• Samsung Galaxy Tab S8
    Samsung Galaxy Tab S8
    The better choice

    The Galaxy Tab S8 doesn't feel like a huge upgrade if you're coming from the Tab S7, but it does have software support expected until 2026 and security updates a year later. It brings slightly better performance than the Tab S7 and the 120Hz display is gorgeous.

    Pros
    • Great performance
    • 120Hz display
    • Software support for years to come
    Cons
    • Expensive at full price
  • samsung-galaxy-tab-s7-render-02
    Samsung Galaxy Tab S7
    Showing some rust

    If you already have the Tab S7, there's not a huge reason to upgrade to the Tab S8. That's especially true now that the new Tab S9 models have launched. The Tab S7 is now getting harder to find, and it doesn't have a lot of time left on its Android and security update schedules.

    Pros
    • Still plenty snappy
    • 120Hz display
    • Made it to One UI 5.1
    • Often cheaper than the Tab S8
    Cons
    • Nearing the end of software support

Samsung makes many of the best Android tablets you can buy, but for the past few years, a lot of Samsung's generation-to-generation hardware updates have been very iterative. The company's 2022 tablet release, the 11-inch Galaxy Tab S8, is still a great pick if you're in the market for a new Android tablet right now, but if you have a Tab S7 lying around, you may be curious whether springing for an upgrade would be worth it. The unsatisfying short answer is that it depends on what you expect out of your tablet and how well the one you already have is holding up.

Price, specs & availability

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 launched in 2022 starting at $700. Since then, the base model with 128 GB of storage and no LTE connectivity has come down in price; it's not unusual to see the Tab S8 available for somewhere between $500 and $600, especially when sale pricing is in effect. The 256GB Wi-Fi model has a regular price of about $780 but is commonly available for closer to $700. You can find the Tab S8 at major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Samsung's own site.

The Galaxy Tab S7 was released in 2020, with a retail price of $649 for the Wi-Fi-only version with 128GB of storage. You can find it at Amazon for about $500, and there are even multiple storage option from which you can choose. Considering the Tab S8 is often only about $60 more expensive and has far more time left in its update life, we recommend sticking with the newer tablet.


  • Samsung Galaxy Tab S8Samsung Galaxy Tab S7
    Storage128GB, 256GB128GB, 256GB, 512GB
    CPUSnapdragon 8 Gen 1Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+
    Memory8 GB, 12 GB6GB, 8 GB
    Operating SystemAndroid 13 and One UI 6Android 13 and One UI 5.1
    Battery8,000mAh8,000 mAh
    Camera (Rear, Front)Rear: 13MP f/2.0, 6MP f/2.2 / Front: 12MP f/2.4
    Size9.99 x 6.51 x 0.25", 1.11 lb9.99 x 6.51 x 0.25", 1.1 lb

Design

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The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 is a sleek 11-inch tablet with slim bezels around its display and a boxy aluminum build that compliments Samsung's Galaxy S23 phones quite well. It has four speakers, one in each corner, providing stereo sound in either portrait or landscape orientations. The Tab S8 is available in Graphite, Silver, and Pink Gold colors, while the Tab S7 has Mystic Black, Mystic Silver, Mystic Bronze, and Mystic Navy.

Around the back, there's a magnetic strip near the camera module for charging the bundled S Pen stylus, plus a subtle Samsung logo etched in the top left corner. Aesthetically, the Tab S8 is nearly indistinguishable from the older Tab S7: they're the same size with all the same parts in the same places. The Tab S8 and the Tab S7 measure 9.99 x 6.51 x 0.25 inches (253.8mm x 165.3mm x 6.3mm) and weigh in at about 1.10 pounds (498g) for the Wi-Fi models.

Display

samsung-galaxy-tab-s8-review 5

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 and Galaxy Tab S7 share similar displays: they both have 11-inch TFT LCD panels with resolutions of 1,600 x 2,560 and refresh rates up to 120Hz. The S8's display isn't an upgrade coming from the S7 — viewed from the front, these tablets are identical. They both have LCDs rather than the OLED panels in Samsung's higher-end tablets.

In our Galaxy Tab S8 review, Editor Will Sattelberg explained how both the S8 and S7 saw downgrades from the OLED panel found in the S6. He went on to remark that "it's not a bad panel — nowhere near — but in trying to build an entry-level slate alongside its two larger, more expensive models, the display is where you'll find most of Samsung's cut corners." Samsung went back to AMOLED with its refreshed Galaxy Tab S9 lineup, bringing better color and contrast to the tablets.

Performance, battery, and software

samsung-galaxy-tab-s8-review 14

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8, being the newer tablet compared to the Tab S7, offers a more up-to-date hardware selection, packing a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU along with a minimum of 8GB of RAM and an optional upgrade to 12GB. It shares the same chipset with Samsung's high-end Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, and it's still one of the faster Android tablets on the market today.

The Galaxy Tab S7 is a bit older and comes with a Snapdragon 865+ chipset and either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. It's still plenty powerful enough to do everyday tablet things like reading, web browsing, and light-to-medium gaming, but it's not exactly a powerhouse. That's especially obvious now that the Tab S9 has launched with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. The Tab S7 version with 6GB of RAM, in particular, might be getting a little creaky under more demanding multitasking.

samsung-galaxy-tab-s8-review 12

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 is running Android 13 with One UI 5.1, Samsung's very latest software experience. It's also eligible to keep getting updates for a few more years, with Android version updates lasting until 2026 and security patches a year longer. The Galaxy Tab S7 is also running Android 13 and One UI 5.1, but having received three Android version updates already, it's not clear whether it'll ever see Android 14; Samsung hasn't explicitly said one way or the other, and the tablet was released before Samsung's commitment to offering four years of updates for its S-series tablets.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 and Galaxy Tab S7 each house an 8,000mAh battery. When these tablets were new, they all managed roughly the same amount of battery life — somewhere in the ballpark of 10 to 14 hours of screen time per charge, depending on your usage. But given the S8 and S7 are getting on in years, if you've had either since around the time they launched, your battery performance may be flagging. The S8 and S7 can hit up to 45W when charging over USB-C, which was a huge upgrade over the Tab S6's charging capabilities.

Should you upgrade?

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 is one of the best tablets you can buy today, and in the Android world, it should be a top choice if you're shopping for a newer slate with a screen in the neighborhood of 11 inches. That said, changes from the previous-generation Galaxy Tab S7 to the newest Galaxy Tab S8 are minor. The newer tablet is a little faster, and... that's probably the only difference most users will notice, and only if their tablet use is demanding enough. You can also check out how the 2023 Galaxy Tab S9 compares to the Tab S8 to see if you might want to go as new as possible.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8
Still going strong

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 features a premium design, a 120Hz display, an S Pen stylus, a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, and enough RAM to handle any task you're likely to need from a tablet. This is one of the best Android tablets you can buy, though it has now been usurped by the Tab S9.

While the Galaxy Tab S8 still has a few years of updates left, the Tab S7 is nearing the end of its update lifespan. If you're on a Tab S7 and you're worried about keeping your software current, you should be eyeing an upgrade soon — and the Tab S8 will provide a very similar experience. At this point, buying the S7 means that you're getting a truly killer deal or that you aren't concerned about keeping the tablet updated in the years to come.

samsung-galaxy-tab-s7-render-02
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7
Showing some rust

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 is still a great tablet, but it is running short on guaranteed updates. Its Snapdragon 865 chipset isn't the fastest around anymore, but it's plenty for basic computing, and the S7's 120Hz display still looks very nice by today's standards.