Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 review: The best Android tablet. Period.

The tablet market has been shrinking over the years as the initial euphoria failed to translate into sustained sales for the segment. Whatever is left of the tablet market is monopolised by Apple’s iPad. But that does not mean there are no other good tablets in the market. In fact, Samsung, which had a lot of options in the segment once, has just launched the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 which could give it some traction in the space.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 specifications: 10.5-inch display with 2560 x 1600 resolution at 287 ppi | octa-core Qualcomm MSM8998 | 4GB RAM | 64GB storage | 13MP rear camera with f/1.9 aperture + 8MP front camera | Android Oreo | Four speaker audio | Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Bluetooth 5.0 | 7300mAh battery | Nano SIM
Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 price in India: Rs 57,900

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 review

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 is a very handy 10.5-inch tablet. I say handy because this is a thin slate that is easy to hold despite its shiny back. The Tab S4 has a bezel and on the top there is a camera with sensors for the face unlock feature. This is a secure and easy way to protect your tablet and should become the standard across all tablets.

Samsung makes the best displays in the world and you can rest assured that it will pack a stunner in its flagship tablet. The HDR ready Super AMOLED display is one of the best in the industry and you will love even using this tablet with its black log screen. The tablet comes with Dolby Atmos tuned by AKG and together with the the display this brings a cinematic experience to your hands. The audio is spatial and you can feel movement from one side to the other. It is a shame that you can’t really use the tablet in full blast when there are other people around.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 comes with its own S Pen which looks nothing like the stylus on the Galaxy Note series. This one is more like a ball pen and is very comfortable to hold. There is a small button for you to select stuff on the screen and that’s very useful too. Like with the Note 9, the stylus is the real big feature of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 too. This is without doubt the best you can buy for a tablet and as natural as it gets. It offers the grip of a regular pen and is pressure sensitive and feels like using a real pen on paper. I got a few artist friends to use this and within minutes they were asking me about the price and even complaining about the equipment they use now to digitise their works.

The stylus offers many features for the artistically inclined, from regular notes to Penup which lets you create art on top of photos and even share it with like-minded people. I personally loved the ability to take notes easily — the options show up as soon as you bring the pen near the tablet. At the moment, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 with its stylus seems like best stylus option for creative people. Like on the Note 9, there is the Screen Off memo where you can just take notes without even waiting for the tablet to switch on.

Then there is the option to buy a book cover for the tablet that offers a sturdy keyboard for input and protect the tablet from unnecessary damage. However, this book cover from Samsung also triggers the Dex mode which makes the tablet work like a desktop with the stylus almost transforming itself into a mouse. This improves productivity as you can type faster, drag and drop elements like on a desktop and use apps in a more familiar PC mode. I highly recommend picking up the cover, despite the additional cost. And you can use a converter to use a larger screen if needed.

The Samsung Tab S4 is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm processor and you will not have any surprises when it comes to sheer processing power. A lot of the stuff the tablet does with ease, including the near natural input using the stylus require processing power that is fast and smooth. And this tablet has no issues handling any of that. Also, it stays cool with most of the stuff you make it do.

The tablet has a 7300 mAh battery that can last you a full day of high-power usage, binge watching movies, writing, scribbling and listening to music. This is an LTE tablet and the availability of a stable network does impact the battery life a bit, but with a battery this large there is always some juice left for critical use.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 is in my books the best Android tablet you can buy. The Dex mode makes it more productive that other tablets and the S Pen is unparalleled across mobile devices. The only question to be asked is why more people are not using Android tablets.