Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5: Screen, Software, Performance

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5: Screen

The Galaxy Tab S 10.5’s screen is its standout feature. Indeed, it’s even better on the 10.5-inch than the 8.4-inch version. That’s because it lacks the ever so slightly grainy quality of the 8.4-inch version. For the technically minded, this is because Tab S 10.5 has a RGB Stripe display, whereas the 8.4 uses diamond PenTile sub-pixels.

It doesn’t really matter whether you understand the above, though. Just remember this: it’s the best screen on any tablet. No argument. It’s bright, very colourful and the contrast and quality of blacks is out of this world. There isn’t a better tablet for watching HD videos on than this. They look stunning.



Viewing angles are excellent. Again, they’re better than the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 as there’s no slightly off-putting colour caste on this version. Outdoor visibility is excellent, too. The iPad Air has a very good screen, but this is better in every way.

Provided, that is, you turn off Samsung’s Adaptive Display tech. The gumpf suggests this adjusts white balance and colours in supported apps based on ambient conditions. But the less desirable quality is it over-saturates colours to an irritating degree. We concede some people like this ‘radioactive’ look, but those people are wrong… so there.

But set it to the ‘Basic’ mode and you still get outstanding detail and contrast, but also accurate colours. The Photo mode is worth trying if you’re photographer as it supports the Adobe RGB colour space. For most people, though, switch it the basic and enjoy. You won’t regret it.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5: Software

By comparison, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5’s software is merely competent. The core is Android 4.4, but there’s Samsung’s TouchWiz and Magazine UX added to it. The basic UI is decent enough and runs smoothly, but we find the Magazine UX restrictive for two reasons.

One, it’s mandatory — you can’t remove it, only reduce it. The other is you have to use the ‘core’ Email and Calendar apps to get the most from it. Choose to use Google Calendar, Gmail or any third-party app and the quick planner tiles become useless. The news feeds, powered by Flipboard, are marginally more useful, but all they do is open the app in the appropriate section.

This lack of flexibility goes against the grain of Android's ethos.



The more impressive software addition is the split-screen options. This lets you open apps side-by-side. For example, this lets you watch a video and have a chat window open at the same time, or copy and paste text from an email to a document. It’s useful and it works even better on a large tablet like this.

One other addition is SideSync 3.0. This lets you control any compatible Samsung smartphone using your tablet. The idea is you can take calls and respond to messages from your phone, even when it’s in another room. It’s a neat little feature, but you have to actively enable it. This means it’s something you’ll use every now and again, rather than all the time.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.5: Performance

The bottom line here is the Galaxy Tab 10.5 is fast. Not as fast as the top-end phones like the Snapdragon powered Galaxy S5 and OnePlus One, but still more than powerful enough. It scores 2,669 in the multi-core test in Geekbench 3, which puts it in the top 5%.

It suffers a little more in the graphics department. Here, more powerful phones and tablets like the Nvidia Shield Tablet have a noticeable advantage. This shows in a 13,500 score in the 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited test, which falls a long way short of the 20,000 or so of the top phones.

But most people won’t notice this difference in actual games. We couldn’t find any game on Android that didn’t run smoothly or look good. The middling graphics performance should only concern serious gamers.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 review

Pros

• Outstanding screen
• Thin and light
• Over 14 hours video playback
• Case adds very little bulk

Cons

• Can’t remove Magazine UI
• Rubbish fingerprint scanner
• Needless Adaptive Display tech

Key Features: 10.5-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 AMOLED display; Exynos 5 Octa 5420; 3GB RAM; 16GB storage; 802.11ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0; microSD up to 128GB; 7,900mAh battery; 465g Manufacturer: Samsung

What is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5?

The Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is the big brother to the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 — it’s what the iPad Air is to the iPad mini 2. It has the same basic design and features. That means an outstanding 2,560 x 1,600 resolution Super AMOLED screen and plenty more besides. We loved the smaller version, so it’s no surprise that the 10.5-inch version is just as impressive.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5: Design

We like the the Galaxy Tab S 10.5’s design, but we don’t love it. The dimpled, soft-touch rear is pleasant to handle, but the bronze-gold colour scheme is an acquired taste. It’s nothing like as refined as the iPad Air, which is a shame given they cost the same.

