Samsung - Galaxy Tab a 80 32gb Reviews
Samsung's latest flagship tablet packs a superb screen and fingerprint scanner but tin information technology conquer the iPad Air? Read our Samsung Galaxy Tab S review
Have y'all thought of buying a tablet? Well, then, chances are that you'll accept been tempted by an iPad. The truth is that notwithstanding good the rival Android or Windows tablets have been, it'due south Apple that has been calling the shots with the all-time-designed tablet around. Until now.
Samsung's new tablet is slim, stylish and powerful. The Milky way Tab S marks a new start for the company. Afterwards all, earlier now fifty-fifty Amazon's keenly priced Kindle Fire series and the well-specced Google Nexus 7 haven't been able to unseat the iPad Air and iPad mini 2 from their thrones.
The iPad outgunned rivals when it added a Retina display. Samsung and others upped their screen resolutions to compete, only to be outdone once more by the super-slim, preposterously light iPad Air. Apple stayed out in forepart.
Samsung Milky way Tab Southward: Size and build
The Tab South at last gives the iDevices a serious challenge. The Milky way Tab S comes in 2 sizes and both are hands the snazziest tablets Samsung has ever created - a night-and-day improvement over earlier models which had grey plastic equally their well-nigh dominant style motif.
That's gone, replaced by metallic-style edging and perforated soft-bear on dorsum. The result is a loftier-end premium-feel blueprint, even if they're still plastic rather than aluminium. These are arguably the best-looking tablets anyone'due south made outside of Cupertino.
The Tab S comes in ii screen sizes, 8.4 inches and 10.5 inches. Both, like their Apple rivals, have the aforementioned number of pixels on the big screen equally the small. And both are lightweight, catwalk-sparse gadgets.
Of the ii tablets, the 10.5-inch screen is comparable in size to the iPad Air, though the display is almost an inch bigger. Notwithstanding, it'southward lighter (past a whisker) as well as thinner by most 1mm. So that featherlight, slender quality Apple went for is matched or beaten - not least because plastic is lighter than aluminium.
And unlike the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet which is even thinner and lighter, the Tab S doesn't have a huge bezel round the display, at to the lowest degree not on all iv sides. Design-wise, this is a real triumph and anyone wanting a stylish alternative to Apple tree has institute it.
The smaller of the pair, the Samsung Galaxy Tab viii.4-inch edition, feels slap-up in the hand. The smooth sides and curved corners, combined with the soft, grippy back create a tablet that nestles in the palm and never feels like its going to slip out. While information technology doesn't accept that premium finish and feel you go with an iPad mini, information technology always feels a bit safer and managed to come away unscathed from a couple of drops.
While the 10-inch version is corking for big screen apps and productivity, the smaller Tab S is better put to use watching Netflix, clearer out your Instapaper queue and the like. It'southward has a more pixel dense display, which is superb and video watching is elevation notch. If y'all're more of a media consumer, who'due south looking for a portable slate the 8.four-inch version is a not bad pick.
Samsung has designed a range of embrace accessories with 'Unproblematic Clickers' attachments. These popper-style plastic fittings take the form of spring-loaded holes on the rear of the Tab South. They're secure and constructive though take careful placement to click in.
Similar the Samsung Galaxy v, the Samsung's new tablet also features a fingerprint scanner - information technology'south not equally slickly done as on the iPhone 5s just it's a absurd way to unlock the screen without a password.
Samsung Milky way Tab Due south: Screen
The brandish - like on the Samsung Galaxy S5 telephone - is bright and gorgeous. It's higher-resolution than the iPad Air's Retina brandish and the Super AMOLED technology makes it stunningly bright and colourful - sometimes almost too dazzling. Simply at its best, this is a screen that you can't take your optics off.
Expect no further than the 'Wonder of Nature' video that comes supplied. Information technology looks jaw-droppingly adept with punchy, sharp colours. Thankfully the tablet is powerful plenty to ensure butter-smooth playback, too.
Its glorious visuals are not quite matched by audio. There are stereo speakers, 1 on each of the shorter edges, just you lot could embrace them upward with your easily if you don't hold the tablet just right. This is annoying, though it's easy to learn how to hold it best.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S: Features
This being a Samsung tablet, there are plenty of innovations congenital in, too. Like the fingerprint sensor found on the Samsung Galaxy S5, which offers a simple fashion to unlock the screen as well as a keen PayPal dominance method.
