We tested Samsung’s giant tablet: a massive OLED screen worthy of a small TV

When we first played with the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, we were pretty smitten. With its giant 14.6-inch screen and its extreme thinness (5.5 millimeters), Samsung’s latest born seemed pretty well on its way to bringing something new to the tablet market. A market which, let us remember, is extremely boring. Blame it on a duopoly between Apple and Samsung and a lack of consumer interest.

After almost a month with the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra at home, our opinion has changed somewhat. In addition to being very expensive for a tablet (from 1,219 euros, which is more than some high-end computers), the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra sometimes suffers from defects caused by its main quality: its size.

A sumptuous screen

Next to the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, the largest of the iPad Pros (12.9 inches) looks small. It must be said that the Samsung tablet breaks a record for its category and will flirt with the largest laptops, which is quite ambitious. In some aspects, it even does better. The LCD is used in the vast majority of laptops, Samsung uses OLED. The screen of his tablet is quite amazing. We have rarely been treated to such a beautiful slab.

If you are not familiar with this technology, OLED is, to date, the best on the screen market. With each pixel self-illuminating, the OLED delivers truly black blacks, which is pretty amazing when watching a movie for example (or with an app’s dark theme). Only bright places light up, the rest are off. This technology is very common on smartphones and high-end televisions, but it is still very rare on tablets and PCs.

To watch movies, play streaming video games, browse the web or make video calls, the Samsung tablet is, to date, the most convincing product in terms of the screen. Truth be told, between the 40-inch LCD TV in our bedroom and Samsung’s 14.6-inch OLED screen, we often preferred to use the Galaxy Tab before sleeping. The image is so beautiful and so unaggressive that you really want to settle for it, especially since its brightness easily surpasses that of high-end televisions. Same thing during a plane flight where we voluntarily brought the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra for the sole purpose of watching a series episode on Disney +. Samsung’s giant tablet is a sort of luxury portable video store, not quite a computer (its 120Hz refresh rate makes the experience even better). Anyway, it’s pure bliss for the eyes.

By choosing such a large OLED panel, Samsung clearly succeeds in part of its bet. Going over 12 inches on a tablet might make sense if you’re not using it as a tablet.

Closer to a computer than a tablet

Because no, we don’t see the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra as a tablet. Why ? Because its large format has the defect of making it very hard to transport. Holding it in your hand to show something to a friend is not practical, the weight is unevenly distributed and the tablet tends to tip to one side (726 grams). On the knees, even with the optional keyboard protection, it is also quickly annoying. The tablet seems about to tip over at any moment. In the end, where we used the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra the most was on our desk. As if it were a laptop. The only times we took it out was to watch videos by holding it with the foot of its case (it doesn’t have a built-in foot, which is a shame given its size). Samsung has, in a way, invented the first stationary tablet.

All this is all the more unfortunate that at the software level, Apple offers the applications best suited to large screens, but Samsung is the one that offers the best interface. Thanks to DeX mode, all Android applications on the Galaxy Tab can be opened as windows. DeX lets you use the Galaxy Tab like a laptop, with a mouse and keyboard. It works perfectly well and, on paper, seems tailored for the giant 14.6-inch screen of the S8 Ultra. It feels like using a real PC.

The problem is that, on a desktop, Windows and macOS remain infinitely superior to Android, with or without DeX. Even if it means choosing, we would prefer to buy a real laptop at this price (+ 1219 euros, remember). The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra has the advantage of its exceptional OLED screen, but that makes the mini-TV expensive. This new category is wedged between several universes and is not the best in any.

And performance in all this?

High-end Samsung tablet requires, we will not surprise you by announcing that the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is extremely well equipped. Its Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor is one of the most powerful on the market, its battery can easily last several days if you use it at a normal frequency, there is obviously 5G as an option and, a little bonus, the S-Pen stylus comes with the tablet. We even have a rather satisfying dual camera module on the back of the device, in case you fancy carrying around with a 14.6-inch camera.

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