But the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is well put together and it’s a featherweight. It weighs just 465g, though this is only a few grams less than the iPad Air. It’s also thin — 6.6mm makes it 1mm thinner than the iPad Air. These are all fine margins, but the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has less competition among Android tablets at this size. As 10-inch Android tablets go, it’s way out in front.



The other interesting design point is case support. We weren’t sent a case for the 8.4, but we have one for the Galaxy Tab S 10.5. Like the 8.4, it fastens to the tablet via rather odd jacket style ‘poppers’. They don’t help the looks much, but they hold the case securely.

We like the case, too. It’s slim, so adds little weight. It also offers three angles from which to view the screen. The only issue is the folding required to make them takes some learning. Even after a week or so we’re still fumbling about each time.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5: Features

This tablet has everything. You get the fastest version of Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0. The Wi-Fi version has 16GB of storage built-in, but the microSD slot supports up to 128GB cards and there's a 4G version that has 32GB built-in. There’s an IR Blaster for controlling your TV, too. We find the feature a little hit and miss, but it’s a nice extra. There are cameras front and back and there’s an LED flash for the main camera — a rare feature on a tablet.

Less impressive is the fingerprint reader. This is the same one found in the Galaxy S5 and it’s no more successful here. The swiping system is just too unreliable to use it to unlock your tablet. It only works 40/50% of the time, which isn’t a great hit rate.

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Nokia N1 vs Apple iPad mini 3: Which Tablet Wins the Battle of the Minis?

Nokia's deal with Microsoft may prevent the Finnish technology company from making a Nokia-branded smartphone for some time, but there is no stopping it from releasing its very first Nokia tablet.

 

When Nokia announced the Nokia N1 earlier this week, fans of the once dominant smartphone maker were delighted to hear that Nokia was making a comeback. Others, however, have pointed out that the innovative new product from the embattled company eerily resembles Apple's iPad mini 3, with some online publications going as far out as calling it a clone -- but surely, there has to be some difference, right?

Let's take a look at a breakdown of both tablets' specs and features for a closer inspection. Note that this comparison is based on the specs of each tablet on paper, as Nokia has yet to make the N1 available next year, and we won't have a real-world comparison of how both tablets work until then.

Screen and Design

It isn't surprising why people call the N1 an iPad mini 3 clone. At a single glance, the Nokia tablet certainly looks like it came right out of Cupertino, with the same 7.9-inch LED-backlit IPS display, the same resolution of 2048 x 1536 and the same pixel density of 326 ppi. The N1 gets a "fully laminated" display that makes it slightly thinner by 0.7 mm than the iPad mini 3, which gets Apple's anti-glare coating that reduces glare by 56 percent.

Nokia goes for a very Apple-like aluminum unibody as well, with the side buttons, speakers and the camera looking very much like Apple's. The colors come in fancy names, including Natural Aluminum and Lava Gray, while the iPad mini 3 comes in gray, silver and gold.

Camera 

On the camera side, there's a clear difference. The 8MP autofocus camera on the rear of the Nokia N1 tops the iPad mini 3's 5MP iSight fixed focus back camera. The 5MP front camera on the N1 also wins over the 1.2MP camera on the iPad mini 3. Both back cameras can take high-definition videos in 1080p resolution, but the iPad mini 3 can only take 720p videos with the front camera.

Performance, Storage and Battery

The Nokia N1 is powered by a 64-bit 2.5 GHz Intel Atom Z3580 processor with a PowerVR G6430 graphics processing unit. Apple has its own 64-bit A7 processor and the accompanying M7 motion co-processor, but the iPhone maker doesn't specify how fast its chips are, although real-world reviews of the iPad mini 3 praise it for its lag-free, buttery smoothness. Storage-wise, Apple offers more options with its 16GB, 64GB and 128GB versions. Nokia, on the other hand, only has a 32GB version for the N1. There is no microSD card slot for both tablets.

When it comes to battery life, the iPad mini 3 beats the challenger with a 23.9 Wh battery. The N1, on the other hand, will likely last shorter with its 18.5 Wh battery, although we have yet to see what Android Lollipop's new battery saving features will do for the N1. The iPad mini 3 lasts around 10 hours of heavy use on a single charge.

