Interesting anecdote from Samsung last Friday. I wasn’t there myself but a couple of my engineers were.
Samsung told them that sales of the new S8 line are at the fastest pace ever for the Tab S line. They also said that these including the Ultra were aimed at what they called the “creative consumer” market.
They also asserted that starting with the Tab S7 that over 70% of the buyers make “regular” use of the pen, which if true is considerably higher than the estimates we’ve seen for Apple’s iPad Pro’s(low 30s percentage)
So one caveat to that is that they didn’t share how they arrived at the number. But obviously they believe it as witness the support and continued improvements to them including bringing it to the S22 Ultra.
And BTW, in case anyone is wondering, the S22 Ultra and the Tab S8 pens are compatible with either device including supporting the 2.9 MS latency.
Last but not least, they also told us to expect " a raft of new tablet apps and improved support in existing apps" coincident with the formal release of Android 12 L, including “a major IOS mainstay coming to Android for the first time”.
So of course, take that all with a grain of salt as Samsung obviously will hype their own products, but OTOH this is similar to what we heard prior to the Fold 3.
PS: Sort of related, but we hear that the MS android apps are also getting a significant overhaul with the release of Android 12L as well.
I’m kind of surprised it’s that high for any iPad. My sister is a decent amateur artist—she’s won a plein air top ten spot in a Boulder, CO competition—but she never draws on her iPad Pro. It’s just for consumption like for most people.
@Dellaster
I am too and I always treat these types of numbers with at least a bit of skepticism.
OTOH from what I’ve seen in corporate and higher ed (admittedly a somewhat skewed group) pen use there is very high. I can think of at least three companies we work with that have deployed iPad Pros and they kit out the pencil as standard with all devices.
Similar goes for my daughter’s college where iPad Pro’s with either the keyboard folio or magic keyboard AND the pencil are "highly reccomended and may be required for certain coursework "
So we received our lab unit of the Ultra. We are holding off on testing it for the moment due to a forthcoming significant software/firmware update that is imminent.
On the one hand, first impressions are mixed. I will say that this arguably the prettiest tablet I’ve used to date.
But I do think this is going to be a polarizing device. We’ve gotten in to the subject in depth, multiple times on the old boards, but I think this will start them up again due to both the overall size, but related to that the extremely small bezels.
TLDR, if you are considering one of these, especially if you plan significant use as a actual tablet, that ideally you get hands on with one prior to purchase, or alternatively somewhere with a generous return policy.
It will be easy to be initially seduced by the absolutely gorgeous display though
I’d agree, except for the pen testing (latency and pressure response), which are far better in video format and is actually the focus of Brad’s channel.
Incidentally, @5:58 he shows a noticeable discrepency in pen lag between the Notes app and other drawing apps. So perhaps the latency improvements are not firmware based after all?
We just got our lab unit this morning and it’s scheduled to go through our certification tests, hopefully Friday.
That being said, we do know that there is a fairly significant OS/Firmware update in the works hopefully this month. Additionally, we observed some inconsistent behavior generally when we had hands on with a unit a couple of weeks prior to official release.
So TLDR, I’ll make a point a looking more closely when we do our certification tests, but the forthcoming update might postpone that.
I’ll post what we find when we do.
PS: Palm/false touch rejection is also obviously pretty hit and miss at the moment, and we know that’s one of the things slated to be fixed so…
Often, I’m not in a position to watch a video, so an article is best. But I don’t enjoy long-form reading at all unless it’s fiction. And videos, to me, are far more entertaining (which is why I watch them in the first place really).
@Marty We got an initial answer from Samsung regarding the lower latency pen support. Basically they are claiming that if the app fully supports the Android 12 pen libraries and Samsung’s extensions to them, they will get the 2.9 MS latency.
So another way of saying the developers need to update their apps it sounds like
Technical question: Does anybody know if there is a panel for pen pressure settings in Android on this device, or in general on S-Pen enabled devices?
I know that for example in Clip Studio Paint the pressure curve can be adjusted, but when I played around with a Tab S8 Ultra recently I was a bit surprised how much pressure it took to get a solid line from a pencil tool in Clip Studio, even after changing the pressure curve there.
It would be nice, imho, to be able to change globally how the S-Pen responds to pressure, just like you can do in the Wacom Cintiq driver panel.
@Marty
Second update on the lower latency pen. We updated our own app to fully utilize the Android 12 pen frameworks and are now seeing the lower latency.
It’s likely the older framework (at the higher latency) is there for legacy support
Note that we DID NOT use any of the Samsung specific stuff since our case it doesn’t really benefit. eg. hover doesn’t work.
So TLDR I think most app developers will get what they need just by updating to the new frameworks libraries, but to take full advantage of the new S-pen like Canva does, they will need to do additional work
PS: A 14.6 inch tablet still feels huge in hand. although due to the differing aspect ratios, thinner chassis and a bit lower weight, it feels roughly the same in aggegrate as the Pro 8
Pulls clipboard off Surface book 3 15" to browse from recliner
Mmmm, yes, a bit big. But also kind of awesome.
In all seriousness, I’ve been eyeing the regular little 11" S8. I’m a fan of my 10.6" galaxy book but it’s slow, and I know I can get my work done with Dex. But I have the fold 3 and I feel like there’s just too much overlap in usage. Maybe I should put the kickstand case back on the fold and see how ridiculous it would be to work off just that screen (and my max lumi that holds my sheet music and onenote notebooks).
So one observation this morning as we continue to look at the Ultra. IMHO Samsung missed an obvious opportunity to address what was one of the more annoying things with the Tab s7 and s7 plus which was the pen charging/pairing solution.
We’ve had multiple customers complain that they have mislaid the pen due to it coming loose when taking it in or out of the bag due to it magnetically sticking to the back.
While we have gotten the technical explanation behind that choice (they would have to make the bezels wider to accommodate the charging/pairing electronics) , it would seem obvious to me to borrow a page from the latest surface keyboard covers and have a small dock for the pen.
There certainly seems to be the room for it.
We are going to hold off on certification tests until the promised updates, but I’m really impressed by this tablet.
My son and I watched some HDR content on it last night and it was truly impressive and excepting that they could have put a pen slot in it, the keyboard seems like it was truly an integral part of the design, which is not something I would have said about the S7 series.
PS: HDR content looks equally impressive on the Tab S8 plus as well and it’s both smaller and more affordable
One more thing. The software generated “pencil on paper” sounds that are generated when you use the S-pen are the definition of a solution in search of a problem.
Thankfully you can turn them off in settings, but by default they are on.
Sticking a pen to the back of a device is no solution. I agree that Microsoft’s keyboard solution is acceptable. I just wish they would make it universal and add a dock to the Go keyboard. There’s room. I have been using a case with a pen slot for the past few years and it has worked out fine. I always have the pen with my when I need it.
Android is still a non-starter for anything but my phone (and to be honest, I still lament Microsoft’s capitulation to Google and wish it had stuck with Windows Phone). I would love to see the Go hardware head in the direction of the S8 but that will not happen. At best, we might get the 8cx architecture but S Pen and OLED display are never going to be incorporated into the Go.
OTOH the rumors of an 11 inch Pro X are intriguing both for the Snapdragon 8 gen 3 chip and you’d think if they adopt the Pro X moniker they’d follow through with the pen solution as well.
If they added 5G as well, It would be hard for me to resist.
