Taking a break from the all-phones, all-the-time news of late, Samsung have officially unveiled a new high-end tablet. It seems quite a while since the Galaxy Tab S and its massive screen was released and the sequel, the Galaxy Tab S2, has been expected for a while. In fact, it’s late.

The Galaxy Tab S2 is the company’s “..thinnest and lightest tablet of its size ever”, according to CEO JK Shin and the company has detailed what we can expect from the new 8-inch and 9.7-inch slates. For starters, the tablets are a mere 5.6mm thick, with the 9.7-inch version weighing in at 389g – hopefully Apple’s new Air has something special in store, the current 6.1mm, 437g edition has been outdone. The 8-inch model is even lighter, tipping the scales at 265g.

Sammy have taken down the screen res this time around, to 2,048 × 1,536 (the Tab S used a res of 2,560 x 1,600), so you can expect visuals to take a slight knock but both tabs will be packing octa-core chips (the Exynos 533, according to SamMobile) that should give it a performance edge other the last model. There are both WiFi and WiFi/LTE models in the offing.

Elsewhere, both tablets will come with 3GB of RAM, 8MP rear/2MP front cameras – we were expecting better here – and 32/64GB storage options with microSD support (up to that tasty 128GB augmentation). Android Lollipop will be installed from the get-go and the 9.7-inch tab will also be packing a 5,870mAh battery. The 8-incher gets a smaller 4,000mAh power pack.

Samsung have not detailed pricing for South Africa yet but global availability begins from August this year. We’ll give you an update once it arrives on our shores.

Source: SamMobile