The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 Review

by Brandon Chester on 10/15/2015 8:00 AM EST
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  • WorldWithoutMadness - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Pardon, is it typo on intro and design table, 'Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.4" ', is it really S2 or Samsung went wonky with this tablet line?
  • Ryan Smith - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    That was indeed a typo. Thanks!
  • donnieevans - Saturday, November 14, 2015 - link

    I have a Samsung Galaxy Note Pro and this is the best table I've ever had! It's 32GB, can open multiple apps at the same time. The display is also amazing! Found at: http://www.consumerrunner.com/top-10-best-tablets/
  • GodHatesFAQs - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    I bought a Tab S 8.0 earlier in the month, but had to return it over PenTile pixel arrangement which caused everything to look fuzzy and was not sharp at all. Display just didn't have the wow factor of last year's model. I think around 400ppi on RGB or 600ppi on RGBG PenTile is the real limit (at least for my eyes) for a display to be really sharp.

    I really hope Apple moves to 3072x2034 (3x rather than 2x) with iPad Air 3 with locally dimmed backlight like the iPhone 6s/Plus. It won't be as deep black as AMOLED displays, but I'm not willing to sacrifice sharpness for deep blacks.
  • Solandri - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    The whole point of pentile RGBG is that you don't need 600 ppi RGBG to equal 400 ppi RGB. The green resolution for that pentile display would be 600 ppi, while the red and blue would be 300 ppi.

    Your eyes are sharpest in green, with blue being really bad, and red only slightly better. Pentile attempts to match that (or put another way, RGB has way more R and B subpixels than it needs. Just look at the images on this site where the R, G, and B channels have been reduced to 1/3 and 1/4 their original resolution. The image with the reduced blue channel is nearly indistinguishable from the original. The one with the reduced red channel is barely distinguishable. While the one with the reduced green channel is absolutely terrible.

    http://nfggames.com/games/ntsc/visual.shtm

    In other words, if the individual pixels are smaller than the resolving limit of your eye (about 0.5 arc-minutes), then 400 ppi RGB can be replicated with 400 ppi RGBG pentile. If you don't believe me, consider that every color video format uses this trick to reduce bandwidth by reducing blue and usually red resolution. You've already been looking at the equivalent of pentile images on TV your entire life.
  • krumme - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Thanx.
    Look at samsung galaxy s2 rgb next to a s3 pentile and its pretty obvious the s3 is far far sharper subjectively.
    As for the tab s2 beeing unsharp its damn nonsense to me and i regard myself as very sensitive and prefer higher than 1080p on a 5 display. I dont know how close the person above uses the tab s2 but for my part its very much like my note 3 and it means the tab s2 looks sharper to me.
    Now the s2 is damn light. Only a bit more than a s6plus lol so you use it more like a smartphone but never is it closer than 40cm for my usage. Its a 8 inch.
  • Wwhat - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link

    NTSC was a very bad example of a color format, and you switched cause and consequence around, they had too little bandwidth, so they used desperate tricks to cram color into it, that's not an ideal situation.

    The same thing is still done but now to save cost and chip/PCB bandwidth, but that doesn't mean it's equal to the real thing.
    Plus they go for the average person, which means that there can be a large number of people for whom it DOES make a difference.

    Hell, when they introduced MP3 they also said that 128Kbit (and joint stereo) was the same as CD quality 'basically' (sometimes they even claimed the same for half that bitrate). But such things are based on theoretical papers and on the average person and on 'good enough for now' thinking, and don't represent a perfect world.

    The difference between a person with very sharp eyesight and the average person can be astounding, some people have twice or even four times better eyesight than average. There are notable incidents in that with famous astronomers and jet fighter pilots demonstrating the difference in a pronounced manner. And it's a pure coincidence if you are such a person, but they do exist. But at the same time there are many people who truly could not tell the difference of course, but there is no reason to start denying each other's existence. Nor is there a reason to feel superior/inferior since we all have strengths and weaknesses in various areas.
  • thedons1983 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    I'm sorry, but there is something wrong with your eyes... The one thing that these tablets have going for them, is the incredible screen. If you can't appreciate the quality of it, then there is something wrong with your sight.
  • theduckofdeath - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    Full time Apple trolls on the internet?! What a shocker!
  • lurker22 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Issue with android tablets, will they get software updates in a year or two
  • medi03 - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    Issue with iOS tablets, when their software updates in a year or two, what will that do to the overall performance of the system.
  • theduckofdeath - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    Another issue with iOS updates is: Your year old iPad will never get the new cool software updates, only the version number.
    At least with Android, all cool updates are instant for everybody as they come through the Play Store.
  • Hephastion - Monday, October 19, 2015 - link

    I bought an iPad Air for my wife, and a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 for myself (They were competing tables at the time) around the same time.
    The iPad air is still getting software updates from Apple and runs fine. My Galaxy Tab has received zilch from Samsung. It annoys the hell out of me. It's also a herky-jerky from a UI standpoint compared to the iPad.
    I can go to Cyanogenmod, and probably will, but this is still a pain in the butt. Who knows how many security updates I'm missing as a result of Samsung's decision to provide almost nothing in the way of software updates for their tablets.
  • poopsmith - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link

    And how much do you have to pay for said patches.
  • Chaser - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    I've owned Android phones for years now as my preference. But tablet wise there's a reason why the iPad Air 2 is at the top from all the mainstream reviewers. In terms of development and support the iPad gets the most which equates to one of the most polished tablet experiences you can buy today.
  • retrospooty - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Yeah, the Air2 is a really sweet tablet I have to agree... IMO IOS is still kind of weak (improving each year, but still weak)... But the Air and Air2 are really great hardware.
  • KoolAidMan1 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    How are better apps, faster performance, guaranteed OS updates, and better security "weak"?

