Samsung Galaxy View: News, Rumors, Features, Pictures

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 — Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Samsung isn’t taking Apple’s multitasking, stylus-touting iPad Pro lying down. Rumors that Samsung might be working on an 18.4-inch tablet surfaced in early August. It’s hardly a shock that Samsung likes to make things “big,” and the company was the first to push the size of smartphones to well over over 5-inches. The majority of tablets top out at 10-inches, so 18.4-inches could be a big time game changer. The name of this device was previously believed to be the Galaxy Tab S Pro, but this has since been replaced with the name Galaxy View, as the most likely official moniker. Here’s what we know so far.

Updated on 10-22-2015 by Andy Boxall: Added in leaked pictures of a massive Samsung tablet, that may be the Galaxy View.

New leaked pictures show more of the Galaxy View

In late October, SamMobile published a series of stills supposedly taken from a promotional video featuring the Galaxy View tablet, giving us a better idea of what could be the final design. The video features the Galaxy View name, and provides a screen size of 18.4-inches, both of which we’ve heard from previous rumors. Unsurprisingly, given the size, it looks very big indeed in these new pictures.

If the story told by the images is accurate, Samsung may promote the View as a portable smart television, and mentions that owners can watch movies and TV anywhere, play mobile games, view cooking guides while in the kitchen, and make video calls using a front camera. The tablet shown as an unusual kickstand, which may be part of a special dock, rather than the device itself. It flows rather than hinges like one found on a Surface tablet, and features a handle for shifting the beast-of-a-machine around.

samsung may be preparing to launch an ipad killer galaxy view cooking leak

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One interesting design point to note is the absence of a physical home button, a common feature on Samsung phones and tablets. Software buttons are shown on the display in several screenshots. Now stills from the video have been leaked, there’s a possibility the actual video may find its way out into the world later, along with further leaks regarding the unusual device.

FCC certification, coming to AT&T

It looks like a 4G LTE version of the Galaxy View will be coming to the United States, but so far only on a single carrier. The Federal Communications Commission recently approved an 18-inch Samsung tablet, and in the leaked image, an AT&T logo is visible on the back of the device.

samsung-view-att — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The unnamed tablet may be the Galaxy Veiew, and it apparently supports all of AT&T’s common LTE bands. The dimensions for the tablet are 17.5 x 10.7 x 20.2 (inches) and the device measures 18.6-inches diagonally, leaving enough space for the purported 18.4-inch display. No other specifications were added to the FCC filing.

Mid-range specs

You would think a Samsung tablet sporting an 18.4-inch display would have high-end specs, but that might not be the case.

According to SamMobile‘s sources, the Galaxy View will feature a 1080p resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels), a 1.6GHz 64-bit octa-core Exynos 7580 processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and a MicroSD slot for expandable storage. It’ll supposedly sport an 8-megapixel rear camera, 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 5,700mAh battery. This beast is expected to measure 451.8mm wide by 275.8mm tall, and 11.99mm thick.

In contrast, the Galaxy Tab S2 includes a Quad HD (2,048 x 1,536 pixel) display, 3GB of RAM, and a higher-end processor. Don’t be fooled by the Exynos name. The rumored Exynos 7580 in the Galaxy View is an octa-core, but it’s more on the level of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615.

These rumored specs were backed up by GFXBench results, which agreed on an 18.5-inch, 1080p display, 1.6GHz Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. Interestingly, the results made no mention of a rear camera, but let’s be honest: Why would you even take pictures with such a monster of a tablet?

The GFXBench results also revealed the lack of an accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, barometer, and NFC. Finally, based on the results, the Galaxy View will run Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, though we’ll assume Marshmallow will be in the works for the tablet.

In early August, a document on import tracking database Zauba shows the South Korean electronics giant has shipped five massive 18.4-inch tablets to facilities in India for evaluation purposes. Those particular slates will never see the light of day — they’re marked for “destruction” after testing so as to prevent leaks — but are interestingly valued at INR 32,371, or $508. Assuming for a moment that’s not a placeholder, the Galaxy View could be the most affordable big-screened tablet ever.

NowhereElse

Teaser at IFA 2015

Samsung teased the Galaxy View with a short video at the end of its IFA 2015 press conference. Specific details weren’t revealed other than a planned October 2015 launch.

The teaser video did show a rather large tablet with a built-in kickstand that looks very much like what the Microsoft Surface offers. We were also told to “think bigger” and that it would be a “new dimension in entertainment.”

Samsung_Galaxy_View_Tease_01 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Bundled with software extras

Historically, larger Samsung tablets have come with a S-Pen stylus and a wealth of productivity services. TabPro buyers got a free subscription to Hancom Office, a three-month LinkedIn premium membership, a subscription to Evernote, and 1TB of free storage on Bitcasa. If the Galaxy is indeed Samsung’s answer to Apple’s iPad Pro, you can bet the company will sweeten the pot with a similar bundle.

Previous rumors pegged the Galaxy View for initial sale in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, Korea, and India. Barring supply constraints, we’d expect to see those territories included as part of the Galaxy View’s initial launch.

What is the Galaxy S Pro?

Back in July, Samsung filed a trademark application in South Korea for a mysterious “Samsung Galaxy Tab S Pro,” likely a new addition to the company’s aging Galaxy Tab S line of Android tablets.

As far as progress markers for rumbled-about products go, trademarks aren’t necessarily the most reliable. But a changelist referring to Samsung’s Milk Music leaked the Galaxy Tab S Pro name earlier this year, and the assumption was that this would be the name of Samsung’s behemoth tablet.

Even though the company’s all-metal, ultra-thin Galaxy Tab S2 tablets finally appeared in late July, and the Galaxy View is on the way, there’s still a chance that Samsung might add a Pro tablet to the mix. A 12.2-inch size isn’t out of the question.

Previous Updates:

Updated on 10-7-2015 by David Curry: Added in FCC certification for Galaxy View.

Updated on 10-2-2015 by Williams Pelegrin: Added in GFXBench results, further solidifying the Galaxy View’s specifications.

Updated on 09-03-2015 by Robert Nazarian: Added in new of Samsung teasing the Galaxy View.

Updated on 08-21-2015 by Robert Nazarian: Added in leaked mid-range specs.

Updated on 08-10-2015 by Kyle Wiggers: Added leak of a document suggesting a screen size of 18.4 inches.

Samsung Galaxy View rumors and news leaks

Samsung's rumored 18-inch Galaxy View tablet looks massive in leaked pictures