Samsung announces the first high-res Super AMOLED tablets: the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and 10.5
Under the hood, the tablets feature smaller updates, but still nice ones. Each tablet will feature 3GB of RAM, up from the 2GB found in the Galaxy Tab Pro, and an Exynos 5 Octa processor clocked at 1.9GHz + 1.3GHz (four cores each). This is a bit surprising, because these are the Exynos 5420 chipsets, not the 5422 we saw in the Galaxy S5. These are the "thinnest and lightest" tablets Samsung has made at just 6.6 mm thick. The Tab S 8.4 will weigh just 294g, and the 10.5 clocks in at 465g, making it thinner and lighter than the iPad Air. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 features a 4900mAh battery, and the 10.5 has a 7900mAh battery, which Samsung says will provide 11 hours of battery life, thanks a lot to the new AMOLED displays, which tend to be more power efficient.
Samsung has also added fingerprint scanners to the new Tab S devices, and the big news there is that the new tablets can support up to 8 different users who each have their own "private mode". We just hope that the fingerprint scanners work better than the one found on the Galaxy S5. And, if it matters at all, there will be an 8MP camera on the back and a 2MP camera on the front of each tablet.
Of course, Samsung wouldn't be Samsung without new software features as well. The new tablets offer Magazine UI, which has been branded "Content Home" as we've seen on other Samsung devices. This will bring together media, productivity, and more all in a single screen. Samsung alsohas new features like Kid's Corner to customize a section of your tablet for your children, and SideSync, which will help to connect your devices together. SideSync will offer options to answer calls from your Samsung phone on your tablet, as well as options to remotely access your PC, or transfer files between devices. Samsung has partnered with content creators, including Condé Nast, National Geographic, and Marvel Comics, to bring Papergarden, which will bring interactive, multimedia magazines to the devices.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 Wi-Fi model will cost $399; the Tab S 10.5 Wi-Fi will cost $499; and, both will be available in white and bronze in July in Europe and the US. LTE models will be released "soon after that".
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