Samsung Galaxy Tab S6: A touch of note is drawn into the tablet

There are not many manufacturers that build powerful tablets anymore. The market is mainly dominated by Apple's iPad Pro. Samsung is, along with Huawei, one of the remaining large tablet manufacturers who oppose Apple's superiority. The new Galaxy Tab S6 is Samsung's flagship in this segment and wants to catch customers with improved hardware and some features borrowed from Galaxy Note9.

Samsung didn't have to redesign the Tab S6, because with the Galaxy Tab S5e there is at least direction for the new tablet's exterior and also the two latest Samsung tablets share some components with each other. So it's no wonder that the Tab S6 doesn't differ from the S5e in terms of dimensions, battery capacity, display specs or the four speakers supplied by AKG.

New features of the Galaxy Tab S6

Since the Galaxy Tab S6 is priced above the S5e and is to compete with Apple's iPad Pro 10.5, the South Korean top tablet will receive an S-Pen that will be paired via Bluetooth 5.0 LE. The stylus can be used as a kind of remote control, just like with the Galaxy Note 9. This remote function is certainly practical for presentations, but also for everyday use as a play/pause remote for multimedia content or even as a remote trigger for the cameras. What's also practical is that Samsung has now provided a place on the back of the Galaxy Tab S6 for the S-Pen to sit, where it is not only held magnetically, but also charged wirelessly.

• S-Pen: how the Note 9 made me a believer

If the S-Pen runs out of energy, the supercapacitor inside the stylus is ready for use within 10 minutes for a full 11 hours. This is the pure standby time, not real-world battery life. How long this will be, we'll have to test when we do our detailed review.

With the second camera, the S6 sees more

For the first time with a Samsung Tablet, there are two main cameras. While the normal camera takes photos with 13 megapixels, the second camera takes photos with 5 megapixels with a field of view of 123 degrees. Thus, those who like to go on a photo safari with their tablet can now take wide-angle pictures with the help of the second camera.

Practical feature for gamers

A tablet makes it easier to play, especially games where a large field of view is important. For gamers who like to talk and chat with their teammates at the same time, it is difficult to keep in touch with Android's onboard resources. Samsung has announced a partnership with Discord for the Galaxy Tab S6, a communication app commonly used by gamers. It integrates Discord deeper into the Game Launcher. Gamers using a Tab S6 can stay in the game and still chat with their friends via Discord now.

Price and availability

If you find the Galaxy Tab S6 exciting, you can pre-order it directly online at the Samsung Shop between August 15 and 29. The Tab S6 is available in the three colors Mountain Grey, Cloud Blue and Rose Blush, each with 6/128 or 8/256 GB of memory and storage. An LTE-capable version will also be available later in the year. Official sales start on September 6, when the tablet will be available in the shops. Prices will start at $649 for the 6/128 GB version and $729 for the 8/256 GB version.