Head-To-Head: Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 Vs. Apple iPad Air 2
Tablet Throw Down
Samsung on Monday unveiled its newest tablet, the Galaxy Tab S2, a 5.6mm-thin Android device which touts similar design, productivity and connectivity features as Apple's flagship iPad Air 2 tablet.
The Galaxy Tab S2 offers some significant changes from its popular processor, Galaxy Tab S, such as courting two new display sizes (either 9.7 inches or 8 inches) and utilizing an improved SoC (Samsung Exynos 5433 instead of the Exynos 5420).
However, can the South Korean mobile vendor's newest device capture the hearts of avid Apple fans? Following is a head-to-head of the specs of the Galaxy Tab S2 versus those of the iPad Air 2 to see which device tops the competitive tablet market.
Flashy New Display
In terms of size and thickness, the Galaxy Tab S2 is available in two sizes, 9.7 inches and 8 inches, and is the company's slimmest tablet at just 5.6mm thick.
In addition to an all-metal tablet frame, the Galaxy Tab S2 contains an improved 2,048-x-1,536 Super AMLOLED display, reading mode and adaptive display.
In comparison, Samsung's new tablet edges out Apple's iPad Air, which is 6.1mm thick, with an 8-inch display, putting it at the same size as Samsung's larger Galaxy Tab S2 variant.
The iPad Air 2 weighs 439 grams, in comparison to the Galaxy Tab S2 variants' 389 grams and 265 grams, and contains the same 2,048-x-1,536 resolution as both Galaxy Tab S2 variants.
SOC Showdown
Samsung improved its Galaxy Tab S2 with a flashy, new SoC, the Exynos 5433, which has four Cortex A57 cores clocking 1.9GHz and four Cortex A53 cores with a peak frequency of 1.3GHz.
This is an improvement over the Exynos 5420 SoC that Samsung sported in its Galaxy Tab S tablet. Samsung's new devices also contain 3 GB of memory in addition to 32 or 64 GB of internal memory, and a microSD slot for additional space. The iPad Air 2 is available in 16 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB, with no microSD.
The iPad Air 2, meanwhile, contains Apple's 64-bit A8X chip, with a peak frequency of 1.5GHz and an M8 motion coprocessor, in addition to 2 GB RAM.
Camera Clash
Like the iPad Air 2, Samsung's Galaxy Tab S2 tablets contain a front and rear camera. The rear camera contains 8MP AF sensors, similar to the iPad Air 2's 8MP front sensor with 3,264-x-2,448 native resolution.
While Samsung did not disclose any of its camera features, Apple's iPad Air 2 comes with a bevy of camera controls, such as time lapse, exposure control, Panorama and timer mode.
Productivity
Samsung's newest Galaxy tablets also will come with an array of productivity features, preloaded with Microsoft Office Solutions and storing up to 100 GB of free files on the cloud through OneDrive for two years.
In addition, the tablet line is built with touch-enabled Fingerprint Scanner, similar to the iPad Air 2's TouchID feature, as well as Multitasking and Pop-Up Window, which allows users to utilize two apps simultaneously in a similar structure to iOS 9's new multitasking features.
The Galaxy Tab S2 tablets are compatible with the Book Cover Keyboard, a separate accessory offering a PC keyboard trackpad for on-the-go productivity.
Price And OS
Samsung did not disclose the prices for its Galaxy Tab S2, which is slated to be released globally during an unspecified date in August.
Apple's iPad Air 2, which was unveiled in October, starts at $499, which is a bit pricier than Samsung's Galaxy Tab S at $349.99 on eBay.
The two variants of the Galaxy Tab S2 run on an Android 5.0 (Lollipop) operating system, while the iPad Air 2 currently runs on Apple's iOS 8.3.