    "Better security" is an understatement since that's a ticking timebomb on Android: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/08/waiting-for...
  • medi03 - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    Yeah, like not being able to add exception hosts to a proxy settings.
    So comfortable, testers really appreciate it.
  • medi03 - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    Hardware is good, no doubt, but also quite a bit overpriced.
    And as far as screen quality goes, nothing (yet) beats Samsung's AMOLEDs.
  • Morawka - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    Dell's OLED sure do beat AMOLEDS any day
  • lilmoe - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Not really feeling iOS and Android outside the smartphone/phablet form factor (and some media players that size). Maybe for 7-8" devices. On "full sized" tablets (and above) though, I'd only go for Windows.
  • Jumangi - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Exactly how I work. Android for phone, but the iPad is my tablet of choice.
  • thedons1983 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Blah, blah... Apple fanboy idiot...
  • osxandwindows - Friday, October 23, 2015 - link

    How is he a fanboy.
    I have to say you my friend are a moron.
  • Speedfriend - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    What is this obsession by Samsung over thinness at the expense of battery life. I would rather my S6 lasted a few hours longer and be a bit thicker, than the fact I now have a phone unable to get me through the day. I am even considering going back to a iPhone 6S+, though how I will manage without the S6 features I have grown used to, I don't know - the back button, double click camera launch, clicking links into apps, the ability to lay out my app screens the way I want to, one place for quick settings and notifications.
  • jdjoseph2000 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Turn on power-save mode and it shall surely last you at least a day..
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    So my 6 plus last longer then that thing with out low energy mode?
  • R. Hunt - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    On a phone, I agree with you. On a large tablet that's clearly designed to be held as is the case of the Tab S2... I'm tempted to go with light and thin even if it means charging it more frequently.
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    I mean the s6
  • thedons1983 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Then buy a different product, you moron!!
  • theduckofdeath - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    Because tablets really, really benefit from every mm or gram lost. It's not rocket science.
  • nathanddrews - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    For $500, I'd rather just get a Surface 3...
  • lilmoe - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    +1

    That would be my only choice for that price range. But the Surface Pro 3 is on sale for ~$630, so I'd go for that.
  • lilmoe - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Also, for the extra ~$100 in cost (plus ~100 for the type cover), you're getting a device that will easily outperform any ARM tablet in performance, and outlast them in OS/software support. You won't have to worry about planned obsolescence in performance and support either.

    If Microsoft releases a 10" Surface 4 (non-pro) with a Core M3/M5, it would be the perfect tablet in its class, even if it still had the same resolution (1920x1280).
  • Alexey291 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Instead you have to worry about using Windows. I'm sorry but the last thing I want in my dedicated browsing device / content consumption device is having bsods (yup they still happen) or viruses/trojans.

    Let alone the rest of Windows bullshit which is the prime reason why so many people got arm tablets in the first place. To get away from Windows.
  • steven75 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Yep, the problem with the Surface is Windows. The hardware is mostly fine.
  • wavetrex - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Can you install Linux on Surface ? :)
    That would be fun... MICROSOFT Surface, Powered by LINUX :)
  • thedons1983 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Linux is shit! Anyone that uses it, has a penchant for pain and suffering...
  • thedons1983 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    And what OS what you replace it with exactly? iOS is shit, as is OS X. Linux is crap, Android isn't a fully fledged OS... So what are you using, that's so great??
  • lilmoe - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Windows is a plus. Windows was never a downside except for those "YES", "OK", "Go Ahead and Install" (because you won the lottery) go happy pop-up clickers.

    Let's be honest here, those who use ARM tablets for anything other than browsing and watching youtube are a very small minority.
  • extide - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    You only ever get bluescreens with bad hardware or really sketchy drivers. It is not possible for pure user mode code to cause a blue screen
  • R. Hunt - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Sure, much better if you want is a laptop replacement that can occasionally serve as a tablet, but as a pure tablet, the app store, which is still a wasteland, lets it down.
  • kmmatney - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    This. I was really disappointed with the App store, and there is still a big disconnect between Apps and normal windows programs, even in Windows 10. I ending up selling my Windows tablet - done for now. Might try again in a few years.
  • thedons1983 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Completely different product, and is terrible as a tablet, even with Windows 10... The windows store is an absolute joke, moreover.
  • colonelclaw - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Considering that Samsung themselves manufacture the very processors in Apple kit, then why on earth are their own tablets so pathetically underpowered? According to these benchmarks the Air2/6S is anything between 2 and 3 times faster, a crazy difference. What's going on?
  • blackcrayon - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Maybe it's cost - Apple pays Samsung to fabricate Apple designed chips. But maybe Samsung doesn't want to pay Samsung (so to speak) to develop a similar design or would just rather use an existing chip to save development costs. After all, Samsung is incorporating close to "off the shelf " ARM cores (lower dev cost) vs. Apple's custom designed cores, & Apple is in the position to specifically optimize their OS and developer tools for it.
  • limitedaccess - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    There is a two fold issue here.

    Apple uses their latest and highest power design for their largest SKUs. While Samsung for the Tab S line for two generations has basically used what can be considered their last gen design.
  • blackcrayon - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    (And as for the GPU, Apple is just using more / faster GPU cores than Samsung is choosing to, again cost I presume since nothing stops Samsung from using another especially in a tablet).
  • lilmoe - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    The SoC price difference is easily mitigated with the price difference of the screen. For the same size/resolution, AMOLED is considerably more expensive than the best LCD.

    Outside of benchmarks, for the average users, the performance difference isn't THAT perceivable. Anandtech are heavily concentrating their "performance difference" pm browser javascript benchmarks, which aren't the whole picture when it comes to browsing speed. Both browsers on the Tab and iPad perform almost the same as most users see it. Don't forget, Android on Samsung's devices take full advantage of all the extra cores.

