The life of a student can be hectic and stressful. From getting good grades and studying foreign languages to juggling part-time or even full-time jobs, hardworking students of any age are always on the move.

That’s why Samsung Electronics has created the Galaxy Tab S8 series to be the ultimate tool in making any student’s lifestyle more manageable. Pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for a Galaxy tablet, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra combines the largest display and the thinnest bezels with convenient portability, so you can be prepared for whatever challenges you face inside or outside the classroom. Samsung Newsroom has put together this guide to showcase how campus life can become even smarter with the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.

Takes Notes To Ace Any Class

If you’re having difficulty keeping up with notes during a class or lecture, try using the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra’s split-screen feature to quickly organize¹ all the information thrown your way. You can split your screen into three windows during online classes. For instance, you can open your reading assignment on the left and your notetaking app on the right to conveniently access all the apps you need on a single screen. Thanks to the tablet’s 14.6-inch ultra-large display, your notetaking experience will never feel cramped. Even in split-screen mode, apps are still easy to use, spacious and adjustable to fit your needs.

During important lectures where you can’t miss a single detail, you can also sync the live voice recording to your notes.² Simply press the “record” icon in the notes app when class starts and begin writing. You can easily replay the voice recording and follow along with your notes, conveniently synced to the audio, to help you take in even the most complex information.

Look and Sound Your Best on Every Video Call

The Galaxy Tab S8 series is packed with improved features for video calls, so whether you’re joining an online class or catching up with your classmates, you’ll come across loud and clear. The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is the first of the Galaxy Tab series to be equipped with a 12-megapixel main camera in the front and an ultra-wide lens for an even wider screen. The Galaxy Tab S8 also comes with the AI-based Auto-Framing feature, which automatically adjusts the camera frame according to onscreen camera movement, such as zooming out or adjusting the angle when someone walks into frame. With the device’s three precision microphones, you can also minimize distractions, reducing background noise for even sharper, clearer audio.

Transform Your Tablet Into a PC

There are times when you just need a laptop, like when you’re completing assignments or preparing to give a group presentation. When this is the case, Samsung DeX³ gives you that PC-like experience, so you can open up multiple app windows at once, just like you would on a PC. Using the DeX Mirroring feature, you can bring your work to the big screen by mirroring the tablet’s DeX window on a TV screen or a monitor. If you have the Book Cover Keyboard for the Galaxy Tab S8 series and a Bluetooth mouse, you can instantly transform your tablet into a working laptop.

Alternatively, you can use the Second Screen⁴ feature to wirelessly connect your Galaxy Tab S8 as a secondary monitor if you already have a laptop. Simply connect the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra to your PC screen and either expand or duplicate the display to push your productivity to the max. With the Galaxy Tab S8, you can work smarter, not harder.

With the newly upgraded S Pen, you can write as smoothly and effortlessly on your tablet as you do on paper. The S Pen has a 30% faster response speed⁵ through a prediction algorithm for a truer pen-to-paper or brush-to-canvas experience. If you’re annoyed by clacking laptop keys or just prefer to write by hand, the S Pen will become your writing utensil of choice.

Find a Hobby You’ll Love

If you want to add a splash of color to your life, why not try drawing using the S Pen? The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra has partnered with Clip Studio Paint for an optimized experience that connects your tablet to your Galaxy smartphone. By activating the Companion Mode in the app and connecting it to your Galaxy smartphone, you can turn your mobile phone into a paint palette and your tablet into a canvas. You can create digital masterpieces and unleash your creativity like never before.
 

Due to the pandemic, staying at home has become the new normal, driving up the popularity of streaming services. When it comes to binging your favorite shows, the Galaxy Tab S8 provides you with an optimal viewing experience. Whether you’re watching on campus or at home, you can experience next-level streaming with the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra’s expansive screen and a rich soundscape with Dolby Atmos anytime, anywhere.

Across the world, students are working hard to achieve their dreams, and the Galaxy Tab S8 is there to help any student balance their schedule and reach academic success. Whether you’re studying at the library, exploring new hobbies, or taking a break, the Galaxy Tab S8 is designed to give you the flexibility to fit your campus lifestyle and the tools to learn, create and play.

¹ The Galaxy Tab S8+ and the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra feature the split screen mode that allows users to work with up to 3 apps in one screen. The Galaxy Tab S8 series makes it easy to split the screen, and users can even adjust the size, layout and order of split windows according to their preferences.

² This function is intended for personal use only. Lecture recordings may not be posted, distributed, or shared without the permission of the instructor. Please verify your academic institution and instructor’s policy before recording in the classroom.

³ Samsung DeX is supported on select Galaxy smartphones and tablets. Additional features available on compatible devices only include the Galaxy S22, Galaxy Tab S8 and devices running One UI 4.1 or later. Compatible apps may vary and not all apps may be resizable on Samsung DeX. Accessories for external screen connection sold separately.

⁴ Second Screen feature is supported for Galaxy Book Windows PC and Galaxy Tab S7/7+ or later models (2021 Jan update required for Galaxy Tab S7/S7+). Wireless display-capable Windows 10 PC models and Windows 10 v.2004 or later version are required (Windows update: Sep 2020 or later). For even more efficiency, the Second Screen function can be used with the Galaxy Book’s Second Screen app.

⁵ Results based on internal test conducted using Samsung Notes app. Actual rate of improvement may vary by model and user environment.

Since then, the S Pen has undergone multiple innovations to transform it from a mere stylus into an independent device of its own. For example – you no longer need to rely on just your smartphone to take a picture; the S Pen can do that for you.

The 10 years that have passed since the debut of the S Pen have been filled with countless innovations and challenges. Follow along with us as we chart the evolution of this significant stylus, from its debut as a simple smartphone accessory to its latest form as its own singular category of device.

Identity: How the S Pen has Taken on Real Pen-Like Qualities

The S Pen is designed to provide the experience of writing with a real pen. Since its debut with the first Galaxy Note device in 2011, the S Pen has continued to provide improved pressure sensitivity from 256, 1024, and 2048 levels to a remarkable 4096 sensitivity level. Pressure sensitivity determines how much you can vary the width of the lines you draw with your S Pen; the higher it is, the more precisely the stylus will respond to your control. The S Pen’s high pressure sensitivity allows you to control the stroke weight of your stylus as you apply varying amounts of pressure to your screen, and the diameter of the S Pen’s tip has also been reduced over the years from 1.6mm to 0.7mm so as to allow for delicate strokes when drawing.

When it comes to notetaking, every user has their own habits, be it using a specific highlighter to mark important passages in a text or preferring a slim pen tip for writing. The S Pen, which initially provided four pen types – Pen, Pencil, Brush and Highlighter – today offers a wide variety of pen options, including Calligraphy and Fountain pen options. The true-to-life S Pen experience even comes with a different writing sound for each pen option you choose, and the sound effect of a pen cap closing when the S Pen is re-inserted into the device provides a satisfying, realistic feel, too. Furthermore, the eye-dropper tool, which makes it easy to lift colors from within a Note, has also been added for easy pen color customization.

As the S Pen continued to evolve, a built-in battery was added for optimized usage and user convenience. Users need simply plug their S Pen back into their device to automatically charge it; Galaxy Note20 users can enjoy a fully charged S Pen in just 7 minutes, with a standby time of 24 hours.¹

Further to these innovations, it is the S Pen’s response time that truly grants it that life-like writing experience. In one of Samsung’s latest mobile devices, the S Pen features AI technologies that bolster the pen’s acceleration and gyro sensors in order to predict pen movement and improve accuracy, resulting in a response time that is 80% faster than the previous model. Combined with a 120Hz display, this faster S Pen provides a remarkably smooth user experience.

Performance: Evolving from a Simple Stylus to a Pen

Over the past 10 years, the S Pen has developed into a versatile pen with a wide range of features. One such highlight of this evolution is the S Pen’s Air Command menu. When you eject the S Pen or click its button, a series of essential S Pen feature icons appear on-screen. These days, the Air Command menu emerges in a line, as opposed to the fan shape that earlier models featured, in order to display more icons at once. Users can even customize the actions and icons that appear so as to enjoy effortless and instant access to their most frequently used features.

Another notable S Pen functionality is the Screen off memo function, which was included to broaden the horizon of quick notetaking. This feature lets users write their notes down directly onto the lock screen once they have popped out their S Pen. The resulting Note is then kept on the Always On Display, or saved to Samsung Notes, and over the years, this feature has seen more options for pen tips, colors and canvas size included to help you capture your inspiration in real time.

