Apple iPad 10 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Comparison

Vemuda Techno - Apple's entry level iPad has always been an excellent value. But with an updated design and a significant increase in price, how does it compare with Samsung's Tab S8?

When we look at the two displays, we're getting a very similar size, with 11 inches on the Tab S8 versus 10.9 inches on the iPad 10.

Source: MyNexTablet

But then we start seeing some very meaningful differences. So in terms of refresh rate, the iPad 10 has a 60 hertz display versus 120 hertz on the Tab S8.

So animations, scrolling, and navigating around the homepage and setting are going to look smoother on the Tab S8.

The Tab S8 also has a slightly higher resolution at 1600 by 2560 versus 1640 by 2360, as well as a slightly higher pixel density of 274 versus 264. And overall, I think that the image quality on the Tab S8 display is better.

We're also getting different aspect ratios on both tablets, and this is gonna come down to what you value more.

So the iPad 10 has approximately a 3:2 aspect ratio versus 16:10 on the Tab S8. When you're watching movies or videos, the Tab S8 will fill a bit more of the display and give you a larger image overall, with smaller black bars at the top and the bottom.

When you're holding both tablets in portrait mode, the Tab S8 is a bit wider and it gives you a slightly wider canvas for taking handwritten notes.

The 120 hertz refresh rate on the Tab S8 is also adaptive, so it can adjust the refresh rate on the fly to give you a faster refresh rate when you need it or a slower refresh rate when it can save on battery life without taking away from the user experience.

With an iPad, the only way to get this feature is to upgrade to one of the iPad Pro models, which are a lot more expensive.

Another important difference is the way the displays are constructed. So the Tab S8 has a fully laminated display, meaning that the display, the touch layer, and the cover glass are fused together into a single display assembly. The iPad 10 has an air gap between the display and the combination of cover glass and touch layer.

For most things, like watching movies, surfing the web, or playing games, it's not really something that you're gonna notice unless you specifically look for it.

But when you start using a stylus, things change. On the iPad 10, you can see separation between the tip of the pencil and the content that's being created, especially if you're looking at an angle.

On the Tab S8, the image looks like it's painted on top of the glass and the tip of the S Pen looks like it's touching the content that's being created. And speaking of the two stylus options, the Tab S8 comes with an S Pen, and the iPad 10 is compatible with the first generation Apple Pencil that costs an additional hundred dollars.

Now, as far as the feel of each stylus when it hits the glass, the Apple Pencil has a more firm tip and it feels like you're drawing or writing on a single sheet of paper that's placed on a hard surface.

The S Pen has a softer tip, so it feels like you're writing on a pad of paper, where the pages compress as you press down.

Now, both work really well and it's really gonna come down to which one feels better for you. But beyond that, the overall user experience definitely goes to the S Pen, and here's why.

So starting with pairing and charging, the S Pen can do both of them wirelessly. And since it's magnetically stored on the back of the Tab S8, it's always with you and ready to go.

With the iPad 10, Apple upgraded the port to USB-C, but the first generation Apple Pencil still uses a lightning port. And that means that you need a lightning to USB-C adapter and a USB-C to USB-C cable just to pair and charge the Apple Pencil.

It also means that you need to bring the adapter with you whenever you travel. And if you lose it, you can't charge your Apple Pencil until you get another one.

There's also no way to attach the Apple Pencil to the iPad 10, so you need to get a case with a dedicated slot or you can get a magnetic sleeve.

Now, in terms of additional functionality, again, it's a clear win for the S Pen. It has a dedicated function button, a hover indicator, and a variety of Bluetooth features which are not available on the Apple Pencil.

Now, in terms of design, the two tablets have a lot of similarities, but again,.there are some important differences.

Now, both tablets have rounded corners and squared off edges. Both tablets have a USB-C port, but the iPad 10 is 2.0 and the Tab S8 is a more powerful 3.2 port, which supports faster transfer speeds.

Now, both tablets have four speaker grills, but the Tab S8 actually has four speakers, whereas the iPad 10 only has two.

When listening to both side by side, the Tab S8 has a better audio system. The AKG-tuned speakers output sound that's fuller, warmer, and has more presence.

Now, both tablets use a fingerprint sensor for biometric authentication. And in both cases, the sensor is integrated into the power button and it's worked really well for me.

The Tab S8 also has a microSD card slot so you can upgrade the internal storage by up to one terabyte. And in my testing, the apps and games continue to run fast even when I move them from the internal SSD to the microSD. And you'll see why this is such a major advantage in just a moment.

And when we look at keyboard cases with a track pad, the Tab S8 uses the Book Cover Keyboard and the iPad 10 uses the new Magic Keyboard Folio.

Both have a similar design, with a detachable keyboard and an adjustable back. The Samsung Book Cover Keyboard can be angled farther back so it's more adjustable.

It also has a bump out for the S Pen, so it's always protected. At the same time, the Magic Keyboard Folio is more solidly built, it has larger and better keys,  and a bigger, more responsive, and more accurate track pad.

One final advantage for the Magic Keyboard Folio is that the keyboard can be detached, flipped, and reattached. So this way, when you fold it back, the keys are not exposed.

When we look at the camera systems, the Tab S8 has a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera versus 12 on the iPad.

Both tablets have a 12 megapixel ultra wide camera, which is located in the center of the long edge. The Tab S8 supports 4K/60 versus 1080/P60 on the iPad.

And here's a quick sample. Here's a camera and microphone comparison of the Tab S8 and the iPad 10. This should give you a pretty good idea of the type of image quality that you should expect and the type of audio quality that you're going to get.

When we look at processing power, the iPad 10 is powered by the A14 Bionic and the Tab S8 uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip.