    As Samsung sees it, users most probably prefer a better screen over faster performance. There's lots of merit to that compromise.
  • FlyBri - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    @lilmoe I have to totally disagree with you that the SoC price difference is mitigated with the price difference of the screen. Don't get me wrong, AMOLED screens are great (I have a Note 5 and Tab S 10.5), but the LCD screen on an iPad Air 2 is pretty damn good (I have one as well), and would be more than happy using that LCD if that meant getting a much more powerful SoC and a better overall tablet for the same price, or cheaper (which the Air 2 is). And you say that for average users the performance difference isn't perceivable -- except if you're playing graphics intensive games, which some average users do -- and the iPad Air 2 completely blows the Tab S2 out of the water, even though the Air 2 is already a year old. Also, many "average users" do a lot of web browsing and reading -- heck, Samsung copied the iPad's 4:3 aspect ratio because they felt more users are doing just that. Yet in exactly those scenarios, the Tab S2's battery life is absolutely horrible and completely unacceptable.

    People may prefer a better screen over performance, but in the specific scenario between the screens in the Air 2 and Tab S2, I don't think there is really any merit to excuse the difference in performance, battery life, and overall tablet experience. If you can now get an Air 2 for $350-400, the Tab S2, even if you factor in the more expensive AMOLED screen, is worth $300, maybe $350, but not $500. If Samung had to switch to a top quality LCD panel to give me a true Air 2 rival in terms of performance, battery life, tablet experience, etc., I'd happily go with that every single time.
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    @FlyBri
    What if you could get an iPad screen on an iPhone?
  • lilmoe - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    You have all the right to disagree. These are only opinions, Yours and mine. These opinions might be very different from Samsung's research and design decisions. I've simply stated a *possibility* for their alleged "compromise(s)". Who knows, Samsung probably decided to skip the 7420 because of low yield, and they prioritized their flagship smartphones over their tablets.

    That said, liking the iPad's LCD has nothing to do with the price difference. AMOLED is still more expensive to manufacture. I would argue that OLED is generally more appealing to consumers and more pleasing to the eyes. Samsung's AMOLED has drastically improved the past couple of years. According to my own experience, people just love the "pop"... And those who prefer color accuracy are also well served by the current generation of AMOLED.

    ARM tablets are no longer the mainstream "must haves". Most people don't even use them anymore. Samsung, Apple and other manufacturers are researching the needs for specific niche consumers at this point.

    For those who do, I really hardly see anyone using an ARM tablet outside of social media, browsing, watching video. Maybe a magazine here and there, but nothing else. I completely disagree that tablet users who play high-end games are any sort of majority. High end, or AAA, gaming is usually exclusive for consoles and PCs. Most tablet users play less resource intensive, casual games. Besides, there aren't even that many titles (if any) in the Play Store than can saturate the Exynos 5433, let alone Apple's A8X (most tablets sold are NOT iPad Air 2s... and game developers target lower specs for iOS). The Exynos 5433 is more than capable of running titles like Asphalt 8 and Dead Trigger just fine.

    Also, tablets are used a LOT less than smartphones. Therefore, one might argue that longer battery life isn't as important as thinner, lighter profiles for current tablet consumers.
  • nerd1 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Check BOM of iPhones and galaxy phones. AMOLED screen are usually 3x the price of LCDs.
    And what can you do with that 'powerful' AP anyway? Running dumbed down mobile browser? Running crappy phone games? Playing 8K video on 2K screen?
  • zepi - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Tablets are an odd market. People mostly seem to use them for web browsing and video viewing, where performance doesn't really matter that much. Reason is unknown. Maybe it is the matter of apps not existing for other tasks. Or maybe tablet form factor just doesn't work with anything else.

    I guess that mostly because of this, Android makers try to get away with putting cheap and "slow" SOC's into their tablets.

    Apple hit the same issue when it was noticed that iPad sales was way slower than expected. It seems that upgrade cycles are much longer, since simple performance bumps just didn't seem to matter and there are no 24month phone-contracts like with the phones to push sales. This has obviously led to Apple's current push towards trying to transform tablet market by making iPad Air 2 & iPad Pro and putting emphasis behind the productivity use with the hopes of pushing the market towards something more than just content consumption.

    MS seems to be pushing for the same thing with Surfaces, though they are coming from the desktop direction when Apple is approaching this market from mobile device direction.

    Android makers... Well, as can be seen here, Samsung can only do so much with the multitasking and productivity features and Google has been quite ignorant towards pushing tablets forwards.
  • FlyBri - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    @zepi I would agree that most people use tablets for web browsing and video (probably more so for web browsing), which is why Samsung went with a 4:3 aspect ratio on the Tab S2. Since they did that, they lost their differentiating factor with the iPad. Because of this, they really needed to step it up to compete, and they pretty much failed on that front. The Tab S2 is significantly slower and gets much worse web browsing battery life than the Air 2, and the Air 2 is a year old. I have no problem with Samsung releasing the Tab S2, but it's very clear it's overpriced. For what it is and what it can do, it's a $300-350 tablet in today's market, not $500.
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    You can't really use surface touch screen for productivity, There is simply no windows productivity apps for tablet.
    The iPad pro is not going to fail like most people say.
    The iPad pro has one advantage over the surface and that is the App Store.
  • zepi - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    It remains to be seen. Personally my guess is that both will have their supporters and both will "stay alive".
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    @zepi
    Its not that I don't like the concept behind the surface pro or surface book.
    Its just that I don't see the use of a touch screen that can be removed.
    Media consumption?, with 3 hours of battery life when removed?, I wood rather buy an iPad for that.
  • blackcrayon - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Yeah at that point, why not have a nice laptop and a decent tablet on the side, you can even use them together for some tasks.
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    If you have a mac and an iPad pro, You will have the perfect combination.
    Apples continuity is pretty much like a surface use case.
    Plus with lightning flash drives you will be able to save 4k video.
  • nerd1 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    App store vs millions of windows 'application' most of which users do not have to buy crappier mobile version again?
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    @nerd1
    Are there touch screen apps on windows tho?
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Why should I buy a surface pro if not for productivity then?
  • KoolAidMan1 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Problem is that those desktop apps aren't optimized for touch interface. I'm running Windows 10 on my desktop and love it but I'm not ready to start using it on touchscreens yet.

