Apart from a highly anticipated flagship smartphone duo with a popular S Pen in tow, Samsung is widely expected to unveil both a new smartwatch and a premium Android tablet at the August 7 Unpacked event in New York City.
While the Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Galaxy Tab S6 weren't leaked as prematurely as the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+, we might now know everything there is to know about them as well. We're talking key selling points, groundbreaking new features, and especially design revisions, as shown in multiple rounds of leaked real-life pictures and press-friendly renders.
The latest batch of high-quality Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 depictions leaves almost nothing to the imagination, putting the spotlight on the slate's familiar front panel, its altered backplate, redesigned stylus companion, as well as all sides and angles.
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something (light) blue
For the first time... ever, Samsung is reportedly cooking up a high-end tablet with an actual high-end SoC that's not already behind the times. Still, most benchmarks suggest the Snapdragon 855 is no match for the Apple A12X Bionic chip found inside the latest iPad Pro generation (which is also likely to be upgraded in the near future).
Similarly, it looks like the Galaxy Tab S6 will retain the screen bezels of last year's Tab S4, which are slightly thicker than those of the 2018-released iPad Pro 11 and 12.9. Interestingly, the new premium tablet appears set to borrow the aluminum build from the upper mid-range Galaxy Tab S5e released earlier this year rather than go with the same all-glass design of the Tab S4.
Meanwhile, the S Pen looking to accompany the Tab S6 is different in design from the stylus accessories paired with the Tab S4 and Note 9. More importantly, the way it attaches to the back of the slate all but guarantees new Bluetooth-powered capabilities will be offered, requiring wireless charging done straight from the tablet. Another intriguing new feature "confirmed" by this fresh batch of renders is a dual rear-facing camera arrangement, although we're still not sure what kind of a secondary sensor we're looking at here. Previous reports have pointed towards an ultra-wide lens, but a 3D ToF (Time-of-Flight) sensor is also a possibility.
Following in the footsteps of a Galaxy Tab S4 sold in rather boring black and white colors, the Galaxy Tab S6 is today rendered in a much cooler trio of paint jobs, including grey, light blue, and what's likely to be marketed as rose gold.
No headphone jack and... no fingerprint scanner?!
It's pretty much etched in stone now that the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ will follow the unreleased Galaxy Fold's suit and kill off the beloved 3.5mm audio connector, so it shouldn't really come as a surprise that the Galaxy Tab S6 aims to turn its back on good old jack too. Especially considering the Tab S5e also lacks the same headphone port.
What's far more shocking is that there's no fingerprint reader in sight. While the Galaxy Tab S4 didn't include one either, at least Samsung equipped that device with an iris scanner, which is also nowhere to be found on the Tab S6. Of course, an out-of-sight in-display fingerprint authentication method could be in the pipeline, but it's by no means a guaranteed feature right now. What's certain is that the Galaxy Tab S6 won't borrow the side-mounted fingerprint sensor from the Tab S5e.
Recommended Stories
The rest of the (nearly) confirmed specs and features are hardly surprising, including a quad AKG-tuned speaker system, USB Type-C port, POGO pins for connecting an optional keyboard, optional LTE support, a 10.5-inch Super AMOLED display, at least 6GB RAM coupled with 128GB internal storage space, and the aforementioned state-of-the-art Snapdragon 855 processor. Unfortunately, there are no words on pricing yet, although if the vastly inferior Galaxy Tab S4 is any indication, this bad boy will certainly not come cheap.
Create a free account and join our vibrant community
Register to enjoy the full PhoneArena experience. Here’s what you get with your PhoneArena account:
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
Recommended Stories
Loading Comments...
COMMENT
All comments need to comply with our
Community Guidelines
Phonearena comments rules
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: