Author: Chinweike Onwuchekwa

There are very few android manufacturers that are interested in producing tablets for the Android operating system like Google and Samsung.

Unlike the Galaxy Tab, the slates are just the only ones that can compete and get work done this is because Google is yet to do much to expand the capabilities of android with larger screen sizes.

This is the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, it’s one of the most powerful Android tablets.

If you’ve seen Samsung’s new flagship phones both the interface and features of this will feel quite familiar. Galaxy Tab S7+, I’ve found myself both impressed by the relatively polished software experience and frustrated at the pervasive shortcomings of Android itself as a tablet platform

Galaxy Tab S7 Plus

Design

The Galaxy Tab S7 Plus is pretty sizable, it’s built around a 12.4-inch screen which is quite thin and relatively light. Samsung is offering the Galaxy Tab S7+ in Mystic Black, Mystic Silver, or Mystic Bronze.

The sandblasted mystic black finish looks like graphite and feels satisfying to touch though it does tend to attract plenty of fingerprints.

Display

The tablet’s display is an AMOLED with 2800 by 1752 resolution which gives you a total of 266 PPI which is plenty sharp for this kind of device.

A unique feature is the high 120-hertz screen refresh rate which means supported content and UI elements will look much smoother to the eye.

The Display has a fingerprint reader to unlock the device just like smartphones with AMOLED screens. The fingerprint location of the Tab S7+ is different from the Galaxy S7, it has an optical fingerprint sensor built into the display.

Audio

The Galaxy Tab S7 Plus has a loud Quad Stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos’ support. Watching content and playing audio is satisfying.

Stylus

An attractive feature of the S7 Plus is the updated stylus which is the same Advanced S-Pen that you see on the Note 20 Ultra and it brings super-low nine-millisecond latency which is responsive and coupled with the screen’s high refresh rate, the writing sensation feels quite authentic.

The stylus also grants you a variety of air actions that are controls for the UI or supported apps. Charging the S-Pen isn’t a problem because it wirelessly charges to the magnetic strip on the back of the tablet.

There is also a keyboard that can be attached to the Tab S7+ making it behave more like a laptop but the keyboard is sold separately.

Performance

For Onboard storage, you can up to 128GB or 256GB of storage which is expandable via Micro SD, unlike the iPad Pro.

The Tab S7 Plus brings a Snapdragon 865+ chipset which as far as android’s chips go should be plenty of power for your mobile tasks and gaming and also offers support for connectivity to 5G networks.

Battery

Another impressive area is battery life, it packs a huge 10,000mAh battery which’s much larger than what last year’s model had.

The battery should be able to keep you going for hours and when it’s time to charge up, it supports 45 Watt fast charging which you have to buy the charger separately.

Camera

The same Dual Camera setup as last year’s Galaxy Tab S6;

• 13 Megapixel main camera,
• 5 Megapixel ultra-wide.

The selfie camera is;
8 megapixels same as last year’s model.

However, expect an upgrade in software processing for the cameras and also you get night mode this time around for better results when shooting photos in dark conditions.

Conclusion

The Galaxy Tab S7 Plus is a cutting-edge android tablet that’s much like a super-sized galaxy note 20 Ultra. So understandably it doesn’t come cheap, It’s €900 for the Wi-Fi version and over €1,000 for the 5G Variant.

2019 was the first year where Samsung has launched a light version of their flagships.

However, this year after the first premiere of the S20 Series comes to their light version being launched now around six months later. Samsung is calling it the Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition or Samsung Galaxy S20 FE.

As expected since it’s the lower variant of the S20 Series, they have been some cutout in minor places to keep the price low, like the screen resolution, RAM, the charger, and plastic back. Looking at the Galaxy S20 FE cutback you would think it’s not one of the best phones but actually, it is for the price.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Features

Design

Like the current Samsung S Series phones, there’s a large screen with a small centered hole punch on the front and on the back, a candy bar like camera bump, and the texture is more matte than the original S20.

The Galaxy S20 FE comes in a wide range of colors which you can take a pick from Navy, Lavender, Mint, Red, White, and Orange, and noticeably some corners were cut when it comes to durability.

It’s has IP68 rated protection which is great but the front display has Gorilla Glass 3 instead of Glass 6 and the back panel is made of plastic which honestly is disappointing considering this phone is priced at $700.

You should also know that the phone can be a bit of a fingerprint magnet so getting a case will help.