    I'm eyeballing a Surface 4 Pro but can't justify it over a regular laptop right now.
  • osxandwindows - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    Exactly
    Thats why I am going to get an iPad pro.
  • hughlle - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link

    No, you are right. There aren't really many apps. Why I just use full applications, which work just fine for me and touch. OneNote (because of the desktop inking issues) is the only app I use on the surface. Everything else I can do quite happily with the desktop software with finger and pen.
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    @zepi
  • UtilityMax - Sunday, October 25, 2015 - link

    Web browsing can be a HUGE hit. By far, the most processor intensive tasks on my Tab S 10. Web browser is where I normally see laggy performance, slowdowns, poor battery life, etc.
  • Aenean144 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    1. Apple designs and owns their processors. They contract Samsung to fabricate them or TSMC to fabricate them or both at the same time as is happening for iPhones per Apple's, for lack of a better word, drawings. Samsung can't use these processors. It's quite doubtful that they can even produce them independent of Apple knowing about it. If they do, the consequences will be quite severe, like Samsung not being able to sell any of those products virtually everywhere, except for maybe S Korea. And that's only if the S Korean gov't really really wants to take one for the team. And they won't.

    2. There are fairly competitive SoCs out there to the A8X or A8 in iPads today. So there are options, like Samsung's own Exyonos 7 series SoC. But, it looks like they really wanted it to be 5.6 mm thick. That has consequences and they gave up on have a largish battery and a more performant SoC to get 5.6 mm thick.

    Don't think about half the performance, 0.15 lb less weight, 0.5 mm less thick, and maybe a third less runtime than the iPad Air 2 is worth it at those prices.
  • thedons1983 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Benchmarks are pretty much useless, when it comes to comparing everyday performance... You moronic pleb!!
  • KoolAidMan1 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Samsung is just a foundry for Apple's designs. Just because they produce Apple's SoCs doesn't mean that they are entitled to using them in their own devices.
  • psychobriggsy - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Thanks for the review. A pretty poor showing from Samsung, for the price they want.

    All the review has done is show how worthwhile getting an iPad Air is.
  • cknobman - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Agreed, not sure how this gets a good review.

    Horribly priced this needs to be <= $300.
  • FlyBri - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    @cknobman Totally agree. I'm really hoping Samung releases a higher end tablet soon with much better performance and battery life. The Tab S2 is fine, but comparing the specs and price to an Air 2, it has to much less than what Samsung wants.
  • ummduh - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    I don't understand why Samsung continues to do this. They have the capability to make great hardware, and they do with their phones. But their tablets are just all around terrible. OK, well, they'd be great if they were sub $200. Seems like every tablet they've made has had some sort of huge fatal flaw, and some of them had multiple fatal flaws. I don't think I've ever seen Samsung make a compelling tablet.
  • zodiacfml - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    It's all good, the performance and battery life but the price. An expensive picture frame and reader.
  • Der2 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    DAT nichijou episodes tho. I better see OPM on the next phone/tablet review haha. Good review as always Brandon.
  • RGagne1975 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Looks like my Nexus 9 is still worth keeping. I guess I will have to wait for the review of the next Nexus tablet to see if I will want to upgrade or not.
  • R. Hunt - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    I have to disagree with the reviewer about the quality of the screen. Text on the iPad Air 2 looks noticeably sharper than on the Tab S2 9.7, despite having the same ppi. I'm not sure if it's the screen itself or the rendering done by the OS has any influence on it, but I wasn't happy about it at all.

    The review also claims the original Tab S 10.5 had a pixel density of 320 ppi. Pretty sure that's not right and it was below 290 ppi.
  • Brandon Chester - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Android's font rendering is a completely different topic, but it's definitely not the display itself. If you use both platforms regularly you sort of become accommodated to the differences, not unlike how one eventually gets used to how Windows and OS X render fonts completely differently.

    As for the PPI, you're correct. I must have messed up my math pretty badly there.
  • minimalz - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    I had both the Air 2 and 9.7 S2 for a few days. I do a lot of reading and iPad Air 2 screen looks way better for that purpose. Easy on the eyes and sharp. The 9.7 S2 didn't feel as comfortable and the weird pink/purple tint color shift on white backgrounds was a deal breaker, too distracting. Although if I was just using it to consume media, I probably would have kept it. Strange the reviewer didn't notice this, I went to several bestbuy's and they all have the same tint issue.
  • DigitalFreak - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    LOL @ everyone trying to justify their tablet purchase to other people. If it works for you, who cares what someone else thinks.
  • nerd1 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    I don't get the negatives. Tablet is a media consumption device, and they have frigging AMOLED screen with infinite contrast and now daylight visibility as well. Yes AP is slower but who cares? It feels snappy, has enough ram to not refresh like crazy during web surfing, and looks awesome. And nothing beats a good micro SD card slot for media consumption.

    And this tablet is considerably thinner and lighter than even ipad air, actually 9.7" model is almost as light as iPad mini and 8" model is approaching the weight of iPhone 6s+ (192gr vs 250gr, AFAIK) which matters a lot for e-book usage.
  • Brandon Chester - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    The idea that a tablet can only be a media consumption device is quite a narrow view. But even if that was true, are games not a form of media? The Tab S2 isn't going to play 3D games with anywhere near the same frame rate or level of visual fidelity as the Air 2.
  • nerd1 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Why is it a narrow view? I need proper keyboard, pointing device and full OS to get anything done in efficiency. I need powerful GPU and good input methods to play the latest games. I have a laptop with powerful CPU, GPU, lots of storage for exactly that purpose.

