I've been spending a lot of time with Samsung's new Galaxy phones recently, so I decided to check out the new Galaxy Tab S8 tablet as well. I've been a long-time iPad user, but it's been a while since I've tried an Android tablet, and there's a lot that's changed, as well as some unique Samsung features.
The focus of tablets in general is maybe the most significant distinction. I mostly read on my iPad, whether on websites or through apps like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or a number of periodicals. Of course, any tablet can do that—more on that later—but the Tab S8, and the new iPads in general, are now focused more on productivity apps, such as sketching with a pen, video conferencing, or simply viewing videos. Samsung has focused on these functionalities with the Tab S8, and the results have been largely positive.
Within the Tab S8 series, Samsung provides three different models. The Tab S8, which I tried, features an 11-inch 2,560 by 1,600 pixel LCD display, which I thought was rather nice. Samsung also has the Tab S8+, which has a 12.4-inch AMOLED display, and the Tab S8 Ultra, which has a 14.6-inch display and twin front cameras. Of course, larger screens mean larger batteries and more weight, but I'm quite content with an 11-inch tablet because I'm not seeking for a full-fledged Windows or macOS PC.
The Tab S8 has a silver-colored back and borders, as well as rounded corners, as you'd anticipate. Next to the rear-facing camera is a little strip on the back where you may magnetically connect and charge the accompanying S-pen. The front of the phone is mainly screen, with thin bezels (albeit larger than on a flagship phone). It's small and light, measuring 9.99 by 6.51 by 0.29 inches (HWD) and weighs 1 pound, 2 ounces. I also utilized the $199.99 Book Cover Keyboard case, which weighs 1 pound, 12 ounces when combined with the pen. In general, it's a breeze to transport.
The magnetic stripe for the pen and the rear-facing camera are visible on the back of the case, but you'd be better off carrying the pen in the case's hinge. Pulling the tablet forward locks it into place and connects it to the keyboard, allowing you to use it as a laptop. This worked fine, although a keyboard meant to fit an 11-inch screen and serve as a casing felt a little tight when compared to a standard laptop keyboard. It's OK for a brief email, but I wouldn't use it as my primary keyboard for anything more than a few sentences.
The model I tested included 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, as well as a MicroSD slot for extra storage, and was powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset as the Samsung Galaxy S22. I found it to be pretty speedy, just like the phones. I put a Wi-Fi device to the test, and it performed admirably; it supports Wi-Fi 6E, so you'll be ready for future networks. A variant with a 5G modem is also available from Samsung. Like the latest Galaxy phones, it runs Android 12 with Samsung's OneUI interface.
It includes four built-in speakers that are rather powerful, but there is no 3.5mm audio connector, therefore external speakers or headphones must be connected through Bluetooth. Although I understand why practically all phones now lack an audio jack, I still wish tablets did.
It boasts a 12-megapixel f/2.4 120-degree front-facing camera with an aperture of up to f/2.4 that can potentially shoot 4K video for video conferencing. Samsung claims it has "intelligent auto framing technology" and the ability to blur the backdrop, but in fact, it appeared to offer the same choices as Microsoft Teams and Zoom Meetings, which worked great. It has a noise-cancelling microphone and performed admirably during video conversations.
A 13-megapixel f/2.0 primary camera and a 6-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera are the world-facing cameras. They can capture 4K video at 30 frames per second once more. I'm not a great fan of using a tablet as a camera, preferring to use a phone instead, but there are people who do, and these appear to be fairly nice, if not quite up to what you'd get on a flagship phone.
It comes with a stylus, which Samsung refers to as the S-Pen. The variant included with the Tab S8 is approximately 6.5 inches long, matte black (to match the interior of the keyboard cover), and has one flat side and a single button. It is charged by magnetically connecting it to the tablet's back strip.
The Samsung UI additions include capabilities that enable you rapidly press the pen to make a new note, open new ones, annotate the screen, translate text, and more, just like the Galaxy S22 Ultra and previous Note phones. If you use Samsung Notes, you can exchange notes created on other Galaxy Phones, which might be useful for individuals who want to stay in Samsung's ecosystem. You may also utilize the S-Pen with a variety of third-party applications, such as Jamboard, to create a collaborative whiteboard.
It's not as easy as the S22 Ultra's pen menu, which appears when you remove the pen out of the built-in socket, but it worked OK. I'm not an artist, but it seemed to respond well to pressure and kept up with any motions I made.
The ease with which you may use the Tab S8 as a second display with a Windows PC or laptop is an especially appealing feature. Simply pull down from the Android front screen and select second screen from the "quick actions" menu; then go to your Windows PC (on the same network) and press control-K to cast. You may use it as a second screen, a duplicate screen, or even as an input device with the S-Pen. When you need additional screen space or want to annotate a document, this may be incredibly useful.
It contains Samsung's DeX functionality, which allows the device to function more like a PC when you use the keyboard or put in an external display, just like the Galaxy phones (or monitor, keyboard, and mouse using a dock). DeX can divide the screen to run many apps at the same time and has a Windows-like interface. The multi-window experience worked well for me, and it was especially helpful with Microsoft apps, where I could have many Word and Excel projects open at the same time. It was most handy in practice for transferring material between windows because I typically needed a full-screen view of my papers; after all, an 11-inch screen is still tiny.
The Microsoft apps performed well on the Tab S8, but even with DeX, they don't have all of the functionality of their Windows or Mac counterparts, so if you're a hardcore user, this won't suffice. But it's nice to have them, and I've used them when I only had my tablet with me instead of my laptop because it's so much lighter. This may be quite useful in applications for field workers, for example.
In terms of Android apps in general, the majority of the ones I use operate fine on a tablet, although you still tend to find apps made for phones rather than tablets, such as the iPad. All of the essential apps are there, but there don't appear to be as many visual productivity options as there are on Apple's App Store.
Other features include an 8000 mAh battery that supports 45-watt charging, albeit the gadget does not equipped with a charger (like the phones). You may set it up to log in using facial detection, a password, or a fingerprint using the reader integrated into the power button for more protection. It supports Samsung's Knox security, as do all current Galaxy smartphones.
Even the basic Tab S8 costs $699.99, making it a really high-end tablet with a lot of capability. If you're looking for the most apps, I'd still recommend an iPad, but if you're in the Samsung or even Android environment, it's a strong device with a few unique features that may be very useful for a business user.