The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ with a 12.4-inch display and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is one of the flagship tablets. The Techstage test shows why not everything is perfect.
In addition to the more compact Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 (test report) and the huge Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra (test report) , the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ completes the trio of the new product range for high-end tablets from the South Koreans. In terms of size, it’s literally in the middle at 12.4 inches (31.5 cm). It is currently one of the best tablets (top 10) that you can get.
Technically, the Galaxy Tab S8+ is very similar to the other two models. With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, one of the currently fastest processors for mobile devices is used. The diagonal is 12.4 inches compared to the Ultra’s brutal 14.6 inches and the “regular” Galaxy Tab S8’s 11 inches. With the small model, users still have to be content with an IPS LCD, while the Plus model of the Tab S8 already offers OLED like the Ultra model.
We tested the Galaxy Tab S8+ and show how well the premium tablet performs, what the catches are and where it differs from the two sibling models.
design
The Galaxy Tab S8+ measures approximately 285 mm x 185 mm x 5.7 mm with a display diagonal of 12.4 inches. This is roughly the same size as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE (test report) . This makes it 35 mm wider and 20 mm higher than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 (test report) with 11 inches and around 0.5 mm thinner. Only the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra (test report) is currently even slimmer , which with a display of 14.6 inches has almost the dimensions of a laptop screen and is 40 mm wider and 23 mm higher than the Galaxy Tab S8+.
In terms of design, all three models are almost identical. Characteristic are the slightly rounded corners as well as the angular and high-quality metal housing. The visible antenna strips on the left and right at the back are typical of a Galaxy Tab from the S series. This makes the Galaxy Tab S8+ look very classy. The front camera is embedded in the middle at the top of the display edge. On the back, a black glass stripe runs along the housing to the left of the main camera. This is where the induction field for charging the included S-Pen (stylus) is located. It sticks to the tablet magnetically. The dual-lens camera with LED flash protrudes minimally next to the glossy black pen loading strip.
The workmanship is high quality and impeccable. The power button and the volume rocker on the long side are characterized by a solid pressure point. However, there is a certain residual risk of reaching the on/off switch if you actually only want to use the volume buttons. On the Lenovo Tab P12 Pro (test report) or Xiaomi Pad 5 (test report) , for example, the power buttons are on the short side and not in the immediate vicinity of the volume rocker.
Despite the ample size, the Galaxy Tab S8+ feels good in the hand. This is mainly due to the thin case and the still acceptable weight of almost 567 g for the size – that’s around 11 percent more than the smaller Galaxy Tab S8 with 11 inches. Anyone who has been used to “smaller” tablets around 10 inches will have to adapt first. In return, you get significantly more space for binge-watching.
The attachment of the pen on the back is not quite ideal. In principle, it adheres properly, but can still easily be lost. A deeper recess, a hole for insertion or a clip for attachment would have been a better solution for a stylus in the long run. However, no manufacturer currently offers an ideal option for accommodating the pen.
The Galaxy Tab S8+ does not offer protection against liquids due to the lack of IP certification. However, apart from the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 3 (test report) , hardly any tablet currently offers this anyway.
screen
The display with a diagonal of 12.4 inches relies on OLED technology, just like its big Ultra brother. Owners of an 11-inch Galaxy Tab S8 will still have to be content with an LCD. OLED offers great advantages in terms of black levels and contrasts. This ensures excellent and balanced image quality on the Galaxy Tab S8+. The viewing angle stability is excellent, and colors also appear vivid and true to nature. Thanks to the refresh rate of 120 Hertz, the picture looks smooth and flicker-free – this is particularly noticeable when scrolling and gaming.
The resolution is 2800 x 1752 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 266 ppi (pixels per inch). This is on par with the Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (test report) and ensures a more than sufficiently sharp image in which almost no pixels can be seen. Only the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 (test report) and Xiaomi Pad 5 (test report) are slightly sharper due to the smaller displays .
