LG G Pad 8.3 – Camera

One area where the LG G Pad 8.3 loses out to the top tablets is its camera array. The biggest loss is a rear flash, but you do at least get dual cameras – one on the front, one on the back.

The rear camera has a 5-megapixel sensor and an f/2.4 lens. Colour reproduction is very much one-note at times, and the limited camera resolution means that even in the best conditions you’re not going to produce searingly detailed images. However, within the confines of the sensor, sharpness if actually rather good – suggesting the lens itself is pretty sharp. Here’s a closer look at how its photos compare to two close rivals the iPad mini Retina and Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4.

You also get a bunch of additional modes. These include a pretty effective HDR mode, a few burst shots and a couple of panorama modes (a normal one and a 360-degree mode).

There’s video fun to be had too. It’ll shoot footage at up to 1080p resolution and you can apply live face distorting effects to make fun little videos of friends and family members.

The G Pad 8.3’s front camera is – like the rear one – fairly basic. It uses a 1.3-megapixel sensor and shoots photos at up to one megapixel resolution or video at up to 720p. Despite being fairly low-res, the camera is not terrible. Really bad cameras tend to fall over as soon as they’re shown a strong light source, but the G Pad 8.3 holds up.

LG G Pad 8.3 – Battery Life

Its battery capacity holds up well with the competition too. It’s a 4,800mAh unit, which you have no access to.

Set to playing an SD-quality video file at middling brightness (which is towards the upper end of the G Pad’s brightness scale), the LG G Pad 8.3 lasts six hours and forty minutes. It’s enough for fairly long flights, and roughly matches the Nexus 7. Jaws won’t drop, but it’s a solid performance.

Other things to consider

What we consider most important about the LG G Pad 8.3 is that LG has made a solid tablet at the right price. However, there are a few extras we have not yet covered.

First, while we’re yet to see it in the UK, there is a 3G/4G version out there in the world. It has not yet been confirmed for the UK to our knowledge, though. Second, the USB port on the bottom uses the SlimPort standard. This means that with a cheap adapter cable (sub-£10 on eBay), you can mirror what’s on the tablet screen on your TV – or any HDMI-equipped display. It’s a useful feature if you want to use the tablet as a little video player.

Should I buy the LG G Pad 8.3?

The LG G Pad 8.3 was never going to win as much attention, or sell as many units, as a rival from Samsung or Apple. However, as with the LG G2, LG deserves some praise for making a sensibly-priced, solid tablet that can stand tall next to virtually any rival.

Its software needs some tweaks to remotely shine and there are some spec compromises involved in sliding the tablet in under the £200 mark. However, we didn’t encounter any serious issues, making this the best affordable 8-inch iPad alternative you can get right now.

Verdict

Its software may not be perfect, but a good price, sound specs and attractive hardware make the LG G Pad 8.3 one of the best-value tablets of the moment.

Next, read our best tablets round-up

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