First impressions: Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and Tab S 10.5
Samsung’s latest introduction to the tablet market, the Tab S series, was launched today in India and we take a quick look at both the tablets which feature an eye-popping resolution of 2560x1600 pixels.
The latest jab at Apple by Samsung is the new Tab S series which was launched in India today. The two tablets in the series are similarly sized as the Apple iPad Air and iPad mini 2 and just to make it even more interesting, Samsung has priced the Tab S 8.4 and Tab S 10.5 at Rs. 37,800 and Rs. 44,800 respectively. Now this is some really competitive pricing.
The Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and Tab S 8.4 feature Super AMOLED displays with a WQXGA resolution of 2560×1600 which offer really good levels of contrast and colour richness. The hardware on both the tablets is pretty much the same including an Exynos 5 Octa chipset (1.9GHz quad-core + 1.3GHz quad-core), 3GB of RAM, fingerprint-scanner, 16GB expandable memory, 8MP read camera with flash, 2.1MP front camera, 4G/3G+Wi-Fi and Android 4.4.2 with TouchWiz UI.
Both tablets have a very slim design measuring at just 6.6 mm in thickness and feel quite light in the hand. The back has been inspired by the Galaxy S5 with the perforated pattern design and the edges are made out of metal with a gold/bronze finish. The display is very crisp, but the high contrast levels and vivid colours on the display take some time getting used to. We can’t say much about the performance but it does run on the same CPU as the Galaxy S5 with an extra gig of RAM.
There are also some interesting features on the tablets like the fingerprint scanner, which we had seen on the Galaxy S5. The scanner offers similar features as we had seen on the smartphone, and also enables you to have up to 8 users with separate logins and profiles on the same tablet which is secured with the fingerprint scanner.
For the price, Samsung is offering an excellent display and a powerful hardware package, but we do think that the prices of both the tablets could have been slightly lower.
We will be reviewing the tablets as soon as we get some review units in our test labs. Do tell us what you think of the newly launched tablets.