Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Active Tab 5 is a small rugged tablet with a unequaled selling item and a muckle going for it . With a vivid blind , good functioning , and nice battery life , it is a competent tablet , and its racy design means it can be taken nearly anywhere without number .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Our modern tab are many thing – sleek , knock-down , portable , and exchange premium – but there ’s one thing they ’re not : rugged .
There ’s nary aniPadorAndroid tabletaround that could take even a moderate fall onto a rough surface , get alone brave the rain or a hike , and certainly not without a font .
Enter the Galaxy Tab Active 5 , a newfangled option from Samsung that turn tail counter to all of the above and then some . It is built to take smash and survive a edifice site , but also sport mod - cons from a bury era of tablet design . forcible push button , easily graspable bezel and even a removable battery all make an appearance , further burnishing the pad of paper ’s rugged certificate .
It is principally project to meet the needs of a sure class of business customer , but it has a lot of feature which might draw the attending of a certain kind of power exploiter . Is it too recess to have blanket prayer ? Let ’s find out .
Design
loosely utter , there ’s a tried - and - tested formula for a successful tab plan . Users expect minimal bezels , a slimline construction , a low weight , a bounty feel and an attractive smell . base on those merit , the Tab 5 is not successful , but then it is n’t your everyday pad of paper .
To start , at 433 g , it is a porker despite having only an 8 - in display , and with a thick bezel on every side , it count positively erstwhile - fashioned . Indeed , with the physical button in tow , it ’s remindful of the antediluvianAsus Padfone . This is an Android tablet with a design from the dinosaur yr of the operating system , but for good understanding .
blockheaded bezels ? More like extra space to hold onto to bar it come or slipping . Significant massiveness ? That ’s due to reenforcement against bead and anything else that might come its way . forcible buttons ? If you are wearing gloves or have dirty hands , they ’re a bunce .
The intended user of the Tab 5 is n’t your standard person who might take in a few hours of television receiver in the even or scroll the news in the daybreak on their tablet . It is alternatively a twist worker , a ranger , those in profession that value robustness over almost everything else . With them in judgement , it hits the mark completely , though there is some time value to be had for the average user .
Unlike many , the Tab 5 does n’t plunge for the floor at the fragile incitement from any available surface , rather staying put with a grippy , textured pattern . And if it does fall , like the reliable Nokia 3310 , it is more probable that the lozenge will break the floor than the other way around . To back all of the above up , it hasIP68water and dust opposition , as well as frisk 1.8 metre dip electrical resistance ( MIL - STD-810H ) with the included case .
As might be expected , there are n’t many color options available ; you may have anything you care as long as it is green .
look around the twist , on the left over side , there are pogo pin for connecting accoutrement and a fingernail SIM slot ; on the top , there ’s a microphone , and on the bottom , there ’s a ( welcome ) 3.5 millimeter phone old salt and a USB - C charging one-armed bandit . The veracious side house the volume buttons , a great power button and an ‘ Action ’ button , which can be configured to dissimilar roles , but which opens the television camera by default .
As mention before , the can of the gadget pops off easily , revealing the swappable 5050mAh battery inside . This is particularly ready to hand for long trips , set aside you to easy switch in another battery whenever the first run out .
In all , the Tab 5 is n’t a normal tablet , but that ’s not the point . It is rugged and durable , qualities that give it note value beyond the home and the sofa , and that ’s not something that most tablets can boast .
Screen
With the design of the Tab 5 , it ’s readable to see some ritual killing were made to assure strength . gratefully , the same has n’t been necessary for the screen . An 8 - in 1080p panel with a 120Hz refresh charge per unit , it brag many qualities which help it keep its berth among the competition .
Its first major win is brightness , which can be a thorny issue when working outdoors . In substantial spring sunlight , the Tab 5 follow out well , fully legible even when working head - on . Though it does n’t quite boast the gentle readability of theGalaxy S24 Ultra , it ’s still more than many competing tablets attain .
At120Hz , the screen is smooth in mundane use and lead greatly to the twist ’s speedy feel . A fragile quibble is that there are n’t more options to preserve battery life , with only 60Hz available as a power - saving option . It would have been nice to see gradations between the two as some kind of compromise , such as 90Hz .
