Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 Outdoor Case With Pen Holder Review
Our Verdict
The Samsung Milky way Tab S3 will print you with its gorgeous HDR brandish, premium blueprint and S Pen. But $600 is a lot to pay for a tablet.
For
- Gorgeous nine.vii-inch AMOLED screen with HDR support
- Sleek, premium pattern
- Included S Pen and Air Command apps
- Quad speakers by AKG
Against
- Pricey
- Bombardment life is but OK
- Camera is a bit behind the iPad'south
- Optional keyboard has pocket-size keys and isn't very stable
Laptop Mag Verdict
The Samsung Milky way Tab S3 will impress you with its gorgeous HDR display, premium pattern and S Pen. Only $600 is a lot to pay for a tablet.
Pros
- +
Gorgeous ix.7-inch AMOLED screen with HDR support
- +
Sleek, premium design
- +
Included Due south Pen and Air Command apps
- +
Quad speakers by AKG
Cons
- -
Pricey
- -
Bombardment life is just OK
- -
Camera is a bit behind the iPad'south
- -
Optional keyboard has pocket-sized keys and isn't very stable
To inject new life into tablets, Samsung has borrowed liberally from its smartphones to create the Galaxy Tab S3. By bringing over some of the best things about Samsung's flagship phones -- such as a premium glass-and-metallic design, a versatile Southward Pen stylus and a slick Android 7.0 experience -- Samsung is betting that the Tab S3 can deliver a Milky way-class device for use around the dwelling house or even in the office. Samsung has also added a couple of multimedia perks, including support for loftier dynamic range (HDR) content and quad AKG speakers. But with mediocre battery life and a camera that doesn't live upward to the S7's, the $600 Galaxy Tab S3 is easy to like but hard to justify buying.
Design: Premium pedigree
Past revamping its flagship tablet with a new glass-and-metallic design, Samsung has sent a articulate message that the Tab S3 shares more just a passing connexion with its more mobile siblings.
Like the Galaxy S7, the Tab S3 (available in blackness or silver) has sleek glass panels on the front and back, a strip of brushed aluminum running around the outside, and a abode button with a built-in fingerprint reader that's flanked on both sides by touch controls for Back and Contempo Apps.
On the tablet's lesser, at that place's a handy USB Blazon-C port with back up for quick charging, along with a handy headphone jack for all of your audio needs.
MORE: All-time Tablets
The Tab S3 distinguishes itself from beingness just big smartphone with a new quad-speaker setup, thanks in role to AKG, and a subtle strip of Pogo pins on the left side that are used to connect the Tab S3'due south optional folding keyboard (more on both of those after).
Measuring 9.37 ten half dozen.65 x 0.23 inches and weighing 0.94 pounds, the Tab S3 is substantially the same size and heft equally Apple's 9.seven-inch iPad Pro (9.4 x 6.6 x 0.24 inches and 0.98 pounds).
Display: A real care for for the optics
With a high-res 2048 x 1536 QXGA resolution and a vibrant Super AMOLED panel with support for HDR content, the Tab S3's screen is downright mesmerizing.
The Tab S3 gains an edge with its HDR support, which can completely change how you see color and lighting in movies.
Its pure blacks are perfect for watching space movies such every bit Life, though with the screen'southward 4:three aspect ratio, you will run into some pretty heavy letterboxing on the meridian and bottom.
But the Tab S3 gains an edge with its HDR support, which can completely change how you see colour and lighting in movies. Watching an HDR video for the first time can feel the aforementioned as moving from standard definition to full Hard disk drive. Simply i problem: HDR content isn't widely available yet, though there are a few select titles -- such equally Bosch and Man in the High Castle, both on Amazon Prime Video -- that practise work on the Tab S3. In those shows, the Tab S3'southward HDR screen reveals many more details in very dark or light scenes while besides adding a new richness to colors.
Putting out a peak effulgence of 441 nits, the Tab S3 is ane of the brightest tablets we've e'er tested, even outshining the 9.7-inch iPad Pro (432 nits). However, the Tab S3 vicious short of the Google Pixel C, which put out a superbright marking of 509 nits.
Fifty-fifty with a stunning HDR-enabled AMOLED screen and a luxurious blueprint, it's difficult to justify spending $600 on whatsoever tablet.
Where the Tab S3 actually shines is with its color range. It covered an expansive 188 pct of the sRGB spectrum; in comparison, the nine.7-inch iPad Pro registered but 122 pct.
Finally, with a Delta-E rating of 3.44, the Tab S3's color accuracy was practiced, but not slap-up. The screens on both the Pixel C and the iPad Pro were much more precise, with ratings of 1 and 1.9, respectively. (Numbers closer to 0 are amend.)
