Mobile Technology

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 vs. iPad mini 2

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 vs. iPad mini 2
Gizmag compares the features and specs of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and the Apple iPad mini with Retina Display
Gizmag compares the features and specs of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and the Apple iPad mini with Retina Display
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Battery capacities
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Battery capacities
Build materials
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Build materials
Camera resolution
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Camera resolution
Color options
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Color options
Processors (though the LTE version of the Tab S has a Snapdragon 800 in place of the Exynos Octa)
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Processors (though the LTE version of the Tab S has a Snapdragon 800 in place of the Exynos Octa)
The Tab S is 7 percent taller, 7 percent narrower and 12 percent thinner
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The Tab S is 7 percent taller, 7 percent narrower and 12 percent thinner
Display resolution and pixel density
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Display resolution and pixel density
The iPad mini gives you 95 percent as much screen area as the Galaxy Tab S 8.4
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The iPad mini gives you 95 percent as much screen area as the Galaxy Tab S 8.4
The Galaxy Tab S is the first high-resolution tablet with a Super AMOLED display
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The Galaxy Tab S is the first high-resolution tablet with a Super AMOLED display
The Tab S has a fingerprint scanner in its home button
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The Tab S has a fingerprint scanner in its home button
Gizmag compares the features and specs of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and the Apple iPad mini with Retina Display
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Gizmag compares the features and specs of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and the Apple iPad mini with Retina Display
Both tablets are sold in Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + LTE models
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Both tablets are sold in Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + LTE models
Both tablets start at US$400, for 16 GB Wi-Fi only configurations
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Both tablets start at US$400, for 16 GB Wi-Fi only configurations
The Tab S triples the iPad's 1 GB of RAM
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The Tab S triples the iPad's 1 GB of RAM
Original release dates
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Original release dates
The Tab S has Samsung's "Multi Window" side-by-side multitasking
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The Tab S has Samsung's "Multi Window" side-by-side multitasking
SideSync 3.0 lets you view and control a Galaxy S5 on your Galaxy Tab S
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SideSync 3.0 lets you view and control a Galaxy S5 on your Galaxy Tab S
It's Android 4.4 KitKat (with Samsung's TouchWiz) vs. iOS 7
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It's Android 4.4 KitKat (with Samsung's TouchWiz) vs. iOS 7
Storage options
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Storage options
The Tab S has Samsung's Ultra Power Saving Mode, which can stretch out just a tiny bit of battery life into hours of uptimes
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The Tab S has Samsung's Ultra Power Saving Mode, which can stretch out just a tiny bit of battery life into hours of uptimes
The Tab S is incredibly light, at 11 percent lighter than the Retina iPad mini
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The Tab S is incredibly light, at 11 percent lighter than the Retina iPad mini
View gallery - 21 images

Samsung has always been interested in taking some of the iPad's tablet market share, but last week the company got really serious. The Galaxy Tab S is a spec monster squeezed into an impossibly light and thin frame. How do the features and specs of the the 8.4-in Tab S compare to those of the iPad mini 2? Read on, for Gizmag's look.

Size

The Tab S is 7 percent taller, 7 percent narrower and 12 percent thinner
The Tab S is 7 percent taller, 7 percent narrower and 12 percent thinner

The Galaxy Tab S 8.4 is 7 percent taller, 7 percent narrower and an insane 12 percent thinner than the svelte iPad mini. You can make plenty of arguments for the iPad mini in this comparison, but the Galaxy Tab S' incredibly thin build is one of the biggest reasons to put your chips in that pot.

Weight

The Tab S is incredibly light, at 11 percent lighter than the Retina iPad mini
The Tab S is incredibly light, at 11 percent lighter than the Retina iPad mini

The Galaxy Tab S 8.4 is also 11 percent lighter than the Retina iPad mini (its name before Apple changed it retroactively to the iPad mini 2). I handled it at Samsung's launch event, and was impressed with how feathery it felt in hand.

Build

Build materials
Build materials

The Tab S looks a lot like the Galaxy S5, with the same dimpled pleather build on its backside. But it also feels much firmer than the GS5's backing does.

Colors

Color options
Color options

It's two color options each for the Tab S and iPad mini.

Display (size)

The iPad mini gives you 95 percent as much screen area as the Galaxy Tab S 8.4
The iPad mini gives you 95 percent as much screen area as the Galaxy Tab S 8.4

The Galaxy Tab S gives you about 6 percent more screen real estate than the iPad mini does. It's a more elongated screen, which doesn't work quite as well in portrait mode as the iPad's 4:3 aspect ratio does, but Samsung's button placement suggests that the company thinks the Tab S works just fine in portrait mode.

