Samsung is pretty much the only company that continues to offer high-end Android tablets, and the new Galaxy Tab S4 is the most premium to date. Basically Samsung is positioning this new tablet as a 2-in-1 device that could even replace a laptop (in some situations).
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 features a Samsung S-Pen for writing, drawing, and other actions, a high-resolution display, a fast processor, and a DeX mode that lets you run Android applications in a desktop-style environment.
The Galaxy Tab S4 is available starting today for $650 and up. That price includes the S Pen, but it doesn’t include Samsung’s optional $150 Book Cover Keyboard, which is sold separately.
Samsung’s new tablet features a 10.5 inch, 2560 x 1600 pixel AMOLED display with a 79 percent screen to body ratio, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB or 256GB of storage. There’s also a microSD card slot for removable storage.
The tablet has a USB 3.1 Type-C port for charging and data, as well as POGO pins for the optional keybard cover.
On the back there’s a 13MP camera with autofocus support, and on the front there’s an 8MP fixed-focus camera.
The tablet also features quad 1.2 watt speakers with Dolby Atmos sound and AKG tuning, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, and optional support for 4G LTE Cat 16 support.
It has a 7,300 mAh battery and fast charging support, and Samsung says you should be able to get up to 16 hours for video playback time, which is up 4 hours from the estimate for the older Galaxy Tab S3.
The Galaxy Tab S4 measures 9.” x 6.5″ x 0.3″ and weighs about 1.1 pounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufAuTtB5mV4
There’s no fingerprint sensor, but the tablet supports iris scanning for biometric authentication if you don’t want to stoop to something as archaic as using a PIN, pattern, or password.
The tablet’s DeX mode can be fired up from the Quick Panel or when you connect a keyboard cover. It enables support for running apps in multiple windows that you can resize and move around the screen, much as you would in a desktop operating system such as Windows, macOS, or Ubuntu.
You can also use an HDMI to USB-C adapter (sold separately) to connect a Galaxy Tab S4 to an external display to view your apps on a big screen while using the tablet as a trackpad or input device for sketching images or creating handwritten notes.
So what do you think? Would you pay $649 or more for these features? Or would you rather spend your money on an iPad Pro, a Surface Go, or a real laptop?
This doesn’t make sense to me. The Galaxy Book 10.6 is currently $635 with the keyboard, Win10 and an M3 cpu. I like Android, but wouldn’t pay more than $200ish for a 10″ tablet.
The the surface go about to launch, the base model even with pen and keyboard case is cheaper than this, heck the expensive model with case and keyboard is in the same ball park–and its a full windows computer. If dex was good…it might be interesting but at this price point…I don’t know. The HP chromebook x2 is only like $600 in some places…with keyboard and pen….
With the optional keyboard this falls in the same price range as the premium ChromeBook convertibles such as
the Samsung Pro, Asus Flip C302, Acer Chromebook Spin or HP’s detachible. The Pixelbook has been on sale
iin this price range.
It is also twice the price of the Acer ChromeTab 10. Yes, the Samsung has a more powerful processor, but *twice* the price?
Yet another Android tablet with a 1st party keyboard cover that does NOT offer a trackpad. 🙁 Optional mouse support is one of those things that sets Android apart from iOS. Why don’t they exploit that?
There are times when it is preferred to touch the screen and other times when a mouse/trackpad fits better. My Fire HD 10 coupled with the Motorola Bluetooth keyboard with trackpoint makes a surprisingly good portable combination.
This competes much more with ChromeOS & WIndows devices because of the dockable desktop envornment it offers (iPad Pro has neither, just a consumption toy). While it’s nice no longer needing a Dex dock to use it as a desktop, it’s major problem is as always going to be updates & high price.
To answer your questions – YES, YES, YES. Samsung has to be insane to charge $649 for the base model and $159 for the keyboard/folio. Again, no S-Pen in a silo, yet they do that even in the NoteBook 9 series and Tabs A10.1 with S-pen? And those prices are sans LTE?