Galaxy Tab Active 3 – More durable and powerful models

Samsung is still one of the very few OEMs to offer durable Android tablets for the consumer and enterprise markets. Galaxy Tab Active 3 was released three years after the Galaxy Tab Active 2 as a new model designed to take on the toughest jobs in the world in the harshest of environments. According to Samsung’s marketing materials, the Galaxy Tab Active 3 was developed with feedback from customers and partners, why it is more durable and powerful than previous models. The tablet was announced shortly after Samsung was named the leader in IDC MarketSacape for Rugged Mobile Devices worldwide.

Design of Galaxy Tab Active 3

Galaxy Tab Active 3 has a solid design with a thick back and textured back. The tablet is equipped with a special carrying case that further enhances its resilience.

The tablet has three physical buttons on the bottom bezel of the screen, as well as three additional keys on the right edge. One button is the Active Key which can be associated with any app or used for Push to Talk.

This special carrying case comes with its own S Pen holder and allows the tablet to withstand drops of up to 1.5 meters. It basically adds MIL-STD-810H to the interceptor. The design is also IP68 certified, which means the tablet has passed immersion tests in freshwater at a depth of 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes.
The tablet measures 213.8 x 126.8 x 9.9mm. The Wi-Fi-only variant weighs 426 grams while the LTE model weighs 429 grams.

Technical specifications

‘Extra power’ is one of the tablet’s headlines and yes, the Galaxy Tab Active 3 has a much newer SoC than its predecessor. It is hardly the mainstream document, though. Samsung’s third rugged tablet in the line uses the Exynos 9810 chipset and 4GB of RAM as well as 64 / 128GB of internal storage that can be expanded via a microSD card.

The tablet has a front-mounted fingerprint scanner embedded in one of three physical buttons and connectivity features including USB 3.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac / ax 2.4G + 5GHz, HE80, MIMO and GPS + Glonass + Beidou + Galileo. The internal components are powered by a 5,050mAh battery.

Display

The Galaxy Tab Active 3 has an 8.0-inch PLS TFT LCD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200. The screen has a 16:10 aspect ratio and a pixel density of about 283 pixels per inch.

The screen is surrounded by quite thick bezels resulting in a screen-to-body ratio of less than 70%. It’s less elegant, but thicker bezels add durability and make it more convenient to wear gloves.

Screen and S Pen – Improved display with a clean writing experience

This is a decent PLS TFT panel, which is Samsung’s IPS equivalent. At 1200 x 1920 it’s plenty sharp enough, and it gets pleasingly vibrant for an LCD. Outdoor visibility is good, as you’d expect, even if it does wash out a little in bright light. It’s a big step up from the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 2, at any rate.

Samsung also supplies its S Pen here. This plastic stylus doesn’t slot into the tablet itself, like with Samsung Galaxy Note 20 phones, but rather into a large and tight-fitting slot on top of the protective case.

Battery life

Samsung has equipped the Galaxy Tab Active 3 with a 5050 mAh battery, much larger than its predecessor’s 4450 mAh battery.

Great for 11 hours of video playback or claimed internet time and 81 hours of audio playback. You’ll be comfortable spending a few days with the mixed use, functionality it’s designed for. Though obviously, if you’re using an LTE connection and use a lot of video content, your experience may change.

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 3?

Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 3 is truly a dedicated tool for a wide range of very specific situations. If you need a large screen device that can withstand the grind and jumble of an especially strenuous job, that’s ideal.

For any other tablet use case, you should use one of Apple’s products. The latest iPad Air 4 costs just over £ 40, which aside from ruggedness it outperforms the Tab 3 in every way. The value proposition here is highly questionable if robustness is not paramount.
Unless you really need the Tab’s super-hard, precise credentials, it would be tempting to recommend buying an iPad Mini and investing an extra £ 140 in an Apple Pencil and a sturdy case.
But for those who need their tablet to endure (quite literally) everyday without having to worry about a few scratches, it’s one of the few precious options.