With the hot new Galaxy Tab S7 FE (5G) "mid-ranger" looking an awful lot like last year's ultra-high-end Tab S7+ and sharing a number of its key specs with the similarly premium Tab S7, you may have been left wondering what Samsung is planning for its undoubtedly fast-approaching Galaxy Tab S8 family.
Believe it or not, almost every single one of your questions is getting an answer today, and while there's obviously no way to verify the authenticity of this huge Naver leak (first shared on Twitter by Tron), the fresh info purportedly revealed here definitely fits our expectations from a solid Galaxy Tab S7 series upgrade... with a very interesting twist.
The tablet market is not ready for the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra beast
Remember when Samsung was rumored to jump from the Galaxy Tab S6 all the way up to the Tab S20 to align the naming scheme of its Android slates with the Galaxy S20 handset lineup? While that obviously didn't pan out, the company is now reportedly working on its first-ever Ultra-branded tablet after unveiling its first Fan Edition slate.
But while the S21 Ultra is only slightly larger than the S21 Plus, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra could absolutely dwarf the 12.4-inch Tab S8+ and 11-inch Tab S8 with a gargantuan 14.6-inch OLED display supporting 120Hz refresh rate technology.
Galaxy Tab S7+ (left), iPad Pro 2020 (right)
Incredibly enough, the Android-based giant, which is unsurprisingly tipped to pack the "fastest next-gen" processor, could somehow weigh less than arguably the best tablet money can buy right now. We're talking about Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2021), which tips the scales at 682 grams, compared to the rumored 650-gram weight of the 14.6-inch Tab S8 Ultra.
Something like that would never be possible without a razor-thin 5.5mm profile (yes, that's even thinner than the Tab S7+), but what's truly astounding is the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra might still come with a huge 12,000mAh battery under its hood, as well as up to 12 gigs of memory and 512GB internal storage space.
The entry-level 8GB RAM/128GB ROM configuration could fetch the rough equivalent of over $1,300 (!!!) in South Korea, and while a Bluetooth-equipped S Pen will be included as standard, you'll have to pay even more for a mystery new "premium" keyboard, as well as optional 5G speeds.
The Galaxy Tab S8+ sounds... familiar
Stop us if you've heard this one before. Samsung is working on a 12.4-inch Android tablet with a 120Hz OLED screen, 10,090mAh battery, dual 13 + 5MP rear-facing cameras, single 8MP selfie shooter, quad speakers, and under-display fingerprint recognition capabilities.
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All of that seems to apply to both the Galaxy Tab S7+ and Tab S8+, which will also be impossible to tell apart when it comes to their weight and thickness numbers.
Galaxy Tab S7+
Just like in the Tab S8 Ultra's case, it remains to be seen if the "fastest next-gen" SoC is the existing Snapdragon 888 or some sort of as-yet unreleased sequel. That might be one of the very few meaningful internal upgrades brought to the table by the Galaxy Tab S8+, so it better be worth the wait... and the $1,000+ starting price (in Korea).
Compared to the Tab S7+, this somewhat repetitive follow-up effort is expected to offer an extra 2 gigs of RAM (for a grand total of 8) together with the same old 128 gigs of local digital hoarding room in its most affordable least expensive version.
The Galaxy Tab S8 will also pack the "fastest next-gen" chipset
Much like its bigger (non-Ultra) brother, the "regular-sized" Tab S8 looks set to retain most of the specs and features of its 11-inch predecessor. That includes LTPS TFT display and 120Hz refresh rate technology, as well as a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, 8,000mAh battery capacity, and the same impressive 45W fast charging support as the Tab S8+ and Tab S8 Ultra.
With 8 gigs of memory and 128GB storage space and no 4G LTE or 5G connectivity (which will however be offered as options), the Galaxy Tab S8 could cost as much as 829,000 won in Samsung's homeland, equating to a little under $750.
Given that the Galaxy Tab S7 normally starts at $650, that suggests the entire Tab S8 family will be cheaper stateside than in South Korea. Either that or we're actually looking at a faster processor than the Snapdragon 888 here designed to provide at least slightly stiffer competition for Apple's in-house M1 powerhouse inside the latest 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pros.
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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'.
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