Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra [huge 14.6-inch Super AMOLED]

Big screen. Samsung’s huge 14.6-inch Super AMOLED tablet is powered by a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. With a huge battery, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra has kept a surprisingly thin 5.5 millimeters.

Samsung’s updated lineup of flagship tablets includes the 11-inch Galaxy Tab S8, the 12.4-inch Galaxy Tab S8 Plus, and the impressive 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, a first for us. The manufacturer rightly claims that this is the largest tablet in the world. Readers will immediately be reminded of their dissatisfaction with the Galaxy View – an 18.4-inch device from 2016 weighing 2.65 kilograms. Samsung itself can answer this objection, which does not consider the Galaxy View a tablet, positioning it as something like a portable TV.

Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is very similar to the average Plus model, but, in addition to a larger screen and battery, it has a dual front camera. Also, the older model is distinguished by the presence of an additional configuration with increased memory: 8/128 GB costs $1119.99, 12/256 GB $1229.99, 16/512 GB – $1499.99.

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 8 x 1.8 – 3 GHz, Cortex-X2 / A710 / A510 (Kryo) Waipio

Graphics adapter: Qualcomm Adreno 730

RAM: 12 GB, LPDDR5

Display: 14.60 in. 16:10, 2960 x 1848 pix. 239 ppi, Capacitive, 10 multi-touch points, stylus support, Super AMOLED, glossy: yes, HDR, 120 Hz

Data storage: 256 GB UFS 3.1 Flash, 256 GB, 219 GB free

The weight: 726 g

Price: 1249 euros

Links: Samsung [manufacturer’s website]

Attention: Different samples of the same model often use different components! (AUO matrix instead of BOE, Hynix memory instead of Samsung, SATA storage instead of PCIe, …)

Design and Features

Despite the huge diagonal, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is the thinnest in the series. The camera on the rear panel protrudes by 1.6 mm, so the tablet normally rests on a flat surface.

In theory, a thin body should bend easily, but in practice, this is not the case: the construction of Armor Aluminum material with a matte finish turned out to be very durable. The only element that violates the overall solidity of the case is a glass area on the back panel, designed for magnetic attachment and charging of the S-Pen stylus. On one of the sides of the case, there is also a magnet for attaching the stylus, but in this position, when transporting the device, it will definitely not hold.

The build quality and body materials are excellent. The tablet, despite its decent weight, is comfortable to hold in one hand, however, due to its size, the grip with two hands is still more convenient. The case does not lend itself to twisting and deflection and is also soundly assembled together – no gaps at the joints.

The battery is built-in and cannot be replaced by yourself. The cover of the microSD slot does not perfectly match the color of the case, but it is inserted all the way. Our test sample does not have 5G support, but models with a modem also insert a nanoSIM card into this slot. This model lacks moisture protection, as well as additional body colors.

Equipment

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra has a USB 3.2 Gen. 1, which provides a throughput up to 5 Gbps. It also supports OTG and cable video output. On the bottom of the case, there is a contact pad, which is designed to connect the Book Cover keyboard (EF-DX900).

The tablet can also work as an additional monitor for a Windows computer – this function works even without wires. At the same time, input using the touch screen and the stylus continues to work, which is very convenient in practice. We tested this feature with Photoshop and were satisfied. True, input lag is sometimes felt due to the use of a wireless channel.

Software

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra runs on Android 12 with One UI 4.1 on top. Like the Galaxy S22 series smartphones, the manufacturer promises to release firmware updates for 4 years, and system security patches will be released for 5 years from the release of the device. Our test unit has the May version of the security patch installed, which is the most up-to-date at the time of writing.

In addition to Google services, the system has many branded applications and the Galaxy Store. There are also third-party apps from Microsoft and Netflix with Spotify, but they can all be removed. But OneDrive cannot be deleted – only disabled.

DeX desktop mode, by the way, can be used on the tablet itself – it is not necessary to connect a monitor for this.

Wireless and Navigation

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra supports modern wireless standards. True, he does not have a UWB chip.

The speed of the wireless connection paired with the reference router Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 is high. However, the maximum speed is only available when using the 6 GHz band (Wi-Fi 6E), since only VHT160 is supported for it. In the 5GHz band, 160MHz channels are not supported.

 

The audio quality for video calls is good.

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Camera

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra has dual cameras on the front and back, both with an additional ultra-wide-angle module. Samsung favors the front-facing camera as its ultra-wide-angle module has twice the resolution of the rear. In daylight, the pictures are good, as is the picture quality during video calls.

The rear camera also provides good image quality but lacks sharpness when shooting at close range. The ultra-wide-angle camera showed a poor depth of field, probably due to the low resolution. However, the quality is sufficient for shooting documents, and the presence of a flash allows you to shoot even at night.

Both cameras support shooting video in resolutions up to 4K at 30 fps.

How do different models shoot the same subject? Click (smartphone) or hover (computer) over the desired part of the picture to meticulously examine it in the windows below. By clicking on any of them, the corresponding frame can be opened in full size.

Display

The display of a larger diagonal than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, which the tablets did not previously have 14.6 inches (37.08 cm). Compared to the Galaxy Tab S8+, the tablet looks huge. The pixel density is sufficient to provide high-definition images, but the PPI is the lowest among the entire Tab S8 series. The refresh rate is fixed and can be 60 or 120 Hz, the screen supports HDR10 +, HDR10, and HLG.

The brightness of the Super AMOLED display is at the same level as the  Galaxy Tab S7 FE  and can reach 604 cd/m² with an active light sensor. If you turn it off, then the maximum brightness is limited to 359 cd / m². HDR display is normal, as, in the APL50 test (the screen displays equal areas of black and white), the brightness reached 795 cd / m². The minimum brightness of 1.81 cd/m² allows you to read in the dark without problems, and with the help of a special function, it can be further reduced to 1.49 cd/m².

Like other OLEDs, the screen brightness is controlled by PWM. At minimum brightness, the pulsation frequency varies from 118.7 to 250.8 Hz. At higher brightness levels, the ripple frequency flattens out to a constant 240 Hz.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra display has the most accurate color reproduction in Natural mode. With Vivid mode, colors become more saturated, although grayscale is still displayed extremely accurately. The modes use different color spaces: sRGB and DCI-P3 respectively.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra provides good readability outdoors. Due to the glossy coating, glare, of course, interferes with the normal perception of the image.

The viewing angles of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra display are excellent, with a maximum deviation from the central axis, there is a rainbow haze characteristic of OLED.

Performance

Like the other two models in the series, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is equipped with the most powerful chipset for Android devices today – Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Depending on the chosen configuration, the amount of RAM can be 8, 12, or even 16 GB.

The system performance of the tablet is at a very good level and only the iPad Pro 12.9 based on the  Apple M1 has better results among rivals. Multi-threaded performance in Geekbench is slightly lower than expected. In everyday use, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is very fast, does not slow down and does not make the owner wait.

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