Display (type)

The Galaxy Tab S is the first high-resolution tablet with a Super AMOLED display
The Galaxy Tab S is the first high-resolution tablet with a Super AMOLED display

The Galaxy Tab S is the first high-resolution tablet with a Super AMOLED display. It brings richer colors, greater contrast and a wider color range than other tablet displays. In person, though, the only place where I noticed a significant difference was when watching video (and, to a lesser degree, still images). Everywhere else, the difference was negligible.

Display (resolution)

Display resolution and pixel density
Display resolution and pixel density

The Tab S 8.4 packs in a sharp 359 pixels per inch. That's 10 percent more than the Retina iPad mini, but I don't think your eyes will necessarily notice that much of a difference with pixel density. Both displays are extremely crisp.

Fingerprint scanner

The Tab S has a fingerprint scanner in its home button
The Tab S has a fingerprint scanner in its home button

The Galaxy S5's swipe-based fingerprint scanner is also making an appearance in the Tab S. We'll likely see Apple's Touch ID make its way to the 2014 Retina iPad mini, but this 2013 version has a standard home button, with no sensors in sight.

SideSync

The Tab S has Samsung's "Multi Window" side-by-side multitasking
The Tab S has Samsung's "Multi Window" side-by-side multitasking

If you own a Galaxy S5, then Samsung has a very cool feature lined up for you in the Tab S. Sync the two devices over Wi-Fi, and you'll be able to view and control your GS5 right on your tablet's home screen. It also lets you send and receive text messages and phone calls on the Tab S.

Storage

Storage options
Storage options

The Galaxy Tab S lacks the 64 GB and 128 GB storage options that Apple offers for the iPad mini, but the Tab S does help to ease any worries with a microSD card slot (supporting cards as big as 128 GB).

LTE

Both tablets are sold in Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + LTE models
Both tablets are sold in Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + LTE models

Both tablets are sold in Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi with cellular data models.

Processor

Processors (though the LTE version of the Tab S has a Snapdragon 800 in place of the Exynos Octa)
Processors (though the LTE version of the Tab S has a Snapdragon 800 in place of the Exynos Octa)

The octa-core Exynos processor listed above is for the Wi-Fi only version of the Tab S. The LTE edition gets a Snapdragon 800 in its place.

RAM

The Tab S triples the iPad's 1 GB of RAM
The Tab S triples the iPad's 1 GB of RAM

The Tab triples the 1 GB of RAM found in the iPad.

Side-by-side multitasking

SideSync 3.0 lets you view and control a Galaxy S5 on your Galaxy Tab S
SideSync 3.0 lets you view and control a Galaxy S5 on your Galaxy Tab S

One of the best uses of that extra RAM is to let you run two apps in side-by-side windows on the Tab S. We've seen lots of mobile features make their way to the desktop (in both OS X and Windows), but this is one case where a desktop-like feature is making the leap to mobile.

Cameras

Camera resolution
Camera resolution

We can't yet say much about the Tab S' cameras, but they should at least be solid, with 8 MP resolution on the backside and 2.1 MP on the front.

Battery

Battery capacities
Battery capacities

It's also too early to say much about the Tab's uptimes, though Samsung is estimating 11 hours of continuous video playback.

Ultra Power Saving Mode

The Tab S has Samsung's Ultra Power Saving Mode, which can stretch out just a tiny bit of battery life into hours of uptimes
The Tab S has Samsung's Ultra Power Saving Mode, which can stretch out just a tiny bit of battery life into hours of uptimes

If you've used the Galaxy S5, you might already be familiar with this feature. Ultra Power Saving Mode desaturates the display and severely limits available apps, to squeeze hours of extra battery life out of just a few percentage points of remaining battery. This makes a lot of sense in a phone, and not quite as much in a tablet. But hey, why not?

Software

It's Android 4.4 KitKat (with Samsung's TouchWiz) vs. iOS 7
It's Android 4.4 KitKat (with Samsung's TouchWiz) vs. iOS 7

It's Android 4.4 KitKat, with Samsung's TouchWiz on top, for the Tab S vs. iOS 7 for the iPad mini. The iPad's tablet app selection is still a big advantage for it, despite Google Play's improvements on that front.

Release

Original release dates
Original release dates

If the specs look a little lopsided in the Tab S' favor, then part of that is because it's a brand-spankin' new device. The Retina iPad mini has been around since last November.

Starting price

Both tablets start at US$400, for 16 GB Wi-Fi only configurations
Both tablets start at US$400, for 16 GB Wi-Fi only configurations

Samsung is no dummy. It's pricing both versions of the Tab S (there's also a full-sized 10.5-in model) at the same price points as the Retina iPad mini and iPad Air, respectively.

For more on the Tab S, you can check out our hands-on from Samsung's launch event, as well as our comparison of the 10.5-in version to the iPad Air. You can also hit up our full Retina iPad mini review from back in November.

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