MWC 2017: Samsung Focus on New Tablets in Absence of Galaxy S8

Monday February 27, 2017 1:29 AM PST by Tim Hardwick
With reference to the upcoming Galaxy S8 at this year's Mobile Wold Congress limited to a March 29 launch date confirmation, Samsung chose to put the focus on two new tablets, the Android-powered Galaxy Tab S3 and the Galaxy Book, which runs Windows 10.

Aiming to compete with the iPad Pro, the Tab S3 comes with a 9.7-inch HDR-ready Super AMOLED display running at 2,048 x 1,536 resolution. On the back is a 13 megapixel camera, while a 5 megapixel camera sits on the front, where a fingerprint sensor lives on the home button.


The new metal and glass-backed design is 6mm thick, and houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage (expandable up to 256GB with a microSD), built-in LTE, and a 6,000 mAh battery with Fast Charging support using the USB-C port. A new Note7-like S Pen stylus is also included.

The Galaxy Book was Samsung's other big announcement at MWC. The hybrid tablet-laptop, positioned as a Surface Pro competitor, comes in 10.6-inch and 12-inch versions, with 1,920 x 1,280 and 2,160 x 1,440 resolutions, respectively.


The 10.6-inch size features a 2.6GHz Intel Core m3 dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, up to 128GB of storage, and has a 5 megapixel front-facing camera. The 12-inch Galaxy Book has a 3.1GHz Intel Core i5 dual-core processor, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 256GB of storage, with a 13 megapixel camera on the back and a 5 megapixel one on the front.

Samsung has not yet announced any pricing information for the Tab S3 and Galaxy Book. Meanwhile, Apple is expected to launch new 12.9-inch iPads and a new flagship 10.5-inch model in March. The latter is said to have an edge-to-edge display on the same footprint as the current 9.7-inch iPad.

Tags: Samsung, MWC 2017
26 comments


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Gorms
32 months ago
Huh, they've switched from 16:9 to 4:3 ratio to match the iPad. When did they start doing that? Good for them, 16:9 suuuuucks for tablets.

Apart from that, the Book shows how close Apple are to having the iPad be this mythical computer replacement as soon as they make the few productivity tweaks that it requires.

Did anyone see Steve Troughton Smith's Finder app demos on iPad over the weekend? Interesting to see a version of Finder app on iPad (also, seeing Finder using UIKit).
Rating: 3 Votes
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KohPhiPhi
32 months ago

The difference is the Galaxy Book, like the Surface it competes against, runs Windows. No one wants a "laptop replacement" running a mobile OS.


I agree. If becoming a true "laptop replacement" is the actual goal as is has been touted by Apple's marketing machinery, then vainilla iOS simply is not enough.
Rating: 2 Votes
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maflynn
32 months ago

With phone footprints on the increase the phablet market will merge at some point

I'd also say the high costs of phones is another factor, spending nearly a 1,000 dollars for a phone that does everything a tablet does, means there's less justification to a tablet imo.
Rating: 2 Votes
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KieranDotW
32 months ago

Apart from that, the Book shows how close Apple are to having the iPad be this mythical computer replacement as soon as they make the few productivity tweaks that it requires.


The difference is the Galaxy Book, like the Surface it competes against, runs Windows. No one wants a "laptop replacement" running a mobile OS.
Rating: 2 Votes
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69Mustang
32 months ago

The biggest problem with the new Books is the lack of Thunderbolt 3-over-USB-C capabilities.

I've made some serious external graphic card (eGPU for short) benchmark tests (so far, "only" with the latest version (10.0.1) of Capture One Pro), and found out that (at least mid-level) eGPUS's indeed greatly increase operation speed. For example, on my early 2013 15" MBP (i7, 8GB RAM, 256G SSD), exporting the same 125-image iPhone 7+ DNG set took only half the time when eGPU was actively used compared to the case of only using the discrete GPU (the built-in 650M) or completely disabling GPU acceleration. Yes, the higher-quality (faster) the GPU is, the better performance (at least in Capture One Pro) - the measly built-in 650M only sped up operation a tiny bit, while the external AMD RX 480 had resulted in a two-fold speed increase.

That is, eGPU's are indeed very good not only for, say, 3D gaming, but also image processing (and, for that matter, video compression). And how you can connect an eGPU to any machine? Either via Thunderbolt or ExpressCard. Regretfully, both are missing form the new Samsungs. (As do from the Surface Pro 4 / Book, by the way.)

