Verizon's Android 10 update for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 comes with two unpleasant surprises
Before Samsung comes out with the gargantuan Galaxy Tab S7 and Tab S7 Plus, the latter of which is expected to be released in a 5G-enabled variant in addition to Wi-Fi-only and 4G LTE-capable models, the company couldn't just leave last year's high-end Tab S6 behind from a software support standpoint.
Powered by a Snapdragon 855 processor, the 10.5-inch slate was kept waiting until only a few weeks ago for its official Android 10 update on the old continent. Fortunately, it didn't take Verizon much longer to optimize the goodie pack for its customers.
That's right, Big Red's cellular-equipped Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 is receiving the over-the-air Android 10 promotion as we speak, according to both the carrier's official support webpage and actual Verizon subscribers on Reddit.
While the update does come with plenty of cool new stuff, like Smart Reply functionality, Sound Amplifier, "real-time transcriptions for the world around you" with Live Transcribe, and vastly improved gesture navigation, we can't say we're very impressed with the March 2020 security patch level. After all, April is almost over, and Verizon had no problem baking the newest security patches into the Android 10 update delivered to the mid-range Galaxy A50 handset earlier this week.
What's perhaps even weirder is the nation's largest wireless service provider seems to be bringing Samsung's proprietary One UI up to version 2.0 on its Galaxy Tab S6 derivation, unlike those European Wi-Fi-only and LTE-enabled models that have jumped directly to One UI 2.1. It's unclear if Big Red plans to roll out the 2.1 iteration of the 2018-released user interface in a future update, although it's probably wise not to get your hopes up.
For what it's worth, the best One UI 2.1 features are all about camera versatility on Galaxy Note 10 and S10-series handsets, not exactly translating well to a 10.5-inch tablet. Then again, it would have certainly been nice to see Quick Share and Music Share functionality added to Verizon's Galaxy Tab S6.
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