Samsung continues its quest to try to cover every single possible niche in the mobile electronics market with its unveiling, on Thursday, of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite. The much-rumored "Lite" version of the Galaxy Tab 3 is touted as physically smaller, but that's not really true. One thing is sure -- it won't fill you up on hardware and features. Here's a look at the details Samsung has released on the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite so far.

Lite = Portability?

Samsung has trimmed many of the features of the Galaxy Tab 3 in order to make the Lite version slimmer and more portable. The company also trimmed the bezel around the 7-inch screen, supposedly to maximize viewing area while minimizing size. That said, the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite is actually a little larger in length and height, at 7.61 x 4.58 -inches compared to the Galaxy Tab 3's 7.40 x 4.37-inches. And as far as being "slimmer," the Lite version of the Galaxy Tab 3 only trims off .01 inches in width from its predecessor.

It's also heavier than the Galaxy Tab 3, at 10.93 oz, as opposed to the original's 10.79 oz. Part of that weight is the Tab 3 Lite's 3600 mAh battery which will provide a similar 8-hour lifespan as the Galaxy Tab 3's slightly heftier 4000 mAh power source.

Lite ≠ Less Processing Power, Resolution

Something positive that can be said about the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite is that its touchscreen and processor are not watered down from the Tab 3. Similar to last year's Tab 3, it sports a dual core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM which, from a modern tablet perspective, is rather weak, but at least it's not a step down.

The screen appears to be the same as well, as the Lite has a TFT display that gets 600 x 1024p resolution.

Lite = Lower Specs, Fewer Features

Because it's a Samsung tablet, the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite comes with TouchWiz and all the Samsung software bells and whistles. But even though it's a new tablet coming out in Feb. of this year, the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite runs the now-outdated Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system, instead of Android 4.4 KitKat or at least 4.3.

Instead of the optional 16GB internal storage, the Lite tablet only comes with 8GB, but there's a microSD card slot for up to 32GB more. And basic hardware bases are covered -- Samsung's new Lite tab comes with WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, and a GPS.

But other features have been diminished as well. There's no secondary camera for video chats, but there is a primary camera that's only 2-megapixels strong. There's also no TV-out or an LTE version, though it will have 2G and 3G HSPA connectivity.

Bottom Line

It appears that Samsung wanted to release a low-cost alternative to its new hardware-stacked Tab PRO lineup, but didn't want to go back to the drawing board. So its trimmed out some of the features from the 2013 Galaxy Tab 3, added its new grippy pleather to the back, undoubtedly lowered manufacturing costs, and called it the new Galaxy Tab 3 Lite -- even though its actually not physically lighter.

Samsung hasn't released any specific launch dates, market availability, or prices, but it's clear the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite has got to be very cheap in order for this to make sense for any buyers. The 8GB 2013 Galaxy Tab 3 retails for about $200, so the Lite would have to sell at much less than that.