It was all the way back in May that the Galaxy Tab S8 family essentially leaked in full ahead of what seemed like a guaranteed late summer or early fall launch, but whether or not that was Samsung's initial plan, it's... clearly not anymore.
The Tab S8, Tab S8+, and yes, the first-of-its-kind Tab S8 Ultra are all expected to finally go official no sooner than January 2022, and with the key specifications already revealed in a number of reports over the last six months or so, all that was left to come to light were the designs of the next big iPad Pro rivals.
To absolutely no one's surprise, Steve Hemmerstoffer, aka Steve H.McFly, aka @OnLeaks, is now here (in collaboration with Zouton) to do precisely that, at least as far as the vanilla 11-inch Galaxy Tab S8 is concerned. Knowing Steve, there's a very good chance super-high-quality renders of both the Tab S8 Plus and Tab S8 Ultra will follow soon, but for the time being, let's see what we're dealing with today.
Wait, is this thing supposed to be new?
That's an honest question, mind you, with absolutely no irony involved. Okay, maybe we are being a little sarcastic, but we simply do not understand how the non-Plus and non-Ultra Tab S8 model is supposed to distinguish itself from an 11-inch Galaxy Tab S7 powerhouse released more than a year ago.
That's the problem with delayed products - unless the delay has something to do with a redesign, there's a big risk that said device will end up looking outdated right off the bat. Fortunately for Samsung, the competition among high-end Android slates is not exactly very heated, so this bad boy definitely still has a chance of making our list of the overall best tablets money can buy in 2022.
While on the surface it appears that the Galaxy Tab S8 will not be any different from the Tab S7, with the same symmetrical screen bezels, dual rear-facing cameras, side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and even identical dimensions, the Snapdragon 865 processor should unsurprisingly get an upgrade to a Snapdragon 888 variant.
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There was also a Snapdragon 895 rumor at one point, but we don't expect that to materialize after all. We do expect the Tab S8 to start at a slightly higher price than its predecessor in a 128GB storage configuration packing 8GB RAM, which... doesn't sound ideal with the rest of the specs likely to go unchanged, from the 120Hz LCD panel to the already hefty 8,000mAh battery with blazing fast 45W charging capabilities.
Will the Tab S8+ and S8 Ultra look any different?
The short answer to that question is... we have no idea. The long speculative answer is the Tab S8 Ultra could well do something about the outdated bezels of its little brothers, perhaps borrowing the state-of-the-art under-display camera solution of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G to truly give Apple's iPad Pro 12.9 (2020) a run for its money.
Previously leaked specs and Korean prices for the entire Galaxy Tab S8 family
Speaking of, 5G support will reportedly be offered as an option on all three Galaxy Tab S8 models in addition to Wi-Fi-only and 4G LTE-enabled versions. Both the Tab S8+ and Tab S8 Ultra are tipped to sport stunning 120Hz OLED displays, with the 14.6-inch beast somehow expected to squeeze a gargantuan 12,000mAh cell into a premium body weighing just 650 grams and measuring 5.5mm in thickness.
In contrast, the 11-inch Tab S8 and 12.4-inch Tab S8+ could weigh in at 502 and 575 grams while rocking 6.3 and 5.7mm wasp waists respectively. With up to a whopping 12 gigs of memory and 512 gigs of internal storage space in tow, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra may come in a single Exynos 2200 configuration in select global markets, but we don't even want to think what all that will mean from a retail pricing perspective.
For the time being, let's just say that not everyone will be able to afford these absolute powerhouses, although that's equally true for both Exynos and Snapdragon models.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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