Review on 📱 Renewed Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 10.5in Wi-Fi Tablet (S Pen Included) 64GB - Gray by Clint Mcloven

Summary: This is a very good tablet that will be widely used. Arrived with no defects or problems. It came with some unexpected additions. It's too early to address some of the long-term issues that others have mentioned. I think this will prove to be a good investment. My biggest concern is battery life and how long it takes to charge. Although I ordered a WiFi-only tablet, I received an AT&T branded tablet. The sticker above says "Qualcom 4G". Of course, no SIM card was included. (The SIM card fits in the same slot as the micro SD card.) Since I already have an AT&T cell phone plan, I can easily add this tablet to my plan. However, I doubt I will do that at this point. I can easily use my phone's hotspot feature to access the internet when I can't connect to WiFi. But it's nice to be flexible. As an added touch, the tablet came with a screen protector already installed. Just a few small bubbles, probably better than what I would do. And I didn't see any smudges either on the screen or on the back. The specs say the tablet comes with Android 8, but my tablet has already been updated to Android 9. Since the tablet is 2 years old, I'm not sure if I can get Android 10. I managed to install the new Android security update. Unlike some other buyers, my tablet and accessories came in the original packaging, housed in a large box with more padding around the smaller box. And it happened about three days earlier than Revane originally predicted. It was good. The power supply and cord were new, still sealed in plastic. It took several hours to charge the tablet. When first turned on, only 7% of the charge was present. (But my iPad also takes a few hours to fully charge, so I think Samsung charges in a reasonable amount of time.) It took just over 5 hours in one test to go from 24% to 94%. With normal use I think. For me, the Samsung S4 went from 96% to 22% in just 26 hours and 8 of those while I was sleeping. I'm pretty sure it has less uptime than my iPad. I had the battery mode set to "Optimized" which gives the best performance. There are several other options to improve battery life. The battery usage page showed the screen was on for nearly 8.4 hours. Interestingly, I found a setting where I can limit the max charge to 85% to "save battery". But that could mean more frequent charging. After charging the tablet, I switched to medium power mode. The tablet lasted 42 hours, 16 more than before. Screen time was just over 8 hours, a little less than the first test. I didn't notice any difference in performance, so it makes sense to use a more efficient power mode if battery life is an issue. I have an android phone. Apparently my apps and some data were uploaded to Google Drive (which I don't remember). As a result, more than 140 applications were automatically installed on my tablet. It took a while, but faster than downloading it from the App Store. It even brought my wallpaper. Of course, I had to go through every application to get where it was needed. All applications work as expected. I needed to organize my applications into groups. That part didn't come from my phone. But in general the installation went quickly. I downloaded the tablet manual from the Samsung website. It helped with setting up and testing features. Apparently updating the operating system to Android 9 has changed some things from what is described in the manual. An app that I use regularly wasn't installed. It wasn't in the App Store. Apparently the developer didn't create a version for the Android tablet. A few apps didn't arrive, but I know they're no longer available, although they still work on my phone. I uninstalled some apps that I don't need on this tablet. The tablet came with several AT&T apps, but there's one that I use regularly on my phone, so it's good. There are a number of Samsung apps but I don't use them at the moment, apart from the built-in calendar, clock, contacts and calculator. A few new apps I added came up with app store messages saying they might not be compatible with Samsung. So far all work. But apparently not every Android app is designed to work with tablets or with the Samsung format. I have several of the same apps on my phone, this tablet and my 2 year old iPad. Samsung's slightly different screen sizes compared to iPads result in some differences in how apps and data are displayed. Many apps appear more frequently on Samsung than on iPad. Some of them are probably related to the differences between the Android and iOS versions of the apps. In general, I like to use apps with large displays. Disney+ looks great in the app. I was looking forward to being able to use multi-window mode. However, the instructions in the manual seem to be for Android 8. Android 9 and/or Samsung changed the rules so the instructions in the manual don't match the settings. Luckily, a web search found more detailed instructions on how to access this feature. (In the recent apps view, press and hold the icon at the top of the app you want, then choose the split screen or pop-up option.) Not all apps support multi-window, and I need more experiment with it . The Samsung screen has a slightly higher resolution (2560 x 1600) than my iPad (2048 x 1536) and the screen area is about 4 square inches larger. The Samsung screen is 1/4 inch narrower than the iPad but over an inch taller in portrait mode. Samsung only weighs 1/2 ounce more than my iPad. With the case, the Samsung weighs 1.68 pounds compared to the iPad's 1.43 pounds with the case. The back of the tablet appears to be glass, so getting some sort of case might be a good idea. I have a case without a keyboard. An advantage is that the screen turns off when the case is closed and turns on again when the case is opened. That means I don't have to press and swipe the power button to access the home screen. When used, of course, additional security measures are required. So far I've used 30GB of 64GB onboard storage, 13.3GB for apps. I had an unused 256GB microSD card. So I preloaded my music files from the PC before I put the card in the tablet. It looks like some of my apps have their large data files installed on the SD card, saving internal storage space. The only thing missing from the shipping box was a small key to open the card slot. Luckily I still had the one that was on my phone. It worked fine. The hole is small so you will need a very thin paperclip if you don't have the removal key. I didn't run any speed tests, but the Samsung S4 seems fast, faster than my phone, just as fast if not faster than my iPad, and much faster than the old 2014 Samsung tablet it replaces. It starts fast. Screen changes are fast. He reacts to touch. I haven't implemented any additional security measures, so a swipe across the screen opens the home page. The screen quickly switches between portrait and landscape. The table will only load in portrait mode, but as soon as it is launched it will immediately switch to landscape mode if the tablet is oriented that way. It starts in landscape mode when I press the power button and the tablet is in landscape mode. I already had a small Bluetooth keyboard (Fintie brand) that I got for my old tablet. Quickly agree with this tablet. When I'm in a text field and turn on the keyboard, it immediately replaces the onscreen keyboard. I am writing this review on the keyboard. However, I do like Samsung's onscreen keyboard, especially in landscape mode. It is definitely better and more useful than the iPad keyboard. I played around with the S Pen a bit. Trying to translate my bad handwriting isn't worth the time for detailed notes. I haven't tested any of the drawing and highlighting features. As far as I can tell, the pen works as intended. I'm not a music lover but the sound from 4 speakers seems good. It's better than my headphones, but better headphones can help. When I plugged in the headphones, the last song played automatically played. This is normal but I think this feature can be disabled. I haven't tried my wireless bluetooth headphones yet. It's hard for me to judge the quality of the photos, but the test shots I took were more than satisfactory. The selfie I took with my tablet is definitely better than the one I took with my phone the other day. In a national review released in 2018, the cameras received little praise. When I first used the camera, it offered to save my photos to an SD card, which I did. But I doubt I would make it my main camera. Everything is much easier with the phone and he is always with me. I also have a DSLR for serious shooting. I noticed that I can see my phone photos on my tablet because they are stored on Google. That's convenient. One side has metal contacts for use with Samsung's keyboard ($150) or its docking/charging station. The keyboard is too expensive. The problem with the dock is that the tablet doesn't work in a case. You have to choose between a case and a docking station or constantly taking the tablet out of the case. It's not worth it. I haven't tried some of Samsung's built-in features like Bixby, Daily Board, and DeX. I'm not sure I really need them. I'm retired so this will never be a working device. Also, my computer still handles hard work well. But this tablet, like my iPad, gives me a lot of flexibility so I'm not tied to a PC.