Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 review: the best 2-in-1 tablet on Android

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 may replace laptop -if you’re ready to put up with some quirks and don’t rely heavily on specific desktop applications to do the job. I tested this new 2-in-1 tablet in practice.

The device is expensive, the cost is about $ 830 (53.5thousand rubles) with a keyboard, designed for a niche group of people who are looking for an alternative to a laptop on Android. This is not an easy tablet for games and watching movies, and a device on which you can do some work. This is Galaxy Tab S6 baby!

Specifications

Design and comfort

Screen and multimedia

Keyboard and S Pen

Galaxy Tab S6 cameras

Performance

Operation and DeX mode

Work autonomy

Price, Availability and Warranty

Should I buy?

Characteristics Samsung Galaxy Tab S6

Display

10.5-inch WQXGA Super AMOLED, 2560 × 1600 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, 287 ppi

CPU

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855

Ram

6/8 GB

ROM

128/256 GB

Battery

7040 mAh

Cameras

Rear: 13-MP, 1.12 μm, f / 2.2 + 5-MP aperture, 1 μm, f / 2.0 aperture.
Front: 8MP wide-angle, 1.12 microns, f / 2.0 aperture

Security

Built-in optical fingerprint scanner, Knox security suite

Communication and connection

MicroSD slot, Nano SIM card slot (LTE model), USB-C port, keyboard pins

Network

LTE: Cat.20 (DL up to 2.0 Gbps)
Wi-Fi: 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac (2.4 / 5 GHz), MIMO
Bluetooth 5.0

System and software

Android 9 Pie, OneUI

Audio

Four speakers (one on each corner), sound using AKG technology, Dolby Atmos, no 3.5 mm jack

Size and weight

245 × 160 × 5.7 mm, 420 grams

Body color

Cloud Blue, Rose Blush, Mountain Gray

Accessories

Bluetooth S Pen (included), keyboard case (not included)

Design and comfort

Galaxy Tab S6 is pretty small to fiteven in some of my smallest bags, yet lightweight. Despite the fact that the front panel is thin with a 10.5-inch screen, there is still enough space to hold the tablet in your hand without touching the display. However, there were times when I wanted to have a large panel, especially when multitasking in DeX mode. Too bad Samsung doesn't offer a different size, like Apple in its iPad Pro lineup.

Compared to the iPad Pro, the Tab S6 has similarities with11 inch model. There are few differences in large rectangular parts, as well as identical front panels. The design of the back of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 consists of durable aluminum, so the device will not break even if it is accidentally dropped.

Does the S Pen attach to the back? Yes. On the back, where the S Pen rests, there is an elongated groove that effectively holds the stylus in place using strong magnets. In addition, if you use a stand case, it also has a notch. This place serves not only for storage, but also for recharging the S Pen.

Samsung follows the lead of Apple, which in the pastyear made it so that you can put the Apple Pencil on the top edge of the iPad Pro, holding it through magnets for safe storage and wireless charging. I must admit that Apple's implementation is better. The S Pen storage slot is located behind the tablet, making it difficult to find. Apple Pencil has only one side flat, so it’s easy to see what exactly it is attached to the tablet. Samsung S Pen has both sides flat, and the right one, which we need, is indicated only by a symbol. This is not the best solution.

Galaxy Tab S6 is available in gray, blueor pink. The keyboard cover is not included, but it is worth it to buy despite the high price of $ 179 (11.5 thousand rubles). I worked on this 2-in-1 hybrid tablet, sitting on my knees at the airport, in the park and on the plane. And I was never embarrassed. It's very easy to adjust the stand on the back, which is not the case with Apple's iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard.

The fingerprint sensor is hidden underdisplay, but it doesn't use ultrasound technology like the Galaxy Note 10 Plus. It is optical, so it’s not so safe and reliable, although I had no particular problems. Instead, I used the face unlock feature. However, it is not as safe, effective as the Apple Face ID, and has difficulty in low light.

Screen and multimedia

Super AMOLED screen on Samsung Galaxy Tab S6beautiful and bright. Everything is perfectly readable, even when I edited the texts in a street cafe, on a bright sunny day. Any content here looks crisp thanks to a resolution of 2560 × 1600.

Colors are saturated, and blacks are dark as night. The dim scenes in the video are easily distinguishable due to the high brightness. There is also support for HDR10 +, if you watch movies in HDR, you will get additional contrast. I enjoyed episodes of Netflix TV shows that look fantastic on this tablet.

Completed by the acoustics of four speakersfrom AKG. It delivers clear and dynamic sound, making the Galaxy Tab S6 an excellent entertainment system. However, we do not have a 3.5 mm headphone jack. This is Samsung's disappointing omission.

Keyboard and S Pen

Separate deep-key keyboard keys,however, in my opinion, they could be a little bigger. They also did not have a backlight, and it was difficult for me to type in the dark. Nevertheless, we get a more pleasant experience than Apple's smart keyboard offers, where the keys are so thin that they are barely noticeable.

The trackpad is great here. It helps a lot when navigating software (especially in DeX mode) when you don’t want to move your finger across the screen. Unfortunately, the choice of text is not so intuitive, double-tap in most applications. You can also swipe up and down with two fingers on the trackpad to flip through applications, which is convenient.

With S Pen, airy action is possible, as in Note10, they can be used to trigger certain actions in some applications, such as the camera. They work well, but I did not have much need for this.

