Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ review: Is it inferior to the iPad?

Real competition for the iPad comes only from Samsung – both in terms of quality and range: The new high-end models in the Galaxy Tab S8 series are available in three display sizes – the small S8 with an 11-inch diagonal, the huge S8 Ultra with a 14.6-inch display and our S8+ test device with a 12.4-inch screen.

See Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ on Amazon

In contrast to the competition from Apple – and also to the Surface tablets from Microsoft – the S8+ comes with a stylus for the touchscreen: With the S-Pen you can take handwritten notes on the tablet, draw and paint, create annotations in other files and replaces a keyboard because pen input works anywhere you can type text. The S-Pen also works as a remote control, for example to take a photo or play videos. You charge the pen via the magnetic holder on the back of the tablet.

However, Samsung does not include a power supply unit, and the S8+ also lacks a mini-jack connection for headphones. The USB-C socket serves as a universal connection for power and peripherals. As a result, the tablet turns out to be very thin and light despite the sturdy aluminum case.

Samsung sells the S8+ with 256GB or 128GB of storage – the smaller storage model is $50 cheaper. You can expand the storage space with a micro SD card.

See also:

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra in the test: Android tablet with high-end equipment

With Android 12

Android 12 is installed on the S8+ with the Samsung user interface UI 4.1. It offers additional apps and functions compared to a standard Android. Multi-window is particularly useful on the large display: The Galaxy Tab can display up to four apps at the same time. Two apps on a split screen can be saved as an app pair to launch them together in the future. Samsung promises that the S8+ will also get Android 12L – the special operating system version for tablets – as well as Android 13.

The S8+ does not have any performance problems: Thanks to the 8-core CPU and 8 GB of RAM, it can be operated without any delay, apps start very quickly, and it also displays complex websites immediately. In the speed tests, it works about three times faster than inexpensive Android tablets from the 300 euro class.

Only Windows tablets with a current Intel processor are significantly more powerful. You can’t call on this computing power permanently: In graphics-intensive games, for example, the processor quickly reduces the clock rate in order not to overheat, and then works around 40 to 70 percent slower.

Fast top display

The S8+’s Amoled screen displays 2800 x 1752 pixels, giving it an aspect ratio of 16:10 and a high dot density of 267 ppi. The maximum refresh rate is 120 hertz, which makes scrolling and swiping through menus, websites and social media messages even smoother, but uses a little more power than the standard 60 hertz refresh rate. The Amoled technology guarantees a great contrast and an excellent color representation, which, however, as is often the case with Samsung, is too intense in the standard “Vivid” setting. She likes it better with the “Natural” setting. The display brightness does not quite reach the values ​​of other top tablets – especially with a high proportion of white in the picture, because the S8+ then regulates it to keep the power consumption in check.

This is also confirmed by the battery test: The tablet runs for around 8.5 hours when displaying – mostly bright – websites. When playing a darker movie, it manages 13.5 hours.

On the back of the S8+ is a dual camera with a 13-megapixel sensor and a 6-megapixel variant with an ultra-wide angle; the front camera takes pictures with up to 12 megapixels. The image quality is okay, and the cameras are particularly convincing in terms of color reproduction. Video recordings can be made with up to 4K resolution.

Conclusion

Samsung makes the best Android tablets, which the Galaxy Tab S8+ impressively proves in the test: It’s fast, has a very good screen and has a decent battery life. The included S-Pen is another plus. However, it is very expensive at around 1000 euros and inferior to an iPad Pro or Surface Pro as a working device.