Review: Galaxy Tab S3, a powerful and elegant tablet

Table of Contents

1. Design
2. Fabric
3. Audio
4. Hardware
5. Software
6. S-Pen
7. Cameras
8. Battery
9. Conclusion
10. Technical specifications

The newest member of the family Galaxy Tab da Samsungthe Tab S3, hits the market to show that tablets are still a powerful tool for working and having fun. Launched a few weeks ago in Spain, the device can be purchased around R$ 2.900. And, to help you decide if it's the best choice for you, we've prepared a complete review of all the features of the new tablet.

Design

Of course, the first thing you notice about the Tab S3 is its thickness, as the device is very thin and easy to take and use anywhere. the size of the device (237,3 x 169 x 6 mm) and your weight of less than 500 grams impress and please during use for several hours, that is, no tired wrist when holding the tablet for a long time.

the finish in glossy glass on the back guarantees more elegance to the tablet, despite being a magnet for fingerprints. Also, this makes the tablet a little slippery in the hands, so it is highly recommended that the user purchase an original case (around Real 250) or similar for the tablet, protecting the device from marks and making it firmer when in hand.

Fabric

The Tab S3 has an impressive display of 9,7 inches, occupying 72,7% from the front body of the tablet. made with AMOLED com capacitive touchscreen, the display has 1536 2048 pixels x resolution and can display up to 16 million colors! Using the maximum brightness, the quality of visualization and reproduction of images on the tablet is noticeable, whether in bright or dimly lit environments.

In addition, the touchscreen response is great, with multi-touch capability with up to 5 fingers on the screen simultaneously. Using from common applications to games with more functions, the touchscreen proved to be without problems or delays in responding to commands.

Audio

The tablet has 4 speakers, located in each of the upper and lower corners. The audio hardware was developed by AKG, which was recently purchased by Samsung. The sound quality is good, but at times it seems a little muffled. Furthermore, if the user does not want to cover at least two of the sound outputs, he will need to hold the tablet horizontally.

Fortunately the Tab S3 comes with in-ear headphones, which allow much better clarity and sound quality to the user. The headphones even have a built-in microphone and sound and volume controllers. Therefore, the user does not need to change apps if he wants to change the music he is listening to, as he just needs to perform any action directly through the headphones.

Hardware

The interior of the Tab S3 shows that Samsung has bet on a robust and optimized machine to rival at the same level as its biggest competitor in this tablet market: the iPad Pro. The device has a chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8996 820, one of the most advanced in the mobile technology market. The CPU consists of a Quad-Core with dual 2.15 GHz cores and other must of 1.6 GHz and a memory of 4 GB.

The power of these powerful features is evident when testing the tablet's main functions such as managing multiple open applications and the speed and performance of heavier applications such as games. games like Epoch 2 (which runs on the Unreal Engine, one of the most powerful) and Hearthstone worked without any crashes or dropped frames. What's more, by using Samsung's “Game Center” function, your games aren't interrupted by external notifications, that is, with no one to interfere with your fun.

Both models of the Tab S3 have 32 GB Internal Storage, which doesn't seem like much these days, but it does have a Micro SD slot that allows you to expand the device's capacity by up to 256 GB. Like its predecessors, the Tab S3 can also be used as a phone and now it has technology LTE for connection 4G.

Software

The Tab S3 relies on the operating system Android in your version 7.0 (Nougat). The tablet system is almost a “pure” Android containing few Samsung-specific programs and settings to ensure an easier and more complete experience at the same time.

As with previous models, the software for biometric reader remains present and gains more precision on the Tab S3. Just placing your previously registered finger on the device's “Home” button is possible to unlock the device.

Certainly the tablet's native application, the Briefing, is a very interesting program that mixes news from different sources in a newspaper style for the user to search. In addition, you can choose which subjects interest you most to customize the app experience.

Samsung also saved a surprise for those who, like the author of this review, are Blizzard Hearthstone players. When logging into the game for the first time on S3, the player will receive two packs of basic and special cards to use in the game, in addition to a special card back only available to S3 owners.

