Tab S2's got the power and the looks

SAMSUNG’S new Galaxy Tab S2 is a sleek tablet computer that’s light enough to carry around for reading anywhere, especially the eight-inch model. This is the smaller of the two versions available and the one I got to try out. It was just the right size for me, comfortably held in the hand while scrolling through an e-book, an e-magazine or the Web.

The eight-inch S2 is 5.6mm thin and 272 grams, but the display is big and, thanks to a Super Amoled panel with high 2048x1536-pixel resolution, also gorgeous. You’re looking at a 4:3 ratio display, optimised for reading. The eye-soothing Reading Mode can be adjusted to change the screen brightness or pick a different wallpaper to create the ideal reading environment. The display is also vibrant when viewing photos. 

For a mobile device, the tablet packs good-quality cameras. The main one uses an eight-megapixel CMOS image sensor and the one up front has a 2.1MP sensor, plus a 1.9-aperture lens, which is great for low-light conditions. For folks who love taking selfies, there’s Beauty Face mode to prettify your subjects, brightening and smoothing features and making them look younger.

With the main camera I was getting sharp, clear shots in most environments. It boasts “Pro” mode so you can change various shooting parameters, like metering type, exposure compensation, ISO sensitivity and white balance.

You can multitask with the Tab S2, but there’s no S Pen stylus. You can run two separate apps in split-screen mode, to watch videos while browsing other Web pages, for example, or run several different apps in floating pop-up windows.

Another nice feature is the fingerprint scanner for locking the screen. The home button is the scanner. You don’t have to swipe your finger up or down as in previous Samsung handsets, just touch the button several times. Then you set a password in case your fingerprint isn’t identified, but I had no such problem.

This is a powerful tablet, with a Samsung Exynos Octa 5433 processor – four cores of ARM Cortex-A53 running at 1.3GHz and four more of ARM Cortex-A57 at 1.9GHz. It uses the Mali-T760 graphics processor.

The tablet has three gigabytes of working memory (RAM), so it won’t slow down when multiple apps are running, and 32GB of internal storage, expandable with a microSD card up to 128GB. Also inside is the Google Android 5.0.2 operating system and readiness to handle 4G LTE connections.

I tested my S2 through TrueMove H’s 4G LTE network and got a fast connection. I posted snapshots to Facebook in a snap and they were just as swiftly backed up on my Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage account. Applications downloaded and installed speedily too.

The operating speed, measuring with the Ookla Speedtest app, was clocked at 46.57Mbps for downloads and 21.84Mbps for uploads.

All this adds up to great performance overall. My apps ran fast and smooth and the touch screen was quite responsive. As well as reading mode, the display also has modes for watching movies and viewing photos.

Another impressive feature is that you can play high-resolution music files in FLAC 24-bit/192kHz format, known to the tablet’s Music app as “ultra-high-quality” format. I tested this capability with Sony’s MDR-1ABT hi-res headphones and found the music quality great, with plenty of detail in the instrumentation and vocals and terrific bass. The tracks played without a hitch, further underscoring what a powerful performer the S2 is.

The eight-inch model of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 retails for Bt15,900 and the 9.7-inch model for Bt18,900.

 

Key specs:

 

- Network: 4G LTE : 700/ 800/ 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900/ 2100/ 2600

- Processor: Quad 1.9GHz + Quad 1.3GHz, Octacore application processor

- Display: Eight-inch 2048x1536 (QXGA) Super Amoled

- Operating System: Android 5.0.2 (Lollipop)

- Memory: 3GB RAM

- Storage: 32GB, expandable with a microSD card up to 128GB 

- Camera: 8MP AF (rear), 2.1MP (front)

- Video formats supported: H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, WMV7, WMV8, VP8

- Recording: QHD (2560x1440) @30fps

- Playback: UHD (3840x2160) @30fps

- Audio formats supported: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, Vorbis, FLAC

- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac MIMO (2.4GHz/5GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.1 BLE

- GPS: GPS, Glonass

- Sensor: Accelerometer, finger scanner, gyroscope, compass, hall sensor, RGB sensor 

- Battery: 4,000mAh

- Dimensions: 134.8x198.6x5.6mm

- Weight: 272g