But for a certain niche and use case, Android tablets can be preferable, particularly if you use an Android phone. Here, we compare the newer Galaxy Tab S5e to the older Galaxy Tab S4 to see what the differences are and which of the two is best for you. Also check out our dedicated Galaxy Tab S5e review.
Price and availability
At the time of writing the Tab S5e has no price confirmed but given its ‘e’ branding it looks to be a Lite version of the S5. Odd then that no S5 has been announced. Branding be damned, eh. Samsung said the tablet will launch ‘at a unique price point’, which means nothing aside from hinting it should be cheaper than the Tab S4. With no UK price confirmed, it will cost from $399 in the US a lot less than the Tab S4 that starts at $649. It’ll ship in Q2 2019 in the UK after going on pre-order in March 2019. The Tab S4 struggled to sell in number thanks to its relatively high £599 / $649 price tag in comparison to the entry level iPad at £329 / $329.
Head to head
Let’s take a look at the specs of both tablets side by side to discern if there’s a winner in that sense: Interestingly a lot is the same. Both have 10.5in AMOLED displays with the same ppi, yet the newer S5e has smaller bezels in a smaller overall body. At an insane 5.5mm thin, the S5e is nothing if not impressively svelte. It means there’s no headphone jack but does make it a fair bit lighter. Opting for the S5e gets you Samsung’s take on Android 9 Pie, a Snapdragon 670 processor and most impressively (if legit) 14.5 hours of video playback. If the battery is that good in a tablet this slim, then colour us interested. That processor will mean that you’ll be slightly more limited when it comes to multi-tasking, but the S5e is being pushed more as a slick entertainment device, and given it has the exact same display as the dearer S4 it looks like a good deal. If it’s storage you need than the Tab S4 will be more suitable, offering up to 512GB. That’s double the S5e but both allow you to add up to 512GB via the microSD card slot. Continuing with small tweaks, the S5e has a fingerprint scanner tucked away in the power button rather than the Iris scanning capabilities of the Tab S4. Both tablets have the same pogo pin connectors for the optional (non Bluetooth, hooray!) keyboard accessory that while not essential does turn both devices into more productivity focussed laptop-style set-ups.
Splitting hairs
The Tab S4 is still the technically more powerful tablet with a Snapdragon 835, though it doesn’t have the option for 6GB RAM (outside of Korea) unlike the newer Tab S5e. Both tablets have four speakers, a 13Mp front and 8Mp rear camera. There’s a slightly larger battery in the Tab S4, but the S5e has a more svelte design which is nice but means losing the headphone jack. The lower powered processor in the S5e might be a way to rehash the Tab line and get the price down. It’s certainly a very good looking tablet – as is the S4 – but it all depends how much the S5e costs as to how much of a difference these changes can really make to you the buyer. Henry is Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, ensuring he and the team covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about for readers and viewers all over the world. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.
