Samsung Announces North American Galaxy Tab S2 Tablet Availability, Pre-Order

[alex davies]

In July Samsung announced global availability of its latest premium tablets, the 8-inch and 9.7-inch Galaxy Tab S2, and it today released information about U.S. and Canadian availability.

Samsung Announces North American Galaxy Tab S2 Tablet Availability, Pre-Order : Read more

 

[targetdrone]

Samsung is really trying hard to become an iPotato at the expense of alienating once loyal Samsung consumers.

I got news for you Samsung. iTards will not abandon the Apple Ecosystem for your Android running iToy clone.

 

[johnnycanadian]

Wow ... that's an incredibly underwhelming iPad-wanna-be. 2013 was the year Apple went over the cliff and 2015 will be remembered as the beginning of the end for Samsung in the portable electronics space. I'll stick with a Nexus, thanks.

 

[g-unit1111]

OK if you're considering a Galaxy Tab S, why would you go for the newer version of the tablet - which has a lower resolution than the previous gen model? And the previous gen model can accommodate 128GB micro SXHD cards and had that nice looking matching keyboard attachment to complete the laptop feel of it. To quote the late, great Marcia Wallace - "Pretty lame, Milhouse."

 

[rramsey718]

Somewhat disappointed to see this tablet changed as it has now become. I have a Galaxy Tab S 10.1. While I am not overly thrilled with the 16GB of storage, it is a wonderful tablet and I thoroughly enjoy it. The 128GB microSD makes up for the lack of internal storage.

I'm not sure why they would make the change. I look at my wife's I-pad Air2 and my Tab S and I prefer my Tab S for video watching. As for using my Tab S as a reader, I fine it overly large (as I do my wife's I-pad Air 2) so I read mostly with my Note 4 or Nook Color. I do like my Tab S for reading magazines on.

This new Tablet, along with the new crop of phones (Note 5 and Edge6+) seem to be a capitulation by Samsung to Apple. Sammy is making their devices resemble Apple products instead of developing an attractive, differentiating product offering.

I have enjoyed my Samsung devices over the years (Tab S, Note 2, Note 3(work), Note 4). I will enjoy my Tab S 10.1 and Note 4 till I wear the electron paths out or my desire of having a 'new' faster toy gets too pressing. Hopefully by then, Sammy will once again put a bit of innovation into their product line or another vendor (HTC or LG maybe??) step up to the plate.

It will be interesting to the sales responses to the new products as compared to some of the other items. Would love to see a break down of sales figures at certain benchmarks, maybe 3 month, six month, One year and see how the different devices compare.

 

[darkokills]

I have the tab s 8.4. Nothing about these new models is appealing. Horrible screen ratio, think black bars everywhere. Not really a substantial increase in power. And then you're left with less battery life. I'm good. I'll wait until next year for the "revised' version.

 

[cwolf78]

Who in their right mind would buy the 8" model when the XenPad S 8.0 gives you so much more for less?

 

[msteger]

4:3 screen ratio? This is the reason I have never even wanted an iPad. Tablets are great for watching movies when one travels, on a plane or in the hotel. Why do you want half of your screen covered with black bars? Samsung, you had it right before, 16:9 is the correct way a tablet should be, don't copy bad ideas just because they are bad Apple ideas!

 

[Valantar]

Disclaimer: I work in a store with a very close partnership with Samsung. Still, I've never owned a Samsung tablet or phone, and personally prefer other brands.

Our local Samsung representative came by the store today and showed off both a Tab S2 9.7" and an S6 Edge +. I have to say, when compared to the original Tab S, the S2 is leaps and bounds better in terms of in-hand feel, size, weight, and general design. The plastic back is actually really nice - a soft-touch coating similar to my once beloved HTC Hero made it grippy and very comfortable to hold. It does feel slightly hollow, but not in a cheap or off-putting way. Beveled edges on the long edges of the back are a distinctive design touch that does a good job at both alluding to recent Samsung designs and making the device more comfortable to grip. Sure, the front face is very iPad-like, but honestly, who here prefers widescreen for web browsing? And if video is your main usage for your tablet, then you're in the minority. Tablets are, for the vast majority of consumers, web browsing devices.

I say Samsung made the right decision going to 4:3. Still, a shame about the shrunken batteries and last-gen SOC, though.

 

[Valantar]

OK if you're considering a Galaxy Tab S, why would you go for the newer version of the tablet - which has a lower resolution than the previous gen model? And the previous gen model can accommodate 128GB micro SXHD cards and had that nice looking matching keyboard attachment to complete the laptop feel of it. To quote the late, great Marcia Wallace - "Pretty lame, Milhouse."

If you're considering the Tab S, but might like better performance, an aspect ratio better suited for reading and web browsing, and a far lighter, nicer and more high end design, that's when you'd go for the newer version. The screen resolution is a non-issue at tablet viewing distances, and I very much doubt the new one can't handle your 128GB card (maximum memory card capacity is a very frequently erroneous spec sheet listing). Also, there will be a better keyboard solution for this - a slide-in, magnetically attached keyboard for the regular stand covers. More versatile, cheaper, thinner, lighter. Sounds good to me.

 

[g-unit1111]

4:3 screen ratio? This is the reason I have never even wanted an iPad. Tablets are great for watching movies when one travels, on a plane or in the hotel. Why do you want half of your screen covered with black bars? Samsung, you had it right before, 16:9 is the correct way a tablet should be, don't copy bad ideas just because they are bad Apple ideas!