I liked writing notes with a stylus,here the experience is better than the Galaxy Note 10. The screen is larger, so there is more space for recordings. Although the technology for non-palm recognition has improved, it's still worth making sure that they do not touch the edges of the display. This activates the scroll bar in the Samsung Notes application, which in turn leads to disruption of the S Pen.

If your handwriting is legible, the Notes applicationwill automatically decrypt it into printed text. Formatting will require a little work, but it does a good job of transcribing. If you like to write notes by hand, it greatly speeds up transcription.

Galaxy Tab S6 cameras

Of all the cameras on laptops and tablets, II use only the front, for video calls. The front 8-megapixel sensor of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 does not disappoint, offering a resolution of 1920 × 1080. The quality of shooting is good, with sufficient lighting, however, grainy when poor.

Although I do not take photos from the tablet, manyusers do them. Samsung reported that 86% of Galaxy Tab S4 owners used the camera daily. What is my experience? The main 13-megapixel camera is capable of producing detailed, colorful photographs that are sometimes too saturated. At night, the quality of the shooting drops noticeably, but the results remain acceptable.

To add versatility, Samsungmounted a wide-angle 5-megapixel lens on the back for various perspectives in the photo. A 123-degree field of view covers most of the scene, and the sensor surprisingly accurately provides more natural colors than the main lens. Unfortunately, the quality is not very high even with sufficient lighting.

Iron productivity

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 tablet did not disappointits performance. The gadget runs on the processor installed in most flagship Android phones this year: Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855. The model I tested had 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory, as well as a microSD card slot in case you need more space for data (8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of ROM are available).

Even when you open multiple tabs inSamsung's Internet browser and application windows on top of each other, Tab S6 did not slow down. Applications started quickly, resizing was instantaneous, and games like Alto’s Odyssey, Pako: Forever and Grand Mountain worked without stuttering.

Here are some test results:

AnTuTu 3DBench: 352,209.
3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 4819 Vulkan, 5395 OpenGL.
Geekbench 5 CPU: 725 single core; 2392 multi-core.

Results are on par with othersSnapdragon 855 devices, although the numbers from Geekbench are lower (this may be a Geekbench error, as users on the network reported problems after updating the application). AnTuTu score is not as high as the iPad Air, but close to it. However, synthetic test results do not always indicate real performance. In practice, the Galaxy Tab S6 will delight you with its speed and responsiveness.

Operation and DeX mode

Samsung has moved forward, because Google has so farThere is no desktop mode for Android, adding a system tray with access to notifications, navigation buttons and an application box in the lower right corner. In the lower left corner we have applications whose size can be changed.

Not all Android apps may bechanged even if you “force” them with software configuration. Instagram is a prime example. However, posting to Instagram with the Galaxy Tab S6 is a process I have never encountered before. Although similar is possible on other tablets, everything is much simpler, thanks to DeX.

Only minor quirks distract from the generaldesktop. Pressing the search button on the keyboard opens the application window, but you need to type the letter twice to start searching. A quick press of the Alt-tab to switch to the previous application is also not smooth. The trick is by pressing and holding Alt, then slowly pressing Tab, which seems confusing.

The highlight was Samsung’s Internet browser,which is surprisingly necessary. It almost always displays the full version of websites, unlike Chrome, which shows the mobile version. I wrote this review on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6, and since text selection works with the trackpad in Google Docs, it worked easily and without complications. I could place two tabs on the Internet next to each other on a split screen when I was typing. It's easy to move applications or resize windows to view others at the same time.

Of course, I couldn’t work as fast as onan ordinary laptop, but quite successfully replaced your laptop in the last few weeks, and it was a pleasant and convenient experience. I note that my work revolves around using a browser, Google Docs, and that’s it. If you rely on other services or applications, make sure that you have an Android application (or an alternative) available to you. For example, I used Lightroom CC on the S6 to edit some photos using the S Pen.

Battery Day

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 will survive the difficultworking day. I used it on an airplane for four hours in a row, the battery charge dropped to 60%. Add a few more hours of use in a hotel room, and the tablet is discharged up to 30% earlier than going to bed.

If you plan to use this device withoutfrom 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Galaxy Tab S6 will stand, but provided that you do not play or use programs that intensively load the processor. I had a similar experience with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Despite the fact that the performance is good here, it does not quite correspond to the statement of Samsung about 15 hours of autonomy.

In the standard battery test during playbackvideo, when I played a YouTube video in 1080p over Wi-Fi with maximum screen brightness, the Tab S6 lasted 11 hours and 1 minute. This is better than the more affordable iPad Air, which fell asleep after 6 hours 17 minutes. I think most will be more than satisfied with the battery life of the S6. Replenishment of energy is not very fast, you need a little more than 2 hours to go from 0 to 100%.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 price, availability and warranty

Galaxy Tab S6, Samsung offers at a price of 649$ (42 thousand p.), If you choose a model with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory. Having spent $ 729 (47 thousand rubles) on 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of ROM, you will get a more powerful configuration, and you can handle tons of multitasking.

The gadget is already available on Samsung andother retailers. The LTE model will be released later this year. Samsung offers a standard limited warranty that protects your device against manufacturing defects for one year from the date of purchase.

Total

If you are looking for a tablet that can performsome work, and do not want to join the Apple ecosystem, Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 will be the best choice. The only problem is the price. Today there is very strong competition, so the decision to purchase will depend on how Android suits you as the main operating system.

The Galaxy Tab S6 will last three to four years before the battery life is noticeably reduced. This is good equipment for a good price.