Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids Edition review: great tablet for safety and learning

Our four-year old boy loves the family tablet.   It was a handy potty training device and quite useful when on road trips. However recently it has become an issue because of one word: YouTube.  One day he discovered an ‘R’ rated, unauthorized version of a cartoon that he loves.  We were in the same room and turned it off immediately; but it was apparent that the learning aspect of tablets comes with a side that we don’t want him to be exposed to.  Enter the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.  It was created by someone who needed a kid’s tablet while not worrying about the wrong kind of barnyard video spoiling the fun.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 kids edition comes with several games pre-loaded, my favorites being Fruit Ninja and Kids Planet Discovery. Fruit Ninja builds dexterity by encouraging the user to chop and slice through fruit with the fingers. Kids Planet Discovery helps toddlers learn geography all over the world using a puzzle format.  The only criticism I have about the app is the way certain countries are pronounced.

If these games aren’t up your alley, you can down load many more games or leaning apps. Many of them are at a cost, but the cost is low, which is as expected. Also many are educational, which is right up our alley. Our son is a huge fan of dinosaurs and animals in general and there are plenty of games to help him learn to read.

This device is a parent’s dream because of all of the controls. Time management will only allow the child to use for the period of time allotted. That way there is no arguing when ‘screen time’ is done during the day. There is a little fish timer to let them know when they are running lower on time and when the time is up, an adult must enter their pin to continue use with the device.

There is another app that removes the ability to use the home and back keys in kids’ mode. This is important with small children, because they all have the super short attention spans and this is another way to ensure that they can only do that one thing. There is also the ability to lock the device during certain hours automatically – so you don’t have to worry about little people sneaking away with the table while you’re asleep.

For all the techies, the processor is 1200 MHZ as opposed to the Galaxy Tab 2 at 1000MHZ. However the storage on the tab 3 is 8GB, clearly aimed at toddlers as they won’t download as much.   It operates on the Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) operating system, has a 3MP rear facing and 1.3 MP front facing camera.

It would’ve been nice to have a higher MP camera but this is a kid’s based tablet.  There is a way in the settings to make the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 kids edition a fully functioning adult tablet, where there are no limits and you can access all of unauthorized adult cartoons that you want to.

The device comes with a soft orange bumper case already on it and there are several carrying options on the market that allow your child to carry it with a handle.   The price point is reasonable at around $200 on sale.  There isn’t much about this device not to like. I give this 5 enthusiastic toddler thumbs up.  Big thanks to Samsung for providing us with a review copy.  All thoughts are our own.