[Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 Guides, News, & Discussion] jonidog:
Hi, SO SORRY for the huge post, just wanted to share my recent experience with the Galaxy Tab S3. I'm not really looking to bad-mouth Samsung or anything, just want to provide my experience, which might help others in some way.

A week and a half ago I decided to purchase an android tablet for entertainment and taking notes/writing down equations at work. After doing some research it was pretty clear that Samsung Tab S series is the front runner here (second was Asus Zenpad 3S IMO). FYI, I previously had a Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and a Google Pixel C. My phone is LG V20.

This was the sequence of events:

1. Purchased Galaxy Tab S2 (Was on discount).

2. Returned the Tab S2 and got the Tab S3.

3. Purchased another Tab S3 to compare to the device I already had for a few days (To see if my device was faulty).

4. Returned both Tab S3 devices and purchased an iPad Pro 10.5 (the newest model).

The Tab S2 was super light, the battery was great, and the screen was absolutely stunning! However, it was constantly stuttering (Snapdragon 652 I think), had no S-pen support, and the speakers were just bad. It was really nice to hold though, light and easy to grip. But after two days I said, well let's get the Tab S3 instead. it has a faster processor, more RAM, S-pen support, and four quality speakers.

Got the Tab S3 and after getting everything setup from scratch I thought it's awesome! Very premium glass design, the INCLUDED S-pen was wonderful to take notes or some minor drawing (it also doesn't require recharging, which is genius), speakers were 1000% better than Tab S2. First day I got 6 hours of Screen on Time. Now, I'm very familiar with android and of course that made sense - new toy, first cycle, extra features enabled, blah blah. After a week, though, I was starting to get annoyed with some things:

1. The battery was just not good, I have no other way of saying it. When the screen is off, no drain whatsoever. When you're doing anything with the tablet, you can literally watch the battery drain one percent at a time. Light usage too, not playing games or anything. The most I got was 7.5 SOT with very low brightness. Here's an example of how my day looks like: Wake up at 5am, have coffee and get ready while watching mostly YouTube on the Tab. Started work at 7am, by then it was at 75%, was taking notes throughout the day. At about 1:30pm it was at 15%. I was taking notes, that's it, fairly low brightness.

2. It felt much heavier than the Tab S2. Yes, it is heavier, but for some reason it feels MUCH heavier.

3. The glass design looks great, but my goodness it's so hard to hold the tablet for more than 5 minutes. It makes your hands sweat and constantly keeps slipping out of them. What it means is that you have to adjust your grip every minute or so.

4. The cameras are just bad in 2017 standards. I got spoiled by my LG phone probably. But these cameras are just below average. Obviously I'm not gonna take pictures with my tablet, but at least put a decent front facing camera for skype and snapchat, etc.

5. But above all, the tablet was just supper laggy. The first day I said "oh well, I was setting it up and stuff so it probably got hot and haven't had a chance to optimize apps". Being objective, when you're using it you notice that it lags constantly. Multitasking, not multitasking, scrolling, just everywhere… To be honest, my LG V20 lags as hell too from time to time which is annoying as well. These two devices have a Snapdragon 820, so this must be it. They get hot and start to lag even more after 10 minutes. Moreover, I noticed that when I'm using the S-pen to navigate the screen, there's a noticeable extra lag. For example, when using Talon for Twitter app or any browser it seems to normally run at 30 fps (could be more, but I'm just making a point). That's what it seems like at least. When scrolling with the S-pen I noticed that it drops to about 20 fps. The activation of the digitizer must have an effect on the smoothness?? And after I noticed it once, I noticed it all the time…

6. I was so confident my unit was faulty, that I went to another store and purchased another Tab S3 haha. All this just to realize they were ALMOST exactly the same. Both lag, both have short battery, but the new Tab I got had some weird light bleed from the top left. Just to be clear, the screen on the Galaxy Tab S3 (or S2 or even the S 10.5) is the best screen you'll probably see. There's nothing better than that, really.

Broken hearted, I gave up, went to the store, and returned both tablets. I have to say, I HATE apple. I just hate their prices, their all-high-and-mighty attitude, "closed" operating system without customization, the fact that you have to buy that stupid apple pencil separately, just not my cup of tea. So I go to the store and say "the hell with this, everyone is drooling over these new iPads, let me see what all of this nonsense is about." I was genuinely saying to myself that I'll play around with the iPad Pro 10.5, realize how much better the Tab S3 was, and have a story to tell how better android is and blah blah blah.

