SamsungGalaxy Tab S8 11” 128GB WiFi 6E Android Tablet, PC Experience, Large LCD Screen, S Pen Included, Ultra Wide Camera, Expandable Memory, Long Lasting Battery, US Version, 2022, Graphite

IntroNowadays you're seeing more and more students switching from a laptop to a tablet for all of their productivity and entertainment. Although laptops are more portable than ever, It's pretty clear students appreciate an, even MORE, portable setup. That's where the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 steps in. This is one of my favorite Android tablets on the market, but if you’re a student, it has some serious competition from Apple. So, is the Galaxy Tab S8 the best tablet for students? Well, Let’s find out!HardwareThis year the Galaxy Tab S8 costs $50 more than its previous predecessor which is not bad considering some of the new features added. The Tab S8 is definitely not a cheap tablet, but it honestly offers a ton of awesome features that any student will appreciate who's in the market for a quality productivity-based tablet. I know some of you are debating whether you should get this or the iPad Air or Pro. And some of you are just looking for a quality android tablet for productivity and entertainment. Well, this video is for you all!When you look at the hardware of this device, it’s obvious that this thing is beautiful and there's definitely some iPad inspiration here. Anyway, On the back, you’ve got a matte aluminum finish with a glass magnet strip to connect the S Pen. On the right side is where you'll find the power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner, the volume rockers which are tactile, and a micro SD card slot that can be expanded up to 1TB. On the left side are connectors for other accessories and on the bottom is a USB-C charging port that can charge up to 45WDisplayFlipping this device around, On the front, you’ve got an 11” 1600x2560 display. While the bezels on this device are slightly big for 2020, the display is still gorgeous and I love streaming content and playing games on its 120htz display. And the bigger bezels make it easier to hold on the hand without interfering with the view too much. In addition to being good for leisure, the display gets bright enough to read outside, so I could see this being used at any time of day, for just about anything you can imagine. I highly recommend a case or stand for this device because the edges are sharp and after long use, it's not comfortable to hold in the hand.BatteryThe 8000 mAh battery on here is also gonna make sure that this tablet goes all day. It's definitely not the best battery life I've experienced on a tablet, but it's certainly enough for long productivity sessions. I typically get a full day of use on productivity days but when I add gaming or streaming to the mix, I do have to keep a portable charger with me.SpeakersIf you look around the sides, you’ll see four stereo speakers that get pretty loud and have clear audio quality, but you won’t see a headphone jack. Bummer. Anyway, this is probably one of the loudest speakers I've experienced on a tablet, so whether you're in a zoom meeting or listening to a lecture you won't have any trouble hearing.Storage/ExpandabilityThe base model of this device comes with 128GB and it’s an additional $80 for the 256GB model, and the S8 does come with a micro SD card slot, fortunately.CamerasThe Galaxy Tab S8 has two cameras on the back, a 13mp wide-angle lens and a 6mp ultrawide lens. Photos and video are solid for a tablet, I was surprised to see that this ships with 4k at 60fps. The front camera has a 12mp 120-degree ultra-wide lens, which is great for zoom calls and conferences. It's sad that most laptops double or triple the price don't have nearly as good of a camera system compared to this device. Whether you're using it to scan documents or photography this is actually surprisingly solid.Operating System and PerformanceIn terms of performance and the operating system, this ships with the new Snapdragon 8th gen Octa-Core processor, 8GB of RAM, and an Adreno 730 GPU running on Samsung’s version of Android 12. That’s really the most important reason to buy this tablet... it’s probably one of the most powerful tablets on the market. Like I mentioned before, entertainment is terrific, but this might be the best tablet for multi-tasking I’ve ever seen.Samsung DexSamsung launched all their new tablets with a feature called Samsung DeX, that allows you to boot your tablet into a PC-like mode, where you can bounce between different windows of apps and move between screens easily.In the past, my biggest reason for recommending students pick up something like a Chromebook is because things like hooking your laptop up to external monitors, or multi-tasking through different windows were way easier on a Chromebook, but clearly, that's not the case anymore.Samsung also partnered with Microsoft to allow you to run excel, word, and other Microsoft apps in multiple desktop windows. So typing on this tablet is phenomenal when you hook up an external keyboard or just a keyboard case.This feature is really the best part of this tablet and honestly one of its biggest selling points.S-PenIn addition to DeX, is Samsung’s inclusion of the S-Pen in the box. Most students are taking notes digitally, so this is very much appreciated. There are times I honestly prefer this over the Apple pencil. I personally like how soft it feels on the screen and the paper sound it makes when you're taking notes. It's really cool that you can actually hover the s pen over certain things like the calendar to get more details without having to tap on the screen. I'd say the Apple price is slightly more accurate, but the s pen is definitely more innovative. The only thing I don't like is how it snaps to the tablet only in one orientation, so essentially the tip has to be facing the camera for it to charge and for full magnetic power. Overall, Given how expensive adding the Apple Pen is to an iPad, I definitely think this is a great deal.PriceAnd that takes me to the question you’ve been asking: is this worth the base-model, $700 price tag?I can confidently say the Galaxy Tab S8 is one of, if not the best, android tablets in its series.I think at $700 USD for the base model this is competing with the iPad Air and iPad Pro.If you absolutely know you want a tablet in this price range, I think you only go with the iPad if you want to use iMessage, sidecar, and other Apple-exclusive software features, and you go with the Tab S8 if you absolutely need a stylus and the best tablet experience on Android.

