“The Tab S5e is a top-tier tablet with a sleek design and powerful features,” said Justin Hume, Director of Integrated Mobility at Samsung South Africa. “For users who want intelligence that keeps them connected so they can get more done—as well as a big, beautiful screen for a rich, premium entertainment experience—the Tab S5e delivers.”
Having a tablet that’s lighter than a cup of coffee is great, but a slim, lightweight design isn’t what makes a tablet a must-have especially as companies, including Samsung, prepare for foldable devices which could cannibalise the tablet segment.
According to IDC (International Data Corporation), tablet sales in Q1 of 2019 declined 10.9% year-on-year in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region, shipping only 9.7 million units. This is due to the fact that tablets haven’t evolved to the point of being the laptop replacements they were once hailed as and there’s been no major overhaul to the basic design and functionality resulting in a lack of compelling reasons for consumers to refresh them.
While the Tab S5e boasts a beautiful new design, a thin 5.5mm sleek metal body and weighs only 400g, that’s not enough to convince the average consumer to spend R9 999.00 on one.
The tablet also has Samsung’s impressive sAMOLED display, four auto-rotating stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos 3D surround sound, tuned by AKG, a 7 040mAh battery, and Call & Message Continuity.
Provided that the Tab S5e is registered to the same Samsung account as your other Galaxy devices, you’ll be able to answer or respond to any incoming calls or messages straight from the tablet thanks to Call & Message Continuity. That’s the true stand-out feature of this device. Much like Apple’s work to harmonise and streamline macOS and iOS, Samsung is finally tapping into its vast network of devices and working on ways to get them to work together, thereby making it harder for you to leave their ecosystem.
Software is the key to delivering in the promise of making tablets true laptop competitors. Companies like Apple and Samsung have been making great tablet hardware for years but the app experience on their devices has always left a lot to be desired because no matter how the apps are, they’re still apps and don’t have the same functionality and raw power of their Mac and PC counterparts.
Samsung knows this, which is why they highlight the media consumption aspect of the Tab S5e. Ultimately, it’s an ultra-portable, durable (according to Samsung) and well-designed device intended to integrate into your everyday lifestyle with some caveats.
It might be worth holding out for the rumoured Tab S6 which is expected to come with a magnetic S-Pen much like Apple’s latest iPad Pro and second-gen Apple Pencil. Considering that it took 5 months for the Tab S5e to arrive in South Africa, it seems likely that the Tab S6 will only arrive in South Africa at the beginning of 2020.
If you can’t wait that long to get a new Samsung tablet, you’ll be able to pick up the Tab S5e in a range of colours including Silver, Black, and Gold, with a smart keyboard cover.
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e Product Specifications | |
| DISPLAY | 10.5” WQXGA Super AMOLED |
|---|---|
| CHIPSET | 64bit Octa-core processor (2×2.0 GHz & 6×1.7 GHz) |
| MEMORY / STORAGE | 4GB + 64GB or 6GB + 128GB, microSD up to 512GB |
| CAMERA | Rear: 13MP Front: 8MP |
| PORT | USB3.1 (Type C), POGO Type-C headset connector Provided |
| SENSORS | Accelerometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Hall Sensor, RGB Light Sensor |
| WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4G+5GHz, VHT80 MU-MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth v5.0 |
| GPS | GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo |
| DIMENSION, WEIGHT | 245.0 x 160.0 x 5.5mm 400g |
| BATTERY | 7,040mAh, Fast Charging |
| OS / UPGRADE | Android 9.0 |
| ACCESSORIES | Book cover Keyboard, POGO Charging Dock, Slim cover, Book cover (not included) |
| VIDEO | Recording: UHD 4K (3840×2160) @ 30fps Playback: UHD 4K (3840×2160) @ 60fps |
| AUDIO | 4 speakers sound by AKG, Dolby Atmos® |
*All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided, including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice.