Overall, the iPad Pro 10.5 is about $200 MORE expensive than the Galaxy Tab S3. This is because that damn Apple Pencil costs $150 in Canada. It has more storage (64GB) but lacks a microSD slot. The Tab S3 is expensive. The iPad is EXPENSIVE.

Trying to have as little bias as I can, these are my impressions with the iPad after 4 days:

1. Getting everything set up was super easy. I actually managed to find most of the apps I use on my android devices in the app store. That was unexpected and just shows how little I knew. Some apps were missing (like Palabre), but there are other alternatives that work just fine (but Palabre is still the best Feedly app I've used). Setting up my work exchange account was painless as well. But having to put all apps in folders and not having an app drawer feels a bit stupid.

2. I don’t care who you are, after you use this iPad for a bit you'll say "this is the smoothest, fastest, snappiest device I've ever used in my life". I'm a bit shocked… THERE IS NO LAG

3. The battery is just outstanding! Bravo Apple, you win. Not only it's faster, it lasts MUCH longer than the Tab S3 or the Tab S2. Actually, even longer than the amazing Google Pixel C. Same scenario as I mentioned before. Woke up at 5am, same use pattern. Went to work at 7am, and took notes all day with the Apple Pencil. I left work at 7pm and the battery was at 52%. This is a huge plus, seriously. However, charging it is super slow. Yep. Android users are spoiled with fast charging for sure. But the iPad will last you ALL DAY, so I find that I charge it over night.

4. Holding the device feels great in the hand. Because it's not made out of glass, it feels so solid in my hand/hands. It's heavier than the Tab S3 I think, but it FEELS LIGHTER because it's so easy to grip. Moreover, it has pretty slim bezels. So when I hold it in portrait orientation my thumbs rest sometimes on the touchscreen. That's when I realized how genius the palm/thumb/whatever rejection is. It knows that one finger is holding the device and the other finger is actually using it and scrolling or whatever. I have to say, this implementation is WAY better than it is on the Tab S3.

5. The display on the Tab S3 is stunning, but the display on the iPad is… stunning as well?? It's not better than AMOLED, but IT IS GREAT. It's bright, the colours are punchy, and it has this "True Tone" feature that adapts the display to the lighting in the room. I really dig that a lot, very clever. Also, the display has twice the refresh rate of other displays (including iPads and android tablets). In real life it means that it appears smoother and the latency with the Apple Pencil is very low.

6. Talking about the Apple Pencil. I'm a little ashamed to admit, but it's absolutely wonderful to use. The price is BAD, the size is good, its texture is good, its balance and weight is good, the texture of the tip is good, its battery life is good. The bottom line is, and I'm being objective here, taking notes with this pen on the iPad feels amazing. So smooth and responsive… An absolutely delightful experience. Taking notes on the Tab S3 is GREAT and it has much more actual functionality. Taking notes on the iPad is AMAZING, while lacking a side button or the extra features of the S-pen. But I must say, for my use pattern most of the S-pen features are just gimmicks. Apple should implement an eraser on the other side of the pen (like Microsoft), I bet it'll be in the Pencil 2.0

7. After listening to the speakers on the iPad I realized that the speakers on the Tab S3 are not as good as I thought they were… The sound from these speakers is hands down the best I've ever heard. First time in my life I thought "god, it's too loud…" So so good, really. It's louder in volume, and the sound has much more bass and mids. Just sounds "Fuller", you can feel it vibrate and it feels great. I watched reviews online comparing the sound for both tablets, and people said the iPad is better, but it's a close call. It's not a close call, it's more than that. On top of that, the headphone jack (where is the 'Courage" Apple?!) is again better than the Tab S3. It drives demanding headphones better and louder. There's no equalizer though (am I missing anything here?). Apple is too cheap to include a licenced support for APTX over Bluetooth.

8. The fingerprint scanner is faster and more accurate than on the Tab S3. But for some reason you have to press the home button for it to register, which feels very 2015.

9. I noticed something about multitasking. More apps are kept ready to go in the background, and the implementation of multitasking is smoother and better than on the Tab S3. Actually, better than android in general. I'm not sure what it is, but it seems to work better. No lagginess or stuttering, apps scale better in split screen mode as well.

10. Cameras are awesome. Front facing and back camera. Apple had stock left from the iPhone 7 and they put it to good use. Samsung, get your **** together.

To conclude. The iPad Pro 10.5 is SO EXPENSIVE. It's not perfect. I'm SO HAPPY. I'm keeping the iPad…