Samsung Tab S4 Review UK

Samsung Tab Galaxy S4 Review: Overview & Price

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 was released on August 10^th here in the UK, in this review we will be going over what makes this tablet one of the best on the market today.

Undoubtedly at the higher end of the tablet market, the Samsung Tab S4 price is £599 here in the UK.

When it comes to the Samsung S4 tablet specs, it has some of the high specs in any tablet to date.

Here is some of what you can expect from this device..

• Snapdragon 835 Chipset
• 4GB RAM
• 64/256GB Internal Storage
• 7300mAh Battery
• Stylus Pen

Android has really struggled to break through into the tablet market, with Apple iPad’s dominating the game, this is not for a lack of trying but now with the S4 it feels like some serious progress has been made.

Let’s take a look at what the S4 is offering…

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 Review: Design & Display

So when it comes to the design of the Samsung Tab S4, we were delighted with its aesthetic, small bezels and plenty of real estate on the display.

All whilst feeling and looking extremely premium too, one thing we were slightly confused about though is Samsung’s choice to have a glass rear.

This glass rear is really easy to scratch and we found it is a magnet for fingerprints, we definitely recommend investing in a case if you’re wanting to keep this tablet looking fresh.

The S4 weighs in at a light 482g, meaning it will easily fit into your backpack without you noticing any weight gain, because of it being lightweight this means that it’s easy to use in one hand without crippling pain or fear of dropping the device.

The design is extremely clean and minimalist, around the back you have the Samsung ‘Tuned by AKG‘ logo then around the front, you won’t find a home button, the button has been removed to create more real estate for the display.

The S4 comes in 3 different colours, we were lucky enough to get our hands on a white version but if this is not to your taste then you have a gloss black option or a grey option too.

Around the sides of the S4 is where you will find the 3.5mm headphone jack, for connecting your wired headphones.

There is a USB-C port used for charging the device and also a set of POGO pins that are used for connecting the Book Keyboard Cover (not included).

One feature we loved about the S4 is that it does feature the Iris Scanner just like the one seen in the Samsung Galaxy S9, this works great and means your tablet is super secure incase any intruders get their hands on it.

Image: Tinh tế Photo

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 has a stunning 10.5-inch Super AMOLED display, very similar to the one seen in the iPad Pro 10.5.

The viewing experience here is absolutely flawless, we found colours to be extremely bright thanks to its AMOLED display, blacks are deep and contrast is strong too.

The display is also HDR-enabled, meaning its great for watching media such as Netflix and YouTube. You really will struggle to find a tablet with a better media experience than the Samsung Tab S4.

Brightness levels are great too; you won’t have any troubles using this device when in direct sunlight, the S4 has a 2560 x 1600 resolution too, adding to that cinematic experience.

Viewing angles are great on the S4 too, meaning you can watch a movie with your partner without having to hog the tablet so you can get the best view.

Included in the box of the Tab S4 is the S-Pen, this little thing brought a lot of fun to us when reviewing this tablet, it’s great for artists who love to design on tablets or for those who love to play around and doodle when they’re bored.

Pressure sensitivity is bang on and we loved that the stylus gives a little bit of resistance when doodling on the tablet, there is no lag either when using the stylus and we found it to be extremely accurate.

We aren’t artists here at Device Dictionary but we found ourselves having lost of fun and even whipped up a couple of semi-decent sketches.

The pen itself is much more like a real pen, rather than the one seen in the Samsung Note 9, we could easily see how artists or designers would love this device for writing and drawing.

There is one slight annoyance with the stylus though, the small button which launches the quick-menu, this button can’t be remapped either, which would have been a nice added touch to the stylus.

We loved the fact that the S4 has a 16:10 aspect ratio too, meaning you get a better widescreen experience, we really didn’t have anything to report back in this department.

The display was more than we expected and we can confidently say that this is the best display we have ever used on a tablet to date.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 Review: Performance

The Samsung S4 Tab has quad-speakers that are tuned by Samsung’s own brand AKG; they are capable of pumping out Dolby Atmos Audio that gives you an awesome surround sound experience.

We did, however, notice that when playing games and listening to music, that they do some a little tinny sometimes and just a little less premium than we expected considering Samsung has shouted about this feature a lot on the S4.

This is easily fixed though as the S4 does have a built-in headphone jack as previously mentioned, so if you’re going to be zoning on for some intense gaming sessions then you should probably whip out the Turtle Beaches and plugin.

Under the hood, the Samsung S4 Tab comes with the Snapdragon 835 chip, coupled with 4GB of RAM.

The Samsung S4 tablet specs are great, making this an ideal device for those than demand lots of power on their tablet, perhaps using it for work or simply love to game.

Image: Tinh tế Photo

This is the recipe for some strong performance power and we found that when gaming on the device the S4 would breeze through even the most demanding of games.

We tested the S4 on our favourite MMORPG, Runescape. This game is graphically demanding and generally required a lot of power to keep the game running at a stable fps without lag, the S4 performed exceptionally well and we found ourselves immersed in gameplay for over an hour.

We then moved onto PUBG, which again ran perfect without any lag or stutter, the performance of this tablet is very impressive, coupled with the AKG speakers it makes for a superb gaming experience.

We did notice that the tablet did heat up a little when playing games for over half an hour, this is normal though and it wasn’t anything to be alarmed about, its just something we should make you aware of.

