A tablet is a great way to wind down at the end of a busy day. Before bed, I’ve been using Samsung’s new slate—the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite—to cram in an episode or two of Dark before I doomscroll through Twitter and Reddit, and wake up groggy with the device somewhere under the pile of blankets.
These days however, tablets are so much more than entertainment devices. Apple notably has been pushing its iPads as machines you can use for work and play. The Tab S6 Lite fits that mold (I’m writing this review on it!) while remaining relatively affordable at $350. Does it best the iPad? No. But if you’re looking for Android-powered alternatives to the iPad, you’re not exactly spoiled for choice. Google’s lack of interest in nurturing a tablet-friendly interface for Android has all but obliterated appeal among manufacturers and consumers, propelling the iPad to the forefront as the definitive tablet to buy.
Yet even if it’s one of the few viable Android options left, I’ve been enjoying my time with the Tab S6 Lite this past month. It serves up a multitude of uses, whether that’s sketching, reading, or watching Netflix, and it performs each of its roles decently well.
Media Machine
One of my favorite things about Samsung’s tablet, which is the cheaper version of the high-end Tab S6 from 2019, is its size. You get a 10.4-inch screen, which is large enough to comfortably watch movies on, and because the uniform bezels around the screen are fairly thin, the whole package is quite compact. It can easily fit in any small bag, and at around 1 pound, it’s super light.
It has an LCD screen, which is a bit unusual for Samsung, as you’ll more often than not see AMOLED panels on all its displays. The latter offer nicer colors and better contrast, because black levels are as dark as night, but there’s not much to complain about with the cheaper LCD. The 2,000 x 1,200-pixel screen resolution is plenty sharp, and the colors look vibrant. Even while using it on a sunny (and hot) day out on my balcony, I didn’t have to squint too much to see the screen.
Complementing the nice screen is a pair of AKG-tuned speakers with Dolby Atmos support, and suffice to say, they sound impressive for thei