Samsung Galaxy Tab S2: Work and play anywhere

I’ve always loved playing with gizmos and gadgets. I still remember popping a floppy disk into the desktop computer at school to play the Oregon Trail. It was a popular educational game (for those of you who are too young to know what I’m talking about). I’d play for hours until my virtual family succumbed to dysentery.

Fast forward 25 years, and computer gaming has completely changed. I still play Oregon Trail every now and then when I’m feeling nostalgic, but gone are the floppy disks and dot matrix graphics. Now all I have to do is grab my tablet and download the game from the app store. But tablets offer so much more than just fun and games.

Over the years, I’ve used many different tablets for both work and play, and often I’ve found that there aren’t a lot of differences between some of these tablets. Recently I had the opportunity to try out the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 to see if it can stand out from the crowd. Read on, and I’ll tell you what I think.

Viewing experience

When I’m at home, I like to use a tablet to stream videos online and read the latest news. I’ve been bringing the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 out with me on the condo balcony to binge watch South Park with the CraveTV app. Images are clear and vibrant. The Tab S2 offers a large 9.7” screen and it’s thin at just 5.6mm. With a 4:3 screen ratio, this tablet is designed to provide a more balanced view in both portrait and landscape. And when reading through my favourite news sites, I can tone down the bright colours with Reading Mode to keep from straining my eyes. It’s like having a built-in e-reader.

Productivity tools

The Tab S2 comes preloaded with Microsoft Office. The software came in handy when I hosted a meeting at the office and used the Tab S2 to display a PowerPoint presentation. And while working from a coffee shop one evening, I used its Multi-Window functionality to review a spreadsheet in Excel, while browsing the web for up to date ball game scores on the other side of the screen. With these tools built right into the tablet, I never had to wait until I was near my computer to open up and view my files.

However, when I was working near my computer, the Tab S2 offered a unique feature called SideSync that I found really useful. SideSync allowed me to share the screen and data between my PC and tablet – it was like having picture-in-picture! I was able to share documents from my tablet and work on them with my laptop (useful with access to a keyboard), while pulling up the ball game on my tablet.

Made to share

Another great feature of this tablet is that it can support multiple user accounts. I’m still a bachelor (partly because I don’t like sharing), but the ability to create different profiles came in handy when guests came over to visit – especially with my young nephew and nieces. With the free Kids Mode app, available in the Play Store, I was able to setup individual profiles for each of my sister’s kids to allow them to surf safely with fun and educational content designed specifically for kids. I tried to introduce them to the Oregon Trail, but they weren’t interested. Oh well…

The bottom line

I found the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 to be a versatile tablet that can transition seamlessly from work to play. What makes it different from other tablets? It’s ready to work right out of the box with Microsoft Office apps, but it’s also ready to entertain with a screen optimized for video viewing and access to Kids Mode which lets users build in fun for the young and young at heart. The Samsung Galaxy S2 is well-equipped for whatever you need it to do.

What are your thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2? Let me know in the comments section below.

Glenn Calderon is Bell Mobility’s Marketing Communications Specialist.