Worth buying the tab S4 now?

[Brew Swayne]

I had no idea the tab s4 could do other profiles for family members. Great bonus

Something tells me this was an available feature on the Tab A 8" I bought like 2 years ago. I got rid of it a while back so I can't confirm it, but I know I've seen that function on one of my other devices. It's not a big selling point for me because I don't share my tech with anyone, but I guess it's useful for someone who plays well with others.

 

[srgonu]

Awesome information. Thanks a lot. I am moving from iPad 9.7 inch 2018 to Tab S4. The only worry I have moving from iPad is the battery life, but all the reviews (Amazon) about battery life were great. I am also looking for desktop mode which can help me with my office work (which iPad cannot absolutely) and hope DeX mode will be helpful.

 

[Brew Swayne]

Battery life so far has been fantastic. I've practically been living on this thing for the last week because I really want to test it well while the window to return it is still open. I'm getting about 9 hours of screen on time with it so far from a full charge. Email, web browsing, social media, youtube, mild gaming, light Netflix, and a little bit of simple photo/video editing. And this is all while the tablet is connected to the keyboard, so it's providing constant power to that as well, but apparently not enough to cause any significant battery drain.

I'm spoiled rotten from the fast charging capabilities on my Note phone....I got from 15% to 100% in maybe 90 min. It takes roughly 3 hours to gain a full charge on the Tab S4, but I need to remember that I'm dealing with a much bigger battery.

I'll also throw my 2 cents out there regarding the keyboard. I saw a lot of critical reviews of the keyboard before buying, but so far I've been largely impressed by it. It's definitely a bit on the cramped side, but I'm adjusting quickly. I'm a decent size guy....5'11" with large-ish hands and I don't have much issue navigating the keyboard. Anyone with smaller hands should find it comfortable to use right from the start. I do find that when I'm trying to type out a couple of numbers or special characters, I sometimes might incidentally hit the onscreen home or back button with a stray finger. This could easily be rectified by hiding that bar completely, but I'm learning to adjust the way I hold my fingers. (Side note: I'm generally not this wordy in these forums, but this is giving me great practice with the keyboard. lol)

There's a Language button on the keyboard that for some reason I manage to keep catching with my right thumb whenever I go for the space bar. It's pretty pointless and I wish there was a way to do some key remapping on this thing because I would gladly disable that button completely along with the button that brings up an on screen keyboard. Not sure why I would need an on screen keyboard with I'm using the physical keyboard, but Sammy decided to put it there anyay. There's also an app drawer button just like the one found on Chromebooks. When you're on the Android side, that button wakes up the Google Assistant, but when you're on the DeX side it actually opens the app drawer. This is another one I'd like to remap if it were available. I can wake up the assistant with voice commands when I'm on the Android side so I'm not sure why I need a key to wake it up just so I can then give it verbal commands. Would much rather be able to remap it to open the app drawer in Android mode as well. Maybe someday...

Overall it's definitely not the worst mobile keyboard I've ever used. I've tried maybe a half dozen or so over the last 10 years and I'd actually say this one is the nicest so far. $150 is a steep price to pay though. Luckily I noticed Amazon was selling them yesterday for $102, so I went back to Best Buy and they price matched it and gave me a $48 credit back on my acct.

 

[srgonu]

Am really excited to receive my Tab S4 tomorrow. I too ordered keyboard with it. I started with note 2 and never could stay with any other phone without Spen for more than 24 hours. I am sure multitasking (split screen)is also far better experience on Tab s4 than iPad.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Tab S2 was 2015 and the S3 didn't come until 2016 a good 18 months later.

There is no guarantee an S5 will come this year, personally I don't base purchase decisions on unannounced hardware. If I were in the market for a tablet now, I would get one now.

 

[ClintRo]

Awesome information. Thanks a lot. I am moving from iPad 9.7 inch 2018 to Tab S4. The only worry I have moving from iPad is the battery life, but all the reviews (Amazon) about battery life were great. I am also looking for desktop mode which can help me with my office work (which iPad cannot absolutely) and hope DeX mode will be helpful.

Battery life has been amazing... several days on a charge.

 

[ROE_HUNTER]

Am really excited to receive my Tab S4 tomorrow. I too ordered keyboard with it. I started with note 2 and never could stay with any other phone without Spen for more than 24 hours. I am sure multitasking (split screen)is also far better experience on Tab s4 than iPad.

Ordered mine last night, can't wait to get it tomorrow!

 

[srgonu]

Finally received mine and set it up yesterday. Great experience compared to iPad. It is very smooth at handling stuff. Few things am missing.
1. Edge panel (spoiled by my note 8) to launch apps without going to home and select the apps to launch.
2. Themes
3. When logging in to apps using samsung pass, I have to turn the tablet to portrait mode to scan my iris. This is annoying with keyboard cover on. I hope this will be fixed in pie. FPS should have solved this issue.

Other than the above, am really impressed with screen and animations. I will report back on battery life and others very soon.

 

[Brew Swayne]

Agree completely on the Edge Panel. For the first couple of days I kept trying to pull it out only to be sadly reminded that it isn't a feature on this tablet.

Also agree about Iris detection when in landscape mode. It's very awkward and even when I get my eyes line up, it still doesn't work most of the time. I've simply resigned myself to keying in my pin code when prompted. It's much easier since I keep the tablet docked on the keyboard most of the time.

