The tablet market had its breakthrough moment when Apple's iPad arrived sporting a nearly 10-inch screen. Later, much of the significant action among tablets centered on those in the 7-inch realm.
In general, the 7-inch size marks the border between so-called phablets and proper tablets. The group has included the first Android tablet, the original Galaxy Tab from Samsung, the first Nexus-branded tablet from Google (and Asus), and the first Amazon Kindle Fire, introduced at $199, which represented a new pricing benchmark.
But since the introduction of those models, tablet market prices have spiraled down, attracting a glut of 7-inch Android devices. Walmart, no less, has several exclusives. Many of these are available for less than $150 and some for even less than $100. With the range of budget products coming from companies including Hewlett-Packard, Monster Products, and Vivitar, it has been tough to differentiate based on anything but price.
Related posts iPad explodes in Vodafone store, forces customers to evacuate -- report iPad Mini 2 reportedly delayed by display glitch Panasonic's massive 4K tablet said to arrive in US in January Nokia Lumia 1520, 2520 to launch Nov. 22 in US -- report Lenovo, smartphone dark horse? Its shipments surge 78%
But if tablet brands aren't finding seventh heaven, perhaps eight will allow for one-upmanship. Over the years, several companies tried dancing around the 8-inch mark, with Motorola introducing the 8.2-inch version of its Xoom tablet and Samsung unveiling a 7.7-inch Galaxy Tab as part of what once seemed a crusade to leave no third-of-an-inch increment without a tablet representative.
Variety does seem to have spiced things up, however. Today's selection of Android 8-inchers, while more expensive, are showing more creative differentiation than we're seeing in the 7-inch category. Among the entrants:
The starter pack: E Fun. One of the companies that's slugging it out at Walmart in the 7-inch category, E Fun has long offered tablets in larger sizes as well. The Premium 8HD edition of its Nextbook tablet was one of its first to support Google Play, a huge improvement from the SlideMe store that had previous limited its app selection. Your price of your ticket to this Play, though, leaves no doubt that some 8-inchers are ready to follow their smaller cousins into the bargain basement: $99 at Walmart.com.
The widebody: Acer. An early entrant into the budget 8-inch space, the Acer Iconia A1 came to market after Acer had been early to jump on the Android tablet bandwagon with the 10.1-inch A500. Unlike that device but like the Nextbook, the A1 has a display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, the same as the iPad Mini. While the wide bezels make the A1 somewhat hard to handle one-handed, many people prefer this for viewing photos, Web pages, and other documents. That said, the A1 is a significant step up from the Nextbook in terms of performance and support for Bluetooth.
The scribbler: Samsung. Samsung actually has two 8-inch Android tablets; the 8-inch version of the Galaxy Tab 3 is the middle child of the ho-hum Tab line that includes 7-inch and 10-inch models. The nearly identical 8-inch Galaxy Note, though, includes an S-Pen and its optimized apps and gestures for which the handset king is eager to build developer support, landing the 8-inch Note between the large Note 3 smartphone and the very large but high-resolution Note 10.1 or, in other words, nearly the perfect size for one-handed padlike applications.he Lenovo Yoga tablet takes a stand.
