Hands-on: Samsung Galaxy Tab S2

The tablet industry is gradually maturing. The market before was once easily segregated into phones, tablets, and laptops. Now that the lines are blurring, the hard need for a tablet seems to be in jeopardy. However, there are still brands out there that continue to enliven the tablet industry.

Earlier this month, 2nd Opinion joined a roundtable discussion wherein Samsung introduced the latest sequel to its Galaxy Tab lineup, the Galaxy Tab S2, to a few members of the press. I got an exclusive hands-on with the device. Here’s what I thought.

• This year’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge flagship phones introduced a brand new design philosophy. For this year’s Tab S2, Samsung ditched the metallic back design of the Tab S. The current back is still plastic, but it’s textured like rubber. While that gives the back a better grip, the new texture feels softer to the touch. There’s also clickable buttons at the back meant for Samsung’s book cover accessory.

• It’s thin and light. For a 9.7-inch tablet, it doesn’t have much heft. If I were to joke around, I’d gladly use the Tab S2 as a fan substitute. For this year, Samsung has done away with the gigantic 10.5-inch variant. The Tab S2 is now available only in 8.0 inches or 9.7 inches. For a market that’s going gaga for bigger screens, it’s a wonder why the 10.5-inch variant was discontinued. However, the 9.7-inch screen is still very workable for a tablet, offering a lot of content because of its display ratio.

• The display uses Samsung’s own WQXGA Super AMOLED screen. Saturation is lively without being too vivid. Viewing angles is impressive. Instead of the usual 16:9 display ratio, the Tab S2 reverts to a 4:3 ratio. The reason for this is because a 4:3 ratio is able to display much more content than the entertainment centric 16:9 ratio. Surfing through Wikipedia entries, the 4:3 ratio does display more content. Despite this, the device is still capable of playing movies without much of a fuss.

• The tablet has dual speakers located at the bottom of the device. Sound quality was good, but not optimal for hardcore entertainment viewing.

• The Samsung Tab S2’s performance is remarkable. It runs on Samsung’s octa-core chip, a leaps-and-bounds improvement over the first Tab S. It has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage (which is expandable up to 128GB via microSD, a long forgotten feature in devices today). I tested its mettle with a game of Hearthstone. The tablet handled all the intensive animations present in the game. The only time it lagged was when the screen was surrounded by animated elements. Heat wasn’t an issue at all.

• The fingerprint sensor is accurate. It felt more secure that it scanned different sections of your finger so it remains accurate no matter what position you put your finger in. With the introduction of Samsung Pay, a fingerprint sensor this accurate will come in handy for future developments. As for other features, the Tab S2 also has a Smart Manager which consolidates all the power, RAM, storage, and security options, giving users better control over these settings. The tablet is also capable of multi-tasking with dual window capabilities.

• The camera quality is decent. Then again, taking photos with a tablet isn’t the most optimal solution for recording purposes. The Tab S2 sports an 8MP rear shooter and 2.1MP front camera. It won’t be a photographer’s dream, but it will come in handy for really quick snaps. Still, with industry standards constantly improving, stay with your smartphone if you’re a dedicated photographer.

• Compared to the previous Tab, the Tab S2 has a smaller battery. The 9.7-inch variant is powered by a 5,760mAh battery, while the Tab S’ 10.5-inch variant has a 7,900mAh battery. This is partly because of its smaller size, but a 2,200mAh decrease is quite a step down. On testing, the Tab S2 does feel limited in terms of battery life. On standby, the battery lasts around three days. On moderate use, the tablet lasts around two days. This is adequate for usage, but it feels a chore charging another device (and a bigger one, at that) every couple of days. Best to keep it off when not in use.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 is a big evolution in the aging tablet industry. While it seems to have downgraded some specs from previous versions, these choices were made with the optimal tablet experience in mind. Mostly… Regardless, it’s a must have for Samsung tablet users.

Those who will purchase the tablet from August 22 to December 31 will receive exclusive freebies worth up to P3,000. These include a free book cover, three-month subscription to iflix, and a Smart prepaid SIM with five free hours of mobile data valid for two days (every month for 6 months). The Tab S2 signals iflix’s initiative to partner up with Samsung in bringing affordable Internet TV streaming to a wider audience. The tablet will also come with Microsoft Office Solutions which provides users with free 100GB of cloud storage via OneDrive for two years.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 will be available starting August 22, 2015. It will come LTE-ready in black and gold. The 8-inch variant has a price of P24,990, while the 9.7-inch variant has a price of 29,990.

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