Mar 20, 2017 04:28 AM EDT
The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year saw an absence of Samsung's flagship smartphones. That said, Samsung didn't hamper the hopes of Samsung fans, with the announcement of the Galaxy tab S3 that will be released into the markets this month. According to sources, The Galaxy Tab S3 will be a direct competitor to Apple's iPad Pro that also is available at a similar cost.
Recent reports from BGR indicate that the Galaxy Tab S3 comes at a price of US $600 for which Samsung has already begun receiving pre-orders that began on Mar. 17. The device is expected to go on sale a week later, on Mar. 24. Apart from Samsung's own online store, the Tab S3 will also be sold by major American retailers like BestBuy and Amazon.
Early buyers for the Galaxy Tab S3 will also receive the book cover keyboard, bundled with the order for free for a limited time. The said book cover keyboard is also available for purchase, separately at an additional cost of US $130. The tablet also comes in two variants, one with LTE compatibility and one that only supports Wi-Fi for data connection.
Connectivity options for the Galaxy Tab S3 include Wi-Fi 802.11 with a/c band, Bluetooth v4.2 connectivity and USB Type-C 3.1 port for data transfer and device charging. Meanwhile, the LTE variant will also support LTE Cat6 technology that will achieve access speeds of 300mbp/s. In addition to the said options, The Galaxy Tab S3 will also sport a fingerprint scanner for security and for unlocking the device.
Other details from Pocket-lint reveal the display specifications of the Galaxy Tab S3. The device comes with a display of 9.7-inches with a resolution of 2048px X 1536px that's the same as the current iPad Pro. Samsung's own proprietary Super AMOLED panels have been implemented on the tablet that will also support 4K and HDR content playback.
The Galaxy Tab S3 also houses a 6000mAh battery that also supports fast charging. Audio needs on the tablet are taken care of, by AKG audio. There's also an S-pen stylus included in the box.