The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 Review
by Brandon Chester on October 15, 2015 8:00 AM ESTCamera: Photos and Videos
The number of users that use their tablet as their primary camera is far larger than anyone ever could have predicted when the tablet market was emerging. However, there are some obvious reasons why someone would opt for their tablet. It may actually be the best camera they own, and older users with aging eyes can definitely appreciate the fact that their tablet display turns into a giant high resolution viewfinder. The cameras themselves have also improved significantly from the dark days of the 1.2MP rear camera on the iPad 2.
Since the Tab S2 is extremely thin, Samsung has needed to allow for a camera hump in order to fit their 8MP sensor. The hump isn't very large, and although it's larger than that of the iPhone 6, it's not near as large as the camera hump on the Galaxy S6. It's honestly not really an issue, but some customers who are very serious about the design of their devices may take issue with it.
Below you can view the known specifications of the Tab S2's rear and front-facing cameras. Unfortunately I don't have data on the specific model of the rear-facing sensors used in the original Tab S series, so that info is omitted on the chart.
| Camera Specifications | ||||
| Galaxy Tab S1 Series | Galaxy Tab S2 Series | |||
| Front Camera | 2.1MP (1920x1080) |
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| Front Camera - Sensor | S5K6B2 (1.34 µm, 1/6") |
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| Front Camera - Focal Length | N/A | 27mm eff | ||
| Front Camera - Max Aperture | F/2.4 | F/2.2 | ||
| Rear Camera | 8.0MP (3264x2448) |
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| Rear Camera - Sensor | N/A (1.12 µm, 1/4") |
S5K4H5 (1.12 µm, 1/4") |
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| Rear Camera - Focal Length | 32mm eff | 31mm eff | ||
| Rear Camera - Max Aperture | F/2.4 | F/1.9 | ||
While Samsung hasn't made any radical changes to the camera sensor specifications with the Tab S2, they have significantly widened the rear-facing camera's aperture. Changes to image processing and ISP improvements will also have an enormous impact on image quality.
As always, my photo testing begins with a scene during the day, followed by that same scene at night to test low light performance. While the low light test is still pretty brutal on current tablets, it's a very good indicator of the quality of an OEM's image processing.
During the day the Tab S2 performs very well. Detail is on par with the iPad Air 2, which isn't surprising given the similar sensors and Samsung's large improvements in image processing quality this year. My only complaint is that there is a bit too much sharpening going on which exacerbates the artifacting on the wall of the building caused by the limited effective resolution of the camera system. What's interesting is that the Galaxy S6 Edge processes the image with less sharpening, which is likely intentional on Samsung's part as the S6 has a much larger sensor with a higher resolution. Overall, I'm happy with the Tab S2's camera quality, and I'm glad Samsung decided to give the tablet a bit of a camera hump instead of crippling the camera quality to fit in the 5.6mm profile of the chassis.
Low light photography is where I started to have some issues taking photos with the Tab S2. For some reason it simply refused to run the autofocus, and I had to try and manually focus by tapping which is difficult on such a large device. Once I was able to focus and take the shot I took a few, and the best result is the one you see above. For a tablet it's actually a pretty good photo, although as you can see from the street lamps the photo is definitely overexposed to a degree. Compared with the iPad Air 2 there's actually not much more visible in the frame despite the overexposure, and the Air 2 has a better rendition of the grassy patch on the right side as well as the no parking sign. Both photos are still very good as far as tablets go, but I do think the iPad wins out by a little bit because of the exposure and slightly better detail preservation.
The Tab S2 can record video at 1080p30, and also at 1440p30 although the latter disables video stabilization and so I've opted to just use the 1080p recording mode. Looking back at all the tablets I've evaluated, it's clear that the Tab S2 has the best video recording quality by far. It's definitely not perfect, with some jiggle to the frames caused by the EIS and a bit too much saturation to the colors, but the overall quality, sharpness, and consistency of the frame rate is better than any other device I've tested.
WiFi Performance
Like the original Tab S, the Tab S2 ships with a 2x2 802.11ac WiFi implementation. I actually haven't been able to track down exactly which WiFi chipset they're using, which is unfortunate. The original Tab S actually had strangely slow WiFi performance given its peak theoretical bandwidth of 866Mbps, and I was hopeful that the Tab S2 would fare better.
As you can see, the WiFi performance on the Tab S2 is miles ahead of the previous models, and ends up having the highest peak bandwidth on record for a mobile device. Samsung did a great job improving on last year's WiFi implementation, and if there's going to be any bottleneck over WiFi it's not likely that t it will be the Tab S2.