Yeah I wonder why 4:3 is still a thing in 2015? 16:9 should be standard on all tablets by now including Apple. I just got an Asus Zenpad and this is a very nice tablet except for the 4:3 ratio.

If you're considering the Tab S, but might like better performance, an aspect ratio better suited for reading and web browsing, and a far lighter, nicer and more high end design, that's when you'd go for the newer version. The screen resolution is a non-issue at tablet viewing distances, and I very much doubt the new one can't handle your 128GB card (maximum memory card capacity is a very frequently erroneous spec sheet listing).

Don't get me wrong, I like the design of this tablet. I have a Galaxy S6 and it's amazing phone. And I like to see the design of this thing carry over to the tablets. But if tablets are being used for movies and TV viewing, why does the 4:3 aspect stay? Why can't tablet manufacturers embrace the widescreen format? Just about every phone on the market uses 16:9, and HTC manages to make 16:9 work on the Nexus 9, and Microsoft does it well on Surface devices.

I do agree with you about micro SD card specs, but the Zenpad that I mentioned reads my 128GB card fine. So I would assume that the Galaxy Tab does as well. But I think it is funny that LG lists the G4's SD card slot at being capable of reading cards of 2TB, when 1TB cards don't exist yet. :lol:

Also, there will be a better keyboard solution for this - a slide-in, magnetically attached keyboard for the regular stand covers. More versatile, cheaper, thinner, lighter. Sounds good to me.

One of the most appealing things about the Tab S to me was the custom designed keyboard attachment for it that integrated with it perfectly. I'm thinking about buying one of the previous gen models off eBay just for that when the prices drop. It actually made that tablet way more appealing and way more of an actual laptop replacement than the iPad ever was or will be. I'll wait and see what the new one brings to the table in terms of that kind of functionality though.

 

[Valantar]

Don't get me wrong, I like the design of this tablet. I have a Galaxy S6 and it's amazing phone. And I like to see the design of this thing carry over to the tablets. But if tablets are being used for movies and TV viewing, why does the 4:3 aspect stay? Why can't tablet manufacturers embrace the widescreen format? Just about every phone on the market uses 16:9, and HTC manages to make 16:9 work on the Nexus 9, and Microsoft does it well on Surface devices.

Ahem.

You do know that the Nexus 9 is 4:3, and the Surface 3 and Surface 3 Pro are 3:2?

Also, you're approaching this from the wrong end. This isn't a case of the 4:3 aspect ratio "staying" - even though Apple have always been the market leader for tablets, they are only one maker. All other mainstream tablets in the west have been 16:9 or 16:10. What we are seeing now is mainstream tablets moving away from widescreen aspect ratios. And this is exactly because the use cases that you name are not dominant. Sure, people watch Netflix on their tablets now and then. But the vast majority of time is spent reding, browsing and other non-widescreen reliant use.

Phones are another case entirely - they need to be slim enough to fit in your hand, while still maximizing display area. At the same time, being too tall makes them hard to handle. The 16:9 aspect ratio seems to hit a sweet spot here. These arguments are not valid for tablets, however. I would love for my phone to be wider, as it would make it infinitely better for web browsing and reading. It would, however, also make it nearly impossible to hold - defeating its purpose entirely.

Tablets became victims of the sad and destructive and silly fad that laptops have been dominated by for the last decade or more, with displays suited almost exclusively for film/TV consumption. Have you ever tried to work on a large text document on a small-ish (~13") 16:9 or 16:10 display? It's a pretty terrible experience, and results in loads of wasted screen real estate. The same goes for web browsing - all web pages are vertically oriented, which makes zero sense on an overly horizontally oriented display. Viewing Tom's hardware on my ThinkPad X201 - which is 16:10, not 16:9 - results in pretty much half the screen being wasted. My main monitor is 16:9, but that's only acceptable as it's 27". Any smaller, and its vertical size would have been far too small.

 

[Valantar]

One of the most appealing things about the Tab S to me was the custom designed keyboard attachment for it that integrated with it perfectly. I'm thinking about buying one of the previous gen models off eBay just for that when the prices drop. It actually made that tablet way more appealing and way more of an actual laptop replacement than the iPad ever was or will be. I'll wait and see what the new one brings to the table in terms of that kind of functionality though.

Just to be sure, how much experience do you have with the keyboard for the Tab S? I haven't used it extensively, but given that I've had to sell quite a few, I have spent a decent amount of time familiarizing myself with it. From my point of view, the keyboard itself is average or slightly below - no match for the Logitech Type S, at least. The build quality is good, but it suffers from the same plasticky feeling of the tablet itself - definitely not a premium in-hand feeling. And while the slide-in stand/cover slots are sturdy and work relatively well, neither really keep the tablet in place (which is why it requires a stiff and inelegant clip for staying together during transport). And the lack of any kind of hinge or angle adjustment is verging on inexcusable at a price like this.



Also, just to verify my previous statements about why Samsung went for a 4:3 display: I attended a retail launch briefing for the Edge + and Tab S2 yesterday, and they explained that the shift was based purely on user research, in which a large majority of users reported that their main tablet usage was either web browsing, other reading, or using applications like Instagram and Facebook. In other words: media consumption is at best something done intermittently on tablets.