Still not sure if you need an iPad, Surface Go, or one of the last Android tablets left? Samsung might make the choice more interesting with new 10 inch options.
When the foldable phone eventually arrives and is a little better built than what we’re seeing right now, the tablet’s days may be numbered. A combination of phone and tablet, it’s something that may not have as much use once foldable tech is perfected.
Until that time, however, tablets still make a difference for quite a few people, which is why some key manufacturers still make them.
Apple still makes them, and quite a few; Windows PC makers have found a way to converge their productivity devices with them, such as with the Surface computers, ranging from the Surface Pro to the Surface Go; and while most Android manufacturers have left Android tablets, you can still find one or two about the place.
Samsung is one of them, and has continued to push its Galaxy Tab range for the past decade or so, with the latest model, the Tab S4, being built to take on the high-end iPad Pro.
However, it’s not for everyone, and so to bring the price down a little, Samsung is introducing its Tab S5 range a little early and a little less expensive.
Built to be very similar (and also announced recently), the Tab S5e is hitting Australia this week, arriving in an almost identical design, but with some notable changes.
While the Galaxy Tab S5e and Galaxy Tab S4 might look similar to the eye, the Tab S5e is a little thinner (5.5mm compared to the Tab S4’s 7.1mm) and a little lighter (400g compared to 482g), providing a little less battery and performance, too.
It features the same Super AMOLED screen as its sibling, with narrow bezels and a 2560×1600 resolution, as well as four speakers built into the body, but the performance is also likely to be a little high end, and you don’t get the face sensors we’re told, with the specs highlighting a fingerprint sensor and not the facial technology.
There’s also a completely new keyboard case for the wired Pogo pin port at the bottom, something Samsung tells Pickr is magnetic and is designed to adhere directly to the back of the tablet “to achieve a much slimmer looking finish”.
Given the way the keyboard cover worked on the Tab S4, we’re only hoping the design is better from the keyboard point of view, because it seriously needed work. However it does work with DeX, too, meaning with that keyboard, the Galaxy Tab S5e could be a serious tablet hybrid computer if you want it to be.
You’ll find the Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e from $649 for 64GB WiFi in Australia, though a WiFi and 4G compatible model will start from $849 for 64GB, as well.
And if that’s still too much money, Samsung is going for where the iPad for everyone comes in for pricing, offering its more budget-focused Galaxy Tab A 10.1 with slim bezels (but not as slim as the Galaxy Tab S5e).
This device isn’t as high end and lacks the AMOLED screen, replacing it with a 1920×1200 LCD. Given the price, though, that’s hardly surprising, because you’ll find the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 in stores this week from $349 for 32GB in WiFi, $469 for 128GB in WiFi, $499 for 32GB and WiFi/4G, and $619 for 128GB WiFi/4G.
