It’s over a year since Samsung introduced its flagship tablet lineup, the Galaxy Tab S. Comprising two models and some sharp Super AMOLED displays, the Tab S was meant to compete with Apple’s iPad Air at the top of the gadget food chain. As leaks in the last few days had intimated, it was not going to be long till we saw the second generation Galaxy Tab S unveiled.
The Galaxy Tab S2 will come in two models each with a different display size. Unlike last year’s 10.5 inch and 8.4 inch models, this year’s Galaxy Tab S tablets will have 9.7 and 8.0 inch displays. If you are keen then you’ll notice that new tablets display sizes are an exact match of what Apple has. The iPad Air 2 has a 9.7 inch display. The iPad mini 3 on the other hand has a 7.9 inch display. This tells us that Samsung is taking the war directly to Apple’s doorsteps. While tablet shipments have been slow thanks to the rise of the phablet, Apple’s iPad still remains a best seller the world over and it has since its first generation, remained the industry standard.
Apple is bringing some features that have been a mainstay of Samsung tablets for long like multiwindow to all its tablets. Apple’s version of multiwindow is called Split View and will be debuting with iOS 9 soon. With Apple widely expected to release an iPad Pro later in the year, the new generation Tab S tablets provide a perfect chance for Samsung to capitalize on the situation and woo as many would-be iPad buyers as possible. Will it do that?
Here are the specifications of the two tablets:
| Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 | Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 | |
| Size and weight | 169 x 237.3 x 5.6mm, 389g (Wifi)/392g (LTE) | 134.8 x 198.6 x 5.6mm, 265g (Wifi)/272g (LTE) |
| Display | 9.7 inch QXGA (2048 × 1536 pixels) Super AMOLED | 8.0 inch QXGA (2048 × 1536 pixels) Super AMOLED |
| Processor | Quad 1.9GHz + Quad 1.3GHz | Same as Tab S2 9.7 |
| Memory | 32 GB/64 GB Internal memory + micro SD slot (up to 128GB), 3 GB RAM | ” “ |
| Camera | Rear: 8 MP AF with LED Flash; Front: 2.1 MP | ” “ |
| OS | Android 5.0.2 (Lollipop) | ” “ |
| Battery | 5,870 mAh | 4,000 mAh |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth: 4.1(BLE), Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac MIMO (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) | Same as Tab S2 9.7 |
| Network | LTE : 700/ 800/ 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900/ 2100/ 26003G : 850/ 900/ 1900/ 21002G : 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900 | ” “ |
| Colours | White, Black | ” “ |
At just 5.6 mm thick, the Galaxy Tab S2 is the thinnest tablet Samsung has ever made. By comparison, Apple’s iPad Air 2 which is supposedly its thinnest ever, is 6.1 mm thick.
Just like the Galaxy Tab S, the Tab S2 has a soft plastic back. However, it has a metal frame like the one on the Galaxy A smartphone series and the Galaxy Note 4.
Like the last generation, the Galaxy Tab S2 also feature a fingerprint scanner. The tablets will come with 100 GB free Microsoft OneDrive storage.
Pricing information is still scarce at the moment but all you can guess right now is that they won’t come cheap when they become available some time in August.
Besides the obvious difference in size, the Tab S2 tablets will also be available in a wide selection that differs by network configuration and connectivity options (Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi+LTE models) and storage options (32 GB or 64 GB).
