Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 and S8 Plus review: welcome to the S ecosystem

If you’ve been looking for a tablet to complement your Android phone, for many years, your choices have been few and far between. In fact, the Android tablet market has provided so few compelling options that even many Android enthusiasts would recommend that you just buy an iPad if you want a tablet.

The problem with buying an iPad if you own an Android phone is that you miss out on a lot of the system integrations that come with using an iPhone and an iPad together. Apps that you own on your phone need to be repurchased on the tablet, you don’t get system-level things like the ability to hotspot your phone from the tablet, and the two devices never feel as connected or coherent as if they both ran the same platform.

That’s where Samsung’s latest Tab S8 and S8 Plus have an opportunity, at least if you own Samsung’s flavor of Android. (Samsung also has a third tablet in the Tab S8 line, the Ultra, that’s larger and more expensive — I’ve reviewed it separately here.) Though they look and function very similarly to Samsung’s prior tablet efforts — and still have much of the same baggage — Samsung has made progress developing integrations and an ecosystem of its own between its devices that may be enough of a reason to choose a Samsung tablet over an iPad if you also happen to carry a Samsung phone and use Samsung wireless earbuds.

That isn’t to say Samsung has come as far as Apple in those integrations, nor is it to say that the traditional Android tablet gripes — namely, a much smaller pool of optimized apps — don’t apply here. The Tab S8 and S8 Plus are also expensive tablets, starting at $699.99 and $899.99, respectively, before you add any accessories like a case or keyboard. But they do provide us a glimpse of an Android-first ecosystem that hasn’t really existed before.

The hardware differences between 2020’s Tab S7 / S7 Plus and this year’s Tab S8 versions are such:

• New Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor
• Wi-Fi 6E support
• Higher resolution front camera
• Improved lens on the back camera
• Lower latency on the S Pen

The standard Tab S8 is only available in Wi-Fi configurations; the Tab S8 Plus can be purchased with 5G cellular connectivity. It’s odd that this isn’t uniform across the line.

Visually, the new tablets are identical to the prior models. They come with the same 11-inch 120Hz LCD or 12.4-inch 120Hz OLED screens and have the same Dolby Atmos quad speakers. Just like before, the hardware is impressive, and either tablet provides an excellent video watching experience. Performance is also very good, with smooth responsiveness, quick app loading, and no “jelly scrolling” issues to be found. These are priced like premium tablets, and they feel like it, which is a good thing.

Between the two, I prefer the smaller Tab S8, which is easier to hold in one hand and more comfortable for the kinds of tasks I do on a tablet, such as reading books or news articles. If you want the better tablet for watching movies, the S8 Plus’ OLED screen has the edge, though it doesn’t quite have the same punch and brightness as Apple’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Both models also have 16:10 aspect ratio screens, which is better suited for larger-screen laptops than tablets. It makes them feel cramped when browsing websites in landscape and awkwardly tall when held in portrait orientation.

The Tab S8 has the same fingerprint scanner built into its sleep / wake button as the Tab S7; similarly, the Tab S8 Plus has the same under-screen fingerprint scanner as the Tab S7 Plus. Both worked fine in my testing, though neither are as fluid or quick to use as facial recognition logins. (You can enable face login on either tablet, but it’s not as secure as the fingerprint scanners or Apple’s Face ID.) Neither tablet has a 3.5mm headphone jack and relies on just one USB-C port for all of its I/O.