Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 review

This ultra-light Android tablet is a budget iPad challenger

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 review
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 review

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2: battery life

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 battery life is also underpowered when compared to contemporaries like the Apple iPad Air 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S that came before it. It's not one of the stand-out features of the tablet.

Its battery capacity is the smallest of the three tablets we just mentioned, at 5,870mAh and 4,000mAh for the 9.7-inch and 8-inch models, respectively. The iPad Air 2 had 7,340mAh, while Samsung's own Galaxy Tab S1 packed in a 7,900mAh battery.

Samsung's 9.7-inch tablet did better than I anticipated in our routine battery life test, thanks to its power-saving "big.LITTLE" CPU configuration. But it could've lasted even longer.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 review

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2

Running a 90-minute HD video loop at full brightness knocked the battery life from 100% down to by to 84% – that actually beat the Nexus 9 and iPad Air 2 we tested in 2015, and tied with the =Dell Venue 8 7000.

Beating the Galaxy Tab S2 was the Samsung tablet that came before it, the Galaxy Tab S1 – that particular slate saw a decline to 87% from a full charge during the same 90 minutes of HD video.

I still felt like the newer tablet could've lasted longer in day-to-day use outside of our battery life test, and the better battery management options in newer versions of Android could help here.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 review

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2

Google's Marshmallow Android update, for example, had a special Doze mode that retained more battery life when devices are in a sleep state. This is something Apple's iPad line does well, and is almost certainly why I feel like the iPad Air 2's real-life longevity is closer to the Tab S2 battery life than our lab tests show.

I expected more from the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 when it came to charging, too. It takes about four hours to fully juice up, and there's no fast-charging capability here. Wireless charging is also absent, putting it behind some of the more modern devices of today.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2: camera

You're not going to (or shouldn't) use them, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 has two cameras: one on the back that's 8 megapixels (MP) and one on the front that's 2.1MP to cover video conferencing and selfies.

The 8MP camera is okay with enough light, but can't compare to the cameras inside the Samsung phones of 2015 or later (it didn't inherit the 16MP sensor in the S6 and Note 5). The 2.1MP photos from the front-facing camera look rather noisy and should be avoided at all costs.

The rear camera can shoot 1440p video at 30 frames per second, up from the 1080p video from the Tab S1, but don't look for a 4K video option. Such high-resolution video wasn't ready to be used in Android tablets back in 2015.

Samsung did bring the now-familiar interface of its camera software to the Tab S2 – but while the layout is the same, features like wide selfies, RAW files and YouTube Live are missing.

TOPICS
Matt Swider
Latest in Tablets
iPad Air M3 11-inch and 13-inch on an orange background next to TechRadar deals price cut badge
Wait, what? The brand-new iPad Air just launched and it's already on sale on Amazon
Amazon Fire 7 tablet
Need a super-cheap tablet? The Amazon Fire 7 has dropped to $44.99
Three photos of the iPad Air M3 and its camera
iPad Air M3 review roundup – should you buy Apple's new mid-range tablet?
iPad Pro 13-inch 2024 on a table
The OLED iPad Pro is reportedly less popular than expected – and that could mean these changes to Apple's OLED iPad plans
Apple iPad Air 11-inch M3 (2025) Review
I tested the 11-inch iPad Air with M3 for five days, and it stretches the value even further with more power for the same price
The Honor Pad V9 on a bronze table.
The Honor Pad V9 is the mid-range, Android-powered iPad rival you've been looking for
Latest in Reviews
WWE 2K25
I've spent days in the ring with WWE 2K25, and it's like a five-star match ruined by the Million Dollar Man
Curaprox Hydrosonic Pro electric toothbrush
Curaprox Hydrosonic Pro review: A powerful seven-mode, Swiss-made sonic brush
Atelier Yumia
I was already sold on Atelier Yumia as an RPG, but I wasn’t expecting it to have my favorite crafting system in all of gaming
Alienware 27 AW2725Q monitor on desk displaying a scene from Cyberpunk 2077
I played games with Alienware's new 27-inch 4K OLED monitor and now I don't want to see another LCD panel
MacBook Air 15-inch with M4 chip on a creative's desk with screen open
I've reviewed the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) - and it remains the best 15-inch laptop I'd recommend for most people
Samsung Music Frame on a table beside some books and a vase
I spent six weeks listening to the Samsung Music Frame and it kept missing the beat