Tablets are getting a bit tiresome. They do a lot of what our phones can do, only they’re bigger and harder to hold, and they can’t quite do what our laptops can. They just sit somewhere in the middle capability wise and sit somewhere in our home often dead until we get a rush of motivation to do something tabletty.
But Samsung wants to change your opinion of tablets; it wants to make the tablet your go-to device, mostly for watching videos. At least that’s what Samsung is spruiking for its Galaxy Tab S8 range, because it still wants you to use a Galaxy S22 for phone stuff.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 x3
On Thursday, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab S8, Tab S8+ and Tab S8 Ultra – an upgrade to the Tab S7 that we actually really liked, designed for a “versatile video-first world”.
Samsung is really banking on you watching a lot of video. During a press briefing announcing the Galaxy Tab S8, Danielle E. Moten from Samsung’s tablet product management team said 80 per cent of consumer’s online traffic will be video this year. So that’s the whole premise for these three Tab S8 tablets.
Performance wise, the Tab S8 boasts a 4nm processor, a first for a Galaxy tablet. It comes with up to 16GB of RAM and expandable storage of up to 1TB. Samsung says the Galaxy Tab S8 has a powerful, intelligent battery that supports up to 15 hours of constant video play. Again with the video.
45W super-fast charging gets you to 100 per cent in around 1 hour 20 minutes. But not bad is the tablet becoming a portable (querying just how portable you think this thing is, Samsung) charger via USB-C – but it seems only for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, not the other two phones in the S22 range.
This year, Samsung is going HAM with giving the Tab range an Ultra device. We want to act surprised, but Samsung leaked this bad boy a few weeks ago. Moten said sales of large screen tablets have climbed by 24 per cent in the last two years.
“The reason is clear: when the screen is bigger, video calls feel more real,” she says. “Movies and games are more immersive and you can see and do more simultaneously with multiple windows.”
I can’t help but think Samsung wants me to watch videos.
On the video calling side, the Tab S8 Ultra has a 120-degree ultra-wide front camera with 12MP dual lenses. Moten says it also has crystal clear call quality and you can add some effects to your video calls (please don’t). But the camera’s smarts make sure everyone is in the frame if on a video call, which is useful, and three mics help with the sound quality, reducing background noise as a start. Quad speakers and Dolby Atmos audio round out the video call specs.
With all of these people watching videos, someone has to make them, so if you consider yourself a “content creator”, the Tab S8 has 4K recording capabilities both front and back.
The Tab S8 Ultra features the biggest display yet for a Galaxy Tab device – 14.6-inch vivid super AMOLED screen. It’s also got the slimmest bezel seen on a Galaxy Tab at 6.3mm – a pretty decent screen to body ratio. Plus, Samsung reckons the Tab S8 is 30 per cent more resistant to scratches and 40 per cent less chance of bending than its predecessor.
Software side, the briefing showcased a lot of multitasking work, a screen shared by two or more apps, moving with ease with the S Pen from one app to the other, and hopefully Samsung has got this a little bit more right than Apple has, otherwise it just adds another clunky gimmick to a tablet.
Look, the Galaxy Tab S8 range is quite pretty and spec wise, they give the iPad Mini a run for its money. So if you’re in the market for a tablet, the Tab S8 range is looking promising.
If you’re a Samsung Galaxy stan, you’re going to get a great experience out of your phone-tablet-smartwatch network, which is something Apple has been doing pretty perfectly for a very long time.
Not sure that 2022 is going to see the tablet wars, but Samsung has kicked off the year with three boss-looking Galaxy Tab S8s. Head on over here to read about our first-look hands on with Samsung’s attempt at the iPad killer.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8, S8+ and S8 Ultra specs
The specifications for the new Galaxy tablet range, broken down by device:
Tab S8
- Display: 11-inch screen, up to 120Hz refresh rate
- Dimensions: 165.3 x 253.8 x 6.3 mm
- Weight: 503 grams for the Wi-Fi version, 507 grams for the cellular Galaxy Tab S8
- Camera system: rear – 13MP AF + 6MP ultra-wide (Dual) + flash, front/selfie camera – 12MP ultra-wide
- Memory & storage: 8/12GB +128/256GB, microSD up to 1TB
- Processor: 4nm 64-bit octa-core processor
- Battery: 8,000mAh, super-fast charging up to 45W
- Connectivity: 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi6E, Wi-Fi direct Bluetooth v 5.2
- Connectors: USB-C
- Sound: 3 microphones, quad stereo speakers with sound by AKG, Dolby Atmos
- Video: recording – 4K @ 30fps, playback – 8K @ 60 fps
- Biometrics: fingerprint authentication via side key
- Colours: dark grey, silver and pink gold.
