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hallux

macrumors 68040
Apr 25, 2012
3,443
1,005
I've been happy with my Tab S3 (which just got Oreo yesterday, by the way). There are rumors of a Tab S4 already going through WiFi certification but I haven't heard anything about it in a couple weeks. The Tab S3 is a solid device, from what I've seen. If you're in the US and don't want the 4G version, you can grab a 128 GB model from Best Buy (the ONLY place that sells the higher capacity).
 
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raqball

macrumors 68020
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
9,573
My son has the Tab S3 and he loves it.. Not sure what the Tab S4 will over but I assume once its released the Tab S3 could be had for a killer price.
 
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borgranta

macrumors 6502
May 9, 2018
304
96
I was thinking of buying a Galaxy Tab S3, should I wait for a future S4 release instead?
I have the Tab 3 and it allows you to sort alphabetically by sender or subject. The downside is that when deleting multiple emails it can take 30 seconds give or take to delete. iPhone 4s could delete an entire inbox almost instantly. I rate Apple mail as #1 and Samsung mail as #2.
 

Perene

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 29, 2015
835
321
Netherealm
Have you experienced any issues with the battery of the S3? I heard some people saying some units were that way or a specific setting can cause that. And what about the S-PEN, is it worth as much as the Apple Pencil? Any lag when writing notes?

I wonder if the S4 will be released in the coming months...

I also wonder what kind of covers we can buy to protect the front and back... similar to Smart Cover and Khomo Rear case.
 
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hallux

macrumors 68040
Apr 25, 2012
3,443
1,005
Have you experienced any issues with the battery of the S3? I heard some people saying some units were that way or a specific setting can cause that. And what about the S-PEN, is it worth as much as the Apple Pencil? Any lag when writing notes?

I wonder if the S4 will be released in the coming months...

I also wonder what kind of covers we can buy to protect the front and back... similar to Smart Cover and Khomo Rear case.


I'm not a big S-Pen user. I had a Note 10.1 2014 prior to the Tab S3 and hardly ever used the pen on that also.

I'm not sure what battery issue you're referencing, mine gets GREAT battery life.

I have a Moko cover on mine, it covers the back with a plastic "cradle" (leaving all ports and the SD slot available) and has a cover that flips over the screen. The cover is lined with microfiber, has a magnetic closure and has a built in magnet to wake the screen when opening it.
 

Vegastouch

macrumors 603
Jul 12, 2008
6,185
992
Las Vegas, NV
I was thinking of buying a Galaxy Tab S3, should I wait for a future S4 release instead?
I would wait. I have a Tab S2 and there isn't much difference between the S2 and S3 so hopefully the S4 is a big upgrade for what the price will be. Then again, if you don't have a Tab S tablet then you won't notice the difference.
 

Vegastouch

macrumors 603
Jul 12, 2008
6,185
992
Las Vegas, NV
I still have my Tab S2 and it has been a stellar tablet! Can't go wrong with any iteration of this tablet. I consider it the best in the market.
I have two. A 8" and a 9.7". Had an issue with the 9.7" randomly rebooting but Samsung gave me a replacement that's been working fine. I guess these aren't going to get Oreo though. Not really a big deal to me though.
 
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Perene

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 29, 2015
835
321
Netherealm
Apparently these are the specs from it:

https://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-galaxy-tab-s4

******
We also have a good idea of the dimensions, as it's seemingly passed through the FCC with dimensions of 249.3 x 164.3mm, making it slightly taller and thinner than the Galaxy Tab S3.

And a fairly complete specs list has also leaked, pointing to the slate having a 10.5-inch 1600 x 2560 Super AMOLED display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, a Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 13MP rear camera, an 8MP front-facing camera, a 7,300mAh battery and running Android 8.1.

The same list claims that it will have AKG-tuned audio and be compatible with Samsung DeX, meaning you'd be able to hook it up to a monitor for a desktop experience. The list adds that there's no fingerprint scanner, which is something that images and other leaks also suggest.

A number of benchmarking leaks meanwhile also provide specs and largely line up with the list above. The first benchmark for a slate with a model number that matches what we'd expect the Tab S4 to have came in February 2018.

The benchmark lists a 2.3GHz octa-core chipset, which is likely the Snapdragon 835, meaning this slate might not quite be cutting-edge as that's a 2017 chipset, albeit a high-end one. That same spec has been backed up by another leak too.

There's also 4GB of RAM and a 10.5-inch 1600 x 2560 screen listed, as well as 64GB of storage, a 12MP rear camera, a 7MP or 8MP front-facing camera and Android 8.0.

*************

Nothing officially confirmed yet.
 
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Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,725
13,245
UK
I like to keep my Tablets for a few years so I won't upgrade my ipad Pro 10.5 this year. This year I will either buy a new macbook, a pixel book or maybe this tab S4.

The tab S4 looks nice, especially the Dex feature. I guess we will see it more at the unpacked event next week.

I'm not bothered about the SD835. It's held up well in the note 8 and for the last few years the processors in mobile phones and tablets have been more powerful than anything we do with these devices. The SD835 will be plenty but it's the 4GB of ram that I'd question. Should have been 6.
 
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Macalicious2011

macrumors 68000
May 15, 2011
1,860
1,969
London
Bravo Samsung. The Tab 4 is a more tablet biased Surface alternative. It will make a great device for those who mainly need a tablet for browsing but like a keyboard or mouse when it’s time to do “serious” work like writing a dissertation, spread sheets or prolonged research.

I hope Apple will eventually give the iPad mouse support or Dex like capabilities. It’s only for so long people should have to buy a laptop and a tablet.
 
