Tab S6 Lite (2022 edition)

Android / Linux Samsung Galaxy Devices
1

I thought we had a thread on this already, but it must have been a divergence in another thread. We finally had a customer submit one of these for certification and it passed without issue.

As was speculated, although it’s the same physical size in all aspects, we can confirm it’s a newer display panel in this version so it shouldn’t develop the ghosting issue that some of the previous version had.

One very slight downside is that it doesn’t get quite as bright (about 12% less) but OTOH, it’s significantly more color accurate out of the box. (delta e of 1.2 versus the older ones 2.1)

This version is also immediately noticeably faster with the snapdragon 700 processor, and it ships with Android 12.

The pen looks to be identical to the previous version and doesn’t have the new lower latency pen tech that the Tab S8 and S22 Ultra have, but obviously that’s one area they cut costs.

The other area they skimped is it has the same ancient 1 amp charger, though it allegedly is compatible with the 25 watt fast charger that Samsung sells separately, and it shows “fast charging” when you use it. OTOH the Tab S8’s don’t even come with a charger in the box, so…

Besides Android 12 the default app load is also identical to the older model.

Last but not least, we can confirm, that at least with the three cases we have in house, the new model is compatible with the old cases.

I’ve said it before, but both this and the Tab S7 FE represent by far the best bang for the buck in Samsung’s tablet line and while I think the Tab S8 line is terrific, it’s overkill for many whereas these are not.

Now if they would just answer the rumors and release the S8 OLED mini… :grinning:

3 Likes
2

One other, potentially big thing for some, unlike the 2020 version, the 2022 version has Dex

2 Likes
3

Haven’s seen any of these in the wild yet, so it’s either not locally released or delayed. I would be surprised if it’s not available here because the Asian market is popular for such device. Maybe they didn’t want it to eat into S7 FE sale?

4

I’m kind of surprised they would keep the Tab S6 name. They could have just easily called it the Tab S7 Lite or Tab S8 Lite

Retaining the S6 name I think will just confuse people who think its the older product and unaware it was changed.

5

Brad’s take on it.

1 Like
6

BTW: Another comment on how odd this release is, even the box for the 2022 tablet is almost identical to the 2021 version including the same graphics, albeit the one on the front has a very slightly different color scheme.

If I was a retailer I’d be annoyed by this, as at a minimum it will increase store returns when a customer sees what they believe as a deal as they close out stock of the previous model and buys one of the older ones thinking they got a deal on the new one.

BTW: One other thing we noticed yesterday when we ran our “stress tests” on the new model is that it stays significantly cooler under heavy load than the 2020 model. This bodes well generally as their is a belief among some (including me) that the likely reason that the 2020 model display could develop ghosting issues was due to long term heat issues.

2 Likes
7

One last thing, even though the 2022 version supports DEX, it doesn’t support external displays. So basically you need a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to make full use of it and only have the internal display.

8

I suppose the device doesn’t support HDMI out over USB? Probably to differentiate from the tab S7 FE which does.

Is the USB-C of the tab S6 lite 2022 2.0 or 3.x? I remember the old version being 2.0.

9

it was USB 2.0 in our tests, likely as another way to reduce costs and/or differentiate it from the higher end devices.

BTW: The actual chipset (Snapdragon 720G) does support video out, so the interface is the restriction.

PS: Samsung also uses a lower tier slower storage tier in their lower end devices as well with the Tab S8’s having UFS3.0 and the S6 lite seeming to be 2.0. That’s still considerably faster than your average Fire tablet though.

10

Dex support is actually the same story on the older one. It came in a software update a while ago. The usbc port does not support video out, so Dex is on the internal screen only, but its there for the previous one too. I’ve used dex on the internal screen and it’s fine. The screen is still big enough to feel useful with two things open side by side, or floating windows around. I was all aboard the netbook train too, so I’ve always been fine with smaller screens, for reference.

2 Likes
11

Thanks!, that’s good information. We don’t have either S6 Lite as part of our lab devices. I suspected that was likely the case, but couldn’t confirm.

12

The old one also lacked second screen feature. Did the new one get it?

Doesn’t really matter either way because SuperDisplay is still king.

13

Trouble is, the externals are largely the same as the old S6 Lite as are a lot of the internals. The processor update is a huge change from the previous model in terms of capability so I think they actually avoided problems. There may even be an S7 lite somewhere down the line. (Or will that confuse with the S7 FE?)

EDIT*

I forgot that the S7 FE has a 12.4" screen and the S6 Lite is only 10.4

14

S7 Lite FE 2022H2

15

RE: Tab S6 lite versus, Tab S7FE. Normally we’d recommend the Fe over the lite at regular price as its a better value, but Best Buy has the new S6 Lite on sale for up to $120 off today which makes it a better buy IMHO.

PS; We have confirmed that besides the new processor, the 2022 S6 Lite has a different panel than the older version, which should avoid the ghosting and other display artifacts that some long term users have experienced.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/samsung-galaxy-sale

PPS: It’s not a huge difference, but the S6 Lite is also bit faster in aggregate than the S7FE in our tests

PPPS: Conversely, though I think the display size is a more important factor in a decision, the S7FE also has a better display overall in terms of image quality, especially accuracy. Again not a huge difference, but if say you do a lot of photo editing, the S7 FE might be a better choice. It’s not that the S6 Lite has a bad display, but that the S7 FE has an exceptionally good LCD

3 Likes
16

I have been often tempted by the S6 lite. I want the smaller size for carrying around just for a sketchbook. If it weren’t for the terrible experience I’ve already had sharing sketched from other devices (non-apple) to my IPP, I would jump at this. As is, I’m still waffling between an IPM6 and an iPad air, or just waiting for the next version of the IPP 11 to replace my 12.9 with. But, for anyone who wants a light sketchbook that isn’t stuck in the walled garden, I think the S6 lite is a fantastic option.

17

Interesting. I thought the S7 FE has better processor (Snapdragon 750G (5G) / 780 vs 720G on the S6 lite)? I guess they are so close in performance that real world performance varies, and the FE has a QHD while the S6 lite has an FHD screen.

It’s probably all depend on size and I really love my 12 inch so far. The S6 lite is great value tho, if we had that price before without the FE in the scene, I’m not sure if I can resist the temptation.

18

@CrazyCat yes the performance results surprised us a bit too. We think it’s down to better cooling/less throttling with the new S6 Lite, and the backlight on the S7FE does consume more power (and gets brighter" and thus likely throws off more heat which triggers throttling sooner…)

That being said, they are both solid tablets though I’d still give the overall edge to the S7FE if for no other reason than the display which is arguably the most important hardware feature of any tablet.

1 Like