Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 First Impression

We’ve recently released our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A, now let’s take a closer look at the two tablets – the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 – which made official local debut earlier today.

The design trend of the Samsung Galaxy tablets has been, for the past years at least, is that it follows the current design of the South Korean company’s flagship smartphone.

We’ve seen it evolved from the rounded and plastic-y tablet that was inspired by the Galaxy S3‘s design, to a super-thin slate with a perforated back panel that was an offshoot of the Galaxy S5’s looks, not to mention the leather-backed Galaxy Tab Pro lineup which is undeniably influenced by the Galaxy Note 4.

With the latest tablets, however, Samsung has not implemented the same design scheme of their current flagship handset. Not that obvious at least compared to the previous models which looked like a super-sized version of their handsets.

One of the reason for this is the use of 4:3 aspect ratio on the screen, effectively making the tablets look square-ish in the process. This creates a distinction that it is indeed a tablet and not a smartphone on steroids.

Another point to take note off is the use of different material for the tablets’ back panel. Instead of glass, which is the material used on the Galaxy S6’s posterior, Samsung used a plastic back cover with a borderline soft touch to it.

It doesn’t attract as much fingerprint or smudge as the glossy panel of the Galaxy Tabs of the past, and it certainly doesn’t look and feel like cheap compared to other plastic panels that Samsung has used on their previous releases.

Two components break the barren landscape of the Galaxy Tab S2’s back panel: the slightly protruding 8-megapixel rear camera and two holes where the after-market covers and casing will latch on to – similar to the ones found on the previous Galaxy Tab S.

The top and left edges of the Galaxy Tab S2 are devoid of any external components. All of the buttons are placed on the right side which consists of the power button and volume rocker. Meanwhile, the ports, microUSB and headphone jack, are situated at the bottom. Also perched in this section are two speakers which are perched near the left and right edges of the tablet’s bottom panel.

Present at the front of the tablets is the fingerprint-scanner-imbued physical home button which is sandwiched in between two capacitive buttons for menu and back. Just above it is the tablets’ Super AMOLED display that is bordered by reasonably-sized bezels.

Lastly, an earpiece can be found at the top and smacked right in the center. This is neighbored by a barely visible sensor and a miniscule front-mounted snapper with 2.1-megapixel resolution.

Design-wise, both the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 and its bigger sibling shares a lot in common with the Galaxy Tab A. The clean and spartan look of these tablets will certainly appeal to those who are not in to flashy gadgets, yet it has enough swag to not look like a run-of-the-mill tablet.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 specs:
9.7-inch 2048 x 1536 Super AMOLED display, 264ppi
8.0-inch 2048 x 1536 Super AMOLED display, 320ppi
Samsung Exynos 5433 octa-core CPU (Quad 1.9GHz + Quad 1.3GHz)
3GB LPDDR3 RAM
32GB internal storage
up to 128GB via microSD
8MP rear camera
2.1MP front camera
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac MIMO (2.4GHz/5GHz)
WiFi Direct
Bluetooth 4.1, BLE
GPS, GLONASS
Fingerprint scanner
5,870mAh battery (9.7-inch)
4,000mAh battery (8.0-inch)
Android 5.0 Lollipop
169 x 237.3 x 5.6mm, 392g – 9.7-inch
134.8 x 198.6 x 5.6mm, 272g – 8.0-inch
Black, White

Some consumers may not appreciate the new 4:3 aspect ratio of the new tablets, particularly since they’ve used to seeing 16:9 slates from Samsung. However, those who’ve been waiting for Samsung to make the switch to the square-ish display, the new design scheme is heaven sent.

The folks over at Samsung Philippines were kind enough to lend us a unit to take out for a spin for a couple weeks. So stay tuned for our full review.