Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 Review

Samsung just can’t get enough of itself it seems. First, it was the humble Galaxy Tab line that brought them into the tablet segment, then soon after that, the Galaxy Note family came screaming onto the scene with a healthy productivity element. Very recently, we saw an even more enhanced productivity line of tablets in the Galaxy Tab/Note Pro family. Are you confused yet? Well, hold onto your frazzled brains because there Samsung introduced yet another line on top of all that – the Galaxy Tab S. 

Whereas the 8.4-inch version of the Galaxy Tab S aims to contend with the likes of the more compact-sized 8-inch segment of tablets, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is setting its sights on those fuller-sized offerings – like the iPad Air. Previously, the only other tablet to feature a Super AMOLED display was the Galaxy Tab 7.7 from 2010. After a long absence, Samsung is bringing back the display technology in a large scale with this tablet. However, can that be enough to offset the competition?

The package contains:

• Wall charger
• microUSB cable
• Get Started Guides

Looking at it from the front, we’re even hard pressed to notice any major differences between this and the design of Sammy’s last effort in the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1. Technically speaking, it’s longer and wider, but they’ve managed to reduce its thinness and weight to an impressive 0.26 inches (6.6 mm) and 16.47 ounces (467 grams) respectively. To tell you the truth, though, it’s pretty unnoticeable that the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has a larger overall footprint, seeing that it easily matches the confines of many 10-inch sized tablets.The design language of the tablet doesn’t surprise us in the smallest bit, since it borrows many of the Galaxy S5’s design characteristics – like the dimpled patterned design of its casing. Yes, it’s still comprised mostly out of plastic, accented by a metal-like trim bezel, so the design isn’t a fresh or evolutionary one. Rather, for a tablet aimed to be a “premium” offering, it’s still lacking the necessary housing materials and solid foundation to elevate its construction to the same level of the iPad Air or Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet for example.

Unlike the Galaxy Tab S 8.4, which is designed for operating in portrait mode, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is obviously meant to be used mostly in landscape – so two-handed operation is ideal. In typical fashion, its sides are adorned by the usual suspect of ports and buttons, which are the IR blaster, power button, volume controls, two speakers, microSD slot, microphone, 3.5mm headset jack, and microUSB 2.0 port.

Better yet, it also receives the same biometric finger print sensor found with the Galaxy S5 – adding yet another security measure into the mix. Naturally, its implementation isn’t as seamless or accurate as Apple’s Touch ID sensor in the iPhone 5s, seeing that we constantly find ourselves having to slowly swipe over the home button for it to properly register. Despite that, we appreciate that it’s here nonetheless.

Lastly, there’s an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash placed in the rear of the tablet.

Previous to the announcement of Sammy’s new Galaxy Tab S line, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 from 2011 featured the largest Super AMOLED panel in a tablet. Well people, the record is now being smashed by the Galaxy Tab S 10.5, seeing that it packs a beautiful 10.5-inch 2560 x 1600 Super AMOLED display. Indeed, the resolution is outstanding by itself, but we can’t forget that it was achieved by Sammy’s own Galaxy Pro line of tablets. Nevertheless, the details are sharp, clear, and plentiful!

Circling back to the focal point of the tablet, its gorgeous Super AMOLED display, our eyes instantly become wide open the moment its piercing iridescence comes into view. This time around, Sammy provides three viewing modes with the display – AMOLED cinema, AMOLED photo, and basic, resulting in really different color reproduction. We have to say we are pleasantly surprised by the “basic” display mode, which enables the screen to produce almost spot-on accurate colors – something that no AMOLED screen has done to date, including those of the Note 3 and Galaxy S5, whose color reproduction remains far off from the accurate visuals found with the Basic mode of the Tab S series. Both color temperature (7050 K) and Delta E values (3.06 in grayscale and 2.38 in rgbcmy) are very close to their reference levels. Good job, Sammy! Meanwhile, the adaptive display option is supposed to optimize the screen’s color range, saturation, and sharpness to deliver more eye-catchy visuals, depending on the content that's being displayed. Moreover, the display continues to astound us with its very wide viewing angles, strong brightness output (395 nits), and overall great clarity. Don’t worry, the saturated goodness is a pleasant thing to admire!

Diving into the tablet’s TouchWiz UI interface, which is running on top of Android 4.4.2 KitKat, we’re continuing to see the same toned-down features approach we’ve been seeing of late from Sammy. Visually, it doesn’t deviate from the usual style of previous TouchWiz efforts, but at this point, it’s clearly beginning to appear distant and bland in comparison to the stunning, modern designs of rival customized Android experiences.

Despite that, there are some notable new additions that we find useful that plays nicely into the tablet’s overall functionality. In comparison to previous TouchWiz efforts from Samsung, we appreciate the focused and more scaled down approach to the features set here. Instead of bombarding us with redundant things, the new additions here are meaningful to the tablet’s “fun” side.