The Samsung S4 Tab does come with 64GB of internal storage which is expandable with the use of a microSD, some regions offer the 256GB option but seeing as though the 64GB is expandable there is really no need to shell out more money on this thing.

The S4 has the option of multi-tasking too, however it isn’t as great as we expected and we found that the tablet would slow down a little and seemed to get a little confused when it had to run two things at once.

Software-wise the Samsung S4 Tab runs from Android 8.1 (Oreo), this is a clean interface that is easily customisable too, we found the UI very easy to navigate around and love the fact that we could customise the home screen with themes etc.

Considering that the Samsung Tab S4 price is just under £600, we were extremely impressed by its specs, offering lots of performance power ideal for gaming.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 Review: Camera

The camera department is one we don’t tend to stress too much over when it comes to a tablet, it’s nice to be able to take some decent photos with a tablet if needed but for the most part, a smartphone always performs so much better.

The S4 has a single 13MP f/1.9 aperture, this lens is capable of producing some solid images especially when in good lighting, we found that there was plenty of detail and colour, with good subject separation.

Images do suffer when it comes to taking images in low light situations, this is to be as expected from a tablet device and we don’t expect users to be running around in the dark trying to snap portrait images on this thing.

Image: Tinh tế Photo

That being said the overall quality of the camera is decent, it can easily snap some images when in the house or out in the back garden in summer, we still recommend using a smartphone though if you need some good quality shots.

See Related:

*Samsung Galaxy Tab A Review*
*Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e Review*
*Huawei M5 MediaTab Review*
*Huawei T3 MediaTab Review*

Around the front of the Samsung Tab S4, there is an 8MP sensor that works well for face-time and video calls, the camera isn’t going to win any gold medals but it is decent considering this is, after all, a tablet.

The rear camera can also record in 4K in 1080p, this is actually very good and when in use makes for some quality footage that can be social media-ready.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 Review: Battery Life

The Samsung Tab S4 has a 7300mAh battery, this is huge and you can expect this device to easily get you through a full day of moderate usage.

We did find that if we were watching Netflix videos and putting that big display to use, that battery life would drop significantly quicker.

Stand-by is where this tablet falls down too, most devices tend to perform well when it comes to standby, however the S4 does struggle and we found that when leaving it overnight it dropped a whole 10% without anybody touching it.

You will be glad to know that the S4 does come with a fast charger supplied in the box, you can expect this to take you from 0-100 real-quick!

Precisely 2 hours and 40 minutes! As a whole, the battery life is strong here and we didn’t have anything to complain to much about, standby could have been a little better but it wasn’t a deal-breaker for us.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 Review: Summary

So is the Samsung Tab S4 worth your hard-earned moolah?

Well if your looking for a high-end tablet with a high-end price tag then this could be the one for you.

The S4 has a strong build quality with a stunning display, performance is great although does lack a little when multitasking.

The Samsung S4 tablet specs are impressive, giving plenty of performance for those that love to game and demand lots of power on their tablet device.

We even found the camera to be decent which is surprising for most tablets.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 (10.5") Grey 

This tablet suits the needs of those who love to watch media on their tablet device, it’s ideal for long periods of Netflix and YouTube videos and is sure to keep the kids entertained for an hour.

The S-Pen is great too, extremely accurate and perfect for artists or designers who use their tablet as a work tool.

A metal back would have been preferred over the glass back, but this is easily fixed by investing in a case for the tablet.

The Samsung Tab S4 price is pretty high, at £599 this is by no means a budget tablet. However, you get what you pay for with this thing and we found it to be an extremely premium bit of kit.

Overall this thing is seriously impressive and is undoubtedly one of the best Android tablet out their today!

Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 Review: Full Specification

Launch: 2018, August

Body:

• Dimension: 249.3 x 164.3 x 7.1mm (9.81 x 6.47 x 0.28 in)
• Weight: 482g (Wi-Fi), 483g (LTE)
• Sim: Nano-SIM
  – Stylus

Display:

• Type: Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours
• Size: 10.5 inches, 321.9 cm² (-78.6% screen-to-body ratio)
• Resolution: 1600 x 2560 pixels, 16:10 (-287 PPI density)

Platform:

• OS: Android 8.1 (Oreo), upgradable to Android 9.0 (Pie); One UI
• Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8998 Snapdragon 835 (10nm)
• CPU: Octa-core (4×2.35 GHz Kryo & 4×1.9 GHz Kryo)
• GPU: Adreno 540

Memory:

• Card slot: microSD, up to 1TB (dedicated slot)
• Internal: 64/256GB, 4GB RAM or 6GB RAM (Korea only)

Camera:

• Primary: 13MP, AF
• Video: LED flash, HDR, panorama
• Selfie Cam: 8MP
• Video: 2160p@30fps

Sound:

• Loudspeaker: Yes, with stereo speakers (4 speakers)
• 3.5mm Jack: Yes
  – Speakers tuned by AKG/HARMAN, Dolby Atmos Sound

Comms:

• WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
• Bluetooth: 5.0, A2DP, LE
• GPS: Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO
• Radio: No
• USB: 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector; magnetic connector

Features:

• Sensors: Iris scanner, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
  – Samsung Dex, ANT+

Battery:

• Non-removable Li-Ion battery (32.4 Wh)
• Charging: Fast battery charging 18W

Misc:

• Colours: Black, White
• Price: As seen in the above post
• Models: SM-T830, SM-T835
• SAR: 1.09 W/kg (body)
• SAR EU: 0.34 W/kg (body)