Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Does Samsung's latest outpace one of Apple's best iPads?

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Which tablet should you purchase?

(Image credit: Time to come)

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 vs. iPad Air ownership conclusion can exist tricky, because these two tablets are then remarkably like in size, design and price. Both offer premium tablet experiences for under $1,000, merely in that location are some sizable differences that yous should know about across the usual Android vs. Apple tree divide.

Offset and foremost, the Galaxy Tab S8 is much newer because it was released in February 2022, whereas the iPad Air hasn't been significantly updated since 2020. Even so, it's remarkable how compelling the Air remains; as you'll run into in the following breakdown, the 2020 iPad Air is ane of the best tablets you can buy because it even so competes with the latest tablets more than a twelvemonth after information technology was released.

So if you're not sure which tablet is right for you, read on for our circular-past-round rundown comparing the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 to Apple's latest iPad Air.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Specs

	iPad Air four	Galaxy Tab S8
Starting price	$599	$699
Display(resolution)	x.9 inches (2360 x 1640) 60Hz	xi inches (2560 x 1600) 120Hz refresh rate
CPU	A14 Bionic with Neural Engine	Qualcomm Snapdragon eight Gen ane
RAM	4GB	8GB
Storage	64GB, 256GB	128GB, 256GB
Rear photographic camera(s)	12MP	13MP + 6MP Ultrawide
Forepart camera	7MP	12MP Ultrawide
Battery life	x:29 (tested)	Upwards to xv hours (advertised)
Size	ix.7 ten vii x 0.2 inches	ten x six.v ten 0.2 inches
Weight	1 pound (Wi-Fi); 1.01 pounds (Cellular)	ane.1 pounds
Colors	Silver, space grayness, rose golden, greenish, sky blue	Graphite, silvery and pinkish gilded

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Price

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 is the more expensive of these two tablets with a starting price of $699, though it does come with a stylus, and you tin pay more for models with more than storage and cellular connectivity.

The Galaxy Tab S8 ships with an included S Pen stylus that magnetically attaches to the rear of the tablet. (Image credit: Future)

The iPad Air (2020) can be had for a hundred bucks cheaper, as Apple charges $599 for the entry-level model. Still, that model comes with just 64GB of storage, which is very little for a tablet that's meant to store your apps, games, photos, videos, music and more. You tin upgrade to a model with 256GB of storage, but that'll cost you $749.

The Tab S8 comes with 128GB of storage minimum, which is a far more than reasonable amount for a tablet. You can also add upwards to a terabyte of additional storage via memory card, thank you to the Tab S8's microSD card slot.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Design

Samsung'southward Galaxy Tab S8 is a streamlined aluminum slate that measures x x 6.5 x .02 inches and weighs just over a pound. There are thin bezels surrounding an eleven-inch WQXGA (2,560 x one,600 pixels) 120Hz LED display, just like the Samsung Milky way Tab S7, though y'all should check out our Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 vs Milky way Tab S7 breakdown to meet all the important ways the new model is different. Information technology sports a single USB-C port near the bottom which also offers DisplayPort out functionality, pregnant you can hook it upward to an external brandish via DisplayPort.

(Image credit: Future)

The iPad Air iv looks roughly like at a glance, though its USB-C port can't be used to hook upwardly an external display via DisplayPort. That's not to say you tin can't connect an external display to an iPad Air, but you do have to take some specific adapters to pull information technology off.

The Air'south ten.9-inch (ii,360 x 1,640 pixels) display is roughly the same size equally that of the S8, only it can't evangelize quite every bit many pixels as Samsung'south new tablet. The Air likewise has just a 60Hz refresh charge per unit, which is completely usable (and indeed, even so the norm for many devices) but may feel less polish while scrolling than the Tab S8's 120Hz display.

The iPad Air 4 is roughly the same size and shape as the Tab S8, and they both accept a fingerprint reader in the power button. (Paradigm credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom'southward Guide)

Both the iPad Air iv and Tab S8 have remarkably thin (~0.2 inches) frames that are roughly identical to each other, size-wise. They both have fingerprint readers in the aforementioned spot (the ability/lock button), and they both come up in an array of heart-communicable colors.

Both the Air and Tab S8 (pictured) are remarkably trim at near 0.two inches sparse. (Image credit: Future)

The S8 cleaves to Samsung's traditional dark (Graphite), light (Silvery) and elegant (Pink Gold) color options, but Apple goes a bit wilder, offer the usual blackness and white (or Space Greyness and Silver) iPad Airs alongside more eye-communicable Greenish, Rose Gold and Sky Blue models.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Brandish

The Samsung Milky way Tab S8 and Apple'due south iPad Air (2020) have remarkably like displays, which is part of the reason why it can be then difficult to choose between them.

As outlined above, the Tab S8 offers an eleven-inch WQXGA (2,560 ten 1,600 pixels) 120Hz LED display. If it'south anything similar its predecessor, it should be a bright, vibrant screen. Even so, it is a little disappointing that the S8 simply has an LED display while its ii larger siblings, the Tab S8+ and S8 Ultra, send with Samsung's Super AMOLED screens.