First, we need to talk about SideSync 3.0, which allows for seamless connectivity between the tablet and some of Sammy’s Galaxy branded smartphones. At the moment, it only supports the Galaxy Note 3, S4, and S5, where a virtual version of the smartphone is presented to us in the tablet’s interface (it’s like an emulator of the phone running on the tablet). However, we should point out that the Galaxy S5 is the only smartphone to offer call forwarding to the tablet.

Connecting the smartphone to the tablet is pretty simple, as we’re required to just install and run the SideSync 3.0 app on both devices. From here, we’re able to be nearly the same things on the smartphone, but on the tablet – like running apps, viewing text messages, and accessing our email. And yes folks, we can even play some games as well. However, every now and then, there’s some noticeable delay with its performance that prevents us from enjoying graphically intensive games. To be fair, though, it’s not really meant for this purpose, but rather, it’s a portal where we can access certain phone-centric functions through the tablet.

Secondly, the preloaded Papergarden app is a new and alternative magazine service that caters specifically to the tablet’s fancy-schmancy Super AMOLED display. Paired with the “adaptive display” mode, Papergarden delivers high-quality digital interactive magazine content with vivid and true-to-life colors. In checking out some of the samples, we notice that the text have been sharpened to provide us with an optimal viewing experience that’s easy on the eyes. Additionally, colors have an even more profound and punchy tone to give the content more definition.

Those are two standout software features with the experience, but at the same time, it comes along with some of TouchWiz’s staple functions. For example, Multi Window allows us to run two apps side-by-side – offering us that true multi-tasking experience. Additionally, the experience allows the tablet to cater to different people in the household, seeing that it has the ability to support several users, so parents won’t have to contend with their kids cluttering their up the homescreen with games and other non-essential apps.

Flipping between its own chips and those from Qualcomm’s nest, Samsung decided to outfit the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 with its very own quad-core 1.9GHz Exynos 5 Octa 5420 processor with 3GB of RAM and the ARM Mali-T628 MP6 GPU. Generally speaking, the hardware produces a mostly responsive performance that’s enjoyable, but it’s still prone to the occasional instance of sluggishness when it’s tested with processor intensive things. Well, it becomes more apparent when using features like SideSync 3.0 and Multi Window.

Boasting 16GB of internal storage, 4.51GB of that is reserved for system memory, which doesn’t leave a whole lot for us to enjoy for multimedia content. Luckily, its microSD slot accepts cards up to 128GB in size.

Internet and Connectivity

Paired with a stunning Super AMOLED display and one pixel crushing resolution, it has the perfect recipe to provide us with a top-notch web browsing experience. Not only does it pop with its amazing visuals, but complex pages load swiftly and smoothly with our Wi-Fi only review unit. However, it should be noted that the upcoming LTE version of the tablet will offer a Download Booster feature that uses advanced Smart Bonding technology to optimize its effectiveness to seamlessly download data.

In true fashion, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 packs along aGPS with Glonass, Bluetooth 4.0, and dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, though, it doesn’t see additional amenities such as NFC or video-out functionality.

In looking at our samples, it seems as though Sammy incorporated the same camera module into both models in its Galaxy Tab S line. Smacked with an 8-megapixel auto-focus snapper in the rear, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 manages to produce good looking photos – albeit, the majority of them come from sunny outdoor situations. Details are crisp, allowing us some flexibility to crop photos afterwards with minimal loss to quality. On top of that, colors tend to come out life-like. For all of its glory with outdoor sunny shot, it strains to produce any decent low lighting photos.

Sure to please video enthusiasts too, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 captures some sharp looking 1080p videos. Again, details are plentiful, as well as natural looking colors, but we really appreciate that continuous auto-focus is snappy, and that audio recording is audible. 

Sorry folks, it’s the same old TouchWiz music player here, so there’s nothing more to see here that we haven’t seen before. Donning two speakers, which are placed on opposite sides when the tablet is held in landscape, they produce a fair amount of volume (71.9 dB) with a subtle hint of bass accompanying the quality.

Be prepared to be wowed on a totally new level, since the tablet’s gorgeous looking Super AMOLED display shows its full glory when it comes to watching videos. Captivating us with its rich detail and vibrant color reproduction, it’s without question the ultimate display to wow and amaze anyone who happens to love watching movies for long periods of time.

Directly going head-to-head with several notable full-sized tablets, due to the starting price of $500 for the base Wi-Fi model, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is an inviting addition to Sammy’s long portfolio of tablets. Essentially, it proves to be versatile and an all-around performer that won’t disappoint. Sure, we would’ve liked to see an updated premium design to match its premium status, but nevertheless, we can’t complain about its skinny frame and lightweight feel.

At the end of the day, is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 perfect? Needless to say, it’s difficult to bestow that kind of expectation to anything, but it manages to appease us in more ways than none.