S-Pen

The precision touch pen has been modified for the Tab S3 and now the S-Pen It's thicker and bigger. It might seem strange that Samsung opted for a larger touch pen design than its predecessor models, but once you start using it, its shape makes a lot of sense. With the clip on the tip, it is much harder for it to slip out of the user's hand, as with the old stylus type pens.

With its new design the pen is easier to hold and pleasant to use. In addition, the S-Pen is much more accurate, with more than 4 thousand precision points, which makes a lot of difference when writing or drawing on the tablet. Among the new features of the device are the functions by proximity: if the user brings the pen close to the tablet, a pointer is visible on the screen, indicating the position of the pen, which facilitates various tasks.

By clicking the S-Pen button when next to the tablet screen, the user can activate a floating widget with various basic and customizable functions. Among the most interesting are the smart selection, which allows you to capture parts of the screen, and the Screen writing, which allows the user to write directly on the tablet's current screen in addition to taking notes even when the tablet is in standby mode.

Despite the advantages of precision and naturalness of using the S-Pen, it's a little frustrating that it's only possible to take advantage of the S3's full productivity potential through the use of a separate keyboard. The tablet has magnetic connectors for a keyboard on one of its sides, but the user who wants this equipment to make typing easier and faster will have to pay around 450 reais more to buy the peripheral.

Cameras

In the same way that the S3's AMOLED display has the HDR-ready function that helps to make the colors more realistic and increases the contrast, the device's two cameras are also powerful in ensuring excellent image definition. The rear camera has 13 MP resolution, along with a LED flash, which also works as a flashlight (but very weak compared to common smartphone flashes, for example).

For photos at night, the camera quality leaves something to be desired. It can be seen that the resolution decreases considerably and even the use of flash did not help to guarantee a better definition. Despite this, without a doubt one of the best uses of the S3's rear camera is for scanning old photos and documents. The native software that allows the stability of the focus of the photograph combined with a program to scan like Google Drive make this task simple and with satisfactory results.

The front camera has 5 MP com 1080 pixels resolution, an acceptable quality for both photos and video calls. As for filming, the S3 is capable of filming in 2160 pixels with 30 fps. Filming is of good quality and the filming function does not consume much tablet battery.

Battery

Samsung informs users that the battery lasts on average 45 hours with the use of audio, video and Wi-Fi together, however depending on the application that is executed this time can be reduced. Despite this, during the tablet review period, the battery 6000 mAh of the S3 performed well. The S3 uses a connector USB 3.1 Type-C, which ensures faster and more reliable data transfer.

It was possible to use the device with various functions such as social networks, photos, videos and games with a battery charge lasting about 1 day (not even close to the time reported by Samsung). Even so, the battery life is acceptable considering the tablet's hardware and the amount of resources used. Not even using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection did not consume much tablet battery. Watching a high definition video in full screen and at maximum brightness for about 90 minutes only consumed 13% of the tablet's battery!

In addition, the Tab S3 comes with a charger Fast Charger It fully charges the device's battery in about two hours, so even if the user runs out of power on the device very fast, the charging time is very fast.

Conclusion

At a time when tablets are losing more and more space in the market and in the technological life of the population for smartphones, the Tab S3 is a powerful machine for those who do not have a notebook and do not want to leave all their tasks to the phone. Additionally, the S3 is an excellent choice for non-Apple fans looking for a lightweight, powerful device for everyday use.

The inclusion of the S-Pen allows for greater ease of use of the tablet's many functions and is the perfect companion for anyone who wants to write or draw more accurately. Carrying a separate pen from the tablet may seem like a problem, but the magnetic latches on the side of the S3 allow the S-Pen to be attached to the device, without disrupting the experience or causing problems carrying the tablet to different locations.

The Galaxy Tab S3 is definitely the best Android tablet today, with a powerful interior and a simple, elegant design. If you are looking for something in the middle between a powerful smartphone and a fast notebook, the Tab S3 is your best investment option for a machine that will meet from the simplest demands to the most demanding tasks of any user.

Technical specifications