Samsung announces Galaxy Tab4 range

Do you wish Samsung made more tablets? You're in luck. The company unveiled a new Galaxy Tab4 series yesterday, that includes three new Android slates, all newer iterations of its Tab 3 from last year. The new line -- the Tab4 7.0, Tab4 8.0 and Tab4 10.1 -- will be available in white or black starting the second quarter of 2014, but price has not been disclosed yet.

The biggest physical change is the new textured back Samsung brought to the Galaxy of devices. The faux-leather look adds a premium aesthetic to the previously cheap-looking plastic on the Tabs while helping to resist smudges and fingerprints. Samsung recently added this texturized finish to its ATIV Book 9 laptop, Chromebook 2, Galaxy Note Pro and Galaxy Note 3.

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The 7-inch, 8-inch and 10-inch new models all come with Android 4.4 KitKat  and 1.5GB of RAM, and all three boast quad-core processors instead of dual-core ones. All three now sport 1280 x 800-pixel resolution displays, and each still offers Wi-Fi and LTE models (pending carrier partners). Oddly, Samsung gutted the camera on the Tab4 8 to a 3-MP resolution from its previous 5-MP.

We liked the Tab 3 8.0 and 10.1 for their thin, light design and bright displays, but experienced some lag in the 10-incher. Hopefully, the new quad-core chips backed by more RAM will provide faster performance for a sweeter Android KitKat experience.

The Galaxy Tab 3 7.0, 8.0 and 10.1 (Wi-Fi) versions cost $179, $249 and $329 respectively, and hopefully the new versions will be comparably priced. Stay tuned for our full reviews to see if the new Tab4 tablets are worth your money.