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Samsung's Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra vs. Apple's iPad Pro

while not exactly the s8 ultra, i did get a s7 plus recently. No good reason other than I was bored of being stuck on the apple side of things for far too long Plus it was available at a really solid discount..

I have honestly been trying really hard to like it but its a difficult ask.

- Dex is nice in some ways and I can see it being useful if I needed a more PC like experience in the off chance i am stuck somewhere without access to a laptop. However the 16:9 format coupled with the top bar and bottom taskbar (non moveable) leaves very little usable space on the Y axis

- App experience can vary wildly. It took me a while to even figure out what browser to use. Chrome renders comically big fonts (and no option to reduce ) while samsung browser renders well but has its own problems.
Edge seems to be alright but it is nowehere as nice as safari on ipad

- HDR playback is noticeably worse than my 12.9 M1 although its definitely (and significantly ) better than my wife’s 11” 2018 iPP

- The performance handicap of the SoC can be felt even during browsing (heavy pages can be prone to micro stuttering and rendering takes longer) compared to even the old A12X ipad pro , let alone the M1 ipad

- Dual screen with windows (essentially a replica of side car) works - but almost always connects at 30hz (and no, my network is not an issue, this happens even with laptop on gigabit and tablet on 866/866 mbps). Deleting device from known devices on windows and re-establishing connection fixes it till it is time for the next reconnect)

- The broader bugginess quotient is a whole lot higher than the ipad - case in point, android 12 was supposed to add support for dualsense (and remote play for ps5 is a regular use case for me) but the button mappings on the kernel are completely wrong (inverted/wrong axes, non functional buttons etc ) thus making it completely unusable as a remote play machine

Overall, while i don’t regret the purchase - that’s only because I paid only a tad more than the 10” base ipad for it.

However if I had to pick just one tablet device , this would sit far down in the pecking order.

The only scenario where it does well is as a media playback device - and user does not want to plonk down the money for the mini-LED pro ipad
 
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Unggoy Murderer said:
Doesn't run iPadOS, so it's pretty much gimped out of the box. If it had a Windows 11 option, then might be worth it.

And didn't Samsung rip into Apple about notches on a smartphone... and they have one on a tablet?
Click to expand...
"Gimped out of the box" IS running iPadOS! ?
 
Relentless Power said:
This is a really tired argument. Android isn’t a problem anymore.
It really comes down to choice of platform of what somebody prefers.
Click to expand...

Well, yes, some of us prefer iPadOS and the integration it offers with the Apple ecosystem.
So… too bad it runs Android
 
KevinN206 said:
It's not much better, but the S8 Ultra is 16:10. I find 3:2 trip be a good compromise between 16:10 and 4:3. This error keep propagating from one previous post.
Click to expand...

Apologies. I indeed figured another post was accurate. (Oddly enough, it’s not exactly 16:10 either, but close enough.)
 
I have an S7 Plus the hardware is every bit a good as my iPad Pro where it falls down is the software the apps are just not as good and the updates, its still a great tablet thou and the screen eats the iPad for lunch
 
Jean Claude said:
People arguing the 4x3 vs 16x9 is better on a tablet need to have their head examined ... the 4x3 is sooooo dated, and just makes very little sense for media consumption and productivity (which is what most use these size tablets for anyway).
Click to expand...

I find 4x3 to be preferable to 16x9 for productivity.

In landscape mode, it means more vertical space. In portrait mode, it means the screen is wider.

This is especially handy when I am projecting my ipad to the smart board in the class. A 4x3 screen means more room to display my pdf files and students can see more content on screen without my having to keep scrolling. And yes, I know the difference, because notability has the option of projecting full-screen in a 16x9 aspect ratio and I hate it.

It’s also nice when I am doing typing, and my main gripe of the office apps. I wish Microsoft could copy iWorks in this regard and give users the option of placing the toolbar on the side of the screen, rather than at the top where it competes for limited vertical screen estate.

As for consumption, one nice thing about viewing 16x9 video in a 4x3 aspect ratio is that I can bring up the media control toolbars without overlapping the video. And I have never really cared about having the video fill out the entire screen.

It’s how I have worked on my ipad for the last 10 years, and I haven’t looked back.
 
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dk001 said:
Why would you use it in portrait mode? Curious as the only iPad I use in portrait is the mini. All others have been or are in landscape.
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Basically one of the main points of the iPad is how good its optimised to use it in either way. With my iPP, I constantly change between portrait and landscape. Reading, browsing, writing…
 
AppZ.Zero said:
Thats a very stupid argument since Apple refuses to add Touchscreens on Macbooks.
Click to expand...
That’s precisely the point: there’s no need to use a touchscreen when you have a keyboard and in portrait, like in MacBooks. So it’s not a stupid argument: some people just want the iPad to become a touchscreen MacBook, instead of a very good tablet. Value is much higher in the second case.
 
