Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e

No S-PEN??? Damn it samsung... We have to wait for the S5 (if it will exist...)?

Could be that we have two versions as for the S3(no pen/pen)? The lauch in that case was differentiated?

 

Yeah, I was wondering about the lack of an S-Pen myself --- was seriously considering buying one until I figured that out.

Any idea what the price differential will be for an S5 w/ an S-Pen?

 

My guess is that the regular Tab S5 will have a Qualcomm 845 (S5e has a 670) and all-around higher specs, including an S-Pen (non-silo) like the previous Tab S4. They surely want it to compete with the iPad Pro 11, after all. Expect the price to be similar to the Apple as well. They might charge extra ($100+) for a pen as an accessory if they really want it to be seen as an Apple iPad Pro rival (and they very much do).

 

Just a random thought, but I can't say I ever really understood why both Samsung and especially Google decided to cede the handheld tablet space virtually all to Apple. It's true that Apple has a huge lead in apps but I think the Google/Android ecosystem base is large enough to build significant hardware mkt share - which would lead to more developer investment - if they chose to. And there are so many excellent, low cost mfrs at all price points to create easy alternatives to iPads if Google made investments to grease the skids. The increasing chumminess between Google and MS over android as the de facto MS mobile platform could only increase the potential there. Seriously,though, in 2019 it's absurd that there be a virtual monopoly in slates handed to Apple on a silver platter. Thoughts?

 

I really don't know. For the smaller tablets maybe they buy the meme that a 6.3" phablet is so close to the size of an 8" tablet that there's no purpose in the latter? So they ceded the market to Apple's mini.

I've never had any difficulty distinguishing the two, but people do say there's not enough difference to matter, I've even seen it in posts here on this forum, so I guess it's a weird variation in human perception or something?

 

Don't take this as fact, but the rumors we are hearing is that the Tab S5 will actually be a Tab S Pro. 855 chip. 11 inch AMOLED with HDR, 8GB RAM. Siloed S-Pen

And further out the rumor chain, it might be Chrome OS based

Apparently they felt like they were caught flat footed by Apple with the iPad pros success.

 

Let's hope a 3:2 new screen then, if they are changing something... I liked much better the S3 dimensions than the S4...

 

The S4 though you can hold in portrait mode with one hand easier. Because the width is less. I guess it's a matter of preference.

 

Interesting, they might finally be making a tablet to properly succeed the Note Pro 12.2"... I just haven't been able to upgrade to any mobile tablet from that beast, despite how it constantly overheats and the battery connection is failing (I got to take it somewhere to get the pins soldered), there hasn't been a screen on an android device yet that can turn heads like it, Ipad Pro does, but I don't feel like starting from scratch in a new ecosystem and I love Wacom EMR too much. The 12" tablet form factor just has a certain bad @$$ vibe to it when I'm drawing or gaming, people always say something like, "woah thats a big tablet! -or- wow that screen is beautiful, is that a pen??"

 

So the Tab S5e has a "you're holding it wrong issue"
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/galaxy-tab-s5e-wifi-issue,news-29982.html

We have confirmed it with our test sample. If you hold it as described , it can drop the connection even when an access point is quite close (in our case about 25 feet)

I don't agree with the assertion that they can't mitigate the issue at least to some degree with a firmware update. That just shows in my opinion, a bit of lack of knowledge of how the latest wifi radios and antennas work.

We reported it to Samsung and I'll post here when/if we get a response