Samsung launched the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite in June with the price starting at Rs 27,999 in India. Internal hardware-wise, it comes with watered down specifications compared to the premium Galaxy Tab S6. However, Samsung's mid-range tablet promises to offer similar user-experience in terms of S Pen stylus for less than half the cost of the flagship.
I used the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite for a little over three weeks and here are my thoughts on the Samsung slate.
Design, display and build quality
The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite flaunts a uniform thin bezel similar to the original Galaxy Tab S6 and boasts slim unibody design language with metal case.
Our review unit is a Chiffon Pink model. It looks gorgeous and exudes premium rose gold-like finish and feel. The LTE model has white linings (Teflon-based antenna stripes to receive telecom network signals) on top and the bottom but thankfully doesn't affect the visual appeal.
Samsung is also offering the tablet in two other colours-- The Oxford Gray and Angora Blue as well.
Samsung tablet comes in dimensions-- 244.5 mm tall, 154.3 mm wide, and measures just 7.5mm in thickness. Weighing in at 467g, it is easy to hold and carry around.
It has a 3.5mm audio jack on the top along with a speaker and on the opposite, there is a Type-C USB port with another speaker. This design helps in delivering stereo audio output while watching multimedia content with speakers on. Thanks to AKG and Dolby Atmos 3D sound system, it lives up to the hype and offered immersive surround sound effects.
As far as the display is concerned, it sports a 10.4-inch WUXGA(2000×1200p) screen with a pixel density of 225 ppi (pixels per inch). I had delightful experience watching TV series and I have to say it is a good companion for e-book readers, but stick to indoors or in places with proper shade.
But, I am certain, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite or any other branded tablet with a big screen can survive even a shortfall on a hard surface. Consumers are advised to buy a screen shield to protect the display from daily wear-and-tear and also an additional back shield preferably a folio cover case for extra protection of the screen.
Performance:
Samsung's Galaxy Tab S6 Lite comes with proprietary 10nm class Exynos 9611 octa-core System-on-Chip (SoC) and can achieve a clock speeds up to 2.3GHz. It is paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage (expandable up to 1TB with a MicroSD card). It runs Android 10-based One UI 2.1 software and it is easy to browse through the phone.
The device works smoothly while performing day-to-day activities be it watching videos, going through news feeds on social media platforms, browse the internet, catch up on news on the web, read e-books, and other stuff.
Also, with Covid-19 pandemic has led to the closure of schools and colleges. To make up for the lost time, several educational institutions have started online classes and some are slated to start soon. The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is a good e-learning companion. It can last long hours on video conferences via Wi-Fi.
Besides schoolwork, it can be a really good entertainment system. It supports all the latest versions of the OTT (Over-The-Top) service apps including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Sony Liv, Zee5, and others. I had a good time watching TV series and also had fun playing Ludo game.
But, wouldn't recommend high-end gaming titles such as Asphalt 9, as it shows little lag-ness. And, many, including me have reservations of playing power-intense games on a big screen.
However, it is a perfect tool to browse through e-commerce apps such as Flipkart, Amazon, Pepperfry, Urban Ladder, among others to make purchases on apparel, furniture, groceries. With the big screen, users can check minute details clearly compared to the compact phones.
S Pen
Samsung offers S Pen free of cost with the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and this makes a huge difference among the competition.
It weighs just 7.03g and the company claims the S Pen comes with improved pen latency and 0.7mm pen tip promises to offer effortless note-taking and drawing capabilities.
In our testing, it lived up to the reputation. It offers a natural feeling of writing with a pen and if you don't like your handwriting, it can be turned in to any of the writing styles of a document. The Samsung software is well-tuned to understand the handwritten characters and words.
Another notable aspect of the S Pen is that it doesn't need charging. And, it can be attached magnetically onto the right side of the tablet and also on Samsung's authorized book cover case, so there is less chance of misplacing it.
Battery:
Samsung's Galaxy Tab S6 Lite houses a massive 7,040mAh battery and during the testing, it easily lasted one and half days even with. Also, it can play close to 13 hours of videos, provided you have downloaded the content before you start watching them. However, if you are on a mobile LTE data or playing games with heavy graphics, the battery will drain faster than usual.
Camera:
Samsung's Galaxy Tab S6 Lite comes with an 8MP rear-side sensor and a 5MP sensor with face recognition support.
For a tablet, there is very little use for rear-side snapper other than to take a photo of a document, or book and convert it to PDF document through an application. And yes, it takes good snaps of the papers. But, I wouldn't recommend you to go around the garden to shoot flowers; for that, there are lots of phones under Rs 15,000 price range, that can guarantee you better snaps.
The face unlock feature is a hit and miss. It lacked consistency in terms of recognizing my face and most of the time, I had to rely on pattern lock feature to open the screen.
However, the front shooter fares well in taking good quality selfies and this comes handy while video chatting as well. This also depends on how well the Internet connectivity is at the home.
Final thoughts:
Over-all, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is a feature-rich tablet. On just pure performance-wise, Apple's iPad (7th gen) is better than the Galaxy Tab S Lite, but with the S Pen stylus, which is part of the retail package, gives the latter an edge over the rival brand.
With the Samsung Notes app, users can make full use of S Pen for fun and school work without paying any extra money. For iPads, users have to spend more than Rs 8,400 extra for the Apple Pencil (first gen) and it has to be charged through the lightning port attached to the iPad. It awkwardly sticks out and is prone to damages.
Also, it doesn't need any charging and can be attached to the sides of the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite.
This Samsung tablet is a perfect tool for school children for e-learning and also help them improve their skill sets during the Covid-19 pandemic-induced school lockdown.
However, my only advice to the parents is to keep a check on kids' screen time on the tablet after the e-class. Too much addiction to the screen will eventually hurt eyesight in the long run and children would have to wear glasses.
There is Google Family Link feature compatible with all Android devices that will enable parents to control phone usage of their children
The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite LTE version costs Rs 31,999 and Rs 27,999 for the Wi-Fi version. The device can be purchased on all authorised retail stores, Samsung Opera House, Samsung.com, and leading online portals.
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