Samsung Galaxy Tab S was one of the first high-end Android tablets and a solid alternative to Apple’s already-established high-end tablets.
Now, Samsung has released a new tablet, a successor to the Tab S, named Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. Like the latest Apple iPads, the Tab S2 has two sizes: an 8-inch tablet and a 9.7-inch one. Multiple iPad releases dominate this end of the year, and since I’m sure most of us have great expectations from the Tab S2, let’s look at how well it fares in this fierce competition.
In this review, we will look at the 8-inch variant of Galaxy Tab S2.
Design
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 features a sleek design with nicely rounded corners, flat edges, a matte finish on the back cover, and a metallic frame. The back cover is made of soft plastic, and the front is fully made of glass. Overall, the case seems sturdy and has a premium look and feel, but some may wonder why Samsung decided to ditch the metal and glass idea, especially since some waited for this type of design.
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The answer is quite simple. The case would have been incredibly fragile and much heavier, making the tablet hard to hold for longer periods. It would have created problems with overheating, and it would have been more expensive.
But, as you know, the new Galaxy Tab S2 is real, really thin, and lightweight. It measures 7.82×5.31×0.22 inches and weighs 9.59 oz, making it one of the lightest and thinnest tablets ever made.
Unfortunately, if you press harder on the back cover, you will notice some flex. But this is the only downside because the tablet can be carried with incredible ease and can be held in one hand for long periods without becoming uncomfortable.
So, yes, there are no wrist strains. The grip is great, and if you’re on a plane or during a long train voyage, this is one of the best tablets to carry around. That’s also available for everyday use (if you like to sit in bed and watch a movie before going to sleep) or taking the tablet in a purse or a bag. So that’s the tablet’s main selling point, the comfortable manipulation due to its lightweight.
We saw that the tablet is comfortable, but what about its buttons and ports feel and placement? Well, the controls feel solid, and there is no lack of ports. The tablet’s right side is home to the Power button, the volume controller, and a microSD slot (to insert a microSD card, you must use a paper clip to access the tray).
On the bottom, you can find two speakers, a Micro-USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the back of the S2, there is a camera (in the middle) and two metal circles meant for clipping a keyboard cover onto the tablet.
The front of Tab S2, there is the usual home button and the two capacitive buttons. The home button doubles as a fingerprint scanner. The scanner is accurate and fast, being a nice addition to security.
Display
The 8-inch Tab S2’s display is Quad HD AMOLED. It has a pixel density of 320 PPI, wide viewing angles, and is protected by Gorilla Glass. Overall, it wants to deliver a similar experience we got accustomed to with the Tab S.
But unfortunately, this is only available for the bigger, 9.7-inch tablet. The smaller Tab S2 uses PenTile submatrix technology. Sure, there is a lot of debate about which type of display is better or lasts longer, but overall, a sharp eye will see a small difference (especially in the text crispness) between the two S2 models; the bigger one is better, of course.
Regardless, just like any Super-AMOLED display, you will see high contrast, intense black levels, great vibrancy, high contrast ratio, and vivid colors. Viewing angles were excellent, and the display now has two features: the Adaptive Display and the Reading Mode.
Analyzing the display, it’s brighter than the Galaxy Tab S. Still. At the same time, it’s great for visibility (especially on sunny days or at the beach); an image with different levels of white may appear blown out.
Performance
The thin case of Galaxy S2 is home to an octa-core Exynos 5433 CPU (a 1.9GHz quad-core Cortex A57 chip and a 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex A53 chip), backed by a Mali-T760 MP6 GPU (max frequency of 700MHz), 3GB RAM, native 32 or 64GB storage and the possible addition of up to 128GB with a microSD card.
Overall, we didn’t experience any big performance issues while testing the Tab S2, but it was behind the iPad mini four and even the Nexus 9. It’s clear that Samsung didn’t use its best chip, and although the 8-inch tablet has reasonable competition considering the price tag, the larger version is not on par with other similarly priced tablets.
Software
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with the TouchWiz custom interface. The good thing is that Samsung has finally realized that a clean, bloatware-free system is what users wanted from the beginning, so now, there are a few apps that can be uninstalled, and some are useful.
The interface is cleaner, but there still are some leftovers that don’t make sense. For example, you still have the Internet and Email apps with Chrome and Gmail. It’s obvious you don’t need the first mentioned ones, so why include them?
Some apps still cannot be uninstalled, like Gallery, Camera, Music, My Files, and some more, but I found some of them useful (like Microsoft Word, OneDrive, and Skype).
Other interesting apps and features are SideSync (allows you to move files between your tablet and your PC), Smart Manager (manages your RAM usage, battery life, storage, and security), Connect (consists of Support, Discover, and Promotions), the Flipboard Briefing and the new split-screen implementation.
Although Android Lollipop doesn’t support split-screen multitasking, Samsung has made it possible, the problem being the developers that have to take advantage of this new feature. But that’s not all Samsung has added; now, a fingerprint scanner is incorporated into the Home button (you only have to put your finger on top of the controller, and no swiping is requested).
Camera
Most of the time, you will use the cameras for Skype (or any alternative program), but if you decide to use it for photos, know that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 doesn’t disappoint.
It packs an 8-megapixel rear camera and a front-facing 2.1-megapixel camera, and both can shoot some pretty good photos. Also, considering that the bar is set quite low for tablet cameras, the Galaxy Tab S2 features one of the best sets of cameras.
Images shot with the rear camera looked quite sharp and with rich colors, especially in good lighting, and it also did fairly well in darker environments. However, there was a noticeable amount of grain.
There are some standard modes available to use: HDR, Panorama, Dual Camera, and Virtual Shot. The camera can also record QHD videos with 2560×1440 resolution.
Battery Life
The 8-inch model of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 has a 4000 mAh non-removable battery, and the 9.7-inch model features a 5870 mAh non-removable battery.
You can game for about 5 hours before needing recharging, around 7 hours of video playback, and overall, the battery will make it throughout a full day of light use.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 lacks the wireless charging feature, and there’s also no fast charging. Fully recharging the tablet takes about four hours.
Conclusion
There aren’t many high-end Android tablets on the market, and even fewer can be considered competitors to the Apple tablets. The new Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 is an improvement in some sectors over the Tab S and a worthy competitor to Apple tablets, but at the same time, some features were downgraded.
