Samsung's Galaxy Tab A8 was officially unveiled this week and appears to be well equipped to be a decent Android tablet, but looking at the specs, it will have a hard time competing with top-class devices like Apple's iPad (2021).

Of course, that may not be Samsung's goal for the Galaxy Tab A8. After all, the previous model was an attractive mid-range tablet that was roughly $100 less than the entry-level iPad. While it may not have been able to compete with the iPad in terms of power, our review of Samsung's Galaxy Tab A7 called it one of the best Android tablets on the market, thanks to its excellent battery life, pure Android interface, and affordable price.

However, we were disappointed by the A7's dim screen and lackluster performance. The company's cheaper and smaller Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, released in early 2021, also failed to impress, despite being a decent, albeit not very expensive, Android tablet.

Now Samsung has shown us what to expect from the Galaxy Tab A8, and while it seems like a modest improvement over the A7, it still looks anemic when compared to Apple's entry-level tablet. But if you're in the market for a new Android tablet, the Galaxy Tab A8 may be the perfect device for your needs.

Samsung has not yet confirmed many firm details about the Galaxy Tab A8's price and availability.

According to the company, it will be available for purchase through Samsung's website by late December 2021 in Europe and January 2022 in the U.S. Pricing details for both the Wi-Fi and LTE models have not yet been announced, but the company has said that it will be available in silver, gray, and a new color Pink Gold, and has confirmed that there will be three colors to choose from.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 is roughly the same size and weight as the previous model; the A8 appears to have a similar rectangular design with reasonably thin black bezels surrounding the display (Samsung claims a screen-to-body ratio of 80%).

Inside are four speaker arrays that support Dolby Atmos and should provide adequate sound quality. We definitely appreciated the speakers in the older A7s, although they could be a bit distorted when the volume is set above 80%.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 will be about the same size as its predecessor, but the screen is slightly larger at 10.5 inches versus the 10.4-inch display of last year's Galaxy Tab A7.

However, the new model will have a slightly lower resolution than the A7. The new Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 screen has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels, compared to 2,000 x 1,200 pixels for the older A7. This is a very small change and probably won't make a difference in the display experience, but you will need to get one for testing to see for yourself.

Price is not the only thing Samsung is hiding at the moment. The company has also chosen not to officially confirm (yet) the processor in the Galaxy Tab A8, only mentioning that it is a 2GHz octa-core chip.

However, there is good reason to believe that it could be the Unisoc Tiger T618, an octa-core SoC (system-on-chip) with a top speed of 2 GHz. This was suggested to power the tablet when the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 specs were leaked earlier this year, and so far, nearly all of those leaks have proven accurate.

Whatever will be inside the Tab A8 will almost certainly be more powerful than the Qualcomm SM6115 SoC found in the older A7. However, it is unlikely to compete with the A13 Bionic chip in Apple's 2021 iPad.

The new Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 will come with 3GB or 4GB of RAM; the 3GB entry model will be limited to 32GB of storage space, while the 4GB model will come in 64GB or 128GB capacities. But of course, the iPad does not have a microSD port like the Galaxy Tab A8, which can be used to slot in external memory cards up to 1TB.

The new Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 will feature a 5MP front camera and an 8MP rear camera. This is because in our review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7, we outlined our disappointment with its camera array. While it works well for the price, we found it difficult to take great pictures with it.

We expect better photography results with the Galaxy Tab A8. It also has a new screen recorder feature, which is intended to make it easier to record the screen when, for example, announcing something important during a call or showing off a cool play in a game.

The Tab A8 will also support facial recognition. This is an excellent feature that we appreciated in the previous model, as it is a premium security feature that not even Apple's iPad offers.

Last year's Galaxy Tab A7 lasted more than 13 hours in a laboratory battery test that subjected the tablet to constant web browsing via Wi-Fi with the display set to a specific brightness level. A total of over 13 hours is an impressive battery life for a tablet and one of the A7's best features.

Samsung has yet to make any official battery life claims for the new A8, saying only that it will have a 7,040mAh battery that supports fast charging with Samsung's 15W Adaptive Fast Charger.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 appears to be a worthwhile, if repetitive, upgrade over its predecessor, packing slightly better components into a chassis that is roughly the same size and design as last year's Tab A7.

That's not necessarily a bad thing: the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 is a solid all-around Android tablet with decent performance and excellent battery life, plus it offers a reasonably pure version of Android, all for than $100 less than a cheap iPad.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 is likely to offer the same value; at roughly the same price point as its $229 predecessor, the A8 could be a great mid-range tablet for Android fans in 2022. Its value will only increase if you already own other Galaxy devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 or the rumored Samsung Galaxy S22, as Samsung has done a good job of making it easy to share data between Galaxy devices.

Of course, to tell you exactly how the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 stacks up against the competition, you'll have to wait until we get one for testing. Stay tuned.