We do not know how long it may be until the arrival of the new generation of the tablet from Nvidia, whose debut has been forecast for several months but it seems that it never ends, so, for the moment, we will continue to put the model launched in the middle of last year, the first Shield Tablet, as the protagonist in our comparative with the star compact tablet from Samsung, the newly presented Galaxy Tab S2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of them? Which one best suits your needs? We measure your Technical specifications so you can decide for yourself.
Integrated
Clear differences between these two tablets from the outset in the design section: while the Galaxy Tab S2 bet on the iPad format, but maintaining the identity seal of the devices of Samsung (smooth lines, physical home button), the Shield Tablet it uses the conventional, more elongated format, and prioritizes functionality over aesthetics, with a multitude of small details that enhance the gaming experience, such as the placement of the stereo speakers on the front.
Dimensions
As in other comparisons (the same happened with the Z3 Xperia Tablet Compact and by the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of Spain with the MediaPad M2), it is appreciated that the most notable difference is not really in the size, but in the proportions of each of these two tablets (19,86x13,48 inch against 22,1x12,6 inch), although it is impossible not to notice, however, that the Galaxy Tab S2 yes it is much finer5,6 mm against 9,2 mm) and light (265 grams against 390 grams), which is undoubtedly one of its great attractions.
Screen
And also on this occasion we find two screens that do not coincide in anything other than size: the panels used are different (AMOLED against LCD), as are aspect ratios (4:3, optimized for reading, versus 16:9, optimized for video playback), and they do not have the same resolution (2048 x 1536 against 1920 x 1200) or with the same pixel density (PPI 320 against PPI 283).
Performance
This is probably the strongest point of the Shield Tablet, especially in regards to graphic processing, and all the credit, as you know, goes to its processor Tegra K1, quad-core and with a frequency of 2,2 GHz, who they accompany 2 GB RAM memory. The technical specifications of the Galaxy Tab S2, in any case, they are also of high level, with an eight-core processor with a frequency of 1,9 GHz y 3 GB RAM memory. The tablet of Samsung has the advantage of arriving with Android Lollipop pre-installed, but the Nvidia also has the update available.
Storage capacity
The advantage is this time for the Galaxy Tab S2, which can be achieved with 32 GB o 64 GB of storage capacity, while the Shield Tablet is only available with 16 GB. Both give us the possibility, however, to expand the internal memory externally through a card. micro-SD. which helps to alleviate the lack of the tablet Nvidia.
Cameras
Which of the two tablets suits us best, as far as cameras are concerned, will depend fundamentally on the type of use of them that we think we can do more: if we really use our tablet frequently to take pictures, the advantage is for the tablet from Samsung, whose main chamber is 8 MP (in front of 5 MP for the Shield Tablet), but if the greatest use we can give it is that of video calls, which is the most common, it is the tablet of Nvidia the one that interests us the most, since it has a front camera of 5 MP (in front of 2,1 MP for the Galaxy Tab S2).
Autonomy
It is still too early to have independent tests of the autonomy of the Galaxy Tab S2 that hasn't even hit the stores yet, so the only thing we can do for now is compare the battery capacity data, which gives a wide win to the Shield Tablet (4000 mAh against 5197 mAh).
Price
The tablet of Nvidia has an important point in its favor in the price since, after almost a year on sale, it is possible to find it already in some distributors for prices that are around the $300while that of Samsung will go on sale, like its predecessor, for $399, which makes a considerable difference.