MEGATech Reviews: Samsung Galaxy Tab S3

A Smarter Keyboard for Productivity

Sold as an optional accessory, the keyboard is really a must-have for anyone who wants to be reasonably productive on this tablet. What’s great is that you don’t have to deal with unsightly clips or anything like that, because it’s all held in place with magnets. It automatically fits on the back and you very easily and naturally align the golden pins for connection in laptop mode.

There’s a groove there where the tablet naturally fits. When the pins connect, the tablet automatically wakes up too. Despite being on the necessarily smaller side, the keyboard is actually very comfortable to use with well-spaced keys. There’s good tactile feedback, though I did find myself missing the right shift key for whatever reason. If you prefer the soft keyboard, there’s a key on the physical keyboard to bring that up. Not sure why you’d want to do that, though.

The keyboard portion is slightly recessed, so it’s also easy enough to close everything up and use the keyboard cover as a protective case for your tablet. Three of the four edges are still exposed, of course. One curiosity with this keyboard case, though, is that there is no cutout for the rear camera, just a slight indent. This means if you want to take a picture, you need to take it out of the case. How does that make sense?

As an aside, the photos taken by this tablet are perfectly fine, but hardly spectacular. You can check out a couple of sample photos on Flickr to see for yourself.

The Daily Experience

Long story short, I like it. I’ve always been a fan of Samsung’s Super AMOLED screens and the Galaxy Tab S3 is no exception. It’s perfect for playing games, watching videos and even simpler tasks like browsing the web. I appreciate the decidedly slim form factor and the keyboard accessory is right on point for productivity, though it’s questionable how much you can really get done with Android.

And that really leads to the biggest question that someone might have about a device like this. Why would you still spend this much money on a tablet (plus the optional keyboard, which you really do have to get) when you can spend a little more and get a “real” machine running on Windows? Samsung sells those too. Again, this is a decision you’ll really need to make for yourself.

The aspect ratio of the screen is also worth discussing. I found it pleasant when I was typing up a text document, for example, as well as while I was surfing my way around in the web browser. Some games adapt just fine to the different screen size too, but as soon as you start playing a regular 16:9 video, you get those black bars at the top and bottom.

In terms of battery life, with moderate usage, I found myself charging this tablet almost every day. Total screen on time was in the four to five hour range, which is hardly spectacular. If this is meant to be more of a productivity machine for professionals, that non-removable 6,000 mAh battery might not be enough.