The flagship tablet of the Korean tech giant, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3, was expected to officially come out during the IFA 2016 event held in Berlin, Germany on September 1 to 7 this year.
The speculations were brought about by the fact that its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, came out of the retail markets on September 3, 2015, which meant that the latter has already completed its full-year market cycle by then.
But the unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 did not happen because, for some reason, the Korean tech giant decided to hold back the launching of its latest flagship tablet.
Some critics aver that it may have something to do with the recent recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which certainly tarnished the image of the Korean tech giant yet again. They believe that Samsung just wanted to make sure that it would not be putting out another problematic device to the market anytime soon.
A likely release date
Latest reports have it that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 could finally come out in the first quarter of 2017.
This was supported by the fact that the tablet was silently imported in India a few weeks ago for possible beta testing. The information comes from the Indian import tracker website Zauba where it specifically showed that a total of eight units of Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 were imported to the country recently, reports the Phone Arena.
The items’ description is labeled as ‘for research and development and evaluation and not for retail sale,’ so the eight mysterious tablets won’t be making their way to stores just yet.
There are rumors saying that Samsung might unveil the device during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 in January next year but the Korean tech giant has yet to make a confirmation or denial about the reports.
What is certain is that it would not happen during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 as it would be the event where Samsung intends to launch its latest flagship smartphones – the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Edge.
In the Zauba listing, the price of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is also pegged at around $505 but the website’s pricing information has never been known for accuracy in the past, notes the GSM Arena.
Coming out with a new Home button
An alleged leaked image of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 seems to indicate that it would have the same design as its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab S2.
However, the biggest change is the new Home button of the Galaxy Tab S3.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is also rumored to come out in two variants, just like its predecessors, both with AMOLED touchscreen displays and an astounding 4K resolution.
The tablet shall come in 8-inch and 9.7-inch models, just like the Galaxy Tab S and the Galaxy Tab S2.
It will be carrying a decent 3GB RAM backed by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, with at least 32GB of internal storage but still expandable via a microSD card slot.
There are also reports saying that it is also possible that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 could come out with an octa-core Exynos 8890 chipset, similar to the processor of the Galaxy S7. The same reports are also saying that the device might have an alternate processor in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 instead of the less powerful Snapdragon 652.
It is also expected that the device shall already come out already laden with the Android 7.0 Nougat, which would justify it being the latest flagship tablet from the Korean tech giant. But there are also rumors saying that the device would come out with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow onboard instead but shall come with a free upgrade to Nougat.