Colour reproduction is strong for the most part , with the proviso that this is n’t an OLED panel . There ’s a pleasant degree of saturation and contrast throughout , specially for an LCD panel , though we found the ‘ Eye Comfort ’ mode a little distracting . When done well , these mode are insidious and help to move out eye strain when using your equipment before bed , but in this pillow slip , the orange chromaticity is too strong and overdone .
last , at 1920 x 1200 , the screen is sharp enough for any content you may throw at it , with the smaller display working peculiarly well for reading ( though subtitles can be tiny ) . The cover is HDR10 compliant , mean the colours and luminosity really pop with supported content .
The speakers are interesting , though not necessarily in a completely confident agency . mime a phone , the Tab 5 has an earpiece speaker system and a speaker unit on the bottom . However , only the latter play music or when watching videos . As such , the sound recording always feel imbalanced , which is unfortunate throw that most of the challenger has at least three-fold verbalizer , with many sporting quad speakers .
Cameras
I ’ve so far shroud a quite a little of reasons why the Tab 5 can be cut a little falling off in certain areas , as it is n’t anormaltablet . It ’s intended for a unlike kind of someone , a dissimilar variety of use case . Conversely , where it gets a routine more scrutiny is in the tv camera department .
If a distinctive tab might only be used to scan documents or to make a quick video call , if the Tab 5 is out in the field , it might be used to snapshot important moments . So , how does it heap up ?
Sporting a single 13MP sensor on the rear , complemented by a 5MP snapper on the front , the Active Tab 5 is n’t necessarily bristling with cameras . That ’s not necessarily a bad thing ; it ’s better to have one good sensor than three middle to hapless feat . Neither sensor has stabilisation , and the rear has a ostentation .
Coming to image character , the moving picture ( no paronomasia intended ) is positive . Though the Tab 5 ca n’t vie with amid - range smartphone , it put in a solid fight againstbudget smartphones , which is more than most tablets can say , never take care those in the same damage bracket .
Detail is plentiful in most effigy , and gloss is well represent , lack Samsung ’s tendency to go overboard on saturation . There is n’t too much sharpening going on , and dissonance is well - controlled for the most part .
As might be expected , kick in that there is no stabilisation , nighttime musical mode shots need a firm paw to debar becoming bleary , but when produced come out middling well , though lack some chroma .
trope from the front - facing television camera are more cursory , exhibiting less item and less intensity , but are by no means regretful . Video produced from both sensors has reasonable timbre , showcasing detail enough for video calls on the front and enough for recording the funny brief present moment on the rear .
Performance
no matter of how furrowed a tab might be , it ’s only truly useful if it can keep up with your requirement . So , how does the Tab 5 fare ?
Surprisingly , it works pretty well , with the proviso that it is n’t a power plant . put up within its bricklike frame is Samsung ’s ownExynos 1380processor , a 5 nm octa - core effort paired with 6 GB of RAM and a lower limit of 128 GB of storage . It ’s a relatively mod offering produced via a fair new 5 nm fabrication process , so the promises are of both functioning and power efficiency .
And in benchmarking , that mostly bears out . accomplish a single - core score of 982 and a multi - core score of 2834 in Geekbench 6 , the Tab 5 manages to keep up , just about , with the likes of theSamsung Galaxy S21from a few years ago . While that telephone set may be onetime , what it have in mind in practice is smooth and stammer - free performance , at least when voyage through the port and doing light tablet stuff ( view television , message and sending the episodic email ) .
If you want to go further , then you tend into some issues . Launching Fortnite and pushing everything to the max , you ’ll occasionally murder single - digit frame rate .
turn over scope back to mass medium , it is possible to linger above 30fps , however the Exynos becomes quite toasty in the process . With the small size of the tablet , there ’s less way to shoot the oestrus , so you ’ll definitely point out . All of this is a shame , as the sizing of the Tab 5 makes it surprisingly compelling as an option for gaming .
Software
As with every Samsung machine , the Tab 5 comes running OneUI , and as always , it ’s a beloved - it - or - leave - it affair . Some will bed the spare feature that Samsung bakes in , the add - ons and tidbits that give smack to the experience . Others will see it all as a crutch that dilutes the core experience . At this point , it is a known quantity , and you ’ll likely know in which camp you sit .
Regardless , the UI is generally smooth and lag - complimentary , with only a slight hiccup sometimes when navigating to the Google news feed with a swipe to the right . Everything realize sense and is where expected for the most part , very few option are bury where they should n’t be .
