Amazon has just leaked Samsung's Galaxy Tab S8 family in full (yes, really)
Just in case you had any lingering doubt regarding the specs, features, designs, price points, and release date of Samsung's upcoming ultra-high-end Galaxy Tab S8 family, Amazon is here to lend further credibility to the already trustworthy information revealed by numerous tipsters and leakers in the last few months.
Yes, Amazon. As in the e-commerce giant founded by Jeff Bezos in his garage back in 1994. Predictably enough, the premature Tab S8, S8+, and S8 Ultra listings that went live in Italy and France earlier today have since been removed, but because you can't really delete stuff from the internet nowadays, here's everything Amazon revealed, confirmed, or alluded to:
Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra specifications and prices
Unlike 2020's Galaxy Tab S7 lineup, the highly anticipated Tab S8 series is set to include three main models, with the absolutely gigantic new 14.6-inch Ultra variant unsurprisingly attracting the most early attention.
While some say there's no such thing as bad publicity, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra seems to be already generating a little bit of controversy on at least two fronts. First, there's Samsung's unusual choice to go with a notch rather than a pair of symmetrical top and bottom screen bezels, which by the way, is (not so) carefully hidden in the undoubtedly official product image disclosed by Amazon.
Perhaps more importantly, this Android-based colossus was listed at €1,159.34 in a Wi-Fi-only configuration and €1,308.10 with built-in 5G connectivity for a short while, which sounds pretty hard to swallow.
Although we obviously expect the European recommended prices to be more... round, these numbers are roughly in the same ballpark as what was rumored just last week. Even if these were to prove moderately accurate, the Tab S8 Ultra is pretty much guaranteed to start at around $1,150 and $1,300 in the US with Wi-Fi and 5G respectively, as well as a modest (by $1,000+ standards) 128 gigs of internal storage space.
Expected by Amazon (and a bunch of other sources) to begin shipping on or around February 25 following a formal announcement alongside the Galaxy S22 smartphone family earlier that same month, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is also essentially confirmed to offer these undeniably impressive specs:
- 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate technology and a resolution of 2960 x 1848 pixels
- 326.4 x 208.6 x 5.5mm dimensions
- 728 grams weight
- Android 12 with One UI 4.1
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor
- Up to 512GB storage and 8/16GB RAM options
- 11,200mAh battery
- Two 12MP front-facing cameras
- 13 + 6MP rear-facing camera setup
Galaxy Tab S8 and Tab S8+ images and specs
Ironically, Amazon appears to have "leaked" more renders but less information all in all about the arguably less interesting 11-inch Tab S8 and 12.4-inch Tab S8 Plus than their bigger, badder, and costlier brother.
For instance, there's no new info on non-Ultra retail pricing, although we're fairly certain the no-notch Galaxy Tab S8 and Tab S8+ will end up costing around $800 and $950 respectively stateside with 128GB storage space and no 4G LTE or 5G speeds.
On the bright side, we now know there will be at least three color options (black, silver, and pink), while Tab S8 Ultra availability could be restricted to a single black hue, at least in certain markets. That suggests Samsung actually expects the slightly more affordable slates to sell better than that ginormous laptop replacement detailed and depicted above, which makes quite a lot of sense.
Unfortunately for the world's top smartphone vendor, Android tablets are still not selling like hotcakes, and at these obscene prices, it might be even harder than usual to compete against Apple's extremely popular and similarly expensive iPad Pros.
Having said all that, the Galaxy Tab S8 and S8+ will offer some undeniably great value for hardcore Android fans, as illustrated in this side-by-side specs table:
Galaxy Tab S8 | Galaxy Tab S8+ | |
---|---|---|
Display | 11-inch LCD with 120Hz and 2560 x 1600 resolution | 12.4-inch Super AMOLED with 120Hz and 2800 x 1752 resolution |
Dimensions | 253.8 x 165.3 x 6.3mm | 285 x 185 x 5.7mm |
Weight | 507 grams | 572 grams |
Software | Android 12 with One UI 4.1 | Android 12 with One UI 4.1 |
Processor | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 |
Memory | 8GB RAM | 8GB RAM |
Storage | 128/256GB | 128/256GB |
Battery | 8,000mAh | 10,090mAh |
Front camera | 12MP | 12MP |
Rear cameras | 13 + 6MP | 13 + 6MP |
Connectivity | USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6E, optional 5G | USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6E, optional 5G |
Others | Wireless DeX, Gorilla Glass 5, S Pen included | Wireless DeX, Gorilla Glass 5, S Pen included |
Things that are NOT allowed: