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Use the Tab S8 Ultra as Your Laptop for a week

For many, an ultrabook is probably the best option when it comes to productivity. These laptops are compact, super lightweight, and good enough for multitasking productivity apps. But sometimes, you want features that an ultrabook might not offer. What then?

In that case, our suggestion is to go for a tablet that can serve as a laptop replacement! That’s right, some tablets are just that good these days. And among them would be the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra series, which could be the ultimate laptop replacement you needed.

Laptop Performance

To become a laptop replacement, a tablet would first need to have performance on par with a regular Windows or Mac laptop. It would also need to have other hardware features to match. Well, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series tablets have those in spades.

Samsung’s latest tablets are all equipped with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which is a 4nm chipset that can deliver the best in mobile performance. They also come in variants with 8GB/12GB of RAM, which is more than enough for multitasking.

Besides that, all models come with a 120Hz display (up to 14.6-inch), large batteries (up to 11,200mAh), as well as a keyboard with a trackpad and an S Pen. These specs are what make Samsung’s new tablets excel as laptop replacements.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Display
Holding the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Keyboard
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra SPen

Communication Needs

Of course, there’s more to a tablet than its specs. Unlike laptops, mobile devices tend to have better cameras and microphones. This includes tablets, especially flagship models like the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra tablets. This makes them more useful than regular laptops in one area – communication.

For most laptops, you’d get a 720p (1MP) webcam, but the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, it comes with a 12MP front camera capable of up to 1080p video calls or 4K video recording. The camera even has the Auto Framing feature that can ensure your face is always being focused on even if you’re moving about. Besides that, the tablets also come with 3 Superior Clarity Directional Mics and quad speakers.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Front Camera
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Back Camera

Cross-Device Connections

Of course, there’s one important component that helps the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series to serve as a laptop replacement – the Samsung DeX (Desktop Experience mode). This is a feature that allows users to connect high-end Samsung mobile devices to a keyboard, mouse, and monitor (either through a cable or wirelessly). As a result, you get to enjoy a PC-like laptop experience from the convenience of your tablet.

One of the key functions of Samsung DeX is seamless cross-device collaboration. For example, you could connect a Samsung smartphone to the tablet and use the former to select colors when you’re drawing on the tablet. This gives you additional flexibility when it comes to many apps. You can also copy and paste, control your app window sizes, and quickly share between devices.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Samsung BudsLive
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3
Bluetooth Mouse on Tablet

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Ultra has is all!

To really crank your productivity up to the next level you’ll want to hook the Ultra up to an external display via its USB-C port, which can also output video via DisplayPort thanks to its DisplayPort Out functionality. You can also connect to a display wirelessly via Miracast, as long as both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network.

This is where Samsung’s DeX mode can really come in handy, as it’s designed to make using Android more like using a PC. If you’ve never used DeX mode before, Samsung’s primer on what it is and how it works contains a lot of useful info. Put simply, switching into DeX mode changes the interface into something resembling a Windows desktop.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Side Video

The app tray gets relocated to the bottom left corner (just like the old Windows Start button) and apps optimized for DeX (including all of Samsung’s core apps) can be maximized, minimized, resized, and moved around the home screen. Even unoptimized apps can be manipulated like this thanks to an “experimental” DeX feature, though apps might not always play along.

One of the big selling points of Samsung devices is that they offer a lot of potentially useful interoperability with each other, and that’s true in DeX mode as well. You can use your Samsung phone or tablet as a touchpad in DeX mode, meaning you don’t even really need a mouse when the S8 Ultra is connected to a display — you can just use your tablet as a giant 14.6-inch touchpad. And remember, it comes with an S Pen packed in so that the giant touchpad can double as a canvas and sketchpad.

So if you’re in the market for a new tablet that can also replace your laptop, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra seems like the most compelling option to date.

With its massive AMOLED screen, cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, and dual front-facing webcams it should be great for entertainment and video calls. When it’s time to get to work, the versatility of DeX mode gives you a lot of options for using the Ultra like you would a PC. And when it’s time to log off the Ultra should be pretty easy to throw in a bag for your commute home, as it’s thinner and lighter than most laptops on the market.

So, what do you think of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series? In our opinion, the large 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra (RM5,899) is your best bet if you want an alternative to a Windows laptop. If you’re fine with a smaller screen, the Galaxy Tab S8 (RM3,299) could be a better deal. However, since all of them weigh well below 800gm and are 5.5mm to 6.3mm thin, all of them are super portable and easy to carry about.

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