    3D gaming in tablet? Seriously? You can get older PC 3D games for a few bucks, and that is magnitude better than any games on tablet. Oh and they don't have in-app purchase either.
  • lilmoe - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    +1
  • Brandon Chester - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    The number of self references in your comment demonstrates exactly why it's a narrow view. Your requirements to complete a given task do not apply to every other person.
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    @nerd1
    that battery life tho
  • GMR73 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Good review as always. One point though, on your intro page you have the Exynos 5420 as a Cortex-A53 instead of A7
  • nirolf - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Why would I get this when the original Air is cheaper and pretty much better in any way?
  • steven75 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Maybe if you have an irrational hatred of Apple and Samsung because does a LOT of marketing. They spend more than almost anyone, including Apple.
  • R. Hunt - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Amoled, expandable storage, and.or you prefer Android over iOS. Not saying you in particular may care about those, but some of us do.
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    @R. Hont
    If I wanted that I wood rather get a nexus 9.
  • R. Hunt - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    The Nexus 9 does not have Amoled nor expandable storage. It has a pitiful stock phone UI though.
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    u*
  • nerd1 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    DIsplay, storage, better file system, better screen usage (widgets). I don't understand why one chooses tablet without memory slot at all.
  • Tech_guy - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Because it doesn't matter if you have blazing fast 64 or 128gb nand storage.
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    @nerd1
    Most people buy 64 or 128gb.
  • nerd1 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Considering 64gb sdxc costs as little as $20 now, that greatly separates the actual prices between two devices, which is totally ignored in this article.
  • Midwayman - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    The Air 2 isn't sold as a 32gb model as mentioned in the final words. Its 16/64/128
  • Brandon Chester - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Thanks for the correction.
  • extide - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Exynos 5433 in late 2015?? WTF Samsung. At least you harped on it pretty hard in the review Brandon, and I agree that a custom designed tablet SOC would be the ideal, even the Exynos 7420 that they are putting in practically everything now would have been a huge improvement. It has a bigger GPU implementation, and the better process would help with power, and GPU throttling, which should clear up quite a few of the negatives of the overall device.
  • extide - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Hrmm, maybe they are using up all their 7420 / 14ff manufacturing capability with the 7420 (plus the A9/A9X) -- and are using up some of the much cheaper 20nm capacity that is just sitting around by using the 5433. Still seems like a bad idea though, I mean a premium device should have a premium SOC.

    Also, I think devices are thin enough. I'd rather add on a couple extra mm and have more battery capacity.
  • johnny_boy - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Despite the better display and dimensions, I would still go Nexus 9 over Samsung. It's cheaper, faster, running the latest near-stock Android, and will continue to get the latest updates well into the future. That said, I don't think software updates are as huge a deal as people make them out to be, at least now that Google ships basically all their core apps/services through the Play Store.
  • Solandri - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    "moving away from the 16:10 aspect ratio and adopting a 4:3 display ratio which is very close to the 8.5x11" paper used in North America"

    This is incorrect. 4:3 (1.33 aspect ratio) is close to 8.5x11" (1.294 aspect ratio) only if you include the margins of the paper. That is, your tablet has bezels, then you waste pixels on white margins, then display the actual information content of the page.

    Quite frankly, that's stupid. You're paying hundreds of dollars for the extra 2-3 diagonal inches of a 10" tablet over a 7-8 inch tablet. Why waste that extra screen space displaying margins? The tablet already has a bezel which provides whitespace (or blackspace) around the edges, just like margins. Allowing you to pick it up and hold it without covering up any information.

    If you subtract the margins, 8.5x11 with 1" margins becomes 6.5x9 or a 1.385 aspect ratio. With 1.5" margins (common with low-density business correspondence) it's 5.5x8 with a 1.455 aspect ratio.

    A4 is 210x297mm, or a 1.414 aspect ratio. With standard 2.5cm margins, it becomes 160x247mm and a 1.544 aspect ratio.

    The Time magazine format is 8.25x10.75. Without margins, the "live" area is 7x10, or 1.429 aspect ratio.

    National Geographic is 7.125x10.24. It's live area is 6.125x9.25, or a 1.510 aspect ratio.

    Combine that with tablets frequently being used to display 16:9 movies (1.77), and a 3:2 aspect ratio (1.5) is probably ideal.
  • Spectrophobic - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Yes, 16:10 and 3:2 are still the better choice for high-end tablets considering its specs are more suited for multimedia consumption. I honestly think 4:3 are more suited for mid-/lower-end tablets which more or less being used as e-readers.

    My personal favourite resolution is 1920 x 1280 (3:2) found on the Surface 3. Slightly better than 1920 x 1200 and allows me to watch 720p videos 1:1 when on portrait. Yes, the letterboxing is immense, but I'll take it over interpolating it to 1920 x 1080 or having black bars on all four corners... But that's just me.
  • R. Hunt - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    16:10 is just horrible IMHO for anything other than watching video. 3:2 at least is usable in both orientations.
  • Spectrophobic - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    Well, it's just a matter of preference. I like the 16:10 more as I view more vertical scrolling websites more and watch a lot of 16:9 content (YouTube, anime, etc.).

    Also, for Android at least, 3:2 is pretty much non-existent.
  • IUU - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    A tablet is useful primarily for it's portability. As much as it could bring from the desktop for a longer period of time is most wanted.
    Reducing thickness to beat Apple in fashion and slickness , while reducing battery capacity is childish and a grave mistake. It could keep the previous thickness or even increase thickness by 1 or 2 mm as long as it would provide us with a 15 hr lasting battery , or more.
    In addition we are approaching dangerously the 1st quarter of 21st century. Putting 16 or 32 or 64 gb of internal storage is hilarious to put it kindly no matter what cloud options you have. Also, a limited amount of peripheral ports slowly grows to being more than a defect.
    Further more, speaking too much of performance makes no sense, both because despite all their improvements these are weak processors with many cores only to deceive the naïve.
    Even if this is not so, you can't do many things with them to justify "uping" the performance. A tablet to be useful(ie to provide its resources for work) it should be able to connect to just about every monitor keyboard, mouse and computer and not adopt some obscure connection protocols in case they miss a dollar or a penny and consumers don't buy their screens.
    For now they are excellent consumptions devices and could become great creativity tools if Samsung and Apple weren't so narrow-minded and stubborn and pushing them more as fashion and entertainment devices rather than serious computing machines. Despite their limitations these devices could be useful even now, but these businesses don't realise the potential. Maybe it's for the best , someone else will, and will disrupt their practices.
  • name99 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    "Samsung has settled on 8.0" and 9.7", the latter of which surprises me as it's the exact same size as the standard iPad"

    Sure, "surprise", that's the right word...
    Will you be similarly "surprised" when Samsung introduces a feature very much like 3D-Touch and haptic feedback very much like the Taptic engine? Because I assure you the rest of us will not...
  • name99 - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    "You can't really notice a difference between its 5.6mm thickness and the 6.1mm thickness of the iPad Air 2, but the difference made by the lower mass is enormous."

