Samsung continues to set the bar for what to expect from a premium tablet. When I reviewed the previous model , the S2, it was touted as the thinnest tablet on the market it made me switch from using and Ipad.
STYLE
You would think the obvious upgrade path for a new device is to make it thinner , lighter and faster. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is faster than the previous model with a Qualcomm® Snapdragon 820 Quad Core 2.15GHz + 1.6GHz processor, but it is heavier than the S2. That it because Samsung chose to go full premium with metal and glass covering the front and back of the tablet. Unlike the s2, the S3 comes in only one size, a more refined 9.7 inches and the screen is a beautiful 9.7” Super AMOLED QXGA display.
PERFORMANCE
The Tab S3 is equipped with a Snapdragon 820 chipset, thats the same processor that powers the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones. It’s very zippy with 4GB of RAM and if you are upgrading from the S2, you will notice a significant difference on the performance of the tablet when using the web browser, checking email or playing games. It has 32GB of storage which is expandable to 256GB with the microSD expansion slot. The tablet comes out of the box running Android 7.0 with a USB-C port , headphone jack and S Pen.
The 6,000mAh battery will give you a pleasant 11 hours of use and you can get back up to a full charge with 3 hours of Adaptive Fast Charging.
The best thing about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is the newly designed S Pen which is included and doesn’t require charging.
The S Pen has been redesigned and writes exactly like a ballpoint pen! The tip has been made a little more narrow to give you a handwriting experience that feels natural.
The second best thing is the keyboard (sold separately) , it doubles as a case with a slot to store the S Pen.
If you need to sit down and write a long email of tech review, it can get the job done.
The keys are fine and easy to type on but the layout is a little tricky. The “enter” button could be bigger and the “lang” (language button ) is useless and could have been used for something else. If this becomes your main tablet, you have more options for getting things done, besides just having a device to watch Netflix on.
When it come to watching movies and games , the Super AMOLED QXGA display will always impress you no matter what light conditions you are in. Quad speakers tuned by AKG are also on board and adjust automatically depending on how you are holding the tablet. The camera has resolution of 13 megapixels with flash and the front facing camera is 5 megapixels.
Overall the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is the best Android tablet on the market. The included S Pen gives it something a little extra, but for $600, combined with another $130 for the keyboard, the price may a little too much for a consumer making a choice between a laptop or tablet.
