Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 vs Apple iPad Air 2 Comparison: Specs, Features Review - A Good Fight Between Equals

If Apple did not expect any competition to its latest tablet, the iPad Air 2, this would be incorrect as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is proving that is has the chops to put up a good fight and emerge as an equal.

Starting with their physical attributes and design, both devices are incredibly thin, but the iPad Air 2 is 8 percent thinner while the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is a bit bigger.

Coming to weight, the smaller tablet from Apple weighs in at 437 grams while its bigger rival weighs 465 grams. As for design the iPad Air 2 is made from premium aluminum while the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is constructed from plastic but features dimples on its rear panel to make it easier to hold.

As for display, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has 10 percent more screen area than the iPad Air 2. Coming to screen resolution, the iPad Air 2 has a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels and a pixel density of 264 pixels per inch, while the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels and a pixel density of 288 pixels per inch. Also, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has the AMOLED screen from Samsung which means it has richer colors and contrast. The iPad Air 2 has an IPS screen.

Comparing their features, both tablets have fingerprint sensors but only the iPad Air 2 has an anti-glare screen. The Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has split screen multitasking which its competitor does not have.

Coming to specs, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has an Exynos 5 Octa 5420 chip and a CPU with eight cores, out of which four Cortex-A15 cores are clocked at 1.9 GHz while the other four Cortex-A7 cores are clocked at 1.3 GHz. Compared to this, the iPad Air 2 has the Apple A8X chip coupled with a Triple-core CPU clocked at 1.5 GHz. As for RAM iPad Air 2 has 2GB worth while the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has 3GB.

When it comes to price, the 16 GB versions of both tabs are available at $365, but the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has a microSD slot which the iPad Air 2 does not have.