Galaxy Tab S 10.5 vs iPad Air Review: Comparison of Specs, Features - Shows Samsung Phone As Winner
Released in 2013, the iPad Air remains popular with users who are on a budget. However, this device pales in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 which has superior specs and display.
If a comparison between the iPad Air and the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 would be based on design alone, the device from Apple would easily win since it has a premium aluminum chassis and outstanding look. Compared to this, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has a plastic build, which is not really indicative of premium quality. However, it does have a dimpled panel on its back, making it easier to hold.
Comparing their displays is where the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 comfortably emerges as the winner since it has a bigger screen. It is also thinner and lighter than the iPad Air. The Galaxy Tab S has a 10.5-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, and a pixel density of 288 pixels per inch. The iPad Air has a much smaller 9.7-inch IPS LCD screen which is LED-backlit with a resolution of 1536 x 2048 pixels and a pixel density of 264 pixels per inch.
Coming their specs, the iPad Air has an Apple A7 chipset along with a dual-core 1.3 GHz Cyclone CPU, while the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has an Exynos 5 Octa 5420 chipset along with a quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7 CPU. Finally the iPad Air has 1 GB of RAM while the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has 3 GB of RAM.
As far as their internal memory is concerned, the iPad Air is available with 16, 32, 64 and128 GB of storage but does not have a microSD slot. The Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is available with either 16 or 32 GB of internal storage and it has a microSD slot which can be used to expand its external memory up to 128 GB.
On the Apple store, the basic 16GB version of the iPad Air costs $399 while the 16GB Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 costs around $340 on Amazon.