Operating System

While the latest Nokia-branded smartphones are running on Windows, the company chose to run Android Lollipop on its new tablet while the iPad mini 3, of course, runs on iOS 8. There is no definitive answer about which of these operating systems are better, as it all depends on an individual user's preferences. Nokia opted to add its own Z Launcher, which aims to learn a user's preferences over time so it presents apps as they are needed.

What to Buy

For the cost-conscious, the much cheaper Nokia N1, which will retail for $249, is definitely the better choice over the $399 iPad mini 3. For people for whom price is not an issue, there are a few other considerations to make.

Taking pictures and videos with a tablet is normally socially frowned upon, but those who are buying tablets for the camera will do better with the N1. The iPad mini 3, however, does have more storage (for the more expensive versions) and better battery life. It's camera versus storage and battery life. Ultimately, however, one will also have to decide between Android and iOS.

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Nokia N1 vs iPad Mini 2 Comparison: Review of Specs and Features

Chinese website shows claimed gold iPad mini 2 with Touch ID.

Nokia's newest N1 joins the fray of mini-tablets as it faces an early 2015 release date. The Finnish mobile phone company brings the N1 mini-tablet in response to Microsoft's purchase of its mobile division, taking along the Lumia name with it.

On the other hand, the iPad Mini 2 still remains as one of the best tablets out in the market alongside its bigger, thin brother the iPad Air. So how well will Nokia's N1 fare against a veteran?

First, a spec run down.

The Nokia N1 has a 7.9-inch IPS LCD touchscreen with a display resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. Inside the device is an Intel Atom Z3580 chipset with a quad-core 2.3GHz processor and a PowerVR G6430. The N1 is available in a 32GB internal storage variant with 2GB of RAM. The tablet does not have microSD card support unfortunately.

Nokia's mini-tablet also has an 8-megapixel rear facing camera and a 5-megapixel front facing one. Unlike it's Lumia line however, it does not feature Carl Zeiss optics and PureView.

 

The iPad Mini 2 on the other hand also has the same sized touchscreen with a similar display resolution. The mini-tablet sports different hardware though, being powered by an A7 chipset with a dual-core 1.3GHz processor and a PowerVR G6430 GPU.

It comes in four internal storage options, the 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB storage variants all with 1GB of RAM. Like the Nokia N1 and the rest of the Apple devices, the iPad Mini 2 does not feature microSD card support. For the cameras, he mini-tablet only has a 5-megapixel rear facing camera and a 1.2-megapixel front facing one.

The N1 runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google's latest mobile OS offering while the iPad Mini 2 runs on Apple's newest iOS 8.1.1.

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iPad Mini Comparison: Do You Actually Need The Newest Model?

As major retailers gear up for the rush of holiday shopping, the news has been buzzing with Black Friday sales for the iPad mini 3. However, shoppers can also save by having a thorough understanding of the end user’s tech needs. While you might be hankering for a 128 GB iPad mini 3, it doesn’t mean that it’s a sensible fit for a gift recipient’s lifestyle. Let’s take a step back from the hype of the iPad mini 3 release, examine the three generation options, and consider the users that could benefit from each model.

iPad mini 3

This devices is almost identical to the iPad mini 2, except it comes with different color options, Touch ID, Apple Pay compatibility, and a 128 GB capacity option. In this ForbesiPad mini model comparison, Gordon Kelly explains, “…while a storage bump and Touch ID will tempt some, selling last year’s technology at the same price (at least with the 16GB entry level) is going to frustrate.”

iPad mini 2

This model is just $50 more than the original iPad mini, but its display quality and processing performance take an enormous leap upward. The iPad mini 2 boasts a 64-bit A7 chip, a M7 coprocessor, and a Retina display, making it a great gaming and media creation tool. Interestingly enough, the display, processing, camera, and battery specs are pretty much identical between the iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3 models. So unless you desperately need a mobile device with Touch ID, Apple Pay, or additional capacity, you could save $100 by going with an iPad mini 2 rather than the latest model.

iPad mini

The original iPad mini isn’t out of the game yet. Apple only sells the 16 GB version of this entry-level model, so this device could be ideal for users who don’t have extensive local media libraries, stream most of their entertainment from the web, or mostly browse smaller files, like digital books. The iPad mini doesn’t have a Retina display, so you would get the extremely sharp resolution of later generation iPad mini models. The original iPad mini also uses an older CPU and GPU with the A5 chip, so it wouldn’t be ideal for gaming and process-intensive app experiences. But the price is sweet for the holidays, starting at a $249 retail price. This could be an excellent buy for end users who just want to check email, browse websites and social networks, stream media, and read digital publications.

