Hands-on review: Samsung Galaxy Tab S2

Samsung's Galaxy Tab S was announced back in July 2014 and proved one of the most exciting Android tablets on the market dropping a lot of the guff we've seen on previous models.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 comes in its wake being announced a year late – but has much changed?



The new slate has had some minor improvements when you look through the spec list, but it seems there may be more here than meets the eye. Chiefly it's available in two sizes, 9.7-inch and 8-inch, placing it head to head with the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 hasn't changed much in design from its predecessor – it's still boasting the plastic back but feels quite nice in the hand with a good grip. The dimensions are 212 x 126 x 6.6mm making it one of the thinnest Android tablets around.

It feels really light in the hand when you first pick it up, but it's still weighty enough that it won't end up blowing away in a slight gust. It's got nothing on Apple's latest duo of slates though, with their premium metal bodies feeling supremely better than the Galaxy Tab S2's cheaper plastic finish.

That could be a real issue for both sizes of the Tab S2, as Samsung is likely to match Apple's pricing which may make it difficult for the slates to stand out.
At the top right hand edge is the power button and volume rocker alongside the SIM tray and microSD slots. The left hand edge is plain plastic material and feels good to hold from that angle and use your right hand to do all the pressing.

There are slim bezels on the front with a power button on the bottom – a nice alternative to the Galaxy phone range that goes buttonless on the front.

Display

On the front both the 8-inch and 9.7-inch slates boast Super AMOLED displays with resolutions of 1536 x 2048 pixels. That equals 320ppi on the 8-inch model and it looks great – it isn't the best pixel density we've seen on a tablet though.

The pixels per inch aren't quite as impressive on the larger Galaxy Tab S2, but it still comes in at a respectable 264ppi.

I'd rather this was a 2K option like the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet but it's quite nice and won't be a big drain on the battery. Samsung's Super AMOLED screen technology is once again better than everything else though, but it's not anything on the Galaxy S range of smartphones screen quality.

Power

Under the hood is an octa-core processor clocked at 1.9GHz and 1.3GHz. Samsung hasn't revealed exactly what processor that is but it's also accompanied by 3GB of RAM.
From the small amount of time playing around we managed to get the screens and apps opening and closing pretty fast and didn't indetify any issues. We'll have to have a full play around before our proper verdict on the processor though.

Battery & storage

There's a 4000mAh battery inside the Tab S2 8.0, which doesn't sound that great. We've yet to test out the battery properly but it doesn't sound like the most promising cell we'd hoped for.
Storage wise your choices are either 32GB or 64GB with the microSD option of up to 128GB. We'd recommend grabbing a microSD right away if you're going to fill it with lots of films and pictures, whilst it would have been nicer for Samsung to offer a straight up 128GB internal option.

Camera

There's an 8MP camera on the back of both slates, but all we really know is that it'll come with autofocus and it records 1440p video at 30fps. On the front is a 2.1MP camera – we didn't get much time to use it but it sounds quite disappointing on paper.
The few shots we did take with the tablet came out well though but it's difficult to really tell in such a badly lit environment.

Other features

The Galaxy Tab S2 also comes with a fingerprint sensor on the front button. We didn't get a chance to use it properly but it's bound to make your tablet more secure than ever.
It's still difficult to justify a fingerprint sensor on a tablet though – but it may come in useful when Samsung launches its new Samsung Pay feature.

Release date and price

Samsung has now confirmed the Galaxy Tab S2 release date as September 4, the same date as the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 are due on sale - meaning there will be a glut of new Samsung devices hitting stores.
As for pricing we're not sure on that front. The original Samsung Galaxy S Tab was released with a similar price to the iPad so it doesn't come cheap.

Early verdict

If you're looking for a good Android tablet the Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 or 9.7-inch looks to be one of the best options on the market. There's some stiff competition right now in the tablet game with the iPad Air 2 and the Sony Xperia Z4 tablet but this seems to hold up.
The design is refined to a slim, lightweight and beautiful product. The screen could do with an upgrade but it's good for watching films or looking through web pages.
The processor and under the hood setup seems to be suitably impressive as well with a boatload of memory thrown. It all comes down to price though and whether you're willing to wait.
Samsung needs to get this tablet out as soon as possible to keep people interested and on top of that we'd love to see a cheaper price than its competitors. Now just to sit and wait to find out.


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