The iPad 10 outperforms the Tab S8 for single-core, multi-core, and GPU performance when you look at benchmarks.

But the question you should really ask yourself is what happens when it comes to actual real life use?

So since both tablets are using very powerful mobile chipsets, they're easily able to run any of the apps that I tried. And the iPad 10 comes with four gigabytes of RAM versus 8 gigs on the Tab S8.

When multitasking, the iPad can run two apps in split view plus additional apps in a slide over window.

The Tab S8 can run three tiled apps with more flexibility when it comes to how much real estate each app gets.

And they can also run multiple floating windows which can be resized. And you can even change their transparency.

Now, both tablets have a customizable dock, but the Tab S8 also has a super handy side panel for quick access.

Both tablets can be used as additional displays for compatible tablets and laptops. Apple calls this feature Sidecar and Samsung calls it Second Screen. But if you're looking for more of a laptop replacement, the Tab S8 has a super powerful feature called DeX.

Now, if you're new to Samsung tablets, DeX essentially reboots the tablet with an OS that looks very similar to what you get on a laptop.

You have a task bar where you can minimize and see active apps. You have an actual desktop with icons. And you can run multiple floating windows or snap windows to the sides of the display.

And you can connect an external display, keyboard, and mouse, and then run a complete dual display setup with full external monitor use without black bars.

By comparison, iPad OS on the iPad 10 only lets you mirror the display, and you still can't stretch it out to use the entire display because the iPad 10 doesn't fully support Stage Manager. So when it comes to being a laptop replacement, it's an easy win for the Tab S8.

Now, a few other important elements that you should consider are the available apps, the operating system support, and the ecosystem.

So when we're looking at available apps, the Google Play Store, the Galaxy Store, and the Apple App Store have a ton of options for pretty much everything that you need.

In general, I'm going to give the edge to the iPad 10 because the apps seem to be better optimized for a tablet. But like I said in other recent post, that gap continues to shrink.

Now, several creative apps, like Affinity Photo, DaVinci Resolve, and Procreate are only available for the iPad, but it's great to see that there is an Android version of LumaFusion in the Galaxy Store.

Now, the Tab S8 comes with Android 12 and One UI 4. I have mine actually upgraded to Android 13 and One UI 5, and the user experience is excellent.

The iPad 10 comes with iPad OS 16. And although Samsung promises four years of OS updates and five years of security updates, Apple devices typically get longer support than that, and we have additional headroom in terms of processing power, so I'm going to give the edge to the iPad.

Now, I also want you to consider the other products that you own which make up your ecosystem.

So Samsung has made some impressive improvements over the past few years. They added a much needed integration between multiple devices, wireless file and text sharing, and then additional cross device integration.

And even though that gap continues to shrink, Apple's ecosystem is still more complete and more tightly integrated due to the fact that they have full control over the hardware and the software on all of their devices.

When we look at battery life, both devices are excellent. And these are two of the best options from their respective brands.

I'm able to easily get through a full day of typical use, but to Tab S8 finishes most days with more battery life left, so it gets the win here.

The Tab S8 is also capable of accepting faster charging at 45 watts, but the iPad 10 comes with a 20 watt charger, while the Tab S8 doesn't come with a charger at all.

And when we look at gaming, both tablets crushed any of the games that I played, from Genshin, to PUBG, to Asphalt, and any of the last demanding games that I tried.

But for some games, there actually was a noticeable difference. When I play PUBG, the Tab S8 can go to HDR for graphics if I want Extreme frame rate, and Ultra HD graphics with Ultra for frame rate.

The iPad 10 can go to Balanced for graphics and Extreme frame rate. It can go to Ultra HD for graphics with Ultra for frame rate.

And it could actually go to 90 FPS with Smooth graphics, which was super impressive.

Now, the actual gameplay was very good with both tablets. And that's great considering that these are entry level flagships.

Now, streaming games using the Xbox Game Pass app and an Xbox Controller also worked really well with both tablets. And if you have any questions about other specific games, let me know in the comment section.

Now, when we look at the configuration options and pricing, we see some extremely important differences.

I'm going to use the prices from the Apple and Samsung stores because they're more standardized, but you can usually find better prices. 

So the iPad 10 starts out at 449 with 64 gigabytes of internal storage and the Tab S8 sells for 599 with 128 gigs.

So if you get the base models of both, you're paying an extra $150 for double the storage. But don't forget that you're getting a free S Pen with the Tab S8, and you're having to pay a hundred dollars for the first generation Apple Pencil.

And I would really think hard about whether 64 gigabytes is actually enough for a device that could last you five to seven years. If you're just using it to stream content, to surf the web, and you're using a few smaller apps, then no problems.

But personally, with PUBG, Genshin, and a few other apps, I was already unable to update iPad OS and I had to delete some of my apps.

When we look at the 256 gigabyte versions, the iPad 10 now costs 599 versus 649 on the Tab S8. So the gap is really shrinking.

And by the way, if you're reading this from outside the US, let me know where you're from and what the prices are for both tablets where you live.

And here's why I said that the microSD card slot on the Tab S8 is so important. You can easily add up to one terabyte of internal storage for under a hundred bucks, and you have so much more flexibility when it comes to larger apps, games, and file storage.

I was really hoping that the iPad 10 would start with 128 and then go up to 256 or 512, especially with that jump in price. And I'm curious to know what you think about it. Now, you should see if the iPad 10 is actually a better value than the iPad Air 5.

Hopefully, this comparison was helpful. You know what I always say, buy it nice or buy it twice. Good luck and see you soon.

We have also posted 5 Best Monitor for Your MacBook Pro in 2023.

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