Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 Quick Specs

Display Size: 810.5 Inch Super AMOLED WQXGA  resolution, 294 PPI, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 10 point multi touchProcessor: Exynos 5420 octa with 4 Cortex A15 cores clocked at 1.9 GHz and 4 Cortex A7 cores clocked at 1.3 GHz along with Mali T628 MP6 GPURAM: 3 GBSoftware Version: Android 4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz UICamera: 8 MP camera, Capable of Full HD, 1080p video recordingSecondary Camera: 2.1 MPInternal Storage:  16 GB/ 32 GBExternal Storage: MicroSD support up to 128 GBBattery: 7,900 mAhConnectivity:  HSPA+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, aGPS, GLONASS,  Micro USB 2.0Others: SIM- Micro SIM, NFC – No

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 Hands on Video Review

Design, Form Factor and Display

The design language is similar to Galaxy Tab S8.4, with perforated soft touch rear cover which provides good grip and is bordered by classy metallic curved edges. In spite of further increase in display size the thickness remains same at 6.6 mm. 495 grams of body weight is also well balanced which makes the handling quite comfortable.

Unlike Tab S 8.4 (button placement like phone), the hard button layout has been designed for landscape mode usage, which is only logical considering the large display size. We liked the display on Tab S8.4 and Tab S10.4 is equally mesmerizing. Since AMOLED displays can seperately power each pixel, they are characterized with 100 x contrast on LCDs, Darkest possible blacks and large gamut of colors. Some people don’t like the over saturated colors from Super AMOLED display, and Galaxy Tab S series has different color modes to solve that effectively. Colors in Basic mode are very realistic.

Processor and RAM

The Processor used is Exynos 5420 Octa with 4 Cortex A15 based cores clocked at 1.9 GHz and 4 Cortex A7 cores clocked at 1.3 GHz. Perhaps Samsung has enabled HPM to match scale the performance, but its not very likely. In our initial time with the device, everything was running smooth on touchWiz UI. We will comment more on the performance after our full review.

3 GB of Ample RAM will aid smooth multi tasking and we expect the processor to handle most moderate and heavy tasks efficiently. It might get heated while intensive gaming.

Camera and Internal Storage

Imaging hardware remains same as Tab S 8.4 but with even larger display size, you will be using it even less often. The rear 8.1 MP shooter aided with LED flash gave good performance in low light conditions. The 2.1 MP shooter will also suffice for decent quality video chats.

The Internal storage is 32 GB and can be further extended to 128 GB using MicroSD card support. This should be sufficient for most users out there.

User Interface and Battery

The user interface is latest Samsung TouchWiz UI laid on top of Android 4.4 KitKat in line with what you would expect from a high end Samsung product. Highlighted software features include Multi-Windows which allows you to split the large display for effective multi tasking, SideSync 3.0 which allows your tablet to sync with Galaxy S5, and more. The Finger print scanner for added security can now help upto 8 users keep their data separate and secure on a single device.

The battery capacity is 7,900 mAh and considering the large dense display and Exynos Octa core on board, this is expected to provide reasonable backup.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is a very good large display android tablet which will provide you with great day to day experience. We would have loved a S Pen to take full advantage of extra screen real estate, but apparently Samsung it keeping it exclusive to Note series tablets as of now. Large display Android tablets are generally used as portable multimedia devices and Tab S 10.5 will serve that purpose well.