Audio: A new era of sound from Samsung
Samsung looks to be entering into a new era of audio excellence. The Tab S3's quad-speaker setup past AKG features omnidirectional tuning that adjusts the audio so that it will sound good in both portrait and landscape orientation.
When I put it upwards against the iPad Pro (which also has a dynamic four-speaker arrangement) while listening to Chic's "I'll Be There," the differences we're quite apparent. While the iPad Pro definitely wins on volume, the vocals and guitars from the Tab S3 were much crisper, and and sounded richer, in the highs and mids, especially up confronting the iPad'due south overly airy sound.
Functioning: Quick, merely still can't touch Apple
Featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of onboard storage and microSD bill of fare expansion up to 256GB, the Galaxy Tab S3's specs are virtually identical to those of Samsung's current flagship telephone, the Galaxy S7. As a outcome, operation always felt snappy, whether I was watching a high-res movie, playing a game or flipping betwixt apps.
Fifty-fifty though the Tab S3's performance is quite expert, Apple tree'southward iPad Pro still holds a considerable advantage.
Nevertheless, for a premium product that tin can also exist used equally a backup productivity device, the Tab S3'south 32GB of onboard storage feels a bit stingy. We would have preferred 64GB to start.
Unfortunately, even though the Tab S3's operation is quite good, when yous put information technology upward confronting the nine.7-inch iPad Pro, it's clear that Apple's tablet still holds a considerable advantage. On Geekbench 4, which measures overall system performance, the iPad Pro scored 4,802, versus the Tab S3'southward marker of 3,765. The aging Pixel C was even further behind, at 2,717.
It was a similar story for graphics performance, where the 9.vii-inch iPad Pro outperformed the Tab S3 on 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics test, scoring 32,494 versus 20,891 for Samsung's device. Withal, the tablet boilerplate is still significantly lower, at 17,453.
S Pen and Optional Keyboard: Southward Pen is sweet, keyboard not so much
When you want the Tab S3 to exist more just a content-consumption device, you can pull out the included S Pen and transform the tablet into a top-notch sketching tablet. The Tab S3'south pen features 2,048 levels of pressure level sensitivity, delivering the kind of precision that artists will appreciate.
As with the stylus integration on other Samsung devices, y'all become a whole range of Air Commands that let you create notes, write memos on the screen, create shortcuts to your favorite apps or fifty-fifty make your very own GIFs. Too bad in that location's nowhere to dock the pen when it's non in use.
If you want to go even further, y'all tin can pony upward for the Tab S3's $130 optional folding keyboard, which features a congenital-in kickstand and a handy Pogo pin connector. That means you don't need to look for a Bluetooth keyboard to slowly connect every fourth dimension you want to type. Nor volition y'all have to worry about one more than matter to accuse, since the keyboard draws the juice it needs from the tablet.
The optional keyboard'southward single-position kickstand and lack of a hinged connector make the Tab S3 quite finicky to use when you lot don't have it set on either a desk or a table.
As far equally the typing experience goes, the keys take a pretty standard 65-gram actuation weight and a somewhat shallow, though pleasantly clicky, 1.one millimeters of travel. Because of the 9.7-inch Tab S3's dimensions, though, the keys on the pinnacle and lesser rows are half the size as the letter keys, which are already pretty pocket-size. That makes impact typing at speed pretty hard without a lot of adjustment time.
Likewise, the keyboard's single-position kickstand and lack of a hinged connector make the tablet quite choosy to apply when you don't have it prepare on either a desk or a table. Additionally, its keys aren't backlit, and while the "squircle"-shaped keys practice a adept job of imitating the Tab S3's domicile-screen icons, they aren't actually whatsoever ameliorate for typing than good ol' square keys.
Camera: Good, simply not quite Galaxy-class
If you're the kind of person who takes a lot of photos with a tablet, you lot should probably re-evaluate your priorities (especially if yous're the person two rows alee of me at concerts who spends the whole prove blocking my vision with a nine-inch device). Yet, considering the Galaxy S7'south shooter is the best smartphone photographic camera on the market right now, you might think Samsung'southward efforts to bring the best office of its flagship phones to the Tab S3 would interpret to the tablet'due south camera. Sadly, that isn't the case, because afterwards I compared a number of shots taken by the S3 and a Galaxy S7 Edge next, I constitute that the Tab S3's xiii-megapixel rear photographic camera wasn't on the same level as its smartphone analogue.
The nearly apparent deviation is the Tab S3'due south more limited dynamic range.