    Really? The iPad Air 2 weighs 437 grams. The Tab S2 at 389g is about 10% less. I'm not doubting you, but that does not seem a small enough difference to justify the superlatives you are using.
    I guess we'll see how much of this is psychological when the Air 3 lands next Spring; I imagine it will be around 400g.
  • Tech_guy - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    Ouch. This review just shows Apple's dominance, especially in graphics and web scores. Samsung and Android have their work cut out for them. It's amazing how powerful A9 is in graphics. I mean dang.
  • beggerking@yahoo.com - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    they picked and chose benchmarks. notice it showed none of the mutil-cpu benchs?

    Anandtech is way biased now
  • Tech_guy - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    The only multi-core benchmark is geekbench multi-core. Everything else just runs faster on iPhone 6s
  • Tech_guy - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    I can't imagine ever buying this thing over an iPad air 2. Samsung is not competitive in tablets anymore at all IMO. Plus iPad has always had MUCH better tablet apps. I think Android tablets will eventually die off, they need to.
  • Pramod - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    It seems, in galaxy s6, nexus 6 and lg g flex 2, diamond pentile displays have four sub pixels instead of two. Gsmarena suggests this and they have optical microscope images with a scale bar. Can anandtech take a look and confirm this (or debunk it)?
  • Pramod - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    And may be look at galaxy tab s2 display pixel arrangement too.
  • Pramod - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    It seems that in newer amoled displays (nexus 6, galaxy s6, lg g flex 2, etc) the diamond pentile arrangement has 4 sub pixels instead of two. This was suggested by another review website. Can anandtech confirm this with microscope images with scalebar on galaxy tab s2?
  • edzieba - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    'Diamond' Pentile has a four-subpixel arrangement (RGBG), but LOGICALLY addresses only two subpixels per pixel. Or to put it another way, the green subpixels are at the logical resolution, but red and blue are at half that density.

    There is RGBW Pentile that adds in a White subpixel, but this is also logically addressed as two subpixels per pixel.
  • Pramod - Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - link

    No, the blue sub pixels are at twice the density and the red and green are at the advertised ppi.
  • BoneAT - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    Just a little note on my observations, Brandon.

    I measured a peak brightness level of 505 nits @100% white screen with auto mode on, under sunlight (actually phone flash over the light sensor). When white image was under 10% of the screen size, I measured a monumental 812 nits. The Tab S2 9.7 can get very bright under circumstances.
  • GreyFox7 - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    Lackluster performance from a middling SoC. Why they heck would they put a Exynos 5433 in a tablet and try to compete head to head with iPad Air? They have better SoCs, this is just silly cost reduction but it wont sell so the result will be a complete wasted effort. More wood on the fire of declining tablet sales. Samsung, get your head examined.
  • R. Hunt - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    I very much doubt a more powerful SOC would make any difference in the big scheme of things, given the disparity in brand and ecosytems at this point. They're not going to sell as well as the iPad no matter what, so yeah, it's about cutting costs. There's a reason Samsung are pretty much, along with Sony, the only OEMs left still trying with high-end Android tablets.
  • StrangerGuy - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    It's called throwing mediocre stuff on the wall and hope something sticks.

    Frankly, there is so many Samsung tablets sharing the same Galaxy Tab branding from the low to the high end, coupled with not so stellar track record of providing updates for their devices that I get a complete apathy just by seeing the brand.
  • digitalgriffin - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link

    With the poor battery performance,
    Poor CPU performance
    Slow Graphics
    Lower Resolution and smaller screen
    Cheap Frame
    And Expensive price

    This has to be one of the WORST Tablets in it's price range.
  • nerd1 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    I have used most tablets out there (apple one includes ipad 1, ipad air and ipad mini 3) and this one is the best for me. 8 inch one has good battery life BTW (14 hours video playback based on notebookcheck benchmark)
  • Losttek - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    After my Nexus 7 died, I searched a long time for a 7-8" tablet replacement and eventually ended up with this. I tried the iPad Mini 4 and Zenpad Z580 (the $199 version since I couldn't find the $299 one in stock anywhere) but the Tab S2 was the superior option.

    The iPad Mini 4 is excellent hardware wise. It no longer uses a horrific screen with washed out colors and is easily comparable to the Air 2. Better than the Tab S2 even, with sharper text despite similar PPI (pentile screen at work again). Performance is quite snappy and tabs no longer had a reloading problem with 2GB of RAM. However, what killed it for me was iOS. I hate the locked down filesystem. I hate the vastly inferior notifications. I hate the crappy default keyboard, and 3rd party ones were even worse. And the list goes on and on. iOS was just to unbearable for me and I ended up returning it.

    Zenpad. Oh ho, was this thing a piece of ****. Filled to the brim with ASUS bloatware that can’t be disabled, performance issues, intermittent WIFI, a bipolar screen that constantly adjusts brightness for no reason, and etc. Even at $199, it's not worth it. What's funny is the people calling this the Nexus 7 successor. Really, have you even tried using the device?

    And the Tab S2. So-so battery life, but amazingly thin and light. Performance is good enough for me (I don't game) and the design feels great in the hand. The screen is good, but not superb. And unlike other Android tablets, it actually has built in multi-window support. This was the best Android tablet I could find, and I've been satisfied with it so far. But I didn't pay full price for it because I took advantage of a Best Buy promotion. Would I pay $399 for this thing? Eh, doubtful.