The truth is information technology's just non equally enjoyable as Apple tree'southward version: to use you have to swipe your finger exactly downwards the habitation button rather than only resting your finger or pollex on information technology as y'all do on the iPhone 5s. It'south skillful, but not also-executed as it should be - simply this is a welcome addition to a tablet, achieved on the bigger screen earlier Apple could.
The tablet too has those Samsung staple features imported from Galaxy S phones: the front-facing camera watches your optics to know if you're reading the screen and plow information technology off if you're not. An infra-red equalizer in the top edge of the tablet ways you can use it equally a sophisticated Television remote that y'all really can't lose down the back of the sofa.
You'll also go an eight-megapixel rear camera so that yous can take photos, should y'all really want to.
Samsung Milky way Tab S: Interface
There's Samsung'south dedicated TouchWiz menu which swipes in from the side of the screen to offer quick shortcuts to Contacts, Email, internet and more - though frankly it's about as quick to tap the apps icon that sits on the lesser of the display.
And in that location's the Flipboard personal magazine dwelling screen popularised on before Milky way devices (and yet bettered on HTC'south phones). Similar other Samsung tablets, you can display two apps side by side, which adds to the tablet's versatility.
Samsung Milky way Tab S: Performance
There'south no shortage of grunt under the bonnet here, either, making information technology a fluent, speedy tablet to use. That's down to a Quad-cadre 1.9 GHz processor matched with 3GB of RAM: more than enough to ensure a whizzy experience that doesn't stutter or slow downwardly nonetheless much is going on. The power also ways the touchscreen is fast and effective, feeling intimate and responsive.
You needn't run out of storage space, either. Although the tablet only comes in 16GB and 32GB chapters models, there's a retention card slot hither so you lot can add an extra 128GB of infinite on top. This means that even the highest-capacity iPad can't match what's on offer here if you invest in a reasonably priced card.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S: Apps
Samsung is generous with its included software. As with the Sasmung Galaxy S5, the tablet comes with a bunch of free software - not the bloatware the company was criticised for in the past but genuinely desirable stuff. So there's three months' subscription to Marvel comics and six months of free Deezer amidst other offers.
These and free games and other apps are constitute in a widget called Galaxy Gifts, sitting on the home screen just next to the Samsung own-brand offerings such as a video editor, scrapbook, sectional football game app and more. Even here, this feels different from earlier Samsung products because the apps are downloadable rather than stuffed into the gadget already.
Of course, it'due south yet hard to avoid the fact that Android merely isn't every bit advanced app-wise as Apple is on tablets.
Many apps are sophisticated enough to know how to stretch to bigger screens merely few are optimised in the fashion iPad apps are which reformat in radically different ways. This superior style that apps work on the iPad are i of the things that continue Apple tree out in front and in that location'southward not much Samsung can do to address that.
Samsung Milky way Tab South: Software
Samsung's Paper Garden is a neatly organised magazine store which tempts yous with a wide range of titles (in that location are some gratuitous issues on offer to tempt y'all more). Some are interactive, with animated covers and furnishings. All are advisedly formatted to fit the xvi:9 screen ratio. The pin-sharp screen makes text look every bit precipitous equally on paper.
Side Sync is a clever feature. Want to run across whatÃs happening on your phone screen without having to dig into your bag for it, or cross the room to where it'due south charging? Evens answer calls or texts from your phone on your tablet? Side Sync makes that happen. But it's not every bit polish as it should be and can stutter to a terminate. Y'all tin can use it with a PC (though non Mac) equally well, but once again the concept is better than the execution. For now.
Kids' mode is Samsung'due south way of limiting what your kids tin can utilize your tablet for is brilliant. It'southward painfully simple to prepare up and has enough variety and customisation options to suit the virtually demanding of parents - or kids. Mind you, yous might still prefer to buy them a cheap tablet rather than let them get their smeary mitts on yours.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S: Verdict
There'southward no question about it: this is the best tablet Samsung has still fabricated and information technology's arguably the slickest, most effective Android tablet bachelor. There are plenty of innovations, from the fingerprint sensor to the click-in covers to protect your hardware. The slim, low-cal styling is a revelation, particularly from a company whose design language was limited in its tablets earlier.
Will information technology be enough to have a chunk out of iPad sales? Apple'southward sublime ease of use and better range of optimised apps are tough to beat, only this tablet has the best hazard of causing a ocean alter of any Android machine yet.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S release appointment: Out now Samsung Galaxy Tab S price: £399 (10.5-inch, Wi-Fi merely), £319 (8.iv-inch, Wi-Fi only)
Source: https://www.t3.com/au/reviews/samsung-galaxy-tab-s-review