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BoneAT - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link
Just a little note on my observations, Brandon.I measured a peak brightness level of 505 nits @100% white screen with auto mode on, under sunlight (actually phone flash over the light sensor). When white image was under 10% of the screen size, I measured a monumental 812 nits. The Tab S2 9.7 can get very bright under circumstances.
GreyFox7 - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link
Lackluster performance from a middling SoC. Why they heck would they put a Exynos 5433 in a tablet and try to compete head to head with iPad Air? They have better SoCs, this is just silly cost reduction but it wont sell so the result will be a complete wasted effort. More wood on the fire of declining tablet sales. Samsung, get your head examined.R. Hunt - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link
I very much doubt a more powerful SOC would make any difference in the big scheme of things, given the disparity in brand and ecosytems at this point. They're not going to sell as well as the iPad no matter what, so yeah, it's about cutting costs. There's a reason Samsung are pretty much, along with Sony, the only OEMs left still trying with high-end Android tablets.StrangerGuy - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link
It's called throwing mediocre stuff on the wall and hope something sticks.Frankly, there is so many Samsung tablets sharing the same Galaxy Tab branding from the low to the high end, coupled with not so stellar track record of providing updates for their devices that I get a complete apathy just by seeing the brand.
digitalgriffin - Friday, October 16, 2015 - link
With the poor battery performance,Poor CPU performance
Slow Graphics
Lower Resolution and smaller screen
Cheap Frame
And Expensive price
This has to be one of the WORST Tablets in it's price range.
nerd1 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link
I have used most tablets out there (apple one includes ipad 1, ipad air and ipad mini 3) and this one is the best for me. 8 inch one has good battery life BTW (14 hours video playback based on notebookcheck benchmark)Losttek - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link
After my Nexus 7 died, I searched a long time for a 7-8" tablet replacement and eventually ended up with this. I tried the iPad Mini 4 and Zenpad Z580 (the $199 version since I couldn't find the $299 one in stock anywhere) but the Tab S2 was the superior option.The iPad Mini 4 is excellent hardware wise. It no longer uses a horrific screen with washed out colors and is easily comparable to the Air 2. Better than the Tab S2 even, with sharper text despite similar PPI (pentile screen at work again). Performance is quite snappy and tabs no longer had a reloading problem with 2GB of RAM. However, what killed it for me was iOS. I hate the locked down filesystem. I hate the vastly inferior notifications. I hate the crappy default keyboard, and 3rd party ones were even worse. And the list goes on and on. iOS was just to unbearable for me and I ended up returning it.
Zenpad. Oh ho, was this thing a piece of ****. Filled to the brim with ASUS bloatware that can’t be disabled, performance issues, intermittent WIFI, a bipolar screen that constantly adjusts brightness for no reason, and etc. Even at $199, it's not worth it. What's funny is the people calling this the Nexus 7 successor. Really, have you even tried using the device?
And the Tab S2. So-so battery life, but amazingly thin and light. Performance is good enough for me (I don't game) and the design feels great in the hand. The screen is good, but not superb. And unlike other Android tablets, it actually has built in multi-window support. This was the best Android tablet I could find, and I've been satisfied with it so far. But I didn't pay full price for it because I took advantage of a Best Buy promotion. Would I pay $399 for this thing? Eh, doubtful.
Android tablets are in a pitiful state right now, and the Tab S2 was the best I could find. If anyone knows of a better option, I'm all ears.
nerd1 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link
After trying the latest ipads and ipad minis I think tab s2 is better. Yes, the full price is silly but mine is from singapore. It is LTE version which I can use as a phone too.THEDKGUNNER - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link
If beeing a power user means playing games, I'm not a power user, but I do have a few comments. I own a Nexus 9 and a tab s2 8.0, and seems the nexus more ore less obliterates the tab s2 in almost all those fine benchmarks. Funny thing is, my tab s2 blows the nexus out of the water in terms of fluidity, speed and feel. There's just no comparing the two.Same goes for screen. Maybe because I have the 8.0, but there is just no comparing the two. I couldn't care less about the comparison to the iPad. I just plain don't like iOS so not an issue. For an android tab though, I've tried nothing that comes close to the s2. All depends on your needs I guess, but the total bashing of this tab based on benchmarks and subjective feelings is kinda ridiculous.By the way, I love the plastic back. I can actually hold it without loosing grip. I hate that I need to have a cover on my s6 as well, just to keep it in my hands.
thedons1983 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link
I sure hope the software is better than it was on the first Tab S, because I hated that thing!! It was incredibly buggy and laggy, and overall was a complete disappointment. The reviews were great, but the actual experience was terrible. I hope that this review is more accurate.