    Android tablets are in a pitiful state right now, and the Tab S2 was the best I could find. If anyone knows of a better option, I'm all ears.
  • nerd1 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    After trying the latest ipads and ipad minis I think tab s2 is better. Yes, the full price is silly but mine is from singapore. It is LTE version which I can use as a phone too.
  • THEDKGUNNER - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    If beeing a power user means playing games, I'm not a power user, but I do have a few comments. I own a Nexus 9 and a tab s2 8.0, and seems the nexus more ore less obliterates the tab s2 in almost all those fine benchmarks. Funny thing is, my tab s2 blows the nexus out of the water in terms of fluidity, speed and feel. There's just no comparing the two.Same goes for screen. Maybe because I have the 8.0, but there is just no comparing the two. I couldn't care less about the comparison to the iPad. I just plain don't like iOS so not an issue. For an android tab though, I've tried nothing that comes close to the s2. All depends on your needs I guess, but the total bashing of this tab based on benchmarks and subjective feelings is kinda ridiculous.

    By the way, I love the plastic back. I can actually hold it without loosing grip. I hate that I need to have a cover on my s6 as well, just to keep it in my hands.
  • thedons1983 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    I sure hope the software is better than it was on the first Tab S, because I hated that thing!! It was incredibly buggy and laggy, and overall was a complete disappointment. The reviews were great, but the actual experience was terrible. I hope that this review is more accurate.
  • darkich - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Brandon, there is a MAJOR omission in your take on the multitasking here..

    You missed the exact area where Samsung absolutely shines and sets itself far apart from any competition, in regards of multitasking, and that is WINDOW WITHIN WINDOW function.

    Using multi window bubbles, user can use, move, open, resize and minimize multiple apps within each other, and they all remain FULLY DISPLAYED with no clipping and scaling issues whatsoever!
    It really a complete, intuitive multitasking in the fullest sense of the meaning, unprecedented on tablets.

    Here's what I mean:

    http://tinypic.com/r/5ujuc7/8

    Just made this screenshot on my Note 3(not even a tablet!), after opening Gmail, Play Store and the browser where I uploaded that image.
    Oh and the keyboard remains fully usable throughout, taking its usual bottom half place.

    So please, reconsider and revisit the software part of the review. This is a major deal, and the level of general public ignorance about it is obviously(since even you weren't aware of this feature) unacceptable.
  • Brandon Chester - Monday, October 19, 2015 - link

    There no omission, it's mentioned in the software section, so I'm clearly not unaware of it. I didn't go over it in detail because the UX is no better than any of the other multitasking features and I already felt bad about criticizing Samsung for UX issues that they can't fix without control of the OS.
  • darkich - Monday, October 19, 2015 - link

    Well then, care to elaborate here under the radar, what's exactly wrong with Samsung’s multi window (and not the useless split screen function that you were describing)??

    As you can see I'm using multi windows on my small pocketable device and it works like a charm (except for hit and miss gesture that activates it), and on a big tablet screen that feature should absolutely be one of the highlights of usability.
  • darkich - Saturday, October 24, 2015 - link

    Just like I thought.. You're left with NO ARGUMENT.

    Fact - Samsung’s multitasking in multi window mode is executed in amazing way (actually you don't even need to use the gesture, just tap on an app you want to add, after tapping on the plus window next to the app tray) yet you didn't knew lanything about it, and you *did not* mentioned it in the article.
  • nerd1 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    One thing totally ignored in this review is that (non-american) cellular version of samsung tablets have full phone capability intact. That's the main reason I keep using samsung tablets, since OG galaxy tab 7". You save a lot of money just using one device for both phone and tablet, instead of buying two of them and using two separate plans.
  • Achilles07 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    It might be construed from the review that tab S2 is a slow performer given the lackluster performance figures in comparison to competition.

    On the contrary, I never felt the tab lagging in any applications during my daily work schedule with it. I use the MS powerpoint, and Word that came bundled with it. Not an issue at all. Opening up ppt with animations dragged a bit.
    A tab of this functionality is a good companion for me in my office work and travel in metro.
    I am not a gamer, so I cant comment on the gaming performance. But the real world performance as is as good as it can get for a tablet. For reference mine is the 8.0" LTE version.
  • KoolAidMan1 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Slower performance, poor security, no guarantee of OS updates, poor developer support and bad apps, and someone will still try and explain why Android is somehow the better platform.
  • darkich - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    All Samsung high end product are basically guaranteed to receive updates for about two years.
    Android now has around 65% tablet market share, with a tendency of increase so that in the long term means developers will naturally have to support it.

    As for other things, Android is vastly superior in terms of customization and third party apps - myriad of fantastic browsers (while iOS basically allows just a reskinned safari apps), media players, app managers, keyboards, widgets..

    Also, Android allows full system access and file management which should be an absolute must on a tablet OS.
    AND, you can connect peripherals (keyboard, mouse, USB) just as easily as you can with a Windows device.

    Enlightened yet?
  • toyotabedzrock - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    Sounds like Google has lost interest in Android and Samsung thinks or rather isn't thinking about the need to compete with Apple by using a more well equipped SOC for the tablet and doing very little software wise.
  • doggface - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    And Samsung just announced they are not going to update the software on this tab any further. In a statement the company said "3 weeks of updates are plenty" /s
  • ET - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link

    I'm a Tab S 8.4 user and my main complaints are only 16GB of storage and games compatibility. I'm glad to see S2 no longer offers 16GB, but I'm still worried about compatibility. All in all, I'm still tempted to move to an iPad Mini the next time I upgrade.
  • jackpom - Monday, October 19, 2015 - link

    I like Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.4 Because I'm fan SamSung :)
  • PC Perv - Monday, October 19, 2015 - link

    "in my experience users are far more likely to utilize Chrome based on their awareness of the Chrome brand than they are to use the included OEM web browser"

    What kind of experience of your own gives you an insight of other people's usage habit?

