The Tab You Should Get: iPad Air 4 vs. Galaxy Tab S8.

The Galaxy Tab S8 is Samsung’s direct competitor to Apple’s iPad Air 4. The two tablets cost about the same. They have a lot of features in common. Still, there are also some significant differences that you should know about before making your choice. I consider both of these medium-sized tablets, making them top-rated options.

FormFactor

Tab S8 is slightly taller than the iPad Air 4, but it’s also narrower because of the aspect ratio.

Regarding handling the devices or portability, the differences in size aren’t significant. Still, you will notice how different they are as soon as you start using them. For example, the Tab S8 16:10 aspect ratio is excellent for watching the video because you’re maximizing the size of the display for content, and you’re left with tiny black bars. The iPad Air 4 has an aspect ratio of 23:16. So, it’s very close to 3:2, meaning that you will have larger black bars when you’re watching content. Still, you’ll have more width to work with when you’re taking notes in portrait mode, and you’ll also have a little more height when you’re multitasking in landscape mode.

Display

Now the matter of the displays, let’s quickly look at the specs and then talk about how they perform for different types of use. The iPad Air 4 has a 10.9-inch, 60 HZ P3 three display with a resolution of 1640 by 2360 and 264 pixels per inch. The Tab S8 has a slightly more prominent 11-inch display. It offers a 120 Hertz adaptive refresh rate. It has a resolution of 1600 by 2560 and a slightly higher pixel density of 274 pixels per inch. Both displays are magnificent, while we’re not getting the Super AMOLED display that Samsung offers on the S8 plus or the S8 ultra. We’re not getting the Liquid Retina XDR display from the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but the colors look great for the price. The image is beautiful and sharp. So far, I’ve enjoyed watching movies, surfing the web, and gaming on both devices.

As far as brightness, the iPad Air 4 looks brighter, and it’s also a bit less reflective. So if you’re going to be using your tablet outside or in bright environments, where you’re likely to have to deal with reflections, the iPad Air 4 is the better option. On the other hand, the 120 Hertz adaptive refresh rate on the Tab S8 is excellent. You’re getting a more fluid and responsive user experience, and things like opening apps, changing settings, and scrolling look smoother.

At the same time, the Tab S8 can also lower the refresh rate for when you’re doing things that wouldn’t benefit from a higher refresh rate, which helps it preserve battery life. Apple does have a similar feature, it’s called ProMotion, but at this time, it’s only available on the more expensive iPad Pro models.

Design

We are now checking out the design. That two look very similar, but there are some essential differences. So, first, both devices have a solid feel and a premium looks with rounded corners, squared-off edges, and smaller bezels all the way around. We’re getting volume controls and power buttons. A fingerprint sensor is incorporated into the power button for biometric authentication in both cases. The Tab S8 also has facial recognition with a front-facing camera. It’s less secure than the fingerprint sensor, but you do have the option to use it.

One significant advantage of the Tab S8 is its micro SD card slot, which lets you expand the internal storage by up to 1 terabyte. This will give you more storage space, but remember that it’s almost exclusively used for files and not for the apps and games you want.

Sound System

The following significant difference has to do with speakers. Both tablets have four speaker grills, but the iPad Air 4 only has two speakers, while the Tab S8 has four AKG tuned speakers. And as far as the audio quality, the iPad Air 4 speakers are good, but they’re not nearly as good as the ones on the Tab S8. I mostly use headphones, so it’s not a huge deciding factor. Still, if you plan to use speakers for gaming, watching movies, or listening to music, the Tab S8 is the way.

Camera

And moving on the camera systems, the iPad Air 4 has a 7MP front-facing camera versus a higher resolution 13MP 4K camera on the Tab S8. And here’s a quick sample of the camera and microphone. You’re going to see that the Tab S8 has a much wider angle. This is a much tighter shot on the iPad Air 4, and the Tab S8 also has the auto-follow feature. So if I move to the side, you’ll see that the camera will follow me. It’s like Apple’s Center Stage, and that’s something that the iPad Air 4 doesn’t have.

And moving on to the rear-facing cameras, the iPad Air 4 has a 12MP wide camera. The Tab S8 has a dual-camera system with a 13MP wide camera and a 6MP ultra-wide. For the most part, I don’t use the rear-facing cameras on my tablets because I always have my phone with me, and it’s just so much more convenient.

Additional Accessories

Both tablets have smart connectors to communicate with the dedicated keyboard cases. The iPad Air 4 is compatible with Apple’s smaller version of the Magic Keyboard, which costs 300 bucks. At the same time, the Tab S8 has two dedicated Book Cover Keyboards from Samsung, which sell for between $150 and $200. Now using the links in the description, I was able to get the Samsung Book Cover Keyboard Slim for free, which was a nice bonus. Overall, I like the build quality and the feel of the keys and the trackpad better on the Magic Keyboard. Still, I appreciate that the Book Cover Keyboard protects the S Pen while it’s being transported. And the fact that I can separate the back from the keyboard itself. So, I can use the Tab S8 in tablet mode while still protecting the back and having a place to store the S Pen.

