I would describe myself as an active executive, I run a media Company and I write, so the tools I use are critically important to me, no more so when I want to look at a layouts, communicate information or watch a video or TV show.

My choice in the past has been primarily a lightweight Acer notebook and an 11”-inch 5G Samsung Tab 7 tablet.

Recently I was sent the larger Samsung 14.6”-inch Samsung Tab S8 Ultra and it’s amazing what an extra bit of size delivers when it comes to functionality and ease of use.

The A$1,799, 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S8+ is physically larger; it sports a Super AMOLED display rather than an LCD, has a bigger battery, and offers connectivity for a Micro SD Card up to 256GB. The battery life, is also impressive considering that a larger screen sucks a lot more juice out of a battery and because the screen is 120Hz it’s ideal for gaming

The display is bright and crystal clear and when it comes to making a presentation either from a PowerPoint presentation or a web site the images jump off the page.

Samsung manufactures their own display screens and whether You are watching a YouTube video or as I often do when watching Foxtel 4K sport spanning Formula One Grand Prix’s to NRL or AFL games the screen is as good as most UHD TV’s.

Also on board is a new S Pen and when you purchase the optional keyboard case you can quickly move to using the device as an active management systems to access or draw designs using the S pen, sending emails or in my case writing a review or news story.

This device has also fingerprint sensor and because the Samsung Tab S8 Ultra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, it’s fast especially when it comes to rebooting the device and fingerprint confirming passwords.

What I really like about the Tab 8 Ultra, is that this device comes Windows enabled, so that if you operate a PC running Windows 11 and Office 365 and the Windows based CRM system Dynamics 365, you can easily mirror Windows based files between PC, Samsung tablet and a Samsung S22 Ultra smartphone.

The onboarding of the Samsung DeX software also allows owners to pull up a second screen for other software applications.
The model I tested came with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of memory which for me was ample because I was able to set up and easily access my Microsoft One Drive as well as my Google One Drive which I use for images and video from the tablet.

Access in and out of these cloud-based storage is fast making it easy to pull down PowerPoint presentations or large PDF layouts.

The combination of an optional keyboard cover and the bundled S Pen, makes the Tab S8 Ultra more notebook than tablet, and when you add the keyboard and considering this is an Android 12 device it’s an interesting new way to manage connectivity outside of Windows and Apple’s iOS offerings.

The brand-new S Pen is a big improvement than the previous Tab 7 pen, in that it’s a lot more responsive and allow one to write, sketch, doodle or draw with more control due to the ultra-low latency of the Tab 8 S Pen.

I now use this device to take notes in meetings, draw layouts while easily catching up with news and searching for information.

Another big plus for me is that I can easily use Microsoft Teams for business meetings, while also being able to switch directly to Google Duo for calls with my family interstate.

One area of concern though is that Android apps primarily designed for smartphones and at a stretch a 10″ tablet, don’t necessarily scale to the larger screen size, and using them is sometimes a problem with some apps failing to rotate. One classic problem is that Instagram only appears in full-screen portrait orientation while my Golf App with only operate in landscape mode.

One feature called auto framing allows users to record a dance lesson and the camera will automatically zoom in to keep focus on you and your moves.

The power on and off and volume buttons along with the microSD card slot are positioned along the top of the tablet.

Sound output is also not bad via four stereo speakers that are located on the top and bottom of the Tab 8. A USB-C port is on the bottom of the tablet when held in a vertical position.

Two rear cameras are found on the back upper part of the tablet, they work perfectly. Users can toggle between 4.3, 16.9, 1.1 and full frame.
I find that I prefer to use my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra to shoot images over using a tablet as I can easily transfer the images to the tablet while also being able to shoot better quality images.

Unlike Apple, Samsung includes the S Pen in the package with the tablet though I do recommend that you buy the Book Cover Keyboard so that you can easily type while also storing the S Pen away in the magnetic charging slot on the back of the tablet.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 comes with Android 12 and OneUI 4.1. It’s as good as anything else out there and can be easily set up in minutes.

I am a big user of Outlook, Office 365 apps and Teams as well as Dynamics 365 and when I am visiting clients this devices comes in really handy as I can access our Windows based servers as well as One Drive while also being able to quickly write notes, syncing is easy and fast, and it eliminates the need to carry a notebook.

Conclusion
Practicality is a key reason to buy this notebook. The display is excellent, and the large display does make it easier to work while presentations are bought to life on the excellent Super AMOLED display. However work needs to be done on the scalling of apps.

This is a device that Apple will take seriously as it will strip share from the iPad because it’s superior on several fronts. At just 726 grams the device with a keyboard case is no heavier that a lightweight notebook.

The S Pen adds a massive amount of additional functionality because Samsung has gone out of their way to also deliver some of the best drawing and pen software available today.

Once you get into this tablet which I think is also ideal for weekends away or holiday trips it allows you to easily dial up your favourite streaming app and watch a movie on a 14.6” display which is way superior to a smaller tablet.

It’s the perfect business leisure machine and at $1,799, it’s an ideal investment and one you should buy before June 30th so that you can claim it as a tax deduction this year or for any year in the future.

Rating

9/10