 

[ROE_HUNTER]

Finally received mine and set it up yesterday. Great experience compared to iPad. It is very smooth at handling stuff. Few things am missing.
1. Edge panel (spoiled by my note 8) to launch apps without going to home and select the apps to launch.
2. Themes
3. When logging in to apps using samsung pass, I have to turn the tablet to portrait mode to scan my iris. This is annoying with keyboard cover on. I hope this will be fixed in pie. FPS should have solved this issue.

Other than the above, am really impressed with screen and animations. I will report back on battery life and others very soon.

Agree with 2 and 3, miss the themes and don't like having to rotate to portrait for iris sensor when intelligent scan works in landscape.

 

[ROE_HUNTER]

Agree completely on the Edge Panel. For the first couple of days I kept trying to pull it out only to be sadly reminded that it isn't a feature on this tablet.

Also agree about Iris detection when in landscape mode. It's very awkward and even when I get my eyes line up, it still doesn't work most of the time. I've simply resigned myself to keying in my pin code when prompted. It's much easier since I keep the tablet docked on the keyboard most of the time.

I never liked the edge panel so no problem there. My iris sensor works very good as long as I lift up my glasses.

 

[Brew Swayne]

I never liked the edge panel so no problem there. My iris sensor works very good as long as I lift up my glasses.

I can live without it, but I use it on my phone for 3 primary functions. That is where I've placed my Secure Folder. I've hidden that app in my app drawer but placed it in the edge panel for quick access. That's also where I access phone settings and device maintenance. It's just a matter of getting used to accessing those features in a different way on the tablet. I've had my Note 8 set up that way since day 1, so that's been my routine for 1.5 years. Old habits die hard. lol.

The iris scanner/facial recognition thing is weird.

When I restart my tablet or go to access my secure folder, unlocking with the camera isn't efficient. But once I do that initial log in, I the facial recognition is super quick to recognize me and unlock the tablet once I wake the screen. Since I usually only restart my devices once a week at most, this shouldn't be much of an issue, but I hope it is improved in future updates.

 

[bill-e]

I was about to buy another Tab S4 had it not been found by United so I certainly think it is still worth buying.

As for the edge, how about using one of the many side-bar launchers available on the play store. I've never used Samsung's edge but I use an app on my pbone which will display my shortcuts with the flick of the edge.

 

[quadtronix]

Picked up a Tab S4 two days ago at Verizon and so far... it was TOTALLY worth it!!! Got the 64GB Black version with a Speck folio case to go with it. So far battery life has been phenomenal and overall performance is incredible!!!

I upgraded from the ZenPad Z8 also on Verizon. I also have an 11" IPad Pro 2018. I'm surprised to be able to say this but, I think I'm actually finding the Tab S4 to be the better tablet overall. Surprised because the iPad costed roughly 300 dollars more... but battery life on the S4 is leaving my Pro in the dust and the S4 is LTE while the Pro is WiFi! Shouldn't that mean the Pro would have better battery life? Well, not the case!!

No complaints in the performance department either.. this thing flys!!! I also got a Note 9 about a month ago and love that too... was upgrading from the S8+...

In terms of the S4 though, haven't had a chance yet to even try the SPen or DeX but will definitely try SPen soon... DeX: I don't even know if I'm interested in that... for me, this tablet is mainly for media consumption purposes be it ebooks, web, Netflix, prime video, Google play movies and TV, and other various simple tasks such as email, calendar and so on...

Anyway... I've rambled on for long enough... bottom line, so far I'm loving the Tab S4. Highly recommended!!!

 

[Brew Swayne]

In terms of the S4 though, haven't had a chance yet to even try the SPen or DeX but will definitely try SPen soon... DeX: I don't even know if I'm interested in that... for me, this tablet is mainly for media consumption purposes be it ebooks, web, Netflix, prime video, Google play movies and TV, and other various simple tasks such as email, calendar and so on...

If that's going to be your primary use for it, you definitely won't have a good DeX experience with any of those apps except maybe your email and calendar apps.

From what I've seen so far, every app I've got that isn't business/productivity-centric doesn't display properly in DeX mode. Email/Calendar/Chrome/MS Office/Drive/etc apps have all been optimized for DeX.

Games, Netflix, Social Media, and other entertainment type apps are better off in Android mode.

 

[ClintRo]

I ordered an universal doc to see how it works on a larger display. I will check back in with you guys and let you know how it goes.

 

[bckrupps]

So it's on Sale at Best Buy for $549. I also have $100 student discount coupon to bring it down to $449. I plan on trading in an older ipad air 2 for $100 we don't use anymore. Now i'm at $349. I gotta assume this is a much better buy than the S5e for $299 after $100 trade in? I basically have to decide in the next 2 days. So is the S4 a no brainer with this in mind? I'm going to be doing 95% standard web browsing, you tube ect.

 

[ClintRo]

If you are not going to do any inking or heavy processing... I would get the S5e. Hands down. Fingerprint scanner Thinner and lighter with less bezels... and only using for Web/YouTube the lower processor will be fine plus that will help the battery last longer.

But for only $50 more.... you get the 835 plus Inking.

 

[bckrupps]

Thanks. That was more or less what i was thinking. I think i will wait for the S5e. For my usage it will be enough. I have a Note 9 now and i don't use the pen much so i doubt i will become an artist anytime soon lol.

 

[bill-e]

Of course thinner means less space for battery so you might not actually gain anything in that department. That being said if you can wait, then the S4 will still be around when the S5e hits the streets so you can watch for the reviews.

Also, consider the 256g version, orders of magnitude faster than external storage and worth every penny even with the external card slot.