Samsung Galaxy Tab A, Kids Edition

BEST FOR Parents looking for a safer, more secure and affordable entry-level tablet that the kids can call their own. 

TOP BENEFITS Rugged rubberized case, long lasting battery with 13-hours of video playback, easy-to-use parental controls, and a 3-month free trial of Samsung Kids. 

CONSIDERATIONS While the Samsung Kids app content is more suited for younger kids, the tablet runs a full Android operating system that kids can advance into. 

BOTTOM LINE The Samsung Galaxy Tab A Kids Edition combines the full functionality of the popular Android operating system with configurable kid-tailored apps and content through Samsung Kids. 

BUY  amazon.com $129.99

FEATURES

• Kid-sized, 8-inch rugged tablet that can withstand daily use 
• Simple and fast setup 
• 3-month free trial of Samsung Kids 
• A good range of games, e-books, and video content accessible through Samsung Kids subscription 
• Full Android device with access to all the Google Play Store and Galaxy Store has to offer 
• Password protected kids’ app environment with easy-to-set usage limits 
• Can easily toggle between multiple user profiles for each child 

TECH SPECS

OPERATING SYSTEM

• Android 9

WEIGHT

• 346 grams, making it lightweight and easy to use for hours

SIZE

• 210mm x 124.4mm x 8mm (8.27

DISPLAY

• Bright and clear 8-inch LCD screen

DESIGN

• Rugged aluminum body with washable rubber bumper case

CAMERAS

• Main: 8-MP with 8x digital zoom, stickers and HD video
• Selfie: 2-MP, no zoom, HD video

BATTERY

• 4,980 mAh Lithium Ion battery for up to 13 hours of video playback

CONNECTIONS

• Micro USB
• 3.55mm headphone jack
• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi only (model tested)

MEMORY

• 32 GB internal, with microSD slot for expansion to up to 512 GB

REVIEW

Safer, more secure and rugged, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A Kids Edition is a reliable tablet for children, particularly younger ones. Reasonably priced, it has all the features of a full Android tablet that parents are likely already familiar with. The shielded and more secure Samsung Kids app is a big selling point here, especially for younger kids. There’s a wide range of popular games, e-books and video content available to keep kids exploring. Once kids are ready to “graduate” beyond the Samsung Kids app, the tablet can easily switch to the Android operating system while still offering a high level of parental controls. This also makes it a good tablet for families with multiple children of varying ages. 

SETUP 

Setting up the Galaxy Tab A Kids Edition tablet out of the box was pretty easy, taking less than 10 minutes total. Android smartphone users will breeze through the initial setup process, since it’s exactly the same. (You will need a Google account, meaning a Gmail address, to do this.) Once the device is up and running, the next step is launching the Samsung Kids app and following the setup instructions, which guides you through the creation of user profiles for up to three kids—which means fewer arguments! The Samsung Kids app comes with a three-month free trial. You do have to sign up with payment details in order to access the free trial, but it’s easy to cancel if you choose to. 

“The Kids App was easy to set up, my kids mostly did it themselves.”— Claire, mother of three 

NAVIGATION 

Overall, parents and kids will find navigating the operating system of the Galaxy Tab A Kids Edition tablet easy and similar to other tablets, although some of our parent testers had difficulty finding their way out of the Samsung Kids app initially. That said, the majority of our parent testers said that their children easily found their way around the tablet’s navigation with no issues. For parents, switching back and forth between the Android and Samsung Kids environments is quick, but it’s password protected, so kids can’t do this without parental assistance. 

SAMSUNG KIDS APP 

Perhaps the biggest selling point of the Galaxy Tab A is the Samsung Kids app, a $9.99/month  (or $78.99 per year) subscription service that offers over 10,000 hours of premium games, books and videos. All of our parent testers and their children reported a high level of satisfaction with the range of content the app offers—and even with much of the content better suited for younger children, our testers reported that their kids of all ages were so engaged that it was often difficult to get their them off the tablet for dinner. With a bright and fun user interface not unlike that of YouTube Kids, books, games and video sub-category tabs make it easy for kids to tap and scroll around the large, colourful icons. Familiar titles and brands such as LEGO, My Little Pony, Caillou, Peppa Pig, Crayola and Octonauts, offer both educational and entertaining content that will keep kids busy for weeks on end. 

“My eight-year-old commented that the games are really fun, and there are a lot of them! She especially liked the superhero game where you have to move your car around and try to catch up to the bad guy.” — Derek, father of one 

SECURITY & PARENTAL CONTROLS 

Our parent testers agreed that one of their greatest concerns when deciding to hand devices to their kids is whether they’re providing them with a safe computing environment, and this is perhaps where the Samsung Tab A Kids Edition shines most. The Samsung Kids app’s parental controls are easy to set up and can accommodate up to three user profiles, so each child can tailor the content to their own liking. Highly configurable, parents can set limits for overall play time, and individual content categories (games, books, videos), in case you want them playing less games and reading more e-books. Content age filters can be set and parents can even filter content based on specific skill types (e.g.: math, science, creativity, critical thinking content). One parent tester found that the content didn’t seem to change when they applied the age filters; but on the whole, the Samsung Kids app proved to be a safer, password protected place that our testers felt comfortable leaving their kids to explore unsupervised. With no in-app purchases available, there’s also no chance of kids racking up credit card charges. 

Additionally, for parents allowing their older kids to browse around outside the Samsung Kids app, the Android OS has all the same built-in and password protected parental control features of a standard Android tablet. Limits can be placed on app purchases and age limits can be set for content available in the Google Play Store. You can even set up additional user profiles for kids, where you can install only the apps and functions you want your kids to access.