Samsung's brand-new Galaxy Tab S8 series hit stores on March 11 in India.
The company is offering the new Tab S8 series in three variants-- a regular Galaxy Tab S8, a standard S8 Plus, and top-end S8 Ultra. They come in three colours— graphite, silver, pink gold.
DH has received the Galaxy Tab S8 128GB (Wi-Fi) review unit along with Book Cover Keyboard. Here are our initial thoughts on the new Samsung tablet.
Design and display
Though Galaxy Tab S8 is the most affordable of the lot, the company hasn't cut corners to make the latter less premium. It flaunts a curved rectangular design language with armour aluminium casing and rounded corners.
On the front, it features an 11.0-inch WQXGA+(2560 x 1600p) super AMOLED screen with a pixel density of 276 ppi (pixels per inch) and supports up to 120Hz refresh rate.
It should be noted that the Galaxy S8 Plus and S8 Ultra feature bigger screens-- 12.4-inch (266 ppi) and 14.6-inch (240 ppi)- with super AMOLED display panels, respectively.
To me, the 11.0-inch screen of the Galaxy S8 is perfect to read, browse social media platforms, and research on the internet.
Besides the screen, there is another notable difference in this device. Unlike the Galaxy S8 Plus and S8 Ultra, which come with in-display optical fingerprint sensors, the regular Galaxy S8 features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. So far, it has worked fine with no issues.
The tablet also boasts quad stereo speakers tuned by AKG and Dolby Atmos sound systems and features three microphones, so the audio is recorded clearly during a video chat on messenger apps.
Similar to the Galaxy S22 series smartphones, Samsung has manufactured the Galaxy Tab S8 series using eco-friendly practices. The retail packages are made of recycled materials. Add to that, some of the key components of the device are made of repurposed ocean-bound wastes such as plastic bottles and fishnets.
Processor configuration
It is powered by a 4nm-class Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset backed by 8GB/12GB RAM, 128GB/256GB storage (expandable up to 1TB) and Android 12-based One UI 4.1 OS.
The user experience has been great and I really like the convenience of using the touch screen, S Pen, and the keyboard to perform tasks better. These make the Galaxy S8 a versatile tablet and help users become more productive compared to conventional laptops. Also, Samsung promised to offer four years of Android software updates and an additional year of security support. This makes the device a worthy long-term investment compared to any of the Android alternatives.
The Galaxy S8 comes with an 8,000mAh battery with super-fast Type-C USB 3.2 (45W) charging support. This is more than enough to keep the device running for a day under normal usage, but I need more time to fully assess it.
They come with a dual-camera module--13MP (autofocus) + 6MP (ultra wide) with LED flash on the back.
I am not a big fan of using the camera on the tablet to take pictures around, but I am sure the dual sensors can help users capture a good photo of a document with clear and steady fonts of the words. With the readily available converter apps, we can transform the JPEGs of the document into PDFs and share them with anybody via email or messenger apps.
On the front, it features a 12MP ultra-wide sensor. This will come in handy during video chatting and wide-angle field-of-view, more people can be accommodated in the frame while communicating on the video messenger apps.
Book Cover Keyboard
The Keyboard Cover comes with a matte finish on the outside and inside, it comes with a dedicated open slot for the S Pen at the hinge that holds the screen on one side and the keyboard on the other side.
It exudes premium hand-feel and is also sturdy too. As far as the keys are concerned, for obvious space limitations, they are placed close to each other. Truth be told, I always prefer typing on normal-sized QWERTY keyboards. For the Galaxy Tab S8, it did take some time for my fingers to get accustomed to the compact keyboard layout. After that, it was all a smooth experience.
Also, the magnetic power of the cover to attach with the tablet is really strong and holds on to it very firmly. Also, when pulling the display from the base forward for typing mode, the stand is stable.
Now that Covid-19 cases are waning, the Galaxy Tab S8's small factor and also S Pen utility tool makes up for a portable alternative to heavy laptops while traveling. Also with DeX support, we can seamlessly exchange documents and other types of files without much fuss. If you happen to have Samsung phones, notes and other files can be synced and continue on the work right from point left in another device. It should be noted that users must have linked devices to registered Samsung accounts.
The device is optimised to work seamlessly with some of the core Microsoft Office suite of apps and Google’s YouTube, Duo calling apps, and more.
The Galaxy Tab S8 Wi-Fi model is priced at Rs 58,999 and the 5G variant is for Rs 70,999.
Do come back to DH for the full review of Samsung's new premium tablet.
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