Samsung aims to lead tablet market with new Galaxy Tab S5e

Samsung did not only release its Galaxy S10 models with hole-punch displays recently; it also announced its newest tablet, the Galaxy Tab S5e. The Tab S5e will start at $399 and is more of a media consumption device rather than a creation device. Thus, it can be compared to Apple's entry-level 9.7in iPad given the price point and specifications.

Designed for great portability, the 10.5in Galaxy Tab S5e is the thinnest and lightest tablet Samsung has ever made. This slim metal device is just 5.5mm thin and weighs only 400g. Its Super AMOLED display has a 2560x1600-pixel resolution with a 287ppi, and an aspect ratio of 16:10. Samsung removed the home button on this tablet, which gave the company the opportunity to achieve the S5e's 81.8 percent screen-to-body ratio. As a media consumption device, it does not have stylus support. But from where the S5e is lacking, it makes up for it with its AKG-tuned, quad surround sound speakers.

With its more affordable price compared to the premium tables in the market, the Tab S5e is not a flagship tablet. It is more of an upper mid-range device with mid-range specs under the hood. It runs on a Snapdragon 670 chipset and has a 7,040mAh battery. Samsung claims 14.5 hours on this device. It runs on Android Pie on top of Samsung's own UI. As for its cameras, it has an 8MP front camera and a 13MP rear shooter that can film 4K videos up to 30fps. The 64 and 128GB variants will sport 4 and 6GB RAM, respectively. Both versions are expandable via microSD up to 512GB. The color options for the Galaxy Tab S5e are black, silver and gold.

As a Galaxy device, the S5e ships with Bixby 2.0, Samsung’s own virtual assistant tool. It is also capable of DeX ("desktop experience"), a feature wherein a phone can be used to run on a desktop computer.

With the release of the Galaxy Tab S5e, it looks like Samsung is still hoping to find the niche of consumers who use Android tablets in consuming media. After all, iPads aren't the only available tablets in the market. There are still a variety of Android tablets to choose from, and manufacturers in Asia provide plenty of these products for sourcing.