Samsung Galaxy Tab S: A quick look at the key specs and features

Samsung today announced the Galaxy Tab S devices, which could give Apple’s iPad Air and iPad mini a run for their money, given that Samsung’s devices comes with a WQXGA (2560x1600, 16:10) Super AMOLED display and an Octa-core processor.   At 6.6 mm, Samsung’s tablets are also thinner than the iPad Air (which is 7.5 mm thick) and iPad mini (7.2. mm thick), although the 10.5-inch screen version of the Galaxy Tab S weights 465 which is just a little under the iPad Air’s 469 g weight. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S will come in Titanium Bronze or Dazzling White. It will hit selective markets from July, 2014.   We take a look at all the key features of these two tablets that Samsung launched.   Design, Screen: As we’ve noted above, these are thinnest and lightest Samsung tablets to have been released by the company, and in terms of design both follow the pattern that other Samsung tablets have done in the past. The one change you might notice is in terms of the pack cover which now has the latticed (aka the much mocked band-aid-style) that we saw in the Samsung Galaxy S5. In some sense you might say that Samsung is ensuring some sort of design unity across it’s premium phone and tablet.   The biggest plus point for these tablets is of course the screen. Both the 8.4-inch screen version and the 10.5-inch version have a 2560x1600(WQXGA) Super AMOLED display. According to Samsung, this delivers more than 90 percent of Adobe RGB colour coverage – expressing more colours than ever before – and has a remarkable 100,000:1 contrast ratio which provides deeper and more realistic images by making blacks darker and whites brighter. The iPad Air’s screen resolution is well below at 2048x1536 resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi).   The screen also has a Adaptive Display, according to Samsung, which ensures that it will adjust the visual experience according to the current environment. Users can read easily in bright sunlight as well. They can also manually adjust the display settings for both video and photo content.   [caption id=“attachment_225739” align=“alignnone” width=“691”]  Samsung Galaxy Tab S is now official[/caption]   Hardware: Both tablets support 4G as well and this means there will two different processor versions for each tablet. One version (which is the LTE one) will come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3 GHz quad-core processor, while the other (the non-LTE one) will come with the Exynos 5 Octa (1.9 GHz QuadCore ＋ 1.3 GHz Quadcore). Given that Samsung didn’t launch the LTE version of the Note 3 or the S5 in India, it remains to be seen whether the 4G version of these tablets will actually hit the Indian market.   In terms of memory, both tablets come with 3GB (RAM) and in 16/32GB internal memory with a microSD slot which has a capacity of up to 128GB. Again this is a big advantage over the iPad Air which doesn’t have a microSD slot and comes only with 1GB RAM. Though it should be noted that Apple has released a 128 GB version of the iPad Air as well.   Camera This is another feature where both tablets make Apple’s iPad Air and iPad Mini seem outdated. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S device come with 8 megapixel rear camera with flash LED and they also have 2.1 megapixel front camera which can, shoot and record in Full HD.   Battery The 10.5-inch version of the tablet has a 7,900mAh battery, while the 8.4-inch version has a 4,900mAh battery. Samsung hasn’t specified how long the battery will last, but Samsung has brought the Ultra-Power Saving Mode from the Galaxy S5 to these tablets as well. The feature claims to give users a 24-hour battery even when their device shows the battery capacity at 10 percent.   [caption id=“attachment_225738” align=“alignnone” width=“614”]  The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.4[/caption]   Software and other features The device runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat version. Samsung says it has also partnered with Google Play to give gifts to buyers from a range of movie and entertainment content. One gift includes: Gravity, the Academy Award winning film. Users will also get a variety of books and magazines from top publishers through the “My Library" widget.   Samsung’s magazine service, “Papergarden” will also debut on the Galaxy Tab S. According to Samsung, this is an optimised viewing environment for digital interactive magazines. The company has also teamed up with Marvel and Galaxy Tab S users will be able to access over 15,000 Marvel Comics through 3 months of unlimited free membership to Marvel’s “Marvel Unlimited” app.   Samsung has also struck a partnership with Amazon and Galaxy Tab S users will receive a free book every month through Samsung Book Deals, plus the access to a vast selection of e-books in the Kindle store. The tablet has a ‘Multi User Mode’ that enables users to create their own personal optimised profile with a built-in ‘Fingerprint Scanner,’ and a specially designed ‘Kids’ Mode’.   For now, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S devices look like they have the specs and perhaps that could appeal to many users.