Now, Samsung includes the new S Pen with the price of the Tab S8, whereas, in the case of the iPad Air 4, you’ll need to buy the second generation Apple pencil separately for an additional 130 bucks if you know that you’re going to need a stylus.

The Tab S8 can store the S Pen on the side or the back of the Tab, but it only charges on the back. The second-generation Apple pencil is held and set on the side of the iPad Air 4. Both have worked well for me. There is very little latency, and since both displays are fully laminated, the image looks like it’s painted right on top of the show. The stylus tip looks like it comes in contact with the content created. I also want to point out that each stylus has a very different feel when hitting the display.

The tip of the S Pen is softer. So when you write or draw with it, it will feel more like a pen that’s writing on a pad of paper where the pages compress as you apply pressure. The Apple pencil has more of a healthy tip, and it feels like you’re writing on a single sheet of paper that’s placed on a hard surface. One isn’t definitively better than the other. It’s just going to come down to personal preference. And one more advantage of the S Pen is that it offers Bluetooth functionality. So you can use it to control media playback, take pictures, and for a few other valuable tasks.

Performance

Now, let’s quickly discuss performance. The iPad Air 4 comes with the A14 Bionic Chip, and both the 64 and the 256-gigabyte models come with 4 gigs of RAM. The Tab S8 features the new Snapdragon® 8 Gen 1 chip, and both the 128 and the 256-gigabyte models come with 8 gigs of RAM. If you’re curious about how this new chip compares in terms of benchmark, for single-core performance, we at 1578 on the iPad Air 4 versus 1043 on the Tab S8. And for multi-core performance, we’re looking at 4195 versus 3194. In both cases, a higher number is an indicator of better performance.

But of course, benchmarks are just that. They don’t tell us the whole story about real-life use.

Multitasking

So let’s move on and start with multitasking. Apple introduces some new multitasking capabilities with iPad OS 15, and the iPad Air 4 can take advantage of all of them. You can, of course, have two apps open side by side. You can pop-up and slide-over windows. You can use the new multitasking menu to see multiple windows within the same app quickly. The Tab S8 uses the latest Android 12 and one UI 4.1, which continue to evolve and improve multitasking and the overall user experience. The new dynamic multi-window toggle allows you to have three apps open simultaneously, which is nice when you’re doing research, and you need several sources.

I do want to mention that this feature is not quite as convenient as it is on the much larger Tab S8 ultra because the display on the Tab S8 is smaller. However, again it’s still a nice feature to have.

Apps and OS

As far as available apps, both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store have plenty of options for everything you need. In general, I’m going to give the edge to the iPad Air 4 because the apps seem to be better optimized, but the gap continues to shrink. Still, some creative apps like infinity Photo and Procreate are only available for the iPad. Still, at least there’s an Android version of LumaFusion coming soon.

Software Updates

Now, Apple continues to lead the tablet world regarding long-term operating system updates. So, for example, my eight-year-old iPad Air 2 is still compatible with the current iPad OS. I like seeing that Samsung continues to improve with this. They’re now offering four years of operating system updates and five years of security updates. I think long-term active system support is critical. These are compelling devices, and they aren’t cheap. So, there is no reason why they shouldn’t last you for many years.

Battery life

Now, moving on to battery life, it’s an unfair comparison because I’ve been using the iPad Air 4 since the day it was released, and the Tab S8 is relatively new. When I look at my old notes, I still see that the Tab S8 lasts longer than the iPad Air 4.

I got about 10 hours of use on the iPad Air 4 versus 13 to 14 hours on the Tab S8. The Tab S8 also accepts faster charging at 45 Watts versus 30 on the iPad Air 4.

Now, I would recommend getting a high-capacity charger, regardless of which one of these you pick.

Now, if I’m not gaming, I always get through a full day on a single charge, and when I do play, it comes down to how much. If I sit down and play four hours of PUBG, I will need to charge any mobile device that I use. So, it will come down to how you use your tablet.

Pricing

The iPad Air 4 base model comes with 64 gigabytes for 599 and a 256 gigabyte model for 749. The base Tab S8 model comes with twice the storage. So you’re getting 128 gigabytes for 699, or you can go up to 256 gigs for 779. I’m using the prices on the Apple and Samsung websites. Remember that with the Tab S8, you also get a free S Pen, and you should check to see if that deal for a free Book Cover Keyboard is still running.

Hopefully, this comparison was helpful.

You know what I always say, buy it excellent or buy it twice.

Good luck and see you soon.

I’m a new author. If you appreciate my stories and writings, please follow me on Medium. Here https://medium.com/@jamil.masnun