Samsung being Samsung , there is alotextra here , bulge out with the S Pen . Sporting a limited rugged chapeau , the S Pen here is strictly haptic ; it has no assault and battery or powered feature within . traverse the playpen item was very exact and smooth , a will to Samsung ’s decennary and more of championing the humble stylus . If you have to sign PDFs in any capacity , you ’ll get hold it a lifesaver .
Then there ’s DeX , or Desktop Experience , Samsung ’s take on allowing tablets and smartphones to turn tail a full desktop interface when paired with a monitor and peripherals . Unfortunately , it did n’t detect my monitor in examination , so I was n’t able to give it a more thoroughgoing test . In practice , DEx is quite useful for a number of situation and can fit into a bit of workflows with the right peripherals . It ’s feasible to do a lot of word processing and spreadsheet workplace in this form .
As name above , although the extra included have value , that value can often be a little questionable . Whether we necessitate two app stores , two default browsers , and an extended home of weird Samsung apps is anyone ’s guess , and it does dilute the user experience pretty .
One positive point is the stated figure of software updates for this tablet , offer a competitive four OS upgrades and five twelvemonth of security patches . That ’s not quite up to the eight years of the Galaxy S24 mountain chain , but it ’s not that far behind either .
Whether it will last that recollective is redundant , as that is a very long time for any pad . Whether the promise is honour remains to be seen down the line . None of these protract claims have in reality been put to the mental testing , except Apple ’s , but it is an important step to reduce the amount of vitamin E - dissipation produced .
Battery life
An of import benefit unremarkably come with a bounteous , thick design : a large stamp battery . When there ’s more blank space in the trunk , the general assumption is that it ’ll be fill with a portly power pack . Not so for the Tab 5 , which make do with a 5,050mAh cell . That ’s pocket-size than what is bump in many smartphones in other 2024 , and with a great , firm and bright screen , it does n’t bode well for the Tab 5 ’s shelling longevity .
However , due to what must be a relatively power - efficient chip inside , I was pleasantly surprised with the overall battery life . It ’s important to caveat that command somewhat , as it does n’t imply the battery lifespan on the Tab 5 is good , but rather that itisn’t speculative .
Playing a 90 - arcminute HDR television at full luminance see the battery layer drop from 100 % to 85 % , which roughly give you around six hours and 30 minute of arc of screen time before you need to reload . There are others that handle dear results across the dining table , let in the similarly pricedOnePlus Pad , which typically improves by at least an hour .
The Tab 5 has a lineament they do n’t , however : a replaceable battery . That means , as with other smartphones , if you keep a second shelling commit and with you when out , you’re able to swap the dead barrage fire for a full one .
When it comes to charging , the belittled battery pack has an unintentional welfare ; it fills up quicker than is possible with big electric cell . With the included 15W courser , the tablet made it from 0 to 45 % in 30 minute of arc , which while not quite as speedy as some smartphones can accomplish , remains respectable for a tablet .
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Should you buy it?
If you need a tough tablet to survive your day shift or to take on a rise , there are few options as good as the Tab 5 .
The Tab 5 feels good in the handwriting and to utilise , but it is n’t on the nose packed with the premium technical school in similarly priced alternative . Its indestructible nature comes at a cost .
Final Thoughts
As might be expected , the market for broken gadgets is quite ecological niche . Not many hoi polloi need their tablet to take a ridiculous drop curtain in its stride or to be capable to hot - swap bombardment on the tent flap . Given that it is laser - targeted towards them , the Tab 5 is , therefore , something of a niche gimmick for construction workers and tramp who want it .
Therefore , its success as a general - intention tablet is a testament to its overall tone . It has a fast , shining display , decent shelling life , and enough processing world power to wield most everyday tasks . Paired with a twosome of decent tv camera and a body that can take anything the household can give at it ( plus potentially an literal house ) , it ’s a pill with a portion to offer .
This is with the caveat that it has a undivided speaker , does n’t have a kickstand and , to some at least , a rather date design . If none of this bothers you , there are few sound mini tablets in the price square bracket , and certainly none that are also tough .
alternative be from other musician like Panasonic , but all are explicitly aimed at a business consultation and get from higher price point , lack the broad charm of the Tab 5 . As such , it earn our testimonial .
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FAQs
Yes , it ’s both detritus and water - resistant with an IP68 military rating , as well as a MIL - STD-810H rating that essentially mean it ’ll survive a drop of up to 1.8 cadence .
It ’ll get a good for you four atomic number 8 upgrades and five years of security eyepatch that ’ll take it through to Android 18 .
Test Data
Full Specs
