A new model of Samsung's premium tablet recently arrived in the Czech Republic as well Galaxy Tab S3. Fans had to wait two years, so expectations were high. Unfortunately, the price was set slightly above twenty thousand. Is it even worth it? We bring you the first impressions of using this tablet.
Until now I have been using the first version Galaxy Tab S tablet from Samsung, 8,4 inches in size. I was therefore looking forward to replacing the tablet with a newer model after three years. But his experience so far has been mixed. It's not so much about the price. I know very well that if you want quality, you will pay extra. However, while using it, I found a few things that excited me, but also upset others.
Official photos of the black and silver variants of the tablet and both color variants of the S Pen stylus:
Gallery
The fact that it is a well-trodden piece of hardware goes without saying. Quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor (two 2,15 GHz cores, two other 1,6 GHz), 4 GB of RAM, four AKG speakers (they play great and you don't cover them with your hands while holding the tablet), or a decent 6 mAh battery (it will be reflected in the weight : the LTE version has 000 grams), these are already solid parameters.
Disadvantages
But I'm a bit embarrassed by the fact that while my first tablet was in 16:9 format, the two and the current three are already 4:3. Researchers claim that this is exactly what users want on a tablet, that it is easier to read websites and work more skillfully with two programs side by side. And it has an iPad, too, doesn't it, and you have to stick with that (that was the irony).
Really? Don't a lot of people have tablets to play videos too that come with enormous bars at the top and bottom? 16:9 video on my new 9.7 tablet is only slightly larger than the original 8.4 large one.
In addition, Samsung also decided to offer people only the larger variant this time, and not, at least, the faster eight, as with the two. If I were her, I'd go to her immediately. Unlike its bigger brother, the S2 8.0 can be held with one hand as I am used to. Worse, but it's possible.
Optional accessories, the keyboard, are also related to the aspect ratio of the tablet. It is inserted into the connector, so you do not need to pair it, let alone charge it, and it works immediately and without delays when typing. But for a person who has large hands and can write with all ten, it is useless.
It's probably not on sale yet, but I've had enough time to test it in stores to say it doesn't make sense for me. I preferred to get a full-width silicone roll-up bluetooth keyboard.
At the same time, on the first S tablet, the larger model, the keyboard was excellent. Due to the longer length of the tablet compared to the newer 4:3 models, a practically standard keyboard (without a numeric pad) could fit into it. It's a shame, but perhaps in the future the manufacturer will consider and offer a premium tablet in both versions (4:3 and 16:9) and sizes. And with it accessories.
Positive
What u Galaxy I see the Tab S3 as a big positive, is the S Pen. I never came into contact with it, and now I only reach for the tablet when I have to (for example, zooming in on pictures with two fingers). Otherwise, it's highly addictive. I can still draw and I will appreciate it doubly (the manufacturer gives the possibility to use professional drawing programs for free), but it also works great on my spreadsheets and websites. It's a shame they didn't make it thinner to fit inside the tablet, but even with that, you feel the S Pen seriously like a pencil, which is nice.
We don't need to talk about the display (Super AMOLED, 16 million colors, resolution 1536x2048, 264 pixels per inch). He is bombastic. It has more brightness again (441 nits), everything about it looks fantastic. And it seems to me that after a long time the ambient light sensor is finally working seriously, so the tablet actually adjusts the brightness sensibly.
At first, I was a bit confused as to why the USB-C charging connector is not in the bottom center like I'm used to, but a bit to the side. But in the end I'm glad; I often use the tablet leaning against the back of the couch, and thanks to the location of the connector, at least I don't break the cable when charging.
It was a bit strange that the tablet was already on sale, but nowhere did you have a chance to get a protective cover for such an expensive piece of hardware. But after some time it is available and I can't write a single bad word about it. This is my first encounter with a cover that holds onto the tablet thanks to a magnet, and it's definitely a better option than the first two S series, which had some kind of plugs on the back that clicked into the cover. Over time, the plugs wore out, so an import from China with a cover into which the tablet clicked completely had to help. That is why I praise the new principle.
As for the internal memory, I'm quite surprised how Samsung saved on users. I can't imagine anything less than 64 GB for a premium tablet.
I can't write too much about the camera, probably not many people use it on a tablet anyway and I just tried it anyway. It is supposed to have better parameters, but no enthusiasm for me yet. However, I don't want to judge based on just a few photos.
System
Android 7 with the Samsung superstructure works great. I have to commend the fantastic job of maintaining the battery. When you do not use a well-optimized tablet for many hours, after reactivating the display, it has the same battery percentage as before. Or at most a percentage or two less.
TouchWiz is no longer a cumbersome and slow add-on, everything runs smoothly. I just keep getting the message that the Samsung keyboard has stopped (probably it's annoyed that I'm using a different one), but that will be fixed in time.
Summary
That's all for the first impressions. Personally, I can say that if the old tablet was not already cluttered and more cumbersome (not to mention the battery), I would have no reason to change. Hopefully the four will be in at least two sizes, then I will easily switch to the newer version again.
Galaxy The Tab S3 is excellent, but it seems to reflect the general resignation of tablet manufacturers. Instead of giving customers a reason to buy more, they often seem to discourage them or make their products elitist. A sleeker premium tablet, whose parameters the authors would have thought carefully about and given users what they want, and not what they should want, would, in my opinion, be bought by many times more people. We'll see if manufacturers get better over time, or if tablets, on the contrary, bury themselves.