    You are a pathetic liar. If you stop 10 people who use Galaxy phones and ask what browser they use, you will get the answer. And it is not Chrome. Furthermore, on the stock browser users can use fingerprints for web log-ins, which is a convenience you probably did not even know (or care) because you just do not like anything Samsung.

    If I had time I would go over the article and point out how your bias and your abuse English language.. alas my time is not cheap. Consider yourself lucky.
  • nerd1 - Monday, October 19, 2015 - link

    That means most users are just fine with slower performance with mobile chrome, which makes the 'performance advantage' of iPad totall moot/
  • GreyFox7 - Monday, October 19, 2015 - link

    Anyone else disappointed that the S2 comes with an Exynos 5433 and not the better performing Exynos 7420 or 7430? A premium tab should have the premium guts.
  • altrent2003 - Monday, October 19, 2015 - link

    That is very disapointing. I got my Tab S 10.5 for $380. I don't see a single upgrade that is worth the price premium with the S2. The screen size is a big downside.
    And installing CM12.1 on the Tab S made it really useable.
    Thank you for making me save some cash Samsung.
  • UtilityMax - Sunday, October 25, 2015 - link

    Considering the obvious shortcomings of Tab S (poor battery life and poor CPU), I was hoping Samsung could improve in that areas. Nope.
  • lucam - Monday, October 19, 2015 - link

    Still no trace of iPhone 6s review...:)
  • lucam - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link

    No iPhone 6s review again yet..maybe we need to wait for iPhone 7 then?
  • GreyFox7 - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link

    Why are you deleting my posts and where is your feedback/support button so can ask you?
  • poopsmith - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link

    I have, and regularly use, the previous Galaxy Tab S.

    There have been a lot of problems with it, I think fundamental design issues with either poor components or poor cooling. I basically only use it for Netflix and occasional browsing, so I am not pushing it heavily or anything.

    But it crashes surprisingly often, and you have to get familiar with the methods to hard reset it (hold power and volume down button) which are obscure given how often they are necessary.

    Lately I had an issue with the screen flickering and then it freezing after unlocking and I have had to factory reset it twice. (hold power, volume up, and home button on boot).

    The initial user experience is 15 minutes of dodging email signups for creating accounts for the bloatware they install that I have gone through three times now. They also don't let you uininstall much of it. All this mandatory bloatware is probably why it crashes so often in the first place.
  • elindalyne - Thursday, October 22, 2015 - link

    Grab a Surface 3... Not a Surface 3 Pro, not a Surface 4 Pro but a 3. Great battery life and you still get full blown Windows 10. You don't even need to get a cover or pen, but having the option is still fabulous. Not to mention the same price as the larger Tab.

    Also, once you use a device with a kickstand, you'll never want to go back.
  • UtilityMax - Sunday, October 25, 2015 - link

    I have never seen my Tab S 10.5 crash. I use Netflix, Uverse, and Mx Player regularly. I am guessing you have some kind of hardware issues. I'd recommend to wire cache and return all to factory state, reinstall Netflix and see how it goes.
  • R. Hunt - Thursday, November 26, 2015 - link

    I've had my Tab S for about two months now, it's yet to crash on me. Battery life is not bad at all either. As for the bloatware, it can't be uninstalled but it can be disabled easily.
  • UtilityMax - Sunday, October 25, 2015 - link

    Once again Samsung and its mediocre tablets. Poor performance, poor battery life. Highly inconsistent benchmarks. The only positives are a good screen, an sd card slot, and a discounted price. However, don't fool yourself into thinking that you're getting some kind of a diamond in a rough type of tablet. With this one, you're getting what you're paying for.
  • ayejay_nz - Friday, November 6, 2015 - link

    I bought a Tab S 8.4 about 6 months ago and have been really disappointed with the performance. Not as disappointed as I am with myself for not researching the purchase properly though. This new generation looks just as bad on the performance front : l
  • olibill - Saturday, December 19, 2015 - link

    I have a Galaxy S2 10 and every time I plug in the original charger I get a message saying "Device charging slowly. To charge faster, use original charger " !! Does anyone know why this is, or what I can do about it?
    Thanks a lot.
  • Nightsd01 - Wednesday, January 13, 2016 - link

    I've been an Apple guy for a long time. I have been using iOS since before it was even called iOS (first iPhone in 2007). I recently purchased the Galaxy Tab S2 8.0" and it is an amazing tablet. I absolutely love it. The display is stunning and the performance is snappy and fast.

    I purchased it so that I could have an Android device for writing Android apps, as up to this point I've been an iOS-only developer. But I'm ending up using it way more than my iPad, because it's simply more useful. There's just so much more I can do on it than on my ipad. The software isn't so strict and locked down. For example, let's say I want to scan my house WiFi to see what channels my neighbors are using (to avoid interference). On ios the WiFi hardware is very locked down and developers don't get access to it. But on android I can use WiFi scanner apps just fine. I can torrent, etc. And I am loving every minute of using this tablet. Subjectively, the display in my opinion just looks better.
  • Nightsd01 - Wednesday, January 13, 2016 - link

    But most important of all, the storage. I bought the 32GB version for $350. Applet is still selling 16GB tablets in the year 2016, which is a JOKE. If Apple had moved to 32GB I might be a little bit less angry. But as it stands, there is NO excuse for Apple to gimp their tablets with ano unbelievable 16GB storage. It's just inexcusable.
  • Thinkubuntu - Thursday, April 28, 2016 - link

    Bought this tablet to watch HVEC encoded movies, despite the CPU ostensibly being capable of doing so it isn't implemented. As a result it struggles to decode even 720p x265 encoding and forget 10 bit! All decoding had to be done in software which kills the battery really quickly.

    For such a otherwise decent tablet this makes it a waste if money and a huge missed opportunity.
  • Muhtaysham - Wednesday, August 17, 2016 - link

    what is the sensor size focal length distortion and principal point of samsung galaxy tab 2 SM-T710
  • Muhtaysham - Wednesday, August 17, 2016 - link

    what is the sensor size focal length distortion and principal point of samsung galaxy tab S2 SM-T710

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