The Samsung Milky way Tab S8. (Prototype credit: Hereafter)

The iPad Air is an older tablet past comparison, and while its brandish is roughly the same size equally that of the S8 it offers slightly fewer pixels per inch (264 ppi vs 274 ppi). Even so you probably wouldn't notice the difference, fifty-fifty if yous held the two tablets side-past-side.

Y'all tin can buy a stylus (from Apple or elsewhere) and use it on the iPad Air, but it probably won't feel as smooth as sketching on the Tab S8's 120Hz display. (Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom'due south Guide)

What you might detect is that scrolling and using a stylus feels a bit worse on the iPad compared to the S8, since the Air's brandish refreshes at half the rate of the S8 — 60Hz vs 120 Hz. We're still waiting on Apple to revamp the Air with the same 120Hz ProMotion display it put on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2021).

Samsung Milky way Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Functioning

The Snapdragon 8 Gen ane fleck in Samsung'due south Galaxy Tab S8 (at to the lowest degree, in the U.S.) is congenital on a 4-nanometer procedure, which ways it should be more performant than the Snapdragon 865 Plus that powered the Galaxy Tab S7.

(Image credit: Hereafter)

That tablet earned a score of 3,074 in the Geekbench 5 operation criterion, which was fine — just a bit less impressive than the 4,262 earned past Apple'southward iPad Air. We haven't had a chance to run the new Galaxy Tab S8 through the aforementioned performance tests nevertheless, but when we do information technology seems quite likely to outperform the 2020 iPad Air thank you to its upgraded internals.

Speaking of, with 8GB of RAM the Tab S8 should feel a bit more snappy and capable than the 2020 iPad Air, which ships with a comparatively paltry 4GB.

Samsung Milky way Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Cameras

If cameras on a tablet are important to you, the Galaxy Tab S8 has the advantage over the iPad Air.

(Image credit: Future)

Samsung's new S8 features a pair of rear-mounted cameras (13MP and 6MP Ultrawide) and a 12MP Ultrawide front-facing selfie cam, while the iPad Air 4 has a single rear camera (12MP) and a 7MP front-facing FaceTime HD camera.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Battery life

Samsung's Milky way Tab S8 ships with an 8,000 mAh bombardment, simply similar the S7. And just like its predecessor, we expect the Tab S8 to deliver meliorate battery life than the iPad Air.

(Image credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom'southward Guide)

Apple's tablet lasted a solid ten hours and 29 minutes in our battery test, whereas Samsung'due south Tab S7 survived for an impressive xiii hours and sixteen minutes. We look forward to seeing how the S8 performs in the same test.

We also look forward to testing Samsung's claim that with a 45W charger you tin fully charge a Galaxy Tab S8 in eighty minutes, thanks to its Fast Charging feature.

Samsung Milky way Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Software

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 ships running Android 12 with some Samsung extras on top, including user interface tweaks and custom software like Samsung Notes.

One of the cooler software tricks it offers is DeX manner, which gives you a agglomeration of extra tools for managing multiple windows on your tablet and using it more similar a PC. DeX mode also gives you some useful tools for multi-tasking while the tablet is hooked up to an external display like a monitor or TV, making it peculiarly valuable for those who splurge on an external keyboard or type embrace to use the Tab S8 like a laptop.

(Epitome credit: Henry T. Casey/Tom'south Guide)

The iPad Air runs the latest version of Apple tree's iPadOS, which every bit of this writing is iPadOS 15. Information technology's a solid operating system that rarely buckles under force per unit area, and as of iPadOS 15 Apple tree added a lot of upgrades (including Notes improvements and a much-needed multi-tasking push) that make the Air a more appealing device for getting things done. You can use it every bit a laptop replacement if yous purchase an Apple Magic Keyboard, but iPadOS has never excelled as a productivity suite.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 vs iPad Air: Verdict

Nosotros're still testing and reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8, and until we consummate that process we won't know for sure how well information technology stacks up confronting the competition.

Yet even at this early on juncture it'due south pretty articulate that the Tab S8 is likely the better tablet to buy if what y'all intendance near is performance or versatility.

Information technology costs a bit more than than the entry-level iPad Air, only yous get newer, more powerful guts, more storage infinite, and better cameras in an Android 12 tablet that plays well with a multifariousness of devices, especially those made by Samsung. You lot also get a stylus packed in for complimentary, which is something Apple never does.

All the same, with the iPad Air you become a device that'due south well-nigh as proficient equally Samsung's new tablet despite existence over a year older, and if you can live with 64GB of storage yous tin can get it cheaper than the S8.

Y'all also get access to Apple tree's App Shop and the benefit of whatsoever investment you have in Apple tree'due south ecosystem. Merely if that's not valuable to you, you're likely improve off buying a Galaxy Tab S8.

Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of experience covering both for outlets like Game Developer, Blackness Hat, and PC Globe magazine. He currently serves as a senior editor at Tom'due south Guide roofing all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/face-off/samsung-galaxy-tab-s8-vs-ipad-air-which-tablet-should-you-buy

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