Samsung surprised us last year with their awesome flagship, the Galaxy Tab S. The Tab S had a lot of things going for it, including an absolutely gorgeous 8.4-inch Super AMOLED display with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 ($499.99, 32GB) is one of the nicest Android tablets we've seen, with a gorgeous Super AMOLED display, a more refined body than its predecessor, and a powerful processor for excellent performance.

Great multitasking features; Premium build; Good camera

Pricey; Lots of bloatware; Average battery life in testing

You've seen Samsung's 2015 phones, and now it's time to see what the company can do to make its tablets on par with these bad boys. Is Samsung's Galaxy Tab S2 the best tablet around?

Very well built; Slim; comfortable and easy to hold; One of the brightest screens on any tablet available found today; Surprisingly fast screen response when typing; Just like in the 2015 phones; Android is fairly stripped back; making it more efficient; Performs quite well; LTE model works as a...

Samsung has ditched the camera flash..; for some reason or another, No infrared port, On-screen keyboard needs a bit of work, Has virtually no individuality or unique identity: it looks like Samsung's interpretation of an iPad

Samsung's update to its premium Android tablet line, the Galaxy Tab S2 is sleek, powerful and compelling - as long as you actually need a tablet update. Samsung has somewhat pulled back on its absolute tsunami of tablets of recent years; there was a time when that, taking LTE and straight Wi-Fi...

It has some stiff competition from Google's Nexus 9, but this is the most desirable Android tablet there is for under £500

Samsung hasn't just crafted a worthy successor to the Galaxy Tab S , but one of the best big-screen tablets out there. It's thin, light, gorgeous-looking and well-balanced, and while the screen has fewer pixels than its predecessor's it's still fantastic with a more practical aspect ratio.

Being that premium tablet it's sought out to be, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7-inch comes in at the customary starting price of $500 for the base 32GB Wi-Fi model. That's not too shabby considering it has the svelte construction, smooth performance, and diversified experience to cater to a wide...

Thin and lightweight design; Minimalized footprint makes it compact for a full-size offering; Snappy processing performance; Accurate Super AMOLED display

Short battery life; No IR blaster or NFC; Weak brightness output makes it tough to view display with the sun presents; Underpowered internal speaker quality

Samsung has a stronghold over the smartphone space, but its grip on the tablet market isn't as tight. That market belongs to Apple, and making a tablet as good as the iPad is not enough for customers to be lured across to Samsung - the Tab S2 has to be better.

9.7-inch Super-AMOLED display; Thin and light form factor; Octa-core CPU; Refined finger scanner; Proficient 8-megapixel rear camera; Aluminium chassis

Lacking distinctive character; Build not as premium as Apple's iPad; Fewer hardware features; but still priced to compete against Apple's iPad

Samsung has made the decision to revise the camera on its latest Galaxy Tab. Although the main sensor still comes in at 8 megapixel, it lacks an LED flash this time around. In return, videos can now be recorded with up to 1440 lines, previously we saw 1080 lines. Elsewhere we've seen some changes.

Sharp and bright display with good color representation and excellent contrast; Expandable memory; Good battery life; High quality workmanship

Camera useful only under optimal conditions; Not the most recent Android version

When it comes to tablets, the current thinking seems to be "go big or go home," or at the very least, "come with a keyboard." The Galaxy Tab S2, on the other hand, seems like a careful perfection of the way tablets used to be - not a computer replacement, but a straightforward 8-inch or 9.7-inch tab...