The Galaxy Tab S8 has renewed my religion in Android tablets

Three weeks in the past, I shut down my trusty Microsoft Floor 2-in-1 to embark on a daring experiment – utilizing an Android pill as my main computing machine. Extra particularly, I imply utilizing the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 as my sole work machine. It’d sound outlandish, however to my shock, I got here out with a largely constructive expertise.

Sure, there have been a number of frustrations, however the Galaxy Tab S8 gave me quite a few causes to consider that Android tablets are usually not the misplaced trigger that many on the market suppose. The Android pill expertise is surprisingly sturdy in 2022, and I hope issues proceed to enhance within the years to come back. Right here’s how and why I caught with the Galaxy Tab S8 for weeks with out dropping my sanity.

The place the Galaxy Tab S8 shines

There’s rather a lot to love concerning the Galaxy Tab S8, each from a software program and {hardware} perspective. An 11-inch pill would possibly sound too small to function one’s sole workstation, however coming from a ten.5-inch display supplied by the Microsoft Floor Go 2, it was nonetheless an improve to me. Plus, the broader side ratio of the Galaxy Tab S8 ensured that the split-screen view felt extra pure, in contrast to the cramped mess of Floor Go 2’s tall 3:2 display.

The pixel-dense 2560 x 1600 display was a welcome improve, and though it wasn’t as vibrant because the OLED panel on Galaxy Tab S8+, the sharpness and brightness had been nonetheless a lot better. It helps that the Samsung pill is thinner and lighter than its Home windows counterpart and intensely near the iPad Air 5 on the parameters above.

A wholesome variety of options gave the Galaxy Tab S8 an edge over Home windows machines. For instance, with a number of faucets, it turns right into a pixel-dense secondary show for a PC with none devoted apps or cables. The audio system are balanced and produce a crisp sound, whereas the battery simply helps a day’s value of labor.

With Close by Share, you may switch information between your cellphone and pill at a blazing-fast pace, and 5G connectivity is one other sensible profit over a Home windows PC or Mac. Samsung has additionally assured 4 years of Android OS upgrades and safety updates for 5 years, which is an enormous bonus for longevity and unparalleled within the Android ecosystem.

Samsung’s software program steals the present

To avoid wasting you the shock of shifting from a desktop UI to a poorly stretched Android cellphone UI on the pill, you get the superb DeX mode. I felt proper at dwelling with the Home windows-like design strategy. Plus, window resizing in DeX mode is sort of rewarding and fluid. Resizing is clean, and floating home windows are a pleasure to work with.

So far as Chrome goes, the context menu that seems after deciding on textual content on Android can pull up net search outcomes and translation in a pop-up view on the identical web page as an alternative of a brand new tab, as is the case whereas utilizing Chrome’s desktop model. It’s a neat benefit, and right here’s the way it kicks into motion:

One UI supercharges the expertise at this level. No matter whether or not you might be in DeX mode, the superb facet panel permits you to shortly entry your most steadily used apps with a single swipe gesture. However it may possibly do much more. You may stack GIF creation and screenshot instruments, too. Core duties (alarm, messages, calendar entry, and so forth.), climate data, contacts, clipboard, and reminders are all only a swipe away. It’s deeply customizable as properly.

There’s additionally no want to recollect shortcuts, in contrast to on PC or Mac. The S Pen fast instructions and air gestures add an entire new dimension of comfort. Plus, the S Pen is without doubt one of the finest stylus choices you will discover on the market, not simply by way of sheer fluidity and low enter latency, however the customizability at its coronary heart can be noteworthy. When you get used to the mixed methods of edge panel and S Pen shortcuts, it’s exhausting going again to the keyboard and mouse system of a PC.

I usually discovered myself tapping the non-touch-sensitive display of my Asus Zephyrus laptop computer each time I returned to it for enjoying video games, and sorely missed the stylus comfort each time I moved away from the Galaxy Tab S8. Sure, it takes a while to get used to the stylus because the enter methodology, however as soon as I bought used to it, I didn’t really feel the necessity for a mouse or trackpad. I did miss the multi-finger gestures supplied by a laptop computer’s trackpad, however the Alt + Tab combo and Android’s navigation bar gestures made up for it.

Adobe Photoshop Specific proved to be greater than sufficient for my image-editing and retouching wants. I additionally tried Canva alongside a number of different modifying apps, and the Qualcomm chip inside Samsung’s flagship pill dealt with them simply, with none throttling or fan noise. Even with 20 or extra apps operating within the background, the Galaxy Tab S8 by no means felt laggy. My Home windows laptop computer with an AMD Ryzen chip and Nvidia graphics stutters once I push Chrome too exhausting.

The moment unlock-to-resume expertise on the Samsung pill proved to be one other welcome shock. There’s a motive Intel makes such an enormous deal concerning the “prompt wake” expertise on PCs that include the Evo badge slapped on them. The Galaxy Tab S8 permits you to dive again into your work immediately, sooner than even Intel Evo-certified Home windows 11 machines.

Surpassing the PC expertise

The truth is, there are a number of extra issues that the Galaxy Tab S8 does higher than a Home windows PC. For instance, window administration is way smoother, particularly with the stylus. Plus, you may regulate a window’s transparency and all the time preserve it in your view as an alternative of minimizing it. The drag-and-drop gesture for opening the third app from the sting panel in a 2:1:1 view can be fairly handy.

