Ahead of the Galaxy Note 9 event scheduled for next week, Samsung has gone ahead and unveiled the Galaxy Tab S4, its latest attempt at an Android tablet. The device is built to compete with the likes of other high-end tablets such as the Microsoft Surface and Apple iPad and improves upon last year’s iteration with new features, specs, and an updated design.
For starters, the biggest visual change between the Tab S4 and the Tab S3 is the screen. Samsung is using a 10.5-inch panel for this model with a resolution of 2560 by 1600 and an aspect ratio of 16:10. It also uses a Super AMOLED display which Samsung’s known for with its various devices.
The screen’s surrounded by significantly smaller bezels that add an improved aesthetic to the device all while leaving enough room for your thumbs to rest as you hold it. Unfortunately, this means there’s no longer a home button/fingerprint sensor combo, but Samsung does provide iris and facial scanning as two biometric alternatives.
As far as specs go, we’re looking at a Snapdragon 835 processor from last year, 4GB of RAM, 64GB to 256GB of storage, a microSD card slot with support for up to a 400GB card, a rear 13MP camera, an 8MP front camera, USB-C connectivity, and a 7300mAh battery. It comes powered out of the box by Android 8.1 Oreo, but that’s not all as far as software goes.
According to Samsung, the Galaxy Tab S4 comes with the company’s DeX environment preinstalled, allowing users to utilize a full desktop environment when they need to get work done. It’s exactly the same UI found when plugging your Galaxy S9into a DeX dock. You can have up to 20 windows open at once and it works with any Bluetooth mouse and keyboard combo you want. If you buy Samsung’s $150 keyboard case, you’ll use pogo pins that come mounted to the device to attach the accessory. Once connected, DeX will automatically fire up.
Of course, one of the major selling points of the Tab S lineup since last year has been the inclusion of the S Pen, and this year is no different. The Tab S4 comes with the stylus slotted within its body that you can use to take notes, draw, sketch, capture screenshots, and more. Essentially, anything you can do with the S Pen on the Galaxy Note 8, you can do on this device.
For sound, Samsung provides four AKG-tuned stereo speakers on the Galaxy Tab S4 alongside a headphone jack. There are also far-field microphones so your voice can be picked up by the Google Assistant or Bixby. Finally, certain variants of the tablet will come with LTE connectivity and work on all US carriers.
The Galaxy Tab S4 starts at $649 with 64GB of storage and goes up to $749 for 256GB of space. Both are available for pre-order now, with shipments going out on August 10th. The device will be available from retailers such as Best Buy, Amazon, Verizon, Sprint, and US Cellular.
