Samsung’s giant 14.6-inch Android tablet features a Macbook-style display notch | Tech Reddy

Samsung’s giant 14.6-inch Android tablet features a Macbook-style display notch | Tech Reddy

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A promotional photo of a mammoth computer tablet in use.
Zoom in / The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra has S-Pen and ultra-slim bezels.

Android tablets may be showing new signs of life thanks to Google’s push with Android 12L, but Samsung has never left the Android tablet market. In addition to Samsung’s announcement of the Galaxy S22, the company is updating its tablet lineup and expanding its Galaxy tablets with the Galaxy S8 Tab Ultra.

The Galaxy S8 Tab Ultra is a monster. Its 14.6-inch (370.8mm), 120Hz 2960×1848 OLED display has a 16:10 aspect ratio. The 326.4×208.6×5.5 mm (12.8×8.2×0.2 in) aluminum body houses an 11,200 mAh battery and weighs 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg). That’s half the size of many laptops.

The keyboard case makes this tablet the size of a full laptop.
Zoom in / The keyboard case makes this tablet the size of a full laptop.

Samsung’s choice to build an ultra-large tablet came with a decision to make the bezels thinner, which I don’t think anyone asked for in a tablet. You can hold the smartphone on its side, so the frame doesn’t contribute much. But you need something to hold the tablet with. Samsung went all-in on hardware, adding a MacBook Pro-like notch to the front display of the S8 Tab Ultra, which houses two 12MP front cameras (one is a wide-angle lens).

The Ultra model costs $1,099.99, the same as the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. For specs, you get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a MicroSD slot. Two additional configurations are available: a 12GB RAM/256GB storage option for $1,199.99 and a 16GB RAM/512GB storage option for $1,399.99. 5G models are also available. There is an on-screen fingerprint reader, a USB-C port, Wi-Fi 6E, and two rear cameras: a 13 MP primary camera and a 6 MP wide-angle one. Samsung couldn’t find room for a headphone jack on the 14.6-inch behemoth.

The keyboard case has a holder for the S-Pen. The top of the cover folds down to allow access to the S-Pen.
Zoom in / The keyboard case has a holder for the S-Pen. The top of the cover folds down to allow access to the S-Pen.

Samsung

The device comes with a stylus that Samsung simply calls the “S-Pen,” but it’s not like the tiny, plastic “S-Pen” that lives inside the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It’s the size of an Apple Pencil and takes a battery. The stylus magnetically attaches to the back of the tablet in line with the camera roll. This large S-Pen also works on the S22 Ultra, if you buy both devices and don’t want to disconnect your S22 Pen.

Samsung also has a keyboard case that turns your large tablet into a mid-sized laptop. The keyboard connects to the tablet via a set of pogo pins and includes a trackpad and light buttons. The keyboard normally costs $349, but you can get it for free by pre-ordering.

The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is now available for pre-order on Samsung.com and will ship on February 25th.

Take one last look at that weird groove.
Zoom in / Take one last look at that weird groove.

Samsung

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Listing image by Samsung

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