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Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 ships in July for $199 with a low-res screen and a paltry 8GB of storage

Sure, it's cheap, but what exactly are you getting for the $199 price? Let's start with a lack of storage place and a low-resolution screen.

Eric Franklin Former Editorial Director
Eric Franklin led the CNET Tech team as Editorial Director. A 20-plus-year industry veteran, Eric began his tech journey testing computers in the CNET Labs. When not at work he can usually be found at the gym, chauffeuring his kids around town, or absorbing every motivational book he can get his hands on.
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Eric Franklin
2 min read
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 in midrotation looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. Samsung

Based strictly on its pricing and specs, there's very little about the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 to get excited about.

The 7-inch tablet will debut on July 7 for $199. Preorders start June 25. While $199 is the going acceptable rate for 7-inch tablets these days, from particularly a specs perspective, this one fails to match key 7-inch tablets from last year.

With the Galaxy Tab 3, $199 nets you a paltry 8GB of storage and a tablet screen with an unfortunately low 1,024x600-pixel resolution. That's a few hundred thousand pixels behind the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD, which each also start at 16GB of storage for $199.

Thankfully, Samsung has infused the Galaxy Tab 3 with plenty of other features, including a 64GB-compatible microSD card slot and an IR blaster you can use to control your TV and other entertainment-centric devices in your living room. The Tab 3 will also make use of Samsung's kind-of-successful streaming video aggregator, Watch On, first seen on the Note 8.

The Tab 3 will ship with a Marvell PXA 986 1.2GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, Android 4.2, a 3-megapixel rear camera, and a 1.3-megapixel front camera. The tablet will ship in a Wi-Fi-only model in the U.S. (sorry, U.S. phablet fans; all both of you).

I'm more than a bit disappointed by the Tab 3's screen resolution and initial storage amount. While microSD is a nice compromise, it won't help my eyes see things more clearly. At this point, 7-inch tablets with screen resolutions lower than 1,280x800 pixels stick out to me like a sore thumb, and with rumors of a 1,920x1,080-pixel Nexus 7 coming in July, that pain may soon be ratcheted up a notch.

Look for a full review of the Galaxy Tab 3 closer to its early July release date.