Samsung Galaxy Tab S8: Your complete buyer's guide

The Galaxy Tab S8 series took the stylish designs, gorgeous displays, and reliable battery life of the excellent Tab S7 series, added a top-class processor and more RAM, and made other improvements that maintained Samsung's Android tablet supremacy in 2022.

Alongside the familiar 11-inch LCD Galaxy Tab S8 and 12.4-inch AMOLED Galaxy Tab S8+, the new Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is a new 14.6-inch behemoth with the highest screen-to-body ratio we've seen in a tablet and a tiny notch that shouldn't affect your browsing experience. The Ultra is the only model to offer upgraded RAM options in exchange for a hefty price increase.

If you're in the market for one of the best Android tablets, we've labeled the three Galaxy Tab S8 models as the top three available across all brands. But which should you choose? We'll compare the specs and designs to help you decide which to buy.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Release date, price, and deals

Samsung announced the Galaxy Tab S8 series on February 9 at Galaxy Unpacked and released its new tablets on February 25.

Despite some solid upgrades in performance over the Galaxy Tab S7 series, the Galaxy Tab S8 and S8+ only cost $50 more than their predecessors: $700 and $900, respectively. In fact, the upgraded Tab S7 tablets with 8GB of RAM — the base memory of the Tab S8 — cost more than the new tablets, so you can look at it as saving money on newer devices.

As for the new Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, it clocks in at $1,100. These $200 increases match the price gaps of the Galaxy S22 series, proving Samsung will probably stick to this strategy moving forward.

If you want more storage, upgrading the Galaxy Tab S8 or S8+ to 256GB costs an additional $80. With the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, jumping to 256GB or 512GB costs $100 each, but these upgrades also come with jumps to 12GB or 16GB of RAM, respectively.

Right now, only the Galaxy Tab S8+ has a 5G cellular option for $1,100 through Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, or USCellular. This model is restricted to 128GB of storage, but you can always augment it with the 1TB microSD card slot.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Design

Anyone who has used a Galaxy Tab S7 or Tab S7+ will find that their 2022 counterparts look and feel remarkably similar. Both the Galaxy Tab S8 and S8+ have the exact same dimensions, weight, display quality, magnetic S Pen strips, and stylistic etchings along the back edges as their predecessors. The only visual difference is in the colors: the S7 series offered Mystic Black, Silver, Bronze, and Blue, while the S8 comes in Graphite, Silver, and Pink Gold.

Samsung does tout one design upgrade: it claims the aluminum material used with the S8 is "30% more scratch-resistant and 40% less prone to bending" than the S7 material, so it'll handle scuffs and rough handling better than before. Samsung also partially constructed the Tab S8 with "plastic components repurposed from discarded fishing nets" as part of a sustainability push.

Of the three Tab S8s, the 11-inch, 1.1lb. base model is most likely to be comfortable to use for casual use away from a desk, while still offering plenty of screen real estate compared to most budget tablets. 

With the 12.4-inch, 1.27lb. Galaxy Tab S8+, it's not quite as portable or comfortable to hold for long periods. Still, it's actually thinner than the Tab S8 and isn't nearly as ungainly as the Ultra. The massive AMOLED display gives you richer colors and more space for using multiple apps at once; it's a perfect fit with a keyboard cover for DeX mode.

As for the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, it has extremely thin bezels that maximize the 14.6-inch display to nearly reach the edges of the tablet. That does mean the Ultra has a small notch for the selfie cameras, but in most cases, you won't find it particularly noticeable. 

What's more frustrating is that those minuscule bezels make it extremely precarious to hold without accidentally touching the screen or straining your hands. Add the 1.6-pound weight, and it's obvious the Ultra is a tablet you'll want to use on a desk with a keyboard cover and kickstand at all times.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Specs

As we mentioned before, the Galaxy Tab S8 shares many traits with the Galaxy Tab S7 series: display quality, battery life, audio quality, S Pen support, and other specs. But you will notice upgrades to the chipset, base RAM, cameras, and Wi-Fi speeds that make this more than an iterative upgrade. As for the new Ultra brand, it mostly matches what the S8+ offers, but with a 4K-quality front camera and optional RAM upgrades.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8: S Pen and Accessories

All three Tab S8 models ship with an S Pen. You'll find magnetic strips on the top and back of the tablet, and some of the keyboard cover accessories should have an S Pen slot. Still, it can be easy to lose track of if you're not careful.

