Instead of unveiling the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S8 during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the South Korean giant took the covers off of 2 different tablets. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 and Galaxy Book distinctly target different consumers.
To fill the void left by the S8, two tablets took center stage. One of which runs a full version of Windows 10, while the other retains the Android OS. It seems the South Korean tech giant wants to get toe-to-toe with Apple's iPad Pro or Microsoft's Surface Pro 4.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 w/ keyboard. pic.twitter.com/jS41A4LRrf
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 22, 2017
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3. Speaking of iPad Pro, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 might have been designed to compete with this one. Basically, the Tab S3 is Samsung's high-end tablet running on Android 7.0 Nougat with TouchWiz and is packed with special features centered around entertainment.
One noticeable thing about the 9.7-inch tablet is that it has a new metal and glass design and feels like a grown-up S7. On the back is a 13-megapixel camera with autofocus, whereas a 5-megapixel camera can be found on the front, made for selfies. A fingerprint sensor is also built into the Home button just right below the screen.
The 2048 x 1536 Super AMOLED display is capable of HDR playback. This is basically the first tablet to support videos with a greater dynamic range. Plus, it sports auto-calibrated speakers, tuned by AKG specialists, that are designed to reposition themselves based on how the tablet is being held.
Besides Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 has built-in LT and houses Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage (expandable up to 256GB via microSD). A 6,000 mAh battery is mated with Samsung's Fast Charging support via its USB-C port.
Samsung Galaxy Book. Available on 10.6-inch (1,920 x 1,280) and 12-inch (2,160 x 1,440) models both run on full Windows 10 OS, reports VentureBeat. Relatively, the Galaxy Book is more of a competition against the Surface Pro. One of the best features of this tablet is that it is equipped with Samsung Flow.
The 10.6-inch Samsung Galaxy Book houses the 7th-gen 3.1GHz Intel Core i5 dual-core chip and has 4GB of RAM, either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage, and a single 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Meanwhile, the 12-inch model has a seventh-generation 3.1GHz Intel Core i5 dual-core chip, 4GB of RAM with 128GB of SSD storage or 8GB of RAM with 256GB of SSD, and two cameras (13-megapixels on the back with autofocus and 5-megapixels on the front).
S Pen and keyboard. The S Pen can be used with both tablets. However, the downside is that there is no slot and you can't insert it with either of the tablets due to its large size.
But it has a metal clip allowing it to magnetically attach to the back of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 via a magnetic "Pogo" port, according to Mashable. Plus, thanks to the company's partnership with Adobe, the S Pen now has a new feature like the tilt.
Pricing for either of the tablet models have not been officially announced by the company as of this writing. For what they are worth, don't expect them to come cheap.
This year might be high time for Samsung to make a big comeback following a 2016 disaster. Both the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 and Samsung Galaxy Book are to watch out for when the South Korean company finally announces their launch dates. Also, don't forget the special event of the much awaited S8 on March 29 in NYC.
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