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LFC2020 said:
Had my Mini Led M1 iPad Pro since launch day.

Blooming is a total non issue, never see it when using my iPad, another overblown non issue.

The Mini led iPad Pro wipes the floor with the tab s8 ultra oled display.

No contest

Click to expand...

No complaints about my mini led 12.9. Brightness and HDR are great
 
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You might want to correct the article slighlty, the fingerprint scanner is in screen rather than on the power button, like the ipad.
 
AlexESP said:
That’s precisely the point: there’s no need to use a touchscreen when you have a keyboard and in portrait, like in MacBooks. So it’s not a stupid argument: some people just want the iPad to become a touchscreen MacBook, instead of a very good tablet. Value is much higher in the second case.
Click to expand...

Once I got used to touch being an input method, I found more and more use for it be it pencil, stylus, or finger. I use it frequently on my X280 Thinkpad. I find myself often reaching out and touching the screen of my MBP sadly to no effect.
 
Relentless Power said:
This is a really tired argument. Android isn’t a problem anymore. If you have any experience with some of the latest android devices, you’d know that it’s actually pretty fluid and secure. The only gripe that someone might raise, it’s just it doesn’t match the longevity of software updates that Apple does.

But just because it’s ‘Android’, doesn’t make it less any other desirable to the consumer. It really comes down to choice of platform of what somebody prefers.
Click to expand...
Is it a tired argument though? Android 12's release was riddled with problems (e.g., network connectivity issues, flickering displays, and even bricked phones). Android is and has always been uglier than iOS and doesn't have anywhere near the same feature-set and inter-device operability. Developing for Android is annoying. Android suffers from the same problem Windows does; trying to support too many devices. It leaves users with a bland, lowest-common-denominator experience, in my opinion. Not to overstate my distaste for it, but I hate using Android. I've tried it multiple times since its inception (most recently with Android 11), but I never stay with it for the same reasons I never stay with Windows. Apple just offers a better computing experience.
 
dk001 said:
Why would you use it in portrait mode? Curious as the only iPad I use in portrait is the mini. All others have been or are in landscape.
Click to expand...

idk about you but when ipads were 9.7 my favroite way to browse the web was in portrait , I never use landscape only for videos and games maybe. It becomes like a digital book. Great for reading.

KevinN206 said:
Portrait split screen on the S8 is pretty nice. It maximizes the available area for both apps. I usually use it for watching a football game or something while browsing the web on the bottom.
Click to expand...

I didn't know there is a split video in portrait mode, ill check if possible on ipad.

dk001 said:
Touchscreen.
My MBP is the ONLY device I have without a touchscreen. Now if that MBA had a touchscreen .... ;)
Click to expand...

AppZ.Zero said:
Thats a very stupid argument since Apple refuses to add Touchscreens on Macbooks.
Click to expand...

why do you need touch screen? Unless you are using a pen to draw, the keyboard+mouse is a far more superior method (and precise) to control the computer. In fact, Apple sells a keyboard for the ipad because the touchscreen is not enough all the time.
 
jimimac71 said:
I use DuckDuckGo as my default search engine. Have for years. I sometimes have no choice but to use Chrome on my iPad. I don't feel unsafe on my Android tablet or safer on an iPad.
I also use Malwarebytes for Android.
Apple has my address and phone number. No choice. Forced into it when creating my Apple account for my old Mac.
Google has none of my personal information.
I think you should worry more about social media.
Click to expand...

I do not think how spying works. Its way worse than what you type in search field. Here is a couple videos to get you started :-
Video about cookies
Video about facebook

you can just imagine the rest like Microsoft, LinkedIN, Google, Twitter, Discord, Yahoo, and the rest.

If you want a Chrome browser but not want to let Google spy on you, use Brave. Its literally Chrome without Google spy spy code. It is open source.
 
Joniz said:
You hang out it an odd group of people. Way too judgmental.
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It's better now. Half of us use Androids, the other half iPhones. One guy is a huge Apple fan with $13K of Mac hardware, but he's respectful of our choices. Another guy hates them with a passion. Used to use them, but doesn't fault the other guy. It's nice!
 
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MacBH928 said:
idk about you but when ipads were 9.7 my favroite way to browse the web was in portrait , I never use landscape only for videos and games maybe. It becomes like a digital book. Great for reading.



I didn't know there is a split video in portrait mode, ill check if possible on ipad.





why do you need touch screen? Unless you are using a pen to draw, the keyboard+mouse is a far more superior method (and precise) to control the computer. In fact, Apple sells a keyboard for the ipad because the touchscreen is not enough all the time.
Click to expand...

Example
Working on my X280 Thinkpad. Instead of reaching for the mouse, or trackpad, or red stick, I just touch the screen. It is a convenience.
 
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