If you choose the Tab S8+ or S8 Ultra, you'll get a "new and improved S Pen that uses a prediction algorithm for ultra-low latency." Specifically, you'll get a latency speed of 2.8ms, whereas the Tab S8 offers 6.2ms and the Tab S7 series offered 9ms.

Otherwise, none of the Galaxy Tab S8 tablets ship with a charger or keyboard cover in the box. Particularly with the Galaxy Tab S8+ and S8 Ultra, they're too large to regularly use in handheld form, so you'll want to buy a case with a kickstand and a keyboard for productivity. 

Our guides on the best Galaxy Tab S8 cases and best Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra cases will get you started. 

You can buy the official Tab S8 Book Cover Keyboard in all three sizes; it's expensive, especially for the Ultra version with backlighting and a trackpad, but it lets you connect or disconnect instantly while bypassing a manual Bluetooth connection. Otherwise, you can save a lot of money with a Bluetooth keyboard.

All three tablets offer 45W charging, so you'll want a charging block and cable capable of hitting that mark. 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Software

All three devices launched with One UI 4.1 based on Android 12. Samsung has promised four OS upgrades, meaning it should receive One UI 8 (or Android 16) in 2026. It'll also receive five years of security updates through 2027.

Alongside the traditional DeX mode for multitasking, One UI 4 on the Galaxy Tab S8 also offers a new tool to "split your screen into three windows with four layout options, and even adjust to the exact height, size, and layout you need for any given task." 

You can pin your favorite apps to a hidden taskbar on the top-right of the display. After you open one app, simply drag the S Pen to reveal the taskbar, then plop a second (or third) app onto the display to split up the screen space between them. You can slide the borders between the apps to give one more space than the rest. 

Or, you can pin a small pop-up app above another full-screen app, then minimize that app when you're done with it. Whatever multitasking method you prefer, Samsung's software may support it. And Samsung has promised to bring Android 12L features to the Tab S8 series later this year, so its multitasking tools should only improve over time.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8: Which should you buy?

You can't necessarily go wrong with any of the Galaxy Tab S8s, given all three have the same processor, high-resolution displays with smooth 120Hz refresh rates, quad stereo speakers, comparably high battery lives, and low-latency S Pens. So which should you pick?

The standard Galaxy Tab S8 is both the most affordable and the most comfortable to hold for long periods. If you want something for streaming content in bed, the smallest tablet may be your best bet. Even if you're downgraded to an LCD display instead of an AMOLED, you're losing richer colors but gaining a brighter display and longer battery life. 

Still, we recommended the Galaxy Tab S8+ as the one to buy over the Tab S8, and not because of the display upgrade. Frankly, all of the Tab S8 series are too expensive to buy just for casual streaming. If you're buying one, you'll want to use its productivity features and multitasking software; and for that, 11 inches is too small. The 12.4-inch Tab S8+ nearly matches most laptops in display size, giving you enough room to work without straining your eyes.

For the best productivity experience, you'll want the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, given you can buy one with up to 16GB of RAM and its 14.6-inch display gives you all the work space you need. But the Tab S8 Ultra is too large to work as a portable device at all, whereas you can use the Tab S8+ in handheld mode without too much discomfort. 

On the other hand, anyone looking for a productivity device for their desk has a tougher choice between the Tab S8 Plus and Tab S8 Ultra. Of the two, the Ultra obviously offers more RAM and more space, making it better suited for multitasking. And it's much better for video calls thanks to the dual-upgraded selfie cams. But the Tab S8+ matches the Ultra in most other specs at a lower price, and even though it's less portable than the Tab S8, the Plus can still be used away from the desk, whereas the Ultra is much heavier and even more uncomfortable to hold.

It's up to you whether you want to fully upgrade to the most powerful Galaxy Tab possible, "downgrade" to a powerful 11-inch tablet that'll check multiple boxes, or choose the comfortable middle ground with the Plus. While we recommend the Tab S8+, something more compact or more powerful may serve as a better fit.