Our first real-life look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series, including the Galaxy Tab S8 UItra, may have just been provided by documents filed with the FCC.
Among the dull but important information about how the tablets comply with U.S. regulations, we have been able to pull out a few interesting details. There were originally images in this set of documents, but they were deleted before we could take a look. Fortunately, thanks to SamMobile's quick screenshot skills, we can still see what they were.
The three images show the Galaxy Tab S8, S8 Plus and S8 Ultra. Thanks to the rulers next to them, we can see the length and width of the three tablets, they roughly measure 25 x 16 centimeters (9.8 x 6.3 inches) 28 x 18 centimeters (11 x 7.1 inches) and 32 x 21 centimeters (12.6 x 8.3 inches), respectively.
Based on previous rumors, this should translate to 11-, 12- and 14.6-inch displays, respectively. We should also expect that these displays will have 120Hz refresh rates, like the Galaxy Tab S7 series did.
Although it's hard to make out where the display ends and the bezels begin, we're expecting the three S8 tablets to use border reduction structure (BRS) technology to make the tablet's bezels as small as possible (via leaker FrontTron). The Tab S8 Ultra is also said to be using a display notch to house dual front-facing cameras, although that's just as hard to spot.
SamMobile also says that the FCC listings confirm the presence of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset in all three tablets, along with multiple versions covering Wi-Fi-only and 5G compatible models and different RAM/storage combinations. However any mention of these details seem to have been removed along with the images, after Samsung's requests for confidentiality were apparently granted.
Among the various test documents, you can discover that the tablets all come with S Pens and are compatible with Wi-Fi 6E. Neither one of these features is surprising, but they're welcome inclusions.
Wi-Fi 6E is the latest standard for Wi-Fi, and will ensure you get the best possible speeds if you've got one of the best Wi-Fi routers compatible with the new standard. The S Pen stylus needs no introduction, but it's good to see it's still an included part of the package — particularly when the rival iPad Pro still doesn't come with an Apple Pencil as standard.
The Galaxy Tab S7 series arrived in August 2020, so the Galaxy Tab S8 is well overdue. The next logical time for Samsung to officially debut the Tab S8 would be alongside the rumored Galaxy S22 smartphone at a future Samsung Unpacked event. That's thought to be launching in early February, so keep your ear to the ground for more rumors about Samsung tablets and phones.