Following the application of various improvements and innovations since its inception, the S Pen has evolved to truly became a device of its own. The revolutionized S Pen features Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) connectivity, meaning that users can control their music, camera app and more directly from their S Pen within a certain radius – similar to a remote control.

In recent years, the S Pen has only seen more expansions to its scope. The introduction of S Pen Air actions allows users to control their smartphone’s applications by pressing their S Pen’s button. With Air actions, you can harness intuitive actions to switch between camera and shooting modes, zoom in or out of a shot and execute a variety of other convenient functions – all with customizable gestures.

With the very latest S Pen models, gesture control has only gotten easier with the introduction of five Anywhere actions. Users can now customize actions for the Back, Home, Recent App, Smart Select and Screen Write commands, making the S Pen more helpful for device control than ever before.

Design: Write Intuitively, With Style

From a rounded form to a flat symmetrical design to a unibody type, Samsung has constantly been refining the design of the S Pen for more seamless pen handling and the most comfortable writing experiences possible. As a result, the S Pen has developed to be an ergonomic pen that allows users a relaxed grip. Today’s S Pen boasts a sleeker appearance thanks to its elegant, unibody design, and its very latest iteration is the lightest and thinnest S Pen yet, coming in at just 3.04g and 5.8mm.

The development of an S Pen that came in a range of color options came about to satisfy those users looking to showcase their personality through their devices. Each color option even matched the corresponding device’s S Pen slot. One such highlight saw a clear ocean-blue device paired with a vivid yellow S Pen, with the corresponding packaging summarizing the evolution of the S Pen so far by featuring the stylus on the front of its box to establish that the S Pen truly is the key identifier of Samsung’s smartphone products.

In order to provide users with the most lifelike pen experience possible, Samsung has been working with a range of pen makers in order to provide different types of S Pen. One result of these efforts is the Lamy Safari Stylus S Pen, a hybrid between the classic S Pen and the world-famous fountain pen brand’s signature product that featured a thinner nib for more precise writing experiences. Another unique S Pen product came about through a collaboration with South Korea’s national ballpoint brand, Monami. This S Pen featured several features bespoke to a Monami pen, including a nib that could be safely stored when not in use. Such collaborations provide users with unique color and design preferences more choice when it comes to customizing their own S Pen experiences.

Ecosystem: Diversifying the S Pen’s Canvas Options

These days, you can enjoy the versatility of the S Pen on larger screens such as tablets and laptops as well as on your smartphone. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A and S series include an S Pen, as does the Galaxy Book, allowing users to take advantage of their S Pen on increasingly larger canvases. The S Pen models included with Samsung’s tablets and laptops have been developed differently to those developed for smartphones, featuring a rounded, unibody design and a glossy finish.

Users of Galaxy Tab S6 and S7 devices can easily store their S Pen on the side and back (respectively) of their tablets thanks to their magnetic storage feature, making it easier to keep track of your S Pen and also providing a simple way for you to charge your S Pen.

The expansion of the S Pen ecosystem also comes with more opportunities for pro-level S Pen usage. The Galaxy Tab S7 is the first to come pre-loaded with Clip Studio Paint, a professional drawing app for illustration, webtoon and animation production, Noteshelf, a dedicated note-taking app, and Canva, a graphic design app. Accordingly, the S Pen is today playing a key role in transforming the tablet into a device capable of servicing any user’s tastes and interests.

The S Pen has become the key identifying feature of the Galaxy Note series and Samsung’s latest tablet line-ups, but this has been taken a step further following its launch along with the Galaxy S21 Ultra earlier this year. The very latest Galaxy S line device provides users with such S Pen benefits as drawing, notetaking and video editing; S21 Ultra users can take advantage of the delicate touch granted by the S Pen for precise and elaborate video editing capabilities unachievable by human fingers alone. The inclusion of the S Pen in an S series device is an innovation that improves both device portability and productivity, and going forward, Samsung is determined to bring the outstanding performance of the S Pen into a wider range of categories for more seamless mobile experiences.

Since its conception, the S Pen has been a landmark innovation. An elegant instrument that lets users create to their heart’s content on their digital screens, the evolution of this delicate stylus over the past decade has seen the S Pen grow into an independent smart device of its own. Stay tuned to find out how the S Pen is set to develop further and provide users with even more means of self-expression.

¹ Data source: https://www.samsungsvc.co.kr/online/faqView.do?faqId=KNOW1000036790

* All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice. Availability may vary by market, operator and connected device.