Samsung is not giving up on tablets just yet — despite analyst predictions to the contrary, The company has launched two brand new tablets to shake things up in a market that has grown increasingly stagnant of late. While the Galaxy Tab S3 builds upon the premises of predecessor S2, the Galaxy Book is a Windows based convertible that appears to be aimed towards Microsoft’s surface book customers.
For those who were still waiting for a Galaxy S8 announcement despite and in defiance of all the hints Samsung has been dropping for the past few months, its not happening. The company has chosen to use the MWC event to launch new tablets.
Okay, so first up is the Galaxy Tab S3. Samsung appears to have aimed the device at typical customers who buy a tablet so that they can consumer content more easily, and do some work if away from their laptops. However, the key USP here is the display.
The Tab S3 comes with a 2048 x 1536 display that is capable of offering HDR playback — yes, the same which is offered in high-end televisions. Which means that you can watch HDR content on your Tab — although finding the same could prove to be a bit difficult. That said though, the 9.7-inch Super AMOLED display is pretty cool.
The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and is backed by 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. you can expand the latter up to 256 GB with a memory card. The Tab S3 also features 4 auto-calibrated speakers that are able to reposition themselves depending upon how the tablet is held at that particular time.
You can also use the tablet for other purposes, so it is not exactly a limited-to-consumption model. The device packs quite a bit of processing power and alongside the Pogo pin tablet keyboard Samsung is offering, the tablet could really be used for multiple purposes.
What’s more, Samsung has decided to include stylus support with the Tab S3. You get a brand new S Pen with the S3, and you can use it to draw, write, capture screen shots, record GIFs and literally anything S Pens are capable of. However, there is no convenient spot to stuff the S Pen into when you are not using it. So you would have to hang on to the S Pen on your own.
The Tab S3 appears to be aimed towards folks dithering between buying a 9.7-inch iPad or taking up an Android tablet. The Tab 3, particularly since it matches the iPad in terms of screen size, pen support and a couple of other important things, could prove to be a viable option. Meanwhile, Samsung has not offered any word on pricing or availability yet.