The brightness of the display on the Plus model is not quite as strong as on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra (test report) . We measured a maximum of 385 cd/m² in manual mode and almost 505 cd/m² with active automatic brightness adjustment in direct and intense sunlight. These are decent values for a tablet. However, the Ultra model achieves almost 850 cd/m² here, and the small Tab S8 at least 530 cd/m². The iPad Pro is over 600 cd/m². This means that the Galaxy Tab S8+ remains sufficiently easy to read even outdoors in sunlight. This works perfectly with texts, but with video clips it can be difficult to see the content well in dark areas. In addition, the display reflects strongly in sunlight – as with every tablet we know.
camera
We don’t give the camera on a tablet the same importance as on a smartphone. Apart from photographing documents, few application scenarios come to mind. The front camera for video chats with friends or family seems more important to us.
However, the camera of the Galaxy Tab S8+ is really good for a tablet and is even suitable for taking photos – if someone wants to take it with such a bulky device. The main camera on the back has two lenses: a 13-megapixel main lens and a 6-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera. The front camera lens offers 12 megapixels and a viewing angle of up to 120 degrees – which makes it almost an ultra wide angle camera. Unlike the Ultra model, there is no additional second lens on the front.
The image quality of the main lens is good. Colors and contrasts look natural, the image details are not overly pronounced, but are okay. Videos are possible up to a UHD resolution at a maximum of 30 fps in decent quality. The ultra-wide-angle camera on the back, on the other hand, weakens a bit and only offers mediocre image details and sharpness. The recordings are heavily distorted, especially at the edges. You could probably have done without this lens.
The front camera for selfies also ensures natural colors, but cannot keep up with the main camera. The sharpness of the image could have been better. Via a group mode, the lens retrieves the full angle of view, which is very useful when video chatting with several people. The bokeh effect for selfies in portrait mode does not work entirely flawlessly.
All models of the Galaxy Tab S8 rely on the high-end processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – which is so far unique in a tablet. This offers enormous performance and is particularly strong in graphics display compared to previous chip generations. This makes the Galaxy Tab S8+ a full-fledged gaming device and one of the fastest Android tablets around.
Benchmarks confirm the strong performance. Up to 14,000 points are possible in “Work 3.0” from PCmark, which puts the device, together with its two siblings, at the top of the Android tablets. We achieve up to 8500 points in 3Dmark’s “Wild Life” benchmark, which is relevant for games. However, Samsung still seems to have room for improvement here. The values fluctuate greatly here, which can be attributed to throttling due to the heat problems known with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Smartphones with the same processor achieve up to 10,000 points in 3Dmark, such as the Honor Magic 4 Pro (test report) .
By default, the Galaxy Tab S8+ offers more than a decent 8 GB of RAM. Only the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra with 16 GB of RAM has more to offer. The internal memory starts at 128 GB and goes up to 256 GB. The fast storage type UFS 3.1 ensures a high speed when reading and writing data. A USB-C slot is used as a connection, which already offers the fast standard USB 3.2 and DisplayPort. The Galaxy Tab S8+ surfs quickly through home networks thanks to Wifi-6. There is also a variant with 5G. GPS is on board and supports all relevant satellite networks (GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, Kompass, QZSS).
The fingerprint sensor is in the display and usually works reliably and quickly. We would almost prefer a solution in the power button, but that’s ultimately a question of taste. The scope of delivery also includes the S-Pen from Samsung. The stylus is about the size of a ballpoint pen and offers high precision when writing or drawing, making it a lot of fun to use.
We also noticed the sound positively. This achieves a pretty high volume and even offers more bass than you would expect from such a device. It can sometimes sound a bit too shrill at maximum volume, but overall it provides the right soundscape for games or when streaming your favorite series.
The operating system runs Android 12 with Samsung’s own user interface One UI 4.1. If you already had a smartphone or tablet from Samsung, you will quickly find your way around here. As usual, Samsung comes with a lot of its own apps – maybe a bit too many for our taste. Samsung’s recent update promise for its top devices is all the more commendable. Buyers can expect Android upgrades for the next 4 years (up to Android 16), security patches are available for 5 years. The Galaxy Tab S8 gets quarterly updates, only Samsung smartphones get monthly patches. At the time of testing, the security patch was still from May, so a new patch should follow soon.