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iPad Air 2: Battery Life and Verdict

iPad Air 2: Battery Life

Some of that incredible 6.1mm thinness has come by reducing the size of the battery. It's gone from 8,600mAh to 7,340mAh in the iPad Air 2. Apple claims that battery life hasn't dropped because it's made key improvements to the efficiency of the processor. We put it to our own tests to find out if it still lasts 10 hours of constant use.

We conducted like-for-like tests and found that the iPad Air 2 lasted almost the same time as its predecessor, despite the smaller battery. We played the same standard-definition video on both tablets. After three hours of use, the iPad Air 2 dropped 22% battery compared to 21% on the first-gen Air. So battery life has taken a minor hit, but it’s nowhere near as bad as the large reduction in capacity had led us to believe.

 

In normal day-to-day use the iPad Air 2 lasts the advertised 10 hours. That included two hours of gaming, three hours of video streaming over Wi-Fi, and five hours of Wi-Fi web browsing, with some hours of standby in between. Screen brightness was set to around 60%, which we found to be adequate both indoors and out.

One hour’s charge provides 30% of the battery, two hours gives 60%, and the battery was fully charged after three and a half hours. This is on par with the previous iPad Air.

The battery life on the iPad Air 2 is solid, rather than outstanding. Would we have traded a little of that thinness for some extra stamina? Probably, but it still lasts long enough for most people, and as long as competitor tablets.

Should I buy the iPad Air 2?

Buying an iPad Air 2 depends on which iPad you currently own. If you have a first- or second-generation iPad then it’s a no-brainer – the iPad Air 2 is miles better in every respect. It’s also much lighter and faster than the iPad 3 or 4, even if the screen improvements are less marked.

If you have an iPad Air, though, it’s unlikely you’ll appreciate the Air 2 that much more. Yes, it’s faster, thinner, lighter and comes with Touch ID, but the iPad Air is still an excellent tablet.

Then there’s the question of price. The 16GB model costs £399/$499, the 64GB £479/$599 and the 128GB £559/$699. Add £100/$129 on top of those prices if you want 4G connectivity. The lack of a microSD slot means the best option for most will be the 64GB iPad Air 2.

There are cheaper 10-inch tablets around, but none offer such a rich app marketplace. You can do more with the iPad Air 2 than with any other tablet on the market.

Verdict

The iPad Air 2 is another triumph for Apple. The design and screen have improved in all the right ways, and the new A8X processor is nothing short of astonishing. This is still the best large tablet around.

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iPad Air 2: Camera

iPad Air 2: Camera

Apple claims that iPad users really value the camera. During iPad Air 2’s launch Tim Cook explained that the iPad is perfect for photography because the large screen makes for a great viewfinder. He has a point, but we still can’t help feel like photographing with such a large device is ridiculous.

Still, if taking photos on your iPad is something you like to do, you’ll be very pleased to hear that the iPad Air 2 now comes with an 8-megapixel iSight camera. It's similar, but not identical, to the one on the iPhone 6. This makes it a big step up from the 5-megapixel affair on the iPad Air, and the photos tell the story.

Cam-parison: iPad Air 2 (left) vs iPad Air

Colours from the Air 2 (left) were more accurate than the original Air
In good light the higher resolution provides more detail than before but the real benefit comes when the lights go down.

 

As you can see from the pictures of the trees, the Air 2 shot (left) shows a great deal more detail and vibrance in the leaves and branches. Our low-light test shot below also shows that the iPad Air 2 handles dingy conditions better – colours are more vivid and there’s less noise around the text.

 

Aside from the improved picture quality, the iPad Air 2’s camera comes with a few new tricks. You can now use burst mode, which takes continuous shots so you don't miss that fast-moving action picture. But the pick of the bunch is the slo-mo video that takes Full HD video at 1080p. It’s slick, easy to use and delivers fantastic results. Dual microphones also mean that captured audio is better than before.

The front-facing FaceTime camera is the same as the one on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. It’s still 1.2 megapixels, but Apple claims it's improved the low-light performance by more than 80%. It works. Video calling, even in a dark room, works well.

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