Korean electronics giant Samsung recently released its flagship 9.7″ tablet – Galaxy Tab S2 – priced at Rs.42,000. The new device is redesigned and an upgrade over the Galaxy Tab S 10.5.
The device is thinner and lighter than its predecessor while the display is superior and yet less expensive. The technology called active matrix organic LED, allows each pixel in displays of this type to glow on its own; so no backlight is necessary, and screens can be easily used outdoors, even in direct sunlight.
The tablet has a density of 264 pixels per inch (ppi) while the iPad Air 2 has near to same ppi, the Microsoft Surface 3 has 213-pixel density.
It comes with 4:3 aspect ratio instead of 16:10 (available in the Tab 10 S 10.5) which means that the display is squared.
Geekbench 3 benchmarking tests suggest that the new Tab S2 9.7 is just below the iPad Air 2 (4,520 points) at 4,400 points. The Tab S 10.5 scores a modest 2,760 points.
Samsung has added support for running two applications side by side. The limitation is that because this isn’t a standard feature of Android, there are only a handful of apps that support Samsung’s Split View.
In terms of its shooter, the Tab S2 9.7 rear camera is good while the front camera is good for video calls or conferencing.
The tablet, which comes with 4G LTE-supported calling facility, sports a fingerprint sensor and has good battery backup.
The build quality seems to have taken a hit with the plastic rear but otherwise the product looks sturdy and compact with its metal rims and upper glass body.
The screen size has been toned down from 10.5″ to 9.7″. Although a squared display is a boon for productivity, watching video on the 16:10 display is better.
Although Samsung has put in its Split view in the tablet, more productive combinations are absent as Android in itself doesn’t support the feature. A good example of the combination would be a browser and Microsoft Word.
The rear camera has low performance when it comes to moving objects, and there’s no flash.
Full specifications: Samsung Exynos 5433 octa-core| 3GB RAM | 9.7-inch Super AMOLED (2048 x 1536 pixels resolution, 4:3 aspect ratio) | Rear 8-megapixel and 2.1-megapixel front facing camera | Android 5.1.1 | 4G LTE | WiFi, MIMO and Bluetooth 4.1 BLE | NFC (near field communication) | 32GB internal with microSD expansion card support | 5,870 mAh battery
