Gadgetory

samsung's newest tablet is ridiculously thin it's so thin in fact that when I went to go dig it out of my bag the other day I couldn't even see it at first is this worth $400 or more the brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab s2 is the successor to last year's Galaxy Tab s as I mentioned it's thinner than last year's model but it's also lighter has a similarly beautiful display and has an updated processor but despite its svelte figure it's still in some ways the same tablet inside I can't help but feel like it's lacking that wow factor that would catapult it into true top-of-the-line tablet territory does it have longer lasting battery life nope an amazing camera nope that's pretty much the same wireless charging wishful thinking let's talk about the tab s2 s build first one area where it really stands out it comes in two different sizes a nine point seven inch model and an 8 inch model Samsung claims the s2 tabs are the thinnest on the market it's even thinner than the iPad air 2 if you want to compare it with iPad and it's pretty nice looking the back of the Galaxy Tab s2 is an unembellished matte plastic with metal edges that give it a more premium feel one area where Samsung's mobile devices have really stood out from the pack is in displays and the tab s2 s rich looking Super AMOLED display is no exception specs wise the resolution is actually lower than the display on last year's Tab s which some consumers might ding it for but the difference in pixel density is probably not visible to the average eye now there are a few features that will look or feel familiar to you if you've been using other newer Samsung mobile devices for example the tab s2 has the fingerprint scanner built into the home button it's running on Android though it is an outdated version of Android at this point and it has Samsung's familiar TouchWiz skin there are things like side sync which allow you to do things like text message and make phone calls from the tab and as with other Samsung tablets you can multitask using the multi window feature but one key difference between this tab and the previous is its four by three aspect ratio on the previous Galaxy Tab s Samsung went with a 16 by 10 cinematic aspect ratio the tab s2 like many other tablets on the market is 4x3 and more optimal for everyday use case stuff like reading it has an updated Samsung Exynos processor due in part to the fact that some people complain that last year's Tab s felt sluggish for the most part the new tab felt fluid and fast and I was able to play graphics heavy games and stream video mostly without issue although the smaller tab s2 froze up on me and a couple occasions also it's worth noting that the tab s2 has the same processor as the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 not the superfast chip found in Samsung's latest and greatest smartphones the cameras they're just okay I still think using tablets for photos is just weird but I know that plenty of people use their tabs for this and they probably won't be blown away by the tab s2 s 8 megapixel rear and 1.2 megapixel front facing cameras which are pretty much the same as last year's Tab s and the rear cameras positioning means it's still too easy to inadvertently cover the lens with your hands or finger also battery life suffers a little bit due to the tablet's thinness it wasn't terrible during an official verge battery test I managed to get well over 6 hours with both tablets but that's less than the average for tablets these days it also doesn't support wireless charging or super fast charging as I mentioned earlier the Tab s 2 starts at $400 that's for the 8 inch Wi-Fi only 32 gigabyte model but it jumps up to 650 dollars for a nine point seven inch 32 gigabyte model with LTE putting it firmly in the upper echelon of tablet pricing when you consider this it's tough to justify an upgrade from the previous model unless thinnest lightness and a little more speed or top priority for you tablets in general have fallen off from the initial excitement around them a few years ago and in order to make a case for someone to spend several hundred dollars in a tablet these days it has to be something really special Samsung has definitely improved upon the Tab s where it needed it the most but it kind of feels like Samsung made this because it could not because it should I can't help but think or maybe hope that there's another tablet in the works whether it's a new high-powered Note tablet or another tab that is going to truly bring out the wow factor