Tab S8+
- Display: 12.4-inch screen, up to 120Hz refresh rate
- Dimensions: 185.0 x 285.0 x 5.7 mm
- Weight: 567 grams for the Wi-Fi version, 572 grams for the cellular Galaxy Tab S8+
- Camera system: rear – 13MP AF + 6MP ultra-wide (Dual) + flash, front/selfie camera – 12MP ultra-wide
- Memory & storage: 8/12GB +128/256GB, microSD up to 1TB
- Processor: 4nm 64-bit octa-core processor
- Battery: 10,090mAh, super-fast charging up to 45W
- Connectivity: 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi6E, Wi-Fi direct Bluetooth v 5.2
- Connectors: USB-C
- Sound: 3 microphones, quad stereo speakers with sound by AKG, Dolby Atmos
- Video: recording – 4K @ 30fps, playback – 8K @ 60 fps
- Biometrics: fingerprint authentication on display
- Colours: dark grey, silver and pink gold.
Tab S8 Ultra
- Display: 14.6-inch screen, up to 120Hz refresh rate
- Dimensions: 208.6 x 326.4 x 5.5 mm
- Weight: 726 grams for the Wi-Fi version, 728 grams for the cellular Galaxy Tab S8+
- Camera system: rear – 13MP AF + 6MP ultra-wide (Dual) + flash, front/selfie camera – 12MP wide and 12MP ultra-wide
- Memory & storage: 8/12/16GB +128/256/512GB, microSD up to 1TB
- Processor: 4nm 64-bit octa-core processor
- Battery: 11,200mAh, super-fast charging up to 45W
- Connectivity: 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi6E, Wi-Fi direct Bluetooth v 5.2
- Connectors: USB-C
- Sound: 3 microphones, quad stereo speakers with sound by AKG, Dolby Atmos
- Video: recording – 4K @ 30fps, playback – 8K @ 60 fps
- Biometrics: fingerprint authentication on display
- Colour: dark grey
Pricing
The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra will be available for preorder starting today, with a starting price of — you might want to sit down for this — $1,099. The top tier Tab will set you back $2,199.
Here’s the Aussie RRP pricing for each Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 device:
Galaxy Tab S8
- Tab S8 Wi-Fi 128GB (pink gold, dark grey, silver) RRP $1,099
- Tab S8 Wi-Fi 256GB (dark grey) RRP $1,249
- Tab S8 5G 128GB (pink gold, dark grey, silver) RRP $1,299
- Tab S8 5G 256GB (dark grey) RRP $1,449
Galaxy Tab S8+
- Tab S8+ Wi-Fi 128GB (pink gold, dark grey, silver) RRP $1,499
- Tab S8+ Wi-Fi 256GB (dark grey) RRP $1,649
- Tab S8+ 5G 128GB (pink gold, dark grey, silver) RRP $1,699
- Tab S8+ 5G 256GB (dark grey) RRP $1,849
Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra
- Tab S8 Ultra Wi-Fi 128GB (dark grey) RRP $1,799
- Tab S8 Ultra 5G 128GB (dark grey) RRP $1,999
- Tab S8 Ultra Wi-Fi 256GB (dark grey) RRP $1,999
- Tab S8 Ultra 5G 256GB (dark grey) RRP $2,199
Those who preorder the standard options from Samsung’s website get a free Slim Book Cover Keyboard, while folks willing to shell out for the Ultra get a free Backlit Book Cover Keyboard. They’ll begin shipping March 4.