WiFi

Both Galaxy Tab S devices support 2-stream 802.11ac and can negotiate up to an 866Mbps link speed with a similarly capable router. Peak performance in practice is pretty shy of what we saw with the Galaxy S5 however. While the GS5 was capable of around 430Mbps under best conditions, the Tab S averages around 240Mbps. Compared to the immediate competition it’s not bad, but against everything else we’ve seen it’s less impressive.

WiFi Performance - UDP

Camera

Samsung only gave us a few days with the review samples so I didn’t spend a ton of time focusing on camera performance. The rear facing camera is a 8MP design with F2.4 lens. The front facing camera shoots at 1080p and also has an F2.4 lens. In general the Tab S seems to be a decent shooter in well lit conditions. Low light performance isn’t the worst I’ve seen but it’s not a strong point for sure. Both tablets appear to use the same rear and front camera (Samsung S5K6B2) modules.


Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 Rear Camera Sample

Performance Final Words
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  • RobilarOCN - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link

    Anand, any tests that actually test the battery life using apps? I use tablets for reading mostly and very curious to see lifespan of the Tab S with an app running constantly.
  • Laststop311 - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link

    I've been hoping for 10"+ oled screens for a long time. Shame they still haven't gotten the rest quite right. Lots of stuttering in simple tasks that shouldn't be there. Is there no micro usb 3.0? If there is no micro usb 3.0 ok but if there is really bad to go with 2. It delivers less power and is slower. The cases are utterly terrible. No 64 or 128GB internal memory options is not so good, i mean at least offer us 64GB. 16GB shouldn't even be an option it should be 399 for 32GB and 499 for 32GB 450/550 for 64GB 550/650 for 128GB.

    I'm actually ok with the plastic as it's the lightest most durable option and just makes the most sense. Kinda stupid to sacrifice weight and durability just for a more premium look or feel. The exynos chip is once again another let down. The LTE version with a snapdragon 800 will probably run a lot better maybe even better battery life wifi mode vs wifi mode. Disappointing that it will be released so close to the snapdragon 805 making its first commercial appearance. The 2560x1600 resolution would of greatly benefitted from the new GPU and i feel like current gpu tech on mobile soc's was only meant for 1920x1200 maximum. I think the reason samsung didn't bother with that option is the snapdragon 805 doesnt have an integrated lte modem which was samsungs main reason for using a snapdragon in the lte model. So there was no reason to wait and the snapdragon 810 is too far off.

    I think these high res tablets are slightly ahead of their time. But it's good they are coming out as it motivates the gpu makers to provide large performance increases to accommodate the new resolutions and still be able to push games graphically.

    I think the Galaxy tab s2 will reveal what this new tablet line is truly capable of. A 64 bit snapdragon 810 in the LTE model. Playing all games even graphically intense ones at native resolution smoothly. Wireless charging should be added to the next version too. I see a very bright future for this new S line of tablets and I think they will be sticking around for a long time. I can see the future bringing a 4k oled screen to the line in 2 or 3 years. Can't wait to see what samsung does with bigger oled screens. Would love to see the 12.2" one go to oled as well.
  • R. Hunt - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link

    I recently got a Tab Pro 10.1 and after knowing of these new AMOLED tablets I was kinda regretting it. After looking at the browsing battery life results, I have to say that's not the case anymore. Samsung weren't kidding when they said they built these things primarily to watch videos.
  • Aqua1ung - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link

    It's basically the 16:10 format that's killing these tablets for me. I don't buy a tablet to (primarily) watch movies on it, and I don't know anybody who does.
  • spectrablue - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link

    how about you start browsing the web in a black background white text power saver format instead of the traditional color settings?
  • spectrablue - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link

    or even better yet green text...sound familiar?
  • Fidelator - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link

    What are the scores for the galaxy tab pro 8.4 on the graphic tests?
  • Fidelator - Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - link

    And this outdated Exynos shouldn't be used in devices on this price range this far into this year, they could have chosen the same K1 as the Xiaomi tab or the 801/805 depending on availability, going cheap isn't going to get a single dollar from me, I'll see what is released alongside Android L and then I'll chose whether to wait for broadwell or buy something in this league.

    iPads aren't bad tablets but I need to access the file system without having to go through hell for that
  • jt194688 - Thursday, June 26, 2014 - link

    I'm just learning this stuff and am changing my 1st Gen. iPad. I love my iPad but thinking about switching to the Samsung Tab S; can you use a thumb drive with it? Advice PLEASE!
  • marytattoo - Sunday, June 29, 2014 - link

    you can use a micro sd card in samsung devices. not sure, but this one will probably take a 128 g.

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