Awards
SUMMAR
- Outstanding screen
- Thin and light
- Over 14 hours video playback
- Case adds very little bulk
CONS
- Can’t remove Magazine UI
- Rubbish fingerprint scanner
- Needless Adaptive Display tech
KEY FEATURES
- 10.5-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 AMOLED display; Exynos 5 Octa 5420; 3GB RAM; 16GB storage; 802.11ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0; microSD up to 128GB; 7,900mAh battery; 465g
- Manufacturer: Samsung
- Review Price: £399.00
WHAT IS THE SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB S 10.5?
The Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is the big brother to the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 — it’s what the iPad Air is to the iPad mini 2. It has the same basic design and features. That means an outstanding 2,560 x 1,600 resolution Super AMOLED screen and plenty more besides. We loved the smaller version, so it’s no surprise that the 10.5-inch version is just as impressive.
SEE ALSO: Tablet Buying Guide
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB S 10.5: DESIGN
We like the the Galaxy Tab S 10.5’s design, but we don’t love it. The dimpled, soft-touch rear is pleasant to handle, but the bronze-gold colour scheme is an acquired taste. It’s nothing like as refined as the iPad Air, which is a shame given they cost the same.
But the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is well put together and it’s a featherweight. It weighs just 465g, though this is only a few grams less than the iPad Air. It’s also thin — 6.6mm makes it 1mm thinner than the iPad Air. These are all fine margins, but the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has less competition among Android tablets at this size. As 10-inch Android tablets go, it’s way out in front.
SEE ALSO: Best Android Tablets
The other interesting design point is case support. We weren’t sent a case for the 8.4, but we have one for the Galaxy Tab S 10.5. Like the 8.4, it fastens to the tablet via rather odd jacket style ‘poppers’. They don’t help the looks much, but they hold the case securely.
We like the case, too. It’s slim, so adds little weight. It also offers three angles from which to view the screen. The only issue is the folding required to make them takes some learning. Even after a week or so we’re still fumbling about each time.
SEE ALSO: Best Tablet 2014 Round-up
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB S 10.5: FEATURES
This tablet has everything. You get the fastest version of Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0. The Wi-Fi version has 16GB of storage built-in, but the microSD slot supports up to 128GB cards and there's a 4G version that has 32GB built-in. There’s an IR Blaster for controlling your TV, too. We find the feature a little hit and miss, but it’s a nice extra. There are cameras front and back and there’s an LED flash for the main camera — a rare feature on a tablet.
Less impressive is the fingerprint reader. This is the same one found in the Galaxy S5 and it’s no more successful here. The swiping system is just too unreliable to use it to unlock your tablet. It only works 40/50% of the time, which isn’t a great hit rate.
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB S 10.5: SCREEN
The Galaxy Tab S 10.5’s screen is its standout feature. Indeed, it’s even better on the 10.5-inch than the 8.4-inch version. That’s because it lacks the ever so slightly grainy quality of the 8.4-inch version. For the technically minded, this is because Tab S 10.5 has a RGB Stripe display, whereas the 8.4 uses diamond PenTile sub-pixels.
It doesn’t really matter whether you understand the above, though. Just remember this: it’s the best screen on any tablet. No argument. It’s bright, very colourful and the contrast and quality of blacks is out of this world. There isn’t a better tablet for watching HD videos on than this. They look stunning.
Viewing angles are excellent. Again, they’re better than the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 as there’s no slightly off-putting colour caste on this version. Outdoor visibility is excellent, too. The iPad Air has a very good screen, but this is better in every way.
Provided, that is, you turn off Samsung’s Adaptive Display tech. The gumpf suggests this adjusts white balance and colours in supported apps based on ambient conditions. But the less desirable quality is it over-saturates colours to an irritating degree. We concede some people like this ‘radioactive’ look, but those people are wrong… so there.
But set it to the ‘Basic’ mode and you still get outstanding detail and contrast, but also accurate colours. The Photo mode is worth trying if you’re photographer as it supports the Adobe RGB colour space. For most people, though, switch it the basic and enjoy. You won’t regret it.
