Samsung Galaxy Tab S3
A brilliant screen and updated S Pen stylus make this the best Android tablet yet, but it’s too costly
The Windows-powered Galaxy Book stole plenty of headlines at this year’s Mobile World Congress, but Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Tab S3. It received rather less fanfare, and little wonder: at a glance, it doesn’t look any different to Samsung’s previous premium tablet, the Galaxy Tab S2. But that’s fine. It means the gorgeous 9.7in AMOLED display is still in place, and the tablet remains ridiculously thin and light. The big difference is that this time Samsung includes its enhanced S Pen in the box.
However, we need to talk about the price. With the new iPad ( opposite) starting at £339, the S3 looks crazily expensive. Samsung will argue that its closer competition is the 9.7in iPad Pro, which costs from £549 and doesn’t include the £99 Pencil, but even then you have to ask why you’d pay an extra £200 over the Galaxy Tab S2, which is still on sale for £399 without a stylus.
The stylus, then, becomes a key differentiator. It’s Samsung’s most advanced S Pen yet, with a tip measuring 0.7mm across. While I’m no artist, I found it lovely to write with on the Tab S3’s screen. I particularly liked the new feature called Screen Off Memo, which allows you to scribble notes without having to unlock the tablet or even turn it on. Just note there’s nowhere to stow the stylus in the tablet (hardly surprising considering it’s 6mm thick).
The other upgrades are to the Tab’s internals. A quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor runs the show, with two 2.15GHz cores and two running at 1.6GHz. With the help of 4GB of RAM versus the S2’s 3GB, it’s a lightning-quick machine.
That’s reflected in a Geekbench 4 multi-core result of 4,208 and a single-core score of 1,751, both within touching distance of Apple’s new iPad and its 4,204 and 2,490 scores. We don’t have the S2 to retest in Geekbench 4, but the older tablet’s Geekbench 3 scores suggest the S3 is around 30% faster at multi-core tasks. While the S3’s battery is slightly larger than the Tab S2’s, the bump to 6,000mAh hasn’t increased battery life. The S3 lasted 11hrs 43mins in our continuous video playback test with the screen set to 170cd/ m2, which is 25 minutes shy of the Tab S2’s result, and further behind the new iPad’s 14hrs 47mins. When you do need a top-up, it recharges speedily via a USB Type-C port. The 9.7in AMOLED screen has also received an upgrade. There’s no change in resolution, which remains at 2,048 x 1,536, but the screen now supports HDR content. It’s bright too, hitting a maximum of 301cd/m2, and
“But we need to talk about the price. With the new iPad starting at £339, the S3 looks crazily expensive at £600”
because it’s an AMOLED display, its contrast and colour coverage are both excellent.
In practice, that means the Tab S3 is well suited to outdoor use, and whether you’re watching Netflix or YouTube the results will look stunning. Colours are crisp, and images are filled with punchy detail. If you’re after something for on-thego media consumption and Facebook feed scrolling, this is it. As Jon Honeyball points out in his column this month ( see p110), though, you’ll need to switch to Basic mode if you want colour accuracy.
Sound quality is another good reason to upgrade from the S2, with the S3’s four-speaker arrangement providing the same clarity and quality as the iPad Pro’s quad-speaker system. Plus, thanks to an AKG-branded “quad-stereo” array, which automatically detects the orientation you’re holding the tablet in, you get a proper stereo image in both landscape and portrait modes.
There’s also one clear reason to choose the Tab over any iPad: while the 32GB of built-in storage is disappointing for this price, you can expand this via a micro SD slot that supports cards up to 256GB in size. A 4G/ LTE model is available too.
Also note the S3’s optional keyboard, which attaches via a magnetic connection on the left edge of the tablet, folding over and propping up the tablet just like the iPad Pro 9.7in’s Smart Keyboard. It also doubles as a case when not in use; it’s a neat accessory, but an expensive one at £119.
The Galaxy Tab S2 was already great, but the S3 is a clear improvement. With its speedy performance, bundled S Pen and HDR-supporting display, it’s a very nice tablet package. Unfortunately, that absurdly high price must be taken into consideration. Yes, it undercuts Apple’s 9.7in iPad Pro if you include its stylus, but I doubt there are huge numbers of people willing to pay £260 more than the new iPad for the S Pen and better speakers.