Appearance design: Cool with a little luxury
Like the Galaxy S7, the Tab S3 (available in black/silver) has glass panels on the front and back, and a metal frame. Fingerprint identification is integrated on the Home key. In Tab S3 There is a USB Type-C interface at the bottom of the, which supports fast charging, and a 3.5mm headphone interface.
The three dimensions are 9.37x6.65x0.23 inches, and the weight is 0.94 pounds（ About 427 g ）These two points are basically the same as Apple's 9.7-inch iPad Pro (9.4x6.6x0.24 and 0.98 pounds).
Display screen: It's good for the eyes
The Tab S3 is equipped with a 2048 x 1536 high-resolution Super AMOLED screen that supports HDR. In particular, the Tab S3 supports HDR, which can greatly improve the color and light and dark contrast. It is quite appropriate to watch a space themed movie. It is a pity that the larger frame and 4:3 ratio will affect some impressions. At the same time, the scarcity of movie resources supporting HDR is also a problem.
In terms of color gamut, Tab S3 covers 188% of sRGB, compared with only 122% for 9.7-inch iPad Pro; The maximum brightness of the screen is 441 nits, which also exceeds the 432 nits of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, although it is less than the 509 nits of Google's Pixel C; DeltaE is 3.44, color accuracy is good but not extreme, Pixel C and iPad Pro are 1 and 1.9 respectively.
Audio: Samsung's Audio New Era
Tab S3 is equipped with four AKG tuned speakers that automatically adjust the volume in different directions, so it sounds nice whether it is placed horizontally or vertically. When comparing it with the iPad Pro with the same four speakers, the difference is still obvious: the iPad Pro is better at volume, but the voice and guitar of the Tab S3 will be more beautiful, with more details, and better processing in the treble and midrange parts.
Performance: fast, but still can't catch up with Apple
The hardware part is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 820+4GB RAM+32GB ROM, which is consistent with Samsung's existing flagship Galaxy S7. Therefore, the actual performance of watching movies, playing games or daily applications with it is commendable. But the 9.7-inch iPad Pro's CPU is more powerful. In the Geekbench 4 run, the iPad Pro scores 4802, Tab S3 3765, and Pixel C 2717. The GPU is similar. The iPad Pro 3DMark score is 32494, and the Tab S3 score is 20891, which is higher than the average tablet score of 17453.
S Pen and optional keyboard: S Pen is very good, the keyboard is slightly inferior
The unique secret of Tab S3: When S Pen comes out, it turns into a productivity tool in an instant - it has a 2048 level pressure feeling, and has no fear of writing or sketching. Similar to other Samsung devices, users can simply write notes through S Pen, customize app shortcuts, and even make GIFs. Magnetic adsorption is provided on the side, which can be adsorbed on Tab S3 when not in use.
The Tab S3 also provides a $130 folding keyboard accessory, which can be connected through a dedicated connection port without waiting for the slow connection time of Bluetooth. As far as typing is concerned, the key stroke is short and there is no backlight function. The rounded key shape is similar to the system icon. Because the size of Tab S3 is limited, the keys only occupy half of the keyboard space, so the keys are very small, and it is difficult to play without getting used to it.
Camera: good effect, not up to Galaxy level
To put it bluntly: if you are used to taking a lot of photos with a tablet, Tab S3 may not be a particularly good choice. There is no doubt that Samsung Galaxy S7 has the best smartphone camera on the market at present. Is it possible for all Samsung to bring this part into Tab S3? However, this is not the case. After comparing the Tab S3 and Galaxy S7 edge, the 13 million camera of Tab S3 is somewhat disappointing.
In the picture of bonsai trees, Tab S3 is underexposed, which makes the leaves look more bland than S7 edge compared with colorful plastic figurines.
Even under the best conditions, the pictures taken by S7 edge obviously have better color performance and tolerance, while Tab S3 is difficult to focus, noise control and color performance are much weaker.
However, compared with the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, both of them are half the weight, but it can still be seen that the iPad proof is sharper and richer in color, even though the iPad Pro proof is darker. As for the front camera, the effect of the 5 million camera of Tab S3 is similar to that of S7.
Endurance: just passed
The average tablet time is 8 hours and 45 minutes under the condition of continuous Wi Fi access. The measured results of Tab S3 are very mediocre - only about 30 minutes more than the average time, up to 9 hours and 18 minutes, while its competitor 9.7-inch iPad Pro can go to 10 hours and 53 minutes. In addition, the power supply required for the keyboard of Tab S3 will affect the endurance of S3. When the keyboard is connected for testing, Tab S3 reduces the average time by about one hour, only 7 hours and 38 minutes.
Summary:
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 has many advantages: Super AMOLED screen supporting HDR, S Pen's precise handwriting drawing function, and exquisite glass+metal design. But is the Tab S3 -- or any other tablet -- worth $600? Even the Netflix experience and powerful sketch/note function brought to Tab S3 really need to pay so much investment? Another 130 dollars is needed for the keyboard, which adds up to 730 dollars, which is close to Microsoft's Surface Pro 4. If I have to choose one of the two as a productivity device, I will definitely choose Surface Pro 4.
The Galaxy Tab S3 is not perfect: the average endurance and photography are far from Samsung's flagship. The Galaxy Tab S3 is a real flagship device. Most people will definitely like to play with it in their bedroom or kitchen. But even though it has many advantages, it is hard to say whether its price is reasonable.
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