Samsung Galaxy Tab S Review (10.5 & 8.4-inch)
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 24, 2014 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Samsung
- Mobile
- Galaxy Tab S
Battery Life
Both Galaxy Tab Ses feature somewhat small batteries, a downside to pursuing a very thin chassis. The 10.5-inch model gets a 30Wh battery compared to 32.4Wh in the iPad Air, while the 8.4-inch model only has an 18.6Wh battery compared to 23.8Wh for the iPad mini with Retina Display.
For our web browsing workload, the battery size and power requirements of displaying mostly white web pages on a high resolution AMOLED display result in substandard battery life. Both devices deliver around 8 hours on a single charge, which isn’t bad in a vacuum - it’s just a regression compared to the Galaxy Tab Pro and far behind the other competition.
The story changes dramatically however once we look at video playback battery life:
Our video playback test is perfect for an AMOLED display as the final Harry Potter movie ends up having a lot of dark scenes in it. With only a small percentage of the display showing white, display power is reduced substantially, resulting in the best video playback battery life of any tablet we’ve ever tested. Even the tiny 8.4-inch Galaxy Tab S can last over 15 hours on a single charge.
Charge time isn’t particularly fast on any of the devices, but the 10.5-inch model in particular takes a while to make it to a full charge. The 10.5 will reach a 90% charge in just under 4 hours, but to make it to 97% takes another hour and the last 3% takes another 42 minutes on top of that. Usable charge time is competitive, but if you’re obsessive about always charging to 100% the 10.5-inch model does take a while to get there.
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Laxaa - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
I guess we'll se a revamped model in october/november with 805.GC2:CS - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
No... We will see an entirely new tablet lineup called SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB Fretrospooty - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Then Tab F Pro - all priced too high.hkklife - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
And all will still continue to be gimped with the usual 16GB of internal storage (with 8.5GB available left to the user). It's 2014, not 2011. It's time 32GB became standard across the board no matter what. Also, I wouldn't pay these kinds of prices without having microUSB 3.0 connectivity (I am spoiled by my Note 3) AND wireless charging (to save the aforementioned port from overuse). I'm also slightly miffed by the use of an Exynos instead of a Snapdragon. Now, if they refresh these guys this fall with the latest version of Android, an 801/805, add USB 3.0 from the Tap/Note Pros AND double up the storage while holding the line on the the price then I might consider it!RobilarOCN - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link
What does it matter how much storage is on board? For a Nexus 7 or an IPad it matters but Micro SD cards are dirt cheap... I picked up a 128GB for $110 for my Tab Pro. That is a grand total of 144 GB of storage(less OS and Apps) for just over $500. Compared to $800 for a Mini Retina with 128GB that's almost $300 cheaper. As mentioned the USB 3.0 is too thick to fit into this tablet. I have several devices that I have been charging and using for literally years without any overuse of the micro USB port so why worrry?basroil - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link
Google got rid of saving to apps to SD cards, so it does matter to those that use large HD optimized appsretrospooty - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link
Especially with all the bloatware Samsung puts in it... There will be like 8-9 gb space available for apps. Not good enough Samsung. Not for a $500 device.CanvasExtractor - Sunday, October 12, 2014 - link
10.5GB available for a $400 device, lol. And remember all the bloatware Google Corporation requires, including but not limited to a social network, a chat app, an extra browser, their ad network, a gaming center, and llittle stores and proprietary apps for music, expensive movies, and even magazines.At least Samsung adds things like multi-window, grayscale mode for battery savings, 1% battery.
rodolfcarver - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
Samsung Galaxy Tab S seems to be a choice, although I personally prefer getting one of the top models from Samsung (see http://www.consumertop.com/best-tablets/ for example), but that's just me. Some people might like this!sigmatau - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
I want to see what the they can do with an 808 or 810 that will be using a die shrink. That is what I am interested in for both phones and tablets. They really should be pushing these chips to be released by years end, not early next year. Oh well.