For all of the M1 would possibly that the iPad has to supply, you don’t get these options on Apple’s tablets, no less than not but. Or Home windows 11 or MacOS, for that matter. I additionally cherished the house display widgets, and the power to stack them on the Galaxy Tab S8 was an added bonus. The Galaxy Tab S8’s 12-megapixel selfie digital camera is a lot better than any webcam I’ve seen on any laptop computer on the market.

Plus, the 4K-ready 13MP predominant and 6MP ultrawide digital camera array is a neat addition. Even for those who don’t use the cameras to take photographs and movies, AR options like Fast Measure are useful methods you received’t discover on a Mac or Home windows PC.

Being an Android machine, you get all of the bells and whistles that include Google’s newest OS model — plus a number of additional perks courtesy of One UI. The flexibility to reply calls and deal with messages when linked to a Samsung cellphone was additionally an enormous bonus for me, because it saved me from selecting up my cellphone for calls after which getting distracted by Instagram or Twitter notifications.

I did squeeze in a number of classes of Diablo Immortal infrequently, however I did that for analysis functions, I swear!

For my work and tutorial wants, I didn’t encounter a state of affairs the place I felt kneecapped after switching to the Galaxy Tab S8 as my main computing machine. The place apps didn’t work, I lived with their net shopper. With loads of energy in addition, a handy type issue, and wholesome battery life, the Galaxy Tab S8 actually modified my notion of its potential to be a critical computing machine.

Whereas the controversy rages over Apple turning the iPad into a pc, Samsung has already performed that for me with the Galaxy Tab S8. That’s no small feat, because the expertise was actually an eye-opener. Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply the Galaxy Tab S8 will do the identical for everybody.

Android tablets nonetheless aren’t excellent

After all, there are annoyances, however most should do with the unhealthy form of Android app optimization for tablets. Even Google’s core apps, regardless of the corporate’s renewed deal with tablets, have a handful of shortcomings. Take Chrome, the spine of my workflow. In comparison with its desktop shopper, the Android model doesn’t allow you to create tab teams. You may’t drag and drop tabs between two Chrome home windows both.

The most important limitation was the shortcoming to make use of Chrome extensions, particularly the utilitarian extensions that I can’t reside with out (similar to Grammarly, character counter, Adobe Acrobat, Picture Downloader, and Keepa for checking product value historical past, amongst others). You’re additionally restricted to operating as much as 5 Chrome home windows, solely two of which might run in break up view, whereas the remaining can be utilized within the pop-up view. It’s nonetheless higher than what an iPad can do, however nowhere near a PC expertise.

And this extends to non-Google apps, too. A majority of functions merely run as a stretched-out cellular view and look horrible. Whereas the likes of Slack, Microsoft Groups, and Trello make nice use of the additional display actual property, Asana is downright abysmal. The best choice is to run the net shopper in desktop mode for a much less infuriating expertise.

For those who’re an influence consumer, a bunch of industrial quality modifying apps are merely not out there on Android. Not that you simply’d wish to do 4K video modifying on an Android pill, however a top-shelf chip just like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 must be pushed, particularly for all the cash it instructions. I did strive some media-editing apps, however they’re brimming with a frustratingly excessive quantity of adverts, or lack a few of the versatility supplied by apps tailor-made for Home windows or Mac.

The Tab S8 isn’t low cost, but it surely delivers

It’s fairly obvious that turning an Android pill right into a full-blown work pc is an costly endeavor. That’s as a result of high-end Android tablets can solely provide a computer-like expertise for those who spend money on the peripherals like folio keyboard circumstances, and a stylus, if doable. And belief me, regardless of how unintuitive it’d sound, utilizing a stylus actually makes a distinction.

I did miss the comfort of a mouse, particularly the right-click gesture to entry some key functionalities, however when you get used to a succesful stylus – of which there aren’t many except for Samsung’s S Pen – there isn’t a coming again. Nonetheless, these equipment don’t come low cost. Even the fundamental keyboard folio for the Galaxy Tab S8, regardless of missing a trackpad, will price you $140.

Assuming you search the complete laptop computer expertise after shelling out over a thousand {dollars} on the Galaxy Tab S8 Extremely, you’ll should spend one other $350 on its keyboard folio. That’s some huge cash, sufficient to purchase a flowery mechanical keyboard, a Chromebook, a refurbished Home windows laptop computer, and even an Android pill just like the Xiaomi Mi Pad 5 that comes with a flagship-tier processor.

However for those who can afford the price of turning a glossy OLED pill just like the Galaxy Tab S8+ or its Extremely sibling into your work machine with its personal distinctive set of benefits over a laptop computer or desktop, you received’t be upset. Google can be attempting (once more!) to care about Android tablets with some key UI optimizations in Android 12L and Android 13, which instills hope that Android tablets are lastly on the fitting path.

With some assist from Samsung’s personal consideration to element in One UI, I’m hopeful that Android tablets just like the Galaxy Tab S8 are able to take over your computing wants for each work and leisure. Simply just be sure you undergo a SWOT evaluation earlier than nuking your pockets.

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