APPLE Is Making Me Buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus (Hands-on!) By Andru Edwards

- I'm Andru Edwards, and you're watching Gear Live. (upbeat music) Samsung's new Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+ are definitely going to be the best Android tablets you can buy when they're released in the US later this fall. Samsung has packed them with features from both a hardware and software perspective, and I've been using one for the past week, and I've come away impressed. However, more than any other company, it's Apple who has singlehandedly made me very excited about picking up a Galaxy Tab S7+ of my very own. Okay, wait, what? Apple? I will explain why I think a specific set of iOS users may be looking at a Galaxy Tab S7 or S7+ in the very near future, But first let's back up and talk about what impresses me about the Galaxy Tab S7. First, the display is absolutely gorgeous.

It's a bright, big, beautiful super AMOLED screen, 12.4 inches here on the S7+ and 11 inches on the regular S7, with up to a 120 hertz refresh rate. Also the Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+ are the first tablets of any kind to feature 5G connectivity here in the US. You'll see why that's important to my use case in particular in just a minute, but obviously, this is something that anyone can welcome if they're in a 5G area, allowing better connectivity while using the device, especially in mission-critical moments. Now, you'll pay extra for the privilege.4G LTE is a $100 premium over the wifi-only models, while 5G will cost an additional $100 on top of that, if you want it. So kind of pricey, but still, the option is there.

Speaking of mission-critical moments, battery life is great here too, with the S7+ getting up to 14 hours of battery life when streaming video, thanks to the built-in 10,090 milliamp hour battery. And all this in a package that weighs 1.3 pounds with a low latency S Pen. That's a really nice improvement from the previous model. Now I've also been using this review unit with the book cover keyboard, which costs $229 for the Tab S7+. When you use it, the Galaxy Tab S7+ automatically converts into DeX mode, ready to work, and it also becomes the perfect video game machine in this mode, and that brings me to Apple.

Why is Apple pushing me towards buying this tablet when I already use a 2020 iPad pro on a daily basis? Well, the new Microsoft Xbox Game Pass Ultimate cloud streaming feature is launching soon. In fact, it just went into beta. Game Pass. cloud streaming allows you to access your Xbox games, as well as games that are part of Game Pass, from your mobile devices, except Apple's outdated App Store rules don't allow for games streaming services because Apple can't individually review each individual game and each game can't be individually listed and searched for on the App Store. Now they don't treat Spotify or Netflix this way, but for whatever reason, they've decided that game subscriptions are different and fall under this rule.

So when Microsoft launches Game Pass streaming, iPhone and iPad users are gonna be left out in the cold. On the other hand, that's just not the case on Android. And as we saw in the Samsung Impact Keynotes, Samsung and Microsoft have an ongoing partnership, and Game Pass is a big part of that. Samsung even has a couple of Game Pass bundles they'll be launching. Now as an Xbox owner and as someone who travels a lot when quarantines aren't a thing, having the ability to access Game Pass on the go is something that I'm gonna want to take advantage of, and it's something I simply won't be able to do on an iPhone or an iPad.

The Galaxy Tab S7+, on the other hand, has been an absolute champion using the Game Pass streaming feature. The size, weight, and display make it a fantastic gaming device, and since it's streaming, that 5G and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity come in clutch as well. Now I talked about this issue at length on the latest episode of the Geared Up podcast. That's the weekly show I do each week with John Rettinger. It was a good discussion with Dan Barbera from Mac Rumors.

I'll leave a link in the description if you want to check out that show, because I have a lot more to say about Apple's decision making process, as it pertains to cloud gaming. Now, obviously the Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+ can do a lot more than just play games, but if you're into gaming, then you likely recognize that cloud gaming is definitely a big part of the future of the industry, and what Samsung has here is a device that lets you be a part of that future rather than locking you out of it. Once the Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+ are available, you'll be able to get them in Mystic Black, Mystic Silver, or Mystic Bronze. The 110inch model will start at $649 for the wifi model and the 12.4 inch version S7+ starts at $849 for wifi. And again, it'll be $999 if you want 4G LTE and $1,099 if you want the 5G connectivity.

All right, now I want to hear from you. If you're an Xbox user and you subscribe to Game Pass, and Game Pass Ultimate in particular, you will have the ability to stream your games on pretty much any platform with the exception of iOS and iPad OS. It's just included in the price of your Game Pass subscription. It doesn't cost anything extra. With that being the case, if you're an iPhone or iPad user, is an Android device, whether it's a phone or tablet, something you're considering so that you'll have access to your Game Pass cloud streaming when you're on the go? Let me know down in the comments below.

Very curious about this one, and I'll meet you there for further discussion. Drop a like if you enjoyed this one, and hit the subscribe button if you want to keep up to date on all future video releases. Thank you so much for watching as always, guys. I appreciate your support. I'm Andru Edwards, and I will catch you in the next video.

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Source : Andru Edwards