Samsung likes producing different devices with the same design and specs but with different names, and we know it. But their latest tablet series, Galaxy Tab S series, seems to be a complete exception as Samsung has managed to equip the new series with powerful hardware features, a WQXGA Super AMOLED screen, fingerprint sensor, and of course lots of software features including a dozen of free subscriptions and premium accounts for productive tools.
The new series is available in 2 different screen sizes and before getting in to the details let’s review the Galaxy Tab S Specifications:
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 Specifications:
- 125.6 x 212.8 x 6.6mm, 294g(Wifi) /298g(LTE)
- 8.4” 2560×1600(WQXGA) Super AMOLED
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3 GHz Quadcore
- 3GB of RAM, 16/32GB of Internal Storage, MicroSD support
- 8MP/2.1MP Main and Front cameras
- Android KitKat 4.4
- 4,900 mAh Battery
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 Specifications:
- 247.3 x 177.3 x 6.6 mm , 465g(Wifi)/ 467g(LTE)
- 10.5” 2560×1600(WQXGA) Super AMOLED
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3 GHz Quadcore (LTE model)
- 3GB of RAM, 16/32GB of Internal Storage, MicroSD support
- 8MP/2.1MP Main and Front cameras, Full HD @30fps video recording
- Android KitKat 4.4
- 7,900 mAh Battery
Hardware
So, what’s so interesting about the Galaxy Tab S series? Well, this series is the first Samsung’s tablets which are packed with a Super AMOLED screen and thanks to the WQXGA screen and the 100,000:1 contrast ratio the delivered images will be more realistic with rich and crisp colors. The Adaptive Display helps you to manually or automatically change the display settings (including gamma, saturation, and sharpness) in order to get the best result for different scenes and situations.
There is not much to say about the memory and processor, and if you are planning to go for a Wi-Fi only model you should note that instead of a Quad-core Snapdragon processor, an Exynos 5 Octa (1.9 GHz QuadCore ＋ 1.3 GHz Quadcore) has been used to power your Galaxy Tab S device.
The Fingerprint Sensor provides a more reliable security method and available connectivity options for Galaxy Tab S are: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac MIMO, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth®4.0, IrLED
Software
Galaxy Tab S tablets come with Android KitKat out of the box, and other than the obvious TouchWiz and Android features here are some of the distinguished Software features that may catch your eyes as you start working with the Galaxy Tab S tablets:
- Call Forwarding, lets you make or receive calls from your phone to your tablet.
- Papergarden, which is the optimized version of My Magazine for Tab S series to get instant access to so many magazines.
- Other TouchWiz Features and Applications: Group Play, S-Note, S Translator, Samsung Link, Scrapbook, Story Album, Video Editor, Gear Manager, Gear Fit Manager, Samsung Smart Switch, Samsung Level, E-meeting, Kids Mode, Kids Piano(Ding Dong Tap), S-Console, Hanshow, Hancell, Hanwrite
Galaxy Gifts on these new tablets packs your device with great productivity tools, games, entertainment applications and news sources such as:
- 6 months trial subscription of The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the The Economist
- Premium Service for 1 year for Evernote
- 3 months trial subscription of Marvel Unlimited digital comics
- And a lot more…
According to Android Central, here is the complete list of free stuff you'll get on your Galaxy Tab S tablets:
Asphalt 8: Free car pack item (Worth of $20)
Bitcasa: 3 months subscription of 1TB Storage
Bloomberg Businessweek: 12 months trial subscription
Box: 50GB for 6 months
Blurb: $5 coupon
Cisco WebEX Meetings: 6 month free subscription and unlimited meetings
Colossatron: Free game download plus 60 Power Orbs (Worth of $5.99)
Conde Nast Magazines: Free special editions of Vogue, GQ and more
Cut the Rope 2: Free in-game items (Worth of $15)
Dropbox: 50GB of included space for 2 years (100GB for $99/year)
Easilydo: 6 months trial subscription
Evernote: Premium Service for 1 year
Family Guy: Premium in-game credit (Worth of $15)
Fruit Ninja: Free game download plus 10,000 Starfruits (Worth of $5.99)
Hancom Office: Documents on-the-go for Android
Kindle for Samsung: Samsung Book Deals; One free book per month
Learn English - Voxy: 3 months trial subscription of Premium English Training Course
LinkedIn: LinkedIn Premium – Business account for 3 months
LIVESPORT.TV: 6 months trial subscription
Marvel Unlimited: 3 months trial subscription of Marvel Unlimited digital comics
Paypa:l Paypal Merchant discounts and special offers (Worth of $50)
Pocket: 6 months trial premium subscription
Real Player Cloud: 6 months trial of 100GB 'Gold' Subscription
Remote PC: 2 year trial subscription
The Economist: 6 months trial subscription
The Wall Street Journal: 6 months trial subscription
The Washington Post: 6 months trial subscription
The New York Times: 12 weeks trial digital subscription
Workout Trainer: 6-month trial of premium service
Price and Availability
While the Wi-Fi only models of both Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and Galaxy Tab S 10.5 can be pre-ordered nationwide in the US and set to be shipped in early July, the LTE-enabled versions are expected to go on sale sometime in August. If you are going for the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 it will cost you $399 and the price increases to $499 if you choose the 10.5” model.
In the United States, Amazon has started the Galaxy Tab S 8.4-Inch Tablet (16 GB, Titanium Bronze) pre-order and promised the June 26 as the released date.
In the United Kingdom the devices will hit the market on July 4, and the prices are £330 and £420 for the 8.4-inch and 10.5inch Wi-Fi only models with 16GB of storage respectively.
