Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra 14.6" Tablet (Open Box)

After Year 1: I still love it and use it regularly alongside other devices. Using it with a Samsung phone clearly amplifies its value. As a second screen for a laptop is mostly overkill. I also found an official Samsung keyboard cover case on sale cheap from Best Buy, and highly recommend it if you can purchase sub$100. My regular case with unattached Mac keyboard was fine, but having the magnetic catch, the Dex options built into the custom keys, and a slim, tight, solid build really do add style and usefulness while keeping the bundle together. Former response below.... FIRST MONTH: I'm still really pleased with the device. It was a great purchase, and it continues to add a great deal of productivity to my digital+physical tool set. I have since decided to pair it with a Samsung phone, and the synergistic effects are further enhanced. The screen quality for video, and the speakers on this device are incredible. It is so much better to watch video, including time spent on training and learning material, on this device than through a laptop. The one caveat however is that if you can have both operating side by side, using the tablet as a second screen, it's really good. There are a couple of apps besides the native sharing that help with latency challenges when moving a mouse across a computer screen to the tablet as a second screen. Overall, however, it would be a very expensive second screen, which is why that is a very light benefit of this device in my opinion. As mentioned in my original review, my primary desire was to have a great writing tablet, and this is that. I have a strong work ThinkPad, which also has a stylus and touch screen. It is great as well, but the experience to be enjoyed with writing on the Samsung tablet, is endurable. That in my opinion is especially important when you think about needing to write for long periods of time, and needing to be able to write across applications, and needing to mark up different kinds of documents. Again, synchronization with the Samsung phone line from the final Note to the newer S ultra versions is unmatched. I'm really pressed at times to determine whether I will use my laptop or the tablet, and I would have never blinked to always use the laptop in the past. Of course, I have forced myself in the initial weeks to only use the tablet in order to determine if it's really a useful workhorse or merely a peripheral device that will get used from time to time. Ease of adoption has me expecting the former. ORIGINAL: Most of the time someone is buying a device like this they are extremely concerned about the value they may be receiving, and so they have likely done a significant amount of research if they are buying for themselves for work or some kind of professional endeavor. That is the audience that I'm writing this review for. Before purchasing this device I spent a great deal of time and effort researching the S7 and 8 series of tabs as well as the Apple iPad pro lines from the last few years and the more recent iPad Air line. I also spent a bit of time searching the various purchasing platforms for both new used renewed and refurbished versions of these devices. I ultimately decided as one can see from this review on purchasing through Amazon with their renewed program - part of the reason was that I wanted to get a refurbished or certified version of the device if I was not going to purchase new and I also wanted to use up gift cards that I had. Thus I needed a platform which could meet both of those needs. I chose to go with the middle tier 256 GB hard drive and 12 GB ram configuration of the device, given that you can increase the virtual ram with the RAM Boost function by another 8 GB, which uses the hard drive to supplement additional RAM. The device came in near perfect condition. There was a small scuff of less than a centimeter on the back of the device and there were two hairline scratches of about a half centimeter each on the screen of the device. However they were only viewable when the screen is turned off and held at an angle with light reflecting upon those areas to view them. Only one of them could be barely felt by gliding the back of a fingernail over the screen to see if it could be felt. Upon receiving the device I immediately cleaned it and applied a full screen glass protector as well as a case to the device. As for the device itself it is a bit more unwieldy than other devices and tablets that I have owned and or used. That being said with the case on the device and holding the base at my chest level I could walk around while reading the screen without great discomfort for a prolonged period of time. However for those who want to hold the device in a hand alone then this would likely be too heavy and large of a tablet for that activity. I have used and plan to continue using the device on a flat surface the most of the time that I'm using it however with the right case it can easily be held in a lap in the landscape mode. The device charges extremely fast with the correct chargers and the correct functions for charging turned on in the settings for the device. More than likely upon turning the device on you will need to engage in several software updates that dramatically improve the device is functioning. The s pen has a robust feature set and integrates seamlessly in device usage for applications across the Galaxy in Google play spectrum. My overall cost for supplementary accessories including the charger the case and the screen protectors was around 60 to $70. I did not purchase a keyboard because I already had one, however you would definitely want to purchase one, and I would recommend one of the old Bluetooth Apple keyboards from several years ago. And, the cost of the device was sub$1k.