The FE’s dimensions are more are like to the S20+ than the smaller S20 but a tad wider with slightly more noticeable bezels but it’s still a comfortable phone to hold.

Display

The screen barely has any curve (a huge boost for flat displays lover), a 6.5-inch super AMOLED panel with FHD resolution, and a 120hz refresh rate. it’s colorful, bright, and large (definitely looks like a promising media consumption experience).

Apart from durability, the fingerprint is an under-display fingerprint that is optical and is slightly faster than the ultrasonic on the S20 flagships. This has a stereo speaker which means you’re covered as far as sound is concerned.

Performance

The FE has an Exynos 990 chipset for the 4G variant and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 for the 5G version.

The Snapdragon is known to be 10-20% faster than the Exynos and also more power-efficient (something to consider when buying). Galaxy S20 FE has a 4500 mAh battery (same as the S20+), considering it has the same chipsets, similarly-sized screens expect the endurance to be the same.

As far as charging is concerned, there’s a 25W QC 3.0 charger which isn’t mind-blowing in 2020. The phone has android 10 with Samsung’s One UI 2.5 which has a ton of options:

• Navigation gestures
• Dark mode
• Edge panel

Samsung also improved the wireless Dev mode and made WIFI connectivity a little bit smarter. A future upgrade will roll out for android 11.

Camera

The camera setup has the same as the Galaxy S20:

• 12-megapixel main camera with OIS and
• A similar though smaller 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor and
• An 8-megapixel telephoto camera with three times optical zoom and OIS.

Where there is a major difference is telephoto. The selfie camera is much better because it’s a 32-megapixel shooter with a brighter f/2.0 aperture.

Conclusion

With S20 FE, you’re getting a large display, big battery, flagship chipset, and even a good camera setup. Taking a good look at the specs of S20 FE, a major issue is price launching at a time when the prices of the original S20 Series are going down effectively.

The Galaxy S20 FE is what you say that a company actually listened to what the fans want, made what they actually wanted, and trim the rest.

It gives you a fast refresh display, 5G and triple cameras for just $699 which save you $300 from the regular Galaxy S20.

The folding phone was last year headline-worthy. Now, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G can fold. if you haven’t forgotten, a lot happened last year with the galaxy fold but the benefit of being Samsung is just experimenting, make mistakes, and learn a lot from it.

They learn a lot from their mistakes and so one thing I’ve noticed about the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is a lot of these changes are learned directly from the Fold 1.

Looking at the Z Fold 2, there are areas with major improvements, that would be the Screen, Hinge, Cameras, Design, and Improved specs.

Specs

• Snapdragon 865.
• 12GB ram.
• 4500mAh Dual battery.

Galaxy Z Fold 2 Major Improvements

Design

It feels more refined, has a little bit of weight and a beautiful satin finish.

Screens

The cover screen and main screen got big upgrades. The cover screen is now full size and it goes from the little 4.6-inch display with huge bezels to a full-size 6.2-inch display with tiny bezels.

The 6.2-inch display is going to change the way we use the fold because the tiny cover screen was pretty limiting. On the inside of the Fold is your Second big screen, the bezels inside are a little thinner. Now, it’s a 7.6″ Display versus 7.3″ Display huge corner cut out from last year.

The Display is impressive and the main screen has been upgraded with a high refresh rate of 120Hz and it’s an adaptive refresh rate. So, it can modulate from 11Hz to 120Hz depending on what’s happening on the screen.

Hinge

The hinge in foldable is the most important part of a folding device just like the surface duo’s hinge is one of the most impressive things in any piece of tech.

The hinge is the second version of their Zero Gap Hinge and looks Pretty similar to the first one conceptually. It’s still the same hinge and backplate but this year, Samsung will let you customize the back-plate color.

The hinge will allow a free stand anywhere to 115°, meaning it can stay put at any reasonable angle.

There’s a bunch of software features built around this new hinge which I will dive into in a Full review.

Cameras

The first-generation Fold had pretty good cameras with flagship quality. The Z Fold 2 comes with flagship quality cameras:

A triple 12-megapixel camera on the back with a regular telephoto and ultra-wide.

The camera isn’t the major improvement but the update is the layout of the cameras that squared-off Camera bump like Note 10.

The front camera display is a 10 Megapixel selfie hole-punch camera which is better than the huge bezel camera cut-out of the previous fold.