Samsung Galaxy Tab S Review (10.5 & 8.4-inch)
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 24, 2014 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Samsung
- Mobile
- Galaxy Tab S
Performance
The WiFi only variants of the Galaxy Tab S all feature Samsung’s own Exynos 5 Octa (5420). Internally we’re dealing with four ARM Cortex A15s and four ARM Cortex A7s in a big.LITTLE configuration, with a maximum of four cores of the same type being active at any given moment. The Cortex A7 cluster can run at up to 1.3GHz while the Cortex A15 cluster maxes out at 1.9GHz.
CPU performance is reasonable but definitely behind Apple’s Cyclone cores in A7 and even Intel’s value Bay Trail offerings that are cropping up in tablets like ASUS’ Memo Pad 7. The problem with the latter is that those devices end up being substantially cheaper what Samsung is asking for with the Galaxy Tab S.
GPU Performance
The bigger problem really seems to be GPU performance. The Exynos 5420 integrates ARM’s Mali-T628MP6 GPU, which just isn’t competitive with Apple’s PowerVR Series 6 implementations. The bigger problem is that the GPU doesn’t seem quite cut out to driving the high resolution display. UI frame rates are typically smooth but I definitely noticed some dropped frames. The device is by no means unusable, I’m just spoiled by how good everything is at the high end of mobile that even mild deviations are noticeable.
Internal NAND Storage Performance
Storage performance is pretty solid. Both read and write performance are good given what we’re seeing from most players today. I’d always like more but there’s not a ton to complain about here.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
98 Comments
View All Comments
antiglobe - Sunday, October 26, 2014 - link
I think the updated model will more likely use the new Exynos used in Galaxy Alpha than a Snapdragon. Samsung can obviously reach higher profits by utilizing home made chips.the_ether - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
So if I've understood correctly, the Samsung's screen isn't that great after all - at least when compared against the iPad Air. It has more pixels and supposedly better contrast (though that wasn't tested here) but what is displayed is not as accurate as the Air's Retina screen.nerd1 - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
AMOLED has immense contrast and no display lag, both of which are not tested here.GC2:CS - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
The smallest amount of ambient light washes out any contrast difference, so you can enjoy your AMOLED at night, especially watching horrors but otherwise it's hardly a problem.What about that display lag ? Honestly I don't know what it is exactly, but I think is rather bad as I noticed flickering on many AMOLED displays...
nerd1 - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Smallest amount of ambient light will hamper any display color accuracy too, then all displays are born equal?the_ether - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Shouldn't be as sensitive as you imply. The screen is an emissive device, not reflective, so the ambient light would have to be strong enough to interfere with the light from the screen.theduckofdeath - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Hyperbole much, GC2:CS?dwade123 - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link
no lag huh. Nice BS.GC2:CS - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
Yeah exactly ! The problem for samsung is that the iPad Air screen is the same as the screen of the new iPad (2012) just lower power and higher brightness... And this is 2014. Anand's numbers are painting these in a very good picture, but in reality I found this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SjYuNzFRIagBlues are especially over saturated on the 10,5 just as that horrible sub pixel arrangement implies.
bji - Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - link
How can you possibly tell anything about a display when viewing a video of it on your own display, which completely alters the perceived characteristics of the display being evaluated?I have an idea. Let's film both displays in black and white and then do a comparison to try to see which display has better colors. It would be just about as viable a means of comparing displays as the video you linked.