The Galaxy Tab A is headed to the US on May 1st, but residents north of the country get bragging rights since the Tab A is now in their country.

That’s right: the Tab A has landed in Canada at Samsung Experience stores, as of yesterday. Both the Tab A 8.0 and Tab A 9.7 (8-inch and 9.7-inch models) are available, with the 8-incher priced at $279 CAD (Canadian dollars) and the 9.7-incher priced at $429 CAD – though the 9.7-inch tablet does have stylus support.

Most reports on the Tab A that we’ve heard about point out the “disappointing” 1024 x 768p screen resolution (4:3 aspect ratio), but Samsung is aiming these tablets at the budget-friendly user. Samsung decided to prize build quality over things like screen resolution, seeing that most consumers care little for bright screens and more about build quality. The Korean manufacturer started its build quality revolution in the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge and now wants to continue this line of thought with its affordable tablet lineup. Those who are interested in brighter screen resolutions and gorgeous displays should look forward to what the company will do with its TabPRO and NotePRO lineups later this year.

This is the case, despite the fact that the 9.7-inch Tab A has an S-Pen stylus, 2GB of random access memory (RAM), and a 6,000mAh battery, and the 8-inch Tab A has 1.5GB of RAM, no S-Pen, and a 4,200mAh battery. Both tablets feature 2MP front and 5MP back cameras, along with the usual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Canada residents, have you been to check out the new Tab A models? If so, let us know in the comments below. We’d love to read your first impressions.

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