Nowadays, the preference for Android tablets already shifted from 7 inch to 8 inch screen size. Therefore, in order to meet the new needs of end users, a number of manufacturers releasing their 8 inch wide tablet.
Among the global brand that participate in 8 inch market in Indonesia, there are Lenovo with their A5500 model, Asus with their latest Fonepad 8, and LG G Pad 8. Which one is the better han the others? Let's see:
CPU
From the CPU side, Lenovo A5500 uses Mediatek MT8382, quad core with 1,3GHz. Asus Fonepad uses Intel Atom Z3530 quad core 1,3GHz while LG G Pad 8 uses Qualcomm Snapdragon 400. From the benchmark result:
3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited
| Intel | Atom Z3530 | 14515 |
| Qualcomm | Snapdragon 400 | 4643 |
| Mediatek | MT8382 | 2812 |
PCMark for Android Work
| Intel | Atom Z3530 | 2933 |
| Qualcomm | Snapdragon 400 | 2484 |
| Mediatek | MT8382 | 1681 |
Antutu 5.1
| Intel | Atom Z3530 | 37562 |
| Qualcomm | Snapdragon 400 | 17949 |
| Mediatek | MT8382 | 15026 |
As we can see, the performance of Intel Atom Z3530 is better than Snapdragon 400 and Mediatek MT8382.
RAM/Storage
Lenovo A5500 used 1GB RAM, 16GB storage and up to 32GB MicroSD. Asus Fonepad 8 used 2GB RAM, 16GB storage and up to 64GB MicroSD. LG G Pad 8 used 1GB RAM, 16GB storage and up to 64GB MicroSD.
Again, from this side, Fonepad 8 is better than the other two. FYI, Asus also provides 5GB lifetime online storage at their Asus WebStorage for free.
Camera
Lenovo A5500 used 5MP (rear) and 2MP (front) camera. Asus Fonepad 8 used 5MP (rear) and 2MP (front) camera. LG G Pad 8 used 5MP (rear) and 1,3MP (front) camera. Roughly, Lenovo and Asus provide the better front cameras compared to LG G Pad 8. But this is not significant and their main camera resolutions are the same.
Operating System
Lenovo A5500 still used Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, while Fonepad 8 and G Pad 8 already used Android 4.4.2 KitKat. For novice end users like us, we better choose the latest OS, right?
Connectivity
Lenovo A5500 supports 3G HSPA, Fonepad 8 supports DC-HSPA that is faster than plain 3G HSPA, while LG G Pad is the best with 3G HSPA and LTE.
For the wireless network, Lenovo one supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, and Bluetooth. Asus owned 8 inch supports WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth, while the LG supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA and Bluetooth.
If you want the most complete wireless connectivity, LG G Pad 8 is for you.
Battery
To power the tablet, both Lenovo A5500 and LG G Pad 8 provides a bigger capacity battery, Lithium-Ion 4200mAh. Although only 4000mAh, Fonepad 8's battery is Lithium-Polymer that supposed to provide longer lifetime than Lithium-Ion. But if you only want to use your tablet for a half year or a year, Lithium-Ion will do just fine.
Dimension/Weight
Lenovo's A5500 is the biggest tablet from the three. It has 217 x 136 x 8.9 mm dimension, while the Fonepad 8 only 214 x 120 x 8.9 mm and LG G Pad 8 at 210.8 x 124.2 x 9.95 mm.
The Fonepad 8 is easier to handle with one hand because the width is only 120mm. It is also the lightest, only 310gram, compared to A5500 that weighs at 360gram and G Pad 8 at 342gram.
Price
Currently in Indonesia, Lenovo A5500 has around Rp2,599,000 price tag. Fonepad 8 sold at Rp2,699,000 while LG G Pad 8 at Rp3,499,000.
From those factors above, in my opinion, currently Asus Fonepad 8 is the better choice for 8 inch tablet. It's not the cheapest one, but the performance and features is the best. Unless you are desparately need a 4G LTE connectivity, then you will have to choose LG's G Pad 8 LTE that is more expensive.
