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"Samsung&amp;#039;s Galaxy Tab 3 is designed to take on the likes of the iPad mini and Nexus 7.  Priced in at \u00A3279, it actually costs \u00A310 more than Apple&amp;#039;s small form factor tablet. But is the high cost worth it? Or should you look elsewhere when it comes to tiny tablets? Hardware and Design Samsung&amp;#039;s approach to design is more a matter of taste than anything else. Some won&amp;#039;t mind the amount of plastic being used, while others will be put off by it.  Devices like the HTC One Mini prove that decent materials can be used even when on a budget and it&amp;#039;s a shame that Samsung hasn&amp;#039;t done something similar here.  Design language is the same across the entirety of Samsung&amp;#039;s mobile device range, in that it involves plastic and little else. On the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, they can get away with it, but on devices like the SGS4, it doesn&amp;#039;t quite seem right. The Galaxy Tab 3.0 definitely feels solid when you pick it up. At 314g, it&amp;#039;s heavier than the new Nexus 7, but not so much that you notice a difference. That 8-inch screen also has a thin enough bezel that the tablet isn&amp;#039;t overly wide. The different aspect ratio on the Galaxy Tab 3&amp;#039;s screen actually makes it less wide than the iPad mini, but a touch longer. For those with smaller hands, it is easier to hold than Apple&amp;#039;s device, yet feels just as pocketable. The 7.9-inch screen on the iPad mini, with its 4:3 ratio, actually means you have more display to play with as well. The white version of the tablet stays fairly fingerprint free, but can start to look a touch grotty after extended periods of use. Around the edge of the tablet is a metal wrap, which should in theory protect the device from minor scraps and scuffs. It does dent easily however. The lock key and volume buttons are only slightly raised out from the rest of the side of the Galaxy Tab. It can make them a little bit tough to use, but both definitely have a satisfying click.  Despite the choice of materials used, the Galaxy Tab 3 comes off feeling like a nice and solid product. The new Nexus 7 however is a nicer thing to hold, as is the iPad mini and both are cheaper. On the hardware front, you get an 8-inch 800 x 1280 display, 1.5GB of RAM, a microSD slot and either 16 or 32GB of internal storage. The whole tablet is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Exynos chip. Android 4.2.2 does a good job of covering up the lack of a quad-core processor and, in practice, the tablet actually ends up feeling quite smooth. It isn&amp;#039;t however as quick as the S4 Pro in the Nexus 7. For the money, it would&amp;#039;ve been nice to see Samsung put a bit more oomph into the tablet&amp;#039;s specs, but in real world use, you won&amp;#039;t end up noticing them. Camera The Galaxy Tab 3 8-inch comes with two cameras, a rear facing 5-megapixel unit and a front facing 7-megapixel snapper. While they won&amp;#039;t set the world of smartphone photography on fire, they are still decent enough.  The front facing camera, which can record up to 720p video, is more than good enough for video chat. It can get a bit noisy in low light, but then this is forgivable due to the size of the sensor. On the back, the 1080p capable camera is slightly more impressive. Its low resolution is apparent on the Tab 3&amp;#039;s screen, but images are nice and punchy with decent colour reproduction. Bright light can wash pictures out however and a lack of flash makes for a pretty poor low light experience. Samsung&amp;#039;s camera UI is very quick but it just isn&amp;#039;t a hugely nice thing to look at. Unlike the extremely stripped back experience you get with standard Android 4.2 devices, Samsung has implemented a few of its own tweaks with the Tab 3&amp;#039;s camera.  There is a special &amp;#039;beauty face&amp;#039; mode, as well as a night photography option. None are hugely helpful, simply because the 5-megapixel camera isn&amp;#039;t sharp enough to capture highly detailed pics. User Interface and Software Android really has come down to a matter of personal preference these days.  Manufacturers love to put their own stamp on devices with software tweaks, but very, very rarely do they get everything right. For us, Android handles best when left untouched, with Nexus and Google Edition devices offering the best possible experience out there. That said, Samsung continues to rein things in with each generation of devices it releases.  You still get the love or hate cartoon-look icons with the Tab 3 for example, but the rest of what Samsung calls its &amp;#039;Smart&amp;#039; features live on the Galaxy S4. The only function to make it across to the Tab 3 is the Smart stay tech, which will pause and unpause video as well as control the screen dimming, depending on if you are looking at the display or not. It&amp;#039;s a nice feature, which can be genuinely helpful when it works properly. But factors like low light can seriously throw the technology off.  Samsung has included a whole range of apps with the Galaxy Tab 3, from S Voice (think Siri on the iPhone), to Dropbox. Most are helpful, but none are so good that the Tab 3 is a must buy. Other tweaks like the ability to control your TV via built in IR blaster are also handy, but we couldn&amp;#039;t help but feel from our time with the Tab 3, that the Nexus 7 just does Android better. That bump in cost over competing devices should be justified by a more powerful processor and better apps and software, but they simply aren&amp;#039;t here. The Competition Competition comes in the form of the new Nexus 7, which is due out on August 28 priced in at \u00A3199. If we&amp;#039;re honest, this would be our choice of small form factor tablets. Then there is the \u00A3269 iPad mini, which sits right up there with our favourite Apple devices. Both are well rounded, powerful and nicely put together packages, it&amp;#039;s just a matter of iOS or Android. Your choice. Verdict The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, is so middle of the road, that we can&amp;#039;t really make our minds up about it. It has no real major flaws, with everything from camera to design and user interface being decent enough. Nothing stands out though, which makes it hard to recommend against cheaper devices which are just as good.  We say give the Tab a go, play with a Nexus and an iPad mini, then make the choice for yourself. You won&amp;#039;t go wrong with any of them. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/hands-on/news/a507435/samsung-galaxy-tab-3-80-review-better-than-an-ipad-mini/>