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB S 10.5: SOFTWARE
By comparison, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5’s software is merely competent. The core is Android 4.4, but there’s Samsung’s TouchWiz and Magazine UX added to it. The basic UI is decent enough and runs smoothly, but we find the Magazine UX restrictive for two reasons.
One, it’s mandatory — you can’t remove it, only reduce it. The other is you have to use the ‘core’ Email and Calendar apps to get the most from it. Choose to use Google Calendar, Gmail or any third-party app and the quick planner tiles become useless. The news feeds, powered by Flipboard, are marginally more useful, but all they do is open the app in the appropriate section.
This lack of flexibility goes against the grain of Android's ethos.
The more impressive software addition is the split-screen options. This lets you open apps side-by-side. For example, this lets you watch a video and have a chat window open at the same time, or copy and paste text from an email to a document. It’s useful and it works even better on a large tablet like this.
One other addition is SideSync 3.0. This lets you control any compatible Samsung smartphone using your tablet. The idea is you can take calls and respond to messages from your phone, even when it’s in another room. It’s a neat little feature, but you have to actively enable it. This means it’s something you’ll use every now and again, rather than all the time.
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 10.5: PERFORMANCE
The bottom line here is the Galaxy Tab 10.5 is fast. Not as fast as the top-end phones like the Snapdragon powered Galaxy S5 and OnePlus One, but still more than powerful enough. It scores 2,669 in the multi-core test in Geekbench 3, which puts it in the top 5%.
It suffers a little more in the graphics department. Here, more powerful phones and tablets like the Nvidia Shield Tablet have a noticeable advantage. This shows in a 13,500 score in the 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited test, which falls a long way short of the 20,000 or so of the top phones.
But most people won’t notice this difference in actual games. We couldn’t find any game on Android that didn’t run smoothly or look good. The middling graphics performance should only concern serious gamers.
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 10.5: BATTERY LIFE
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.5 scores another big win here. We ran the same, high-quality BBC iPlayer video on loop as we did on the Tab S 8.4. It lasted a good 10 hours, but the Tab S 10.5 went on for an outstanding 14.2 hours.
Increasing the brightness a little will bring this down, but we had it at 50% and at it was clear in a bright office environment. Moreover, we left Wi-Fi on for this test. Turning it off would help add a little more life, making this a great tablet for long flights and other journeys.
OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER
Like the 8.4, the Tab S 10.5 has an 8-megapixel camera on the back and 2.1-megapixel camera on the front. The rear camera has an LED flash as well, which is handy. We couldn’t detect any different in image quality between the two, so look at the Tab Pro 8.4 camera section to see how it performs. The short version is it’s an above average camera for a tablet, but a 10-inch tablet isn't a practical camera.
The Tab 10.5 also uses the same speakers, which is a little disappointing. They’re stereo speakers and they create a decent stereo image, but they lack the mid and low-end punch of better tablets. They’re good enough for dramas as dialogue is crisp and clear, but we hoped for better.
SHOULD I BUY THE SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 10.5?
If you want a 10-inch Android tablet, yes. This is the best there is by a comfortable margin. Choosing between it and an iPad Air is trickier, but if you’re not interested in the iPad then this is best alternative.
We recommend taking a long hard look at the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 as well before deciding. It can’t match the incredible battery life of the 10.5 and its screen isn't quite as good, but it’s cheaper and just as good in every other way. Its 8.4-inch size also creates a nice balance between portability and comfortable viewing.
Whichever you choose, though, you can’t lose.
VERDICT
This is the best 10-inch Android tablet available. If that’s what you want, go buy it.
Next, read our Tablet Buyer's Guide or pick from our best tablets round-up
OVERALL SCORE
SCORES IN DETAIL
- Battery Life10
- Build Quality8
- Design7
- Performance8
- Screen Quality10
- Software & Apps7
- Sound Quality6
- Value8
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