In a shot of a nearby bonsai tree, the Tab S3's rear cam underexposed the dirt and caused the colors on the leaves and colorful plastic soldiers to await significantly more than muted than in the S7 Edge's epitome.
Fifty-fifty in almost optimal conditions, the aforementioned thing happened again when I snapped a flick of some cookies. The S7's picture show featured noticeably richer colors and better dynamic range. Plus, the Tab S3's shot showed that the camera had a difficult time focusing, equally much of the photo looked soft and blurry.
The results are much closer than photos from the 9.7-inch iPad Pro's 12-MP rear cam, just I'd take to give the iPad a slight edge because its pics accept a sharper focus and more saturated colors, fifty-fifty if the iPad'southward photo is a piffling dark.
In front, the Tab S3's v-MP cam snaps pics pretty similar to those from the S7's same-res shooter.
Software and OS
The Tab S3 comes with Android 7.0 that has been customized with Samsung's skin and UI treatment, so you get a relatively clean domicile screen with squircle-shaped icons. Withal, Samsung does non offer a theme app every bit it does for its phones, and so if you want to customize the device'south layout, you'll have to resort to third-party apps such as Nova Launcher.
Preinstalled software includes Microsoft's Office suite for Android, a few apps for use with the the S Pen, and some items borrowed from Samsung's flagship phones, similar Secure Folder. You lot can use that app to shop sensitive data with its ain password or fingerprint-locked partition.
The Tab S3 likewise comes with Samsung'south Flow app, which tin be used to pair the Tab S3 to an Android phone, so yous can encounter texts and notifications correct on the tablet. Period can besides be used to automatically prepare up a mobile hotspot using the data connexion from your phone, giving you cyberspace access even when you're away from Wi-Fi.
Bombardment Life: But OK
With a time of eight hours and 45 minutes on the Laptop Magazine Battery Test (continuous spider web surfing over Wi-Fi), the Tab S3's battery life is pretty mediocre. Our tablet category average is about thirty minutes longer, at 9:eighteen, while the Tab S3'due south closest competitor, the 9.seven-inch iPad Pro, was considerably improve, with a time of x:53.
MORE: 10 Tablets with the Longest Bombardment Life
Considering the S3's keyboard draws power from the tablet, keeping the two connected can have an bear upon on the S3's longevity. When we ran our standard battery test with the keyboard attached, we found that the Tab S3'south bombardment lasted almost an hr less, on average, with a time of 7:38.
Bottom Line
The Samsung Milky way Tab S3 has a lot of stand up-out features, including its superb AMOLED screen with back up for HDR content, precise handwriting and drawing capabilities via the included South Pen, and gorgeous glass-and-metallic design. But I'k non so sure the Tab S3 -- or any other tablet -- is worth $600. That'southward a ton of money to spend on a device you apply to stream Netflix and sketch notes.
Yep, you could shell out another $130 for the Tab S3'southward antsy folding keyboard, only now you're looking at a total cost of $730, which gets dangerously close to the toll of Microsoft's Surface Pro 4. If I had to choose betwixt the Tab S3 or the Surface Pro 4 (which has a much faster CPU and quadruple the storage) equally a real productivity device, I'd selection the Surface Pro 4 every time.
It'southward not like the Tab S3 has been perfectly executed, either. Its battery life is only OK, and its camera is a far cry from those on Samsung'due south flagship phones. The Milky way Tab S3 is a true luxury device. Information technology'south something that well-nigh anybody would love to have sitting pretty in their living room or kitchen, but even with all of its strong points, it's hard to justify a price tag that high.
Photo credit: Jeremy Lips/Laptopmag
- All-time 2-in-1s (Laptop/Tablet Hybrids)
- Best Laptops Nether $500
- Best Laptops for College Students
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 Specs
| Brand | Samsung |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 |
| Camera Resolution | 13MP |
| Card Reader Size | 256GB |
| Company Website | www.samsung.com |
| Display Resolution | 2048 x 1536 |
| Display Size | 9.7 |
| Forepart-Facing Photographic camera Resolution | 5MP |
| Graphics Chip | Adreno 530 |
| Graphics Memory | Shared |
| Has Bluetooth | Yep |
| Os | Android 7.0 |
| RAM Included | 4GB |
| Size | 9.37 x 6.65 x 0.23 inches |
| Storage Drive Size | 32GB |
| Storage Drive Blazon | Flash Memory |
| USB Ports | ane |
| Warranty / Back up | standard one-year warranty |
| Weight | 0.94 pounds |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11a/b/1000/n/ac |
Less
Source: https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/tablets/samsung-galaxy-tab-s3
Post a Comment for "Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 Outdoor Case With Pen Holder Review"