimately the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 clearly delivers the most bang for your buck.