Nobody cares. I mean that colloquially, not pedantically.:) Tech geeks like you and me might care, but the vast majority of the consuming public just wants a fancy consumption device. That's what the Tab S3 is. The Galaxy Book is a simple 2n1 ultrabook. Good for light work and, here's that word again, consumption. It's not the companion of an eGPU. Expecting or wanting that to be the case is unrealistic. Right tool for the right job.
Rating: 1 Votes
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GeneralChang
32 months ago

The biggest problem with the new Books is the lack of Thunderbolt 3-over-USB-C capabilities.

I've made some serious external graphic card (eGPU for short) benchmark tests (so far, "only" with the latest version (10.0.1) of Capture One Pro), and found out that (at least mid-level) eGPUS's indeed greatly increase operation speed. For example, on my early 2013 15" MBP (i7, 8GB RAM, 256G SSD), exporting the same 125-image iPhone 7+ DNG set took only half the time when eGPU was actively used compared to the case of only using the discrete GPU (the built-in 650M) or completely disabling GPU acceleration. Yes, the higher-quality (faster) the GPU is, the better performance (at least in Capture One Pro) - the measly built-in 650M only sped up operation a tiny bit, while the external AMD RX 480 had resulted in a two-fold speed increase.

That is, eGPU's are indeed very good not only for, say, 3D gaming, but also image processing (and, for that matter, video compression). And how you can connect an eGPU to any machine? Either via Thunderbolt or ExpressCard. Regretfully, both are missing form the new Samsungs. (As do from the Surface Pro 4 / Book, by the way.)

TB3 is my favorite thing of the past few years for this reason exactly.
Rating: 1 Votes
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Abazigal
32 months ago

Android apps aren't blown up. They fit the screen normally. iOS apps are blown up and pixelated. Source:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ipad-pro-blows-in-many-respects-i-just-sent-this-to-apple-feature-request.1948220/

[USER=595611]@Abazigal[/USER], in the thread I just linked, you admit iOS apps are blown up, stop pretending ios isn't like that. Straight up liar.

[USER=409542]@MacFan23[/USER], if you use apps that are iOS exclusive, stay on iOS. Easy descion for you.


By blown up, I mean the android apps aren't designed specifically for a tablet resolution or layout. They continue to sport a smartphone interface, and have simply been resized for a lager display.

With the iPad, most tablet apps are coded specifically with the resolution of the iPad in mind, and so they tend to sport a better interface and design. Yes, there are apps like Instagram which still don't have tablet apps, but those are more the exception than the norm.

You want to call someone a liar, I suggest you take a cue from your namesake and get your own facts right first; and take a look at who you are responding to.
Rating: 1 Votes
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Menneisyys2
32 months ago

So this is off topic, but real quick, what eGPU solution are you using with your MBP?


Node + RX 480.
Rating: 1 Votes
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Dave245
32 months ago

The global market for tablets is in decline, I'm not sure what I see will start to turn things around


I think the problem is that people don't upgrade their tablets as often, most iPad users keep them for years, my dad has my old iPad 3 and my mum has my iPad Air 2 (which i gave her when i upgraded to the iPad Pro).
I love Apple products and i hope they give me a reason to upgrade to the iPad Pro 2, i think that's what these companies need to do, give us a reason to upgrade, other than the usual processor updates.
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The difference is the Galaxy Book, like the Surface it competes against, runs Windows. No one wants a "laptop replacement" running a mobile OS.


But this is the debate that's been going on with people for a few years now. Personally i think Apple need to add a few new features and keep tweaking it more towards Pro aspect, but i don't think that a full desktop OS is the answer. I'm against touchscreen Mac's and hybrid tablets, Apple has said the same thing over and over again, so don't expect them to suddenly make a hybrid.
Rating: 1 Votes
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Johnny907
32 months ago
Wonder why they left the biggest part of Samsung's tablet announcement out of this article: the new S pen.



I loved everything about the Apple Pencil except it's size shape and weight. The placement of the battery above the center of balance makes it top heavy and exceptionally awkward to use like a normal pencil. This new S pen fixes all of those complaints, and is immediate familiar to muscle memory. It's a big deal in my book, and one I hope Apple follows in its next revision. It doesn't have to look exactly like a real pencil as this Samsung version does, but I'd like to see it thinner and more comfortable to hold and use.
Rating: 1 Votes
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