The Samsung Galaxy Tab S was released in June 2014 while the subsequent iteration to the Korean tech giant’s flagship tablet line, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 came out in September last year.
The gap in between the releases was one year and three months. Keeping that in mind, the latest iteration of the flagship tablet line, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 should be out of the market this month.
However, it seems unlikely for the device to come out this year and reports have it that the Galaxy Tab S3 might possibly come out early next year.
Accordingly, Samsung might decide to launch the Galaxy Tab S3 along with its upcoming flagship smartphone lines, the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Edge, in a press event prior to the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 to be held in Barcelona, Spain on February 27 to March 2, 2017, notes Mobile & Apps.
However, Samsung has yet to come out with an official statement to either confirm or deny this report so it is best to take all information with regards to the Galaxy Tab S3 launching with a pinch of salt.
Reports are also saying that the device might come out in two variants, which is consistent with its previous iterations featuring a 9.7-inch version and an 8.0-inch model.
An opportunity to bounce back
Some critics are saying that Samsung wanted to go all-out at its press event at the MWC 2017 because it seeks to redeem itself from the disappointment and controversy caused by the Galaxy Note 7 when it was launched in September.
They believe that the Korean tech giant shall be able to swiftly redeem itself from the fallout caused by the Galaxy Note 7 if it drops a number of excellent devices in an event that is known to usher the best and the finest modern-day gadgets in the world.
According to reports, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 shall feature a better display resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels.
The device shall reportedly be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. A microSD card slot shall also be available for expanded memory options.
In addition, there is also another processor option for the device and it shall feature Samsung’s very own Exynos 8890 chipset, which was the same one used in a variant of the Galaxy S7, notes Trusted Reviews.
Looks similar to the Galaxy Tab S2
There are also reports saying that the design of the Galaxy Tab S3 shall be similar to its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab S2.
However, there would be one major modification – the display’s aspect ratio of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 has been switched back to 16:10 from the 4:3 aspect ratio of its predecessor’s display.
It is not clear why Samsung has decided to downgrade the aspect ratio of the Galaxy Tab S3 but some critics believe that a squarer tablet, rather than a rectangular one, works and looks better.
There were previous reports saying that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 could come out in the first quarter of 2017.
This was supported by the fact that the tablet was silently imported in India last month 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.
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.