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Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,933
3,821
I wouldn't buy a Galaxy Tab S4. Last year I purchased a Galaxy Tab S3, returned it because performance was not on par with the asking price. In November I purchased a Galaxy Tab S2 from Amazon brand new for $280 and performance was on par with the S3.

Battery life sucks big time, the screen is gorgeous but the S2 suffers from refresh problems in portrait mode, storage is insufficient at 32GB. Overall at $280 I can't complain too much but at $650 starting point for an S4, HELL NO !

The iPad Pro is a much better buy and at least you can count on OS updates from Apple for several years. With Samsung they MAYBE update their tablets once in their lifecycle then move on. My S2 is on 7.0.1 and im not expecting an Oreo update.
 
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Macalicious2011

macrumors 68000
May 15, 2011
1,860
1,969
London
I wouldn't buy a Galaxy Tab S4. Last year I purchased a Galaxy Tab S3, returned it because performance was not on par with the asking price. In November I purchased a Galaxy Tab S2 from Amazon brand new for $280 and performance was on par with the S3.

Battery life sucks big time, the screen is gorgeous but the S2 suffers from refresh problems in portrait mode, storage is insufficient at 32GB. Overall at $280 I can't complain too much but at $650 starting point for an S4, HELL NO !

The iPad Pro is a much better buy and at least you can count on OS updates from Apple for several years. With Samsung they MAYBE update their tablets once in their lifecycle then move on. My S2 is on 7.0.1 and im not expecting an Oreo update.

What are the tablets optimised apps like? Is the availability as wide as it is for the iPad? Android phones have the same quality of apps as the iPhone. Is the same true for tablets?
 
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Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,725
13,245
UK
What are the tablets optimised apps like? Is the availability as wide as it is for the iPad? Android phones have the same quality of apps as the iPhone. Is the same true for tablets?
No idea as I’ve not used android tablet since 2014. From what I can Infer it’s gotten worse. It seems google have abandoned tablets and that means developers probably aren’t going to develop for it. However it depends what you want to do on the tablet. Netflix, web browsing, Microsoft office/google suite, email, kindle, magazines etc, even drawing with the S pen and annotating documents etc should be ok.

However if there are specialist apps you want to use then the iPad is the way to go. Apps are significantly better on the iPad but it depends what it is you want to do.
 

Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,933
3,821
What are the tablets optimised apps like? Is the availability as wide as it is for the iPad? Android phones have the same quality of apps as the iPhone. Is the same true for tablets?
Apps look fine to me and this is coming from someone who owns iPad's and Android tablets. I think the quality of the apps are pretty solid on the Galaxy Tab, some apps were bundled with the Galaxy Tab but I don't have any complaints using an app on my iPad or Galaxy Tab S2. Spotify to me looks identical on both tablets. I've also encountered iPad apps on rare occasions that were stretched iPhone apps as well.

As for availability that's a non issue as you have the Samsung App store and the Google Play store available. If the app is available on the Play Store then it'll work on the Galaxy Tab. Shoot, i'm still getting Google Play updates on my LG Pad 8.3 GPE tablet from 2013.
 

LIVEFRMNYC

macrumors G3
Oct 27, 2009
8,877
10,987
What are the tablets optimised apps like? Is the availability as wide as it is for the iPad? Android phones have the same quality of apps as the iPhone. Is the same true for tablets?

In my experience, there are still more than enough apps on iOS that are not tablet optimized. And most non-optimized for tablet apps on the iPad look and perform horribly. Try running Instagram(which only has an iPhone version) on an iPad to see what I mean.

With Android tablets, any random non-optimized for tablet app, will still look and perform as if they were optimized. At least with most apps.

So yes, iOS technically has more tablet optimized apps. But Android does so much better with the apps that are not tablet optimized compared to iOS.
 

Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,933
3,821
I wonder why people still buy Android tablets.
Because some people just want the basics to do email, read books and get on the internet without spending more than $50-75. And Android tablets really aren't that bad. I own both iPad's and Android tablets and they are both competent at what they do which is a consumption device and the vast majority use their tablets in that way.
 

Michael Goff

Suspended
Jul 5, 2012
13,329
7,422
Because some people just want the basics to do email, read books and get on the internet without spending more than $50-75. And Android tablets really aren't that bad. I own both iPad's and Android tablets and they are both competent at what they do which is a consumption device and the vast majority use their tablets in that way.

I guess I was thinking more along the lines of the 650$ tablet that the S4 is, forgetting the Fire tablet.
 
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Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,933
3,821
I guess I was thinking more along the lines of the 650$ tablet that the S4 is, forgetting the Fire tablet.
Oh I see what you meant. Yeah, no way would I drop $650 on an Android tablet and that goes for an iPad. I have no problems with the budget iPad or a Galaxy Tablet that's on sale. I paid $280 for my Tab S2 and that took some convincing on my part but $650 is way too much for Galaxy Tab S4 when Samsung is soooo slow with their updates. That may get 2 updates max but it'll be a while before they drop OTA.
 

Jetcat3

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2015
757
528
This may sound embarrassing but I’m kind of excited by the thought of picking up this device for videos specifically. I’ve become obsessed with AMOLED the past few years and with this new aspect ratio of 16:10 it’ll give a nice boost in display area for 16:9 videos over my current 10.5” Pro.

If you take the diagonal measurement for 16:9 video on the Tab S4, it comes out to 10.22” diagonal measurement. My question is, will the device play YouTube videos at a resolution of 2560 X 1440 for 16:9 videos? Thanks.
 
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Breaking Good

macrumors 65816
Sep 28, 2012
1,451
1,225
I like what samsung have done generally and at least make an effort with tablets but why put something that is a work computer type with last years chip? makes no sense

I just can't get over the fact that they used a Snapdragon 835 in this thing when they already released a phone with the 845 six months ago.
 
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