Samsung PH bares cheaper tablet with S Pen

Samsung Electronics has updated its tablet device line with the new Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, an offering that comes with the refreshed version of the S Pen out of the box.

A direct follow-up to the S6 vanilla version that was released August last year, the Lite version offers a more updated OS skin, the same battery size from its predecessor, a downgraded TFT display panel, and an S Pen feature for almost half the price.

Naturally, to justify its price, some features have to be omitted. Even with the significant price difference, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite does not sacrifice too much and some changes make sense. As an example, Samsung used its One UI 2 as OS skin on top of Android 10.

Starting with the body, the Lite version is actually 47-grams heavier than the previous model – a nod to Samsung’s direction of having more compact devices. The build material is the same for both devices – an aluminum frame sandwiched by a glass front and an aluminum-finished back.

The Lite also retains the nano-SIM support, but has a marginally smaller screen real estate at 10.4 inch – an 81.6% screen-to-body ratio to the vanilla’s 10.5 inch with around 82.5 screen-to-body ratio.

Although it has the smaller display dimension between the two, the Lite actually has a lesser pixels-per-inch density output at only around 224, primarily due to the difference in display material — a Super Amoled screen that shifted to a thin-film transistor (TFT) panel. 

The SoC of the device, too, has been a major downgrade for the Lite version. With an octa-core 10nm Exynos 9611 chipset with a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU, it has a comparably weaker performance to the Tab S6’s 7nm octa-core Snapdragon 855 chip paired with an Adreno 640 GPU.

This basically translates to a more evident sluggish response to the updated S Pen when directly compared to its predecessors’ performance with the S Pen.

The Lite version also loses some important features like Samsung DeX and an optical under-display fingerprint scanner. Without Samsung DeX, its primary use boils down to creatives – drawing sketches and taking notes.

In a nutshell, this device is not for office use unlike its predecessor. It may suited more on creative uses and entertainment purposes, although it is a definite hit-and-miss for the non-OLED display with a resolution at only 1200x2000p. In any case, the Lite version has something that is missing in the vanilla tablet — a 3.5mm headphone jack.

“We understand how busy modern life can be, as our work becomes more flexible and blends with our personal time. Consumers need a versatile device that can integrate seamlessly into their everyday lifestyle,” said Woncheol Chai, Samsung Electronics SVP and head of product planning team for mobile communication business.

Chai added: “The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and the new S Pen are packed with the latest technology to help people stay organized, multitask and capture ideas effortlessly, allowing them to spend time on what matters most to them.”

Unfortunately, the Philippine market will only get two out of the three colorways that was released globally: the Angola Blue and the Oxford Gray. The Chiffon Pink variant would have been more attractive to Samsung’s target market for this device.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite retails for P26,990 and comes with a complimentary book cover.

Source: Newsbytes Philippines