a massive battery and a screen
Samsung's Galaxy Tab S8 could come in an Ultra model with a massive battery and display
While Apple's latest
iPad Pro
may have taken the crown for
best tablet of 2021
, Samsung's next Galaxy Tab S8 series could dethrone it later this year. Samsung's Galaxy Tab S7 series was the
first real competitor
to the iPad Pro, and if the latest Tab S8 series rumors end up being true, Samsung is making plenty of improvements to keep up with Apple.
First of all, we should note that these rumors are a bit sketchy. We learned about this leak thanks to tipster @
FrontTron
, which has a keen eye on leaks from Korea. The tipster spotted a series of posts from
a user on Naver
, South Korea's largest online platform. Samsung reportedly sent out a survey to users asking what they thought of the company's upcoming tablet products. It's not uncommon for a company to survey users via an online survey and reveals product information in the process — Google
revealed the price
Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 this way - but we should note that survey information may not necessarily reflect actual products in the pipeline.
With that caveat out of the way, what information about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 tablets does this survey seem to reveal? Surprisingly many.
First off, there appear to be 3 models in the lineup: a regular, a plus, and what appears to be an 'Ultra' model. The standard tablet will have an 11-inch TFT LPTS display with a 120Hz refresh rate , while the plus model will have a 12.4″ OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Then there's the “Ultra” model which appears to have a gargantuan 14.6″ OLED display at 120Hz refresh. Samsung is no stranger to making big tablets – its Galaxy View and Galaxy View 2 have screen sizes of 18″ and 17″ respectively – but most tablets designed to be portable usually have a maximum size of 13″. Samsung has apparently managed to reduce the bezels to achieve an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 92%, which could justify the massive screen size of this Galaxy Tab S8 “Ultra” model.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series tablets are not only massive, but they will also be quite thin and light if this leak is to be believed. The regular model is said to be 6.3mm thick and weigh just 502g. The plus model would be 5.7mm thick and weigh 575g, and the Ultra model might be just 5.5mm thick and weigh 650g. The larger surface area of the Ultra model would allow Samsung to extend the components further, thus reducing the thickness. Apparently the Ultra model will have a ridiculous 12,000 mAh battery – the same capacity as the 17.3-inch Galaxy View 2 – while the plus and regular models will respectively have a 10,090 mAh and 8,000 mAh. All three tablets are said to support 45W fast charging (likely compatible with USB-PD PPS).
When it comes to performance, Samsung is rumored to launch the Galaxy Tab S8 series with the
Snapdragon 888
chipset. The base and higher models appear to be available in two configurations each, with 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. Meanwhile, the Tab S8 Ultra may come in an additional 12GB variant of RAM and 512GB of storage. It's unclear if the storage will be expandable. Apparently there won't be a 6GB RAM base model this year either, which is good because I've heard that the basic Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 has memory management issues.
Cameras aren't a major selling point of the tablets, but it looks like the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra will include a 5MP ultra-wide-angle camera on the front in addition to the 8MP sensor that will be present on all three models. That ultra-wide-angle sensor is included so users can see more during video calls. On the back, all three tablets will have a 13+5MP dual camera setup and LED flash.
Next, Samsung would equip all three tablets in the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 line with four speakers (likely tuned by AKG). it will be an optical or ultrasonic module.
In terms of accessories, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series would come with an S-Pen as standard. KRW (~$177) to KRW 320,000 (~$287). It's unclear if the base and higher models of the Galaxy Tab S8 series will be compatible with older keyboard models, but at the very least a new keyboard will be required for the larger Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra as Samsung has never released a product of this size before.
Depending on when these tablets launch, they could work
Android 12
out of the box, but are more likely to launch with One UI 3.5 based on Android 11. We don't know much about Samsung's Android 12 plans yet, but the leak shows off some DeX Mode features on the device, including a laptop mode, a tablet mode, a drawing mode and a viewing mode.
As for the price, it can range from KRW 829,000 (~$744) to KRW 1,669,000 (~$1,498) for the basic Galaxy Tab S8 to the top-end Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra. Each tablet will come with a Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, or 5G connectivity, although it's unclear if the LTE/5G differentiation will exist outside of Korea. We don't know exact pricing or availability yet, but we'll definitely hear more soon Samsung's next big Unpacked event later this year.
Featured Image: Samsung's Galaxy Tab S7 in Mystic Black with its keyboard cover