TL;DR:Overall love this tablet, preferred over S8+, and a great tool for digital artists (just get a nice cover for the s pen)______________________________________S8 vs S8+ (vs iPad?)Went to an electronics store to see the actual comparison.COLORthe color difference is negligible. it's like going to the back of the electronics aisle with all the TVs and seeing the *very slight* difference between displays. yeah, okay, one might look slightly more vibrant but does that justify the $200 price difference? not for me at least.SCREEN SIZEthe next difference that i care about is the screen size but i actually prefer the *slightly* smaller screen of the s8. it's still a decent sized screen unless you need your tablet to get as close to the size of an average sized laptop as possible. any larger and it will actually be awkward for me to play games on the tablet.STORAGEi got the 128gb since i mostly use cloud storage. it has a little slot you can open up to add a micro sd to get more storage so honestly unless you *know* that you will need more storage, i will opt for 128gb. this is the advantage the samsung tablet has over apple. ipad *does not* have an sd slot so it gets more annoying to expand storage--such as needing cloud storage, a separate wireless storage device, or separate storage device that plugs into the charging port and just...sits there all clunky.__________________________________________S8 for ART (vs Kodak Cybertablet F10; Wacom Bamboo CTL-470; Huion Kamvas GT-156 v2)WORKSPACEi use clip studio paint with a *very* cluttered workspace and in *portrait* orientation. i'm talking like all the panels and windows out and the screen size still doesn't feel small or cramped to draw on the actual canvas. comparison of workspace size/tablet sizes in photos.DISPLAYS8 has TFT (LCD) and S8+ has Super AMOLED. S8 and my Huion are both LCD and they are still really good. i actually like the S8 better since i still haven't found the right color settings or color profile for my Huion to match the display colors with my phone (i tend to optimize colors for mobile devices). AMOLED makes it look more vibrant? the brights are richer and the blacks are darker. i thought the "more accurate" colors might justify the additional $200 price tag but then i realized "wait if my art looks slightly different on all these other displays anyway, what's the point of it looking *really good* on mine when it looks probably more like the S8's display on all my clients' and followers' devices?"S PENCHARGING: i find that it dies pretty fast compared to my graphic tablet pens, but it also charges really fast too. my huion pen is the most comparable since it also has a "charge" type pen compared to the other "replace the battery" tablet pens. for Huion, i don't even know how long it takes to charge since i can plug the cord into my laptop and draw with the pen while it's charging, and unplug it whenever i feel like it's fully charged. huion holds a charge for weeks but the s pen needs several charges throughout the week. since it attaches magnetically to the back of the tablet to charge, i can't use it while charging. but it charges *really* fast so was not a problem for me. when it's dying, i magnet it to the back, check my messages and emails, and then it's already charged and ready for me to use again.PRESSURE: honestly out of all the tablets, all at different price points, i barely feel a difference. i'm just not sensitive to this "over 9000 levels of pressure sensitivity" thing. everything feels nice when drawing comics, illustrations, and whatnots. lack of complaints is a good thing here.NIB: the pen nib/tip is rubber, not plastic. still, the tip goes to a nice fine point. i was worried that the tip might be too rubbery and flatten out and drag across the screen when pressed, but it's nice and firm and holds the point well. i'm used to needing a matte paper-esque screen protector for my tablets since the pens are plastic, but because this one's a rubber tip, i won't be getting nor needing one.ERGONOMICS: wow this s pen is light. very light and very thin. thickness comparison in photos. the weight doesn't bother me but the thinness does. i'm used to thicker pens where it's a relatively relaxed grip but with the s pen sometimes i feel like i'm drawing with a toothpick and it strains my hand to hold the pen so precisely. it has a button on it that i use for an eraser tool but it's so small it can actually cramp my hand after a while. it really is "after a while" and i do abuse the eraser more often than the average artist but i still will be getting some kind of sleeve or cover to make the pen easier to hold. this is my biggest complaint but also one that doesn't bother me as long as i get a good cover that still gives me access to the button.