After a two year sabbatical following the somewhat overpriced and unsuccessful Optimus Pad, LG has returned with a bang and the G Pad 8.3. Sized and priced to take on Apple’s iPad Mini, the new tablet is much more sleek and powerful and there’s not a 3D screen in sight!
Perhaps the big edge LG’s new tablet has over the iPad Mini is screen quality. The size is just 0.4-inches larger than Apple’s offering, but pixel count is much higher, resulting in a far superior picture quality. The resolution is 1920 x 1080, which counts as Full HD, with 273 pixels per inch of screen real estate making for an impressive image quality.
Inside there’s plenty of power, courtesy of a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor clocked at 1.7GHz and 2GB of RAM to back it up. There’s also 16GB of internal storage space and a hefty 4,600 mAh battery to provide plenty of juice for the power-hungry display and processor.
Dual cameras are included in the form of a 5 megapixel rear snapper and a rather standard 1.3 megapixel front camera for video calling and the like. Speaking of the rear, we rather like this design aspect of LG’s new tablet, with a sleek brushed aluminium finish covering the back, broken up only by a small chrome LG logo and speaker grilles.
As you may have guessed, Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 is the operating system of choice for LG’s new gadget. This is paired up with the company’s own user interface, apps and added features, including a nifty feature which allows users to pair a LG Android phone to the tablet and manage calls with the larger device, called QPair.
The LG G Pad 8.3 will be available in black and white when it launches in Europe, North America and Asia between October and December this year. We’ve no word on the price or a more accurate launch date, suggesting that LG is still working on the finer details.
