Samsung Galaxy Tab S accessories gallery

Check out some of the official accessories from Samsung for its upcoming line of Galaxy Tab S tablets.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S gallery

Take a look at Samsung’s new tablets from just about every angle imaginable. What’ll it be, an 8.4-inch or the 10.5-inch version? And, which color?

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Up close and personal with Samsung’s vibrant Galaxy Tab S

When Samsung first made what it considered to be the definitive Android smartphone, they called it the Galaxy S and stuck with that naming convention for every other flagship phone it’s made since. That tiny little badge of distinction has never wound up on one of the company’s many, many tablets… until now. As if you still had any lingering doubts, Samsung firmly believes that the new Galaxy Tab S family are the best tablets it’s ever crafted… and it’s mostly because of those tremendous Super AMOLED screens. We got a chance to take those new beauties for a spin — read on to see what we thought.

By now you know Samsung crafted two different flavors of the Galaxy Tab S — an 8.4-inch model and a 10.5 model — and aside from the one obvious difference, they’re just about identical. Both look like stretched out Galaxy S5s, sport the same Exynos 5 Octa chipset (a mashup of a 1.9GHz quad-core chip, a 1.3GHz quad-core chip and 3GB of RAM), run Android 4.4 KitKat hidden under TouchWiz’s familiar tablet trappings and pack fingerprint scanners in their home buttons. Let’s put all that stuff aside for a moment, though. The screens are the real stars of the show here, and they are something to behold.

People have been singing the praises of Super AMOLED for what feels like ages now. Stop me if this sounds familiar: colors appear richer and more vivid, blacks are deeper and more sumptuous, and whites come through very crisply. All those of observations still hold true for the Galaxy Tab Ss, but they seem so much more pronounced and impactful on those bigger, 2560 x 1600 screens. Remember: the last time Samsung experimented with a Super AMOLED screen in a tablet, it was in this weird little guy from years ago. If we’re picking nits the 8.4-inch model is technically more pixel dense, but my eyes couldn’t discern individual pixels on either tab).

The richness of those displays are made even more apparent when you stick one of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab Pros next to them — the Pro is less than a year old, but the screen looks lifeless and washed out sitting alongside the 10.5-inch S. And if the Tab Pro didn’t have it bad enough, the difference was only magnified more in a test that simulated performance in direct sunlight. The Tab S’s AMOLED panel maintained a level of clarity and vividness that couldn’t be touched. Part of what makes the screen so impressive are the smarts that help it adapt to new situations. There’s a tiny RGB sensor embedded in the bezels of both tablets that let it gauge your current lighting situation and fiddles with white balance to compensate. If you happen to find yourself in a room bathed with purple light (poor you), the screen takes on a magenta cast so as not to strain your eyes, a process that repeats wherever you go.

Despite what Samsung might think, a killer tablet requires more than just a killer screen. Getting a sense of a device’s power while elbowing other journalists for room is a tricky process, but in our limited time together, both Tab Ss seemed more than happy handling minor tasks we threw at them. Swiping through pages was quite snappy, as was firing up apps and thumbing through digital magazines. Oh, and as you’d expect, there was nary a hiccup in sight when we fired up a few test videos.

Both versions are good for gripping too, if only because they’re so slim. Sony’s Xperia Tablet Z2 still wins that fight by a few fractions of a millimeter, but the Tab Ss are only as thick as 5 credit cards stacked atop each other so you shouldn’t have trouble whipping it around. What’s more, they both feel awfully nice too. Don’t get me wrong – the Galaxy S5 is fine and all, but it’s just light enough to lack a certain sense of rigidity and robustness. That’s thankfully not the case with the Tab Ss: sure, they’re light, but the increased weight of those displays makes each respective package feel just a little more premium.

It’s not just the hardware that seems a little familiar this time. Samsung didn’t go overboard with the new software additions – instead, they just thoughtfully updated a few key components. Easily the most impressive is Samsung’s refreshed SideSync app – it allows a Tab S to communicate with a nearby Galaxy S5 over Wi-FI Direct. Why does that matter? Because now you’re treated to a realtime replica of your phone on the Tab S screen, so you can swipe away on Tinder or transfer files by dragging and dropping. The usual slew of security-focused apps and Galaxy giveaways are still present and accounted for, so you’ll find plenty of familiar bits if you’re coming from another Galaxy gadget.

We can’t pass final judgment on Samsung’s newest pair of tabs yet, but we definitely like what we see so far. A mix of thoughtful updates, familiar design and some seriously impressive screens makes the Galaxy Tab S family one to consider when units start hitting shelves this July.

Filed under: Tablets, Samsung

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Samsung debuts 8.4-inch, 10.5-inch Galaxy Tab S tablets

As we’ve all come to expect over the last few weeks, Samsung has announced its new Galaxy Tab S line of tablets. Available for pre-order as soon as tomorrow, Friday, June 13, the premium grade tablets will be offered in 8.4-inch and 10.5-inch variants.

Hardware Monsters

The two tablets are powered by Android 4.4 KitKat and share a number of specifications. Common hardware between the two include Exynos 5 Octa (1.9 GHz QuadCore ＋ 1.3 GHz QuadCore) processors, 3GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, and microSD expansion. Both models also boast WQXGA (2560×1600) Super AMOLED displays however the smaller one gets the higher pixel-per-inch count, natch. Rounding things out are an 8-megapixel rear camera, front-facing 2.1-megapixel camera, dual-band Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, and USB 2.0.

Software

In terms of software, the standard suite of Samsung apps are present. Familiar titles such as WatchON, S Health, and Multi Window join other such as Milk Music and new app called Samsung Papergarden. Designed with the Tab S in mind, this one delivers access to newspapers and magazines such as Comso, Vogue, GQ, and Rolling Stone.

Extra Perks

Samsung is giving away all sorts of wonderful content with their new tablets through Galaxy Gifts. Pick up one of these guys and you’ll also be treated to one-year free of Gogo In-flight Wi-Fi access, a 12-month subscription to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 6-month trial subscription to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, 3-month subscription to The New York Times, 3 months free Sirius XM Radio, and 3 months free subscription to Audible.

Availability

The Galaxy Tab S 8.4 will be available for $399.99, while the Tab S 10.5 will be $499.99. The tablets will be sold in July through Samsung.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Fry’s, Office Depot, Office Max, PC Richard & Son, Sears, Tiger Direct and Walmart.com.

As often is the case with new devices, there will be a number of accessories available for the new tablets: Bluetooth keyboard book covers, standalone Bluetooth keyboard, flip covers, book covers, S Action Mouse, USB LAN Hub, power saving cable and portable battery packs

The Road Ahead

Looking ahead, a 4G LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S line will be offered across multiple carriers. According to the press release, all four major players are in line to provide connected variants.

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