Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 review: Elevating the Android tablet experience

By Anula Wiwatowska

Last updated 23 March 2022

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Review: The Verdict

The Tab S8 is a sleek, slimline tablet that can more than handle day-to-day usage. Its gorgeous screen makes viewing content a delight, and multi-window views make the most of the generous display. A great all-rounder tablet.

What we love

Stunning display
Top tier performance
Multi window view is excellent

What could be improved

Not a fan of the storage solution for the S Pen
Cameras are just ok

The essentials

Performance: Top tier.
Battery: 3 days of casual use, about 2 hours of active screen time per day
Screen: Stunning, with a long aspect ratio (if you’re into that sort of thing)
Camera: Fine, it will do for a tablet

80/100

See Tab S8 plans

Android tablets all have the same problem, the lack of tablet apps actually made for Android. Anyone who has used an Android powered tablet can attest to how clunky some of the apps can be, but this is absolutely no fault to the manufacturers. App developers aren't asked to do anything exciting to make the app compatible with a tablet through Google Play. If it can run on a big screen, its in. It isn’t the best system.

Despite how difficult it can be to find apps that are actually made with the tablet experience in mind in the Play Store, the Samsung Tab S8 does its best to make the tablet experience pleasant and efficient. Coupled with a sleek design, it has everything you need in a tablet, just be careful where you put your S Pen.

Performance

Tablets can fall into a few categories, you’re either looking for something that can replace a laptop, or one that becomes a complimentary device. Real laptop replacements are hard to come by, it is hard to give a tablet computing power as powerful as a laptop without sacrificing battery and form factor. You can buy additional accessories like a keyboard cover with the Tab S8 that will make it easier to adapt to use as a laptop, but unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to test these options out, so I can’t speak to how the S8 goes as a laptop. Instead, let's look at how it performs as a side-piece.

With 12GB of RAM it is more than capable of handling a range of entertainment features. Games run smoothly, and the beautiful display holds up on streaming platforms. I genuinely have no complaints when it comes to the performance on the Tab S8. The tablet is speedy, quick to respond, and handles sensitive tasks, like drawing, with ease. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to test the device with the latest S Pen, but even with one that is two generations old the execution was smooth.

The standout feature on the Tab S8 is Multi Window, which is perfect for multitasking, and makes some Android tablet apps more pleasant to use. Multi Window ultimately allows you to split your screen up into sections. The apps shrink down to fit, and you can jump between a bunch of them at once. Considering how frustrating many apps are on Android tablets, I love this.

Multi Window isn’t new, Android devices have been able to do this for a while but on phones it seems a bit out of place. No matter how big a phone screen is, splitting it in half is hubris. On a tablet however it just makes sense. The downfall however is that not all apps support this, but I found that the vast majority of the ones I use do. Google apps, Spotify, Twitter, native Samsung apps, SketchBook, and even some games can all be shrunk down to a quarter of the screen.

Splitting up these apps makes them smaller on the screen, and for some that is a huge plus. Take Facebook for example; the tablet app is gross. It is just a giant version of your same mobile app and doesn’t utilise the extra space in an efficient way. However, stripping this down to a quarter, or half of the screen makes it look much more in proportion and more enjoyable to use.

Camera

Cameras are by no means the most important aspect of a tablet, and it would seem Samsung agrees. Where you’ll usually find a range of lenses on a phone with MP starting from 12 and working upward, the Tab S8 has a dual rear camera (13MP + 6MP), and a 12MP selfie camera.

Arguably the selfie camera is the most important camera you’ll find on a tablet. Video chatting is the most likely use case so you’ll want a front-facing camera that is sophisticated enough to beam your face to others in your zoom meeting, without being a pixelated mess. You can snap some decent photos with the front camera, but the sharpness is off. The pictures have almost an airbrushed quality to them, with softer edges and a slight blur across the subject. Think of a MySpace editing job circa 2007.

While not many of us are out here snapping selfies with a tablet, video calling will still utilise the selfie camera. For the sake of jumping on a Zoom, the camera works perfectly fine and Samsung has added an additional feature specifically for that purpose - Auto-framing.

Auto-Framing will automatically change the camera’s focus and frame to keep you in shot during a video call. If you tend to move around a bit it means that the frame might bounce while you’re on the call, but it works well enough so that you don’t need to reposition your tablet constantly.

When it comes to the rear cameras, they’re fine. If you’re snapping a picture outside, in natural light then you can get a relatively good shot, but the quality is much poorer than you’ll get on your phone for the most part.

Here with natural light, and a still object the colours pop and it is quite a useable shot. While on the other hand if you look at these guitars in a room with more shade you lose a lot of the depth and vibrance in the colours. It also becomes more difficult to actually focus the shot, hence the hazy edges.

It also struggles to handle moving objects, such as animals. Billie (my dog) doesn’t exactly like to sit still, and as you can see the Tab S8 camera can’t quite capture her. Even though this shot was taken in daylight, the motion blur is clear.

The quality of a tablet’s camera shouldn’t be the deciding factor when it comes to choosing if it is worth buying one, that is unless it is truly awful. Samsung’s Tab S8 cameras are fit for purpose, and will more than suffice if you need to take a quick snap to document something, or to frame yourself in a video chat.

Design

The Tab S8 is a thinner rectangle than most other tablets on the market, making it more reminiscent of a television or a display when it's horizontal, or a giant phone if it is vertical.

This extra width is helpful for multi-window functions, giving apps a better aspect ratio across the screen. However where this is a benefit horizontally, when flipped it becomes a detriment. Splitting the screen in half vertically just makes for an uber-skinny app, and makes it difficult to use. Where it can work for apps that have a continuous timeline, such as Facebook (or Instagram if they actually made tablet apps), it looks strangely long.

The tablet design itself is slimline and simple, but I wish they had figured out a better spot for the S Pen. As it stands, the S Pen attaches magnetically to the back of the tablet, which is not only precarious but throws off the balance of the tablet.

Once the pen is clipped on you won’t be able to lay your tablet flat without a case. I also had times when the pen simply slid out from the pressure of the tablet on top of it. Once again I have been using an older S Pen, so maybe the magnets on the newer version are stronger but I can’t make any assertions one way or the other. I also didn’t get the chance to test the tablet with a case, so I can’t speak to how it sits within it but without it isn’t a great system.

I don’t necessarily think any manufacturer has quite figured out where to put the stylus with its tablet. iPads just pop the Apple Pencil on top, and other budget tablets tend to utilise cases rather than the form factor of the device itself. Surely Samsung could go the way of the Note and the new Galaxy S22 Ultra, and have a place in the device itself for the S Pen to be stowed. Especially when it comes included with the tablet.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 - Final thoughts

Samsung’s Tab S8 is a lovely tablet, with a gorgeous screen and well thought out for the multi-tasker. It does the work to make Android tablet apps more user friendly, and elevate the Android tablet experience.

I’d love to see Samsung come to the table with a sophisticated storage solution for the S Pen, but otherwise if you’re in the market for a new tablet the Tab S8 is a real contender.