If you were hoping the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 range might still land this year, you’re probably out of luck, as the latest leak suggests it will launch around the same time as the Samsung Galaxy S22 range.
This claim comes from a post on Clien.net (a South Korean message board), that was reposted on Twitter by FrontTron – a leaker with a solid track record. We don’t know exactly when the Galaxy S22 range will land, but we’re confident that it will be in 2022, quite possibly in January.
This leak also lines up with most other release date reports, so while a launch this year seemed a possibility at one stage, it now seems very unlikely.
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The possible release timing wasn’t the only thing revealed in this post though, as they also claim that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra will use an Exynos 2200 chipset. This is Samsung’s next flagship chipset, and it isn’t even out yet, but we’re expecting to see it in some versions of the Samsung Galaxy S22.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus meanwhile will apparently use the Snapdragon 898 chipset, which is another as-yet-unreleased top-end chipset that will likely find its way into some Galaxy S22 models.
This claim is actually at odds with a previous report though, which suggested all three models would use a Snapdragon 898 chipset, so we’d take this with a pinch of salt.
Analysis: Exynos 2200 could have the Snapdragon 898 beat
Samsung using two different chipsets in the same range isn’t surprising, as it routinely does this with the Samsung Galaxy S range. However, what is a bit more surprising is it using different chipsets in different models, rather than different regions.
If Samsung really is planning to reserve the Exynos 2200 for the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra then that suggests it sees the Exynos as a more powerful option than the Snapdragon 898, especially since the post claiming this specifically says that Samsung plans to equip the Ultra model with the best specs possible.
Typically, the top Snapdragon and Exynos options are seen as roughly equal, and if anything benchmarks tend to give the top Snapdragon chipsets the edge in recent years. So this could mean we’ll see a huge upgrade to the Exynos range if this leak is right, and if Samsung is right to be this confident in it.
There’s certainly evidence that the Exynos 2200 could be a powerful chipset though. Previous reports have suggested it could rival even the M1 chipset that Apple uses in MacBooks and the iPad Pro (2021) range, and we know that it supports high-end graphics tech such as ray tracing.
However, the Exynos 2200 is also reportedly going to be in short supply. So while it’s possible that Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra buyers everywhere will be able to take it for a spin, more regions than normal might get the Samsung Galaxy S22 range with a Snapdragon chipset.
Via Phone Arena