Samsung steps up its pitch to win the tablet wars with the Galaxy Tab S launched in New York.
THE tablet computer, as we know it, arrived four years ago.
It weighed 730g — about the same as an average Bible — and, at 1.3cm thick, was quite the weapon.
Samsung’s new premium tablet range shows just how far the technology has come.
Both Tab S tablets are unfathomably thin to hold. In the hand, they almost feel fake.
It’s hard to imagine a battery can be sandwiched into their 6.6mm bodies.
The smaller tablet of the pair, the 8.4-inch model, weighs less than a paperback novel. Its load would disappear in a handbag, a backpack or even in the pocket of a pair of cargo pants.
In short, it will not strain your wrist to read books, magazines or newspapers from its screen.
That Super AMOLED display is also as sharp as sharp currently gets on tablets.
Samsung describes it as a 2K screen, being that it has a higher resolution than full high-definition.
It also beats the pixel density of Apple’s Retina iPad screens.
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Even up close, you’re unlikely to notice the extra pixels with your naked eye, but you’re bound to notice the difference between the screens on these tablets and that of older Samsung models. Text looks particularly crisp.
The Tab S tablet bodies feel solid, despite their tiny girth, and well finished.
The sides are made from a plastic that resembles metal, like the Galaxy S5, while the back features a dimpled plastic. It may not be the premium feel every user demands of such a device, with such a price tag, however.
The Tab S also features round buttons on the back into which its new cases clip. Once in place, they don’t slip out, letting you wave the tablet around precariously, as we did to test it.
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By far the most impressive software feature of the Tab S range — for existing Samsung phone users, at least — is Side Sync 3.0.
In practice, it’s very easy to use.
After downloading the app to a Galaxy smartphone, you open its companion app on the tablet and connect the two using Wi-Fi Direct.
The phone’s screen then appears in miniature on the tablet’s screen, letting you change its settings, blow it up to use the tablet’s full screen for composing SMS messages, or answering incoming phone calls.
Swapping files is also easy using this feature. In the phone’s gallery, you can select a video with your finger and drop it on to the tablet’s screen to transfer it.
While it’s hard to test a tablet’s speed without loading it with apps yourself, the Tab S tablets in New York operated swiftly, helped by their Octa-core processors and 3GB RAM.
The addition of a fingerprint scanner is certain to appeal to business users, and its split-screen multi-tasking mode is similarly useful.
The Tab S won’t appeal to everyone, however. Those who don’t appreciate the saturated hues of Samsung’s Super AMOLED screens, or the look of its TouchWiz menus, shortcuts and widgets are unlikely to be won over by these devices.
Its price, rumoured to sit around the $600mark, is yet to be confirmed and could work against it.
The growing number of Samsung smartphone owners and Android fans crying out for premium tablets are likely to embrace the Tab S’s arrival, however, and embrace it closely enough to make Apple very nervous.
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson travelled to New York as a guest of Samsung.
