Samsung in New York yesterday unveiled the GALAXY Tab S (10.5-inch and 8.4-inch options), its thinnest and lightest tablet to date. Samsung has upped the ante in terms of display technology, introduced design innovations, enhanced productivity features and bundled a full range of premium content to make the tablet as good at work as it is at play.
Top-rated specs
The new tablet packs an industry-leading WQXGA (2560×1600, 16:10) Super AMOLED display, delivering more than 90% of Adobe RGB colour coverage – that’s more colours than ever before. Its groundbreaking 100,000:1 contrast ratio brings deeper and more realistic images.
Samsung has features Adaptive Display that adjusts gamma, saturation and sharpness based on a current running app, and the colour temperature of the environment and ambient lighting. Users can also manually adjust display settings using pre-set professional modes – AMOLED Cinema and AMOLED Photo.
Both versions of the GALAXY Tab S have a super slim 6.6mm profile and weigh incredibly light at only 465g (10.5-inch) and 294g (8.4-inch). The back panel has a premium faux leather feel, perforated like the GALAXY S5.
Typically Samsung, the GALAXY Tab S comes packed with one of the industry’s best – Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core SoC running at 2.3Ghz or Exynos 5 Octa (1.9 quad-core + 1.3Ghz quad-core) processor. A whopping 3GB RAM complements 16/32GB internal memory, with an option to expand to 128GB via microSD.
Like the GALAXY S5, the tablet includes a built-in fingerprint scanner.
The GALAXY Tab S runs Android 4.4 KitKat and sports a big 4,900mAh battery.
Content is where its at
Samsung debuts its magazine service “Papergarden” with the new tablet, labelled as an “optimised viewing environment for digital interactive magazines.”
Samsung has also teamed up with more than 30 leading mobile content and service providers including an epic partnership with Marvel. GALAXY Tab S owners will have 3 months of unlimited free membership to Marvel’s “Marvel Unlimited” app – that’s 15,000 Marvel comics.
Kindle for Samsung also makes a debut, a customised version for the GALAXY Tab S. Every month, users will receive a free book through Samsung Book Deals.
Additionally, owners will also get gifts in form of movies and entertainment content via Samsung’s partnership with Google Play.
Netflix will also be available in HD for the first time, limited to select countries (sorry Malaysia).
Buffet of accessories
Owning a tablet alone nowadays is so ‘naked’. Samsung made sure GALAXY Tab S owners get to accessorise, with a plethora of useful and fashionable add-ons. The Book Cover has three customisable display angles and an innovative snap-in mechanism, while the Simple Cover offers no-frills, lightweight protection. The Bluetooth Keyboard is an ultra-slim keyboard that give you tactile keys in case you’re in the mood for work.
Pricing and availability
The GALAXY Tab S will be available in different configurations: Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi + LTE, and 16/32GB + microSD (up to 128GB), 10.5-inch and 8.4-inch, in Titanium Bronze or Dazzling White.
The new flagship tablet will be available globally from July onwards.
