I would be comparing the apple’s latest and affordable Apple iPad 10.2 with Samsung’s latest Galaxy Tab S6 lite. Both of these tablets are affordable, sharing the premium features of their best versions from Samsung and Apple. So let’s move further and tell you that which among the two is a better purchase.
 |  |
|---|---|
| iPad 10.2 | Tab S6 Lite |
| BUY NOW | BUY NOW |
| PROS | PROS |
| Great price for a new iPad. Slightly bigger screen. Works with Smart Keyboard Cover. | Robust design. Plentiful UI customization options. S Pen stylus included. |
| CONS | CONS |
| Marginally better than iPad 9.7. Older iPads may be cheaper. iPad Air is superior for sketching. | Some issues with S Pen. Can be a little sluggish in use. Android not perfectly optimized for tablets. |
DESIGN
| iPad 10.2 | Tab S6 Lite | |
| Dimensions | 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.29 inches (248.9 x 172.7 x 7.4 mm) | 9.63 x 6.07 x 0.28 inches (244.5 x 154.3 x 7 mm) |
| Weight | 17.39 oz (493 g) | 16.47 oz (465 g) |
| Materials | Back: Aluminum | Back: Aluminum |
| Biometrics | Fingerprint (touch) | – |
| Features | – | Stylus |
| Colors | Silver, Space gray, Gold | Oxford gray, Angora blue, Chiffon pink |
The design of the Tab S6 Lite looks very promising as it shares the aesthetics of the Tab S6 like the full metal back, rounded metallic frame, and front glass bezeless display.
Looking at iPad 10.2, iPad’s are known for their build quality, and sleekness but the thing that bothers me a bit is thick bezels as compared to the Tab S6 Lite.
Taking a look at the bottoms, the iPad has the Lightning jack or lighting port whereas the S6 light has a USB Type-C port which is great.
Now as far as the thickness, they are very close but the S6 Light does not have a smart connector for a keyboard and both of them do have headphone jacks.
Even though the S6 Lite is much smaller physically, it’s only about 16 grams lighter than the iPad.
Talking about the colors in Tab S6 Lite, you got chiffon pink, angora blue, and oxford gray while in iPad you got silver, gold, and space gray.
Security-wise, you dont have any fingerprint scanner in Tab S6 Lite, you instead have a facial recognition whereas in iPad you have fingerprint lock integrated within the touch ID, but there is no face unlock.
Overall, If you look at one of these, they feel premium tablets rather than being medium range. Both the tablets have used ultra premiuim material at this price point.
DISPLAY
| iPad 10.2 | Tab S6 Lite | |
| Size | 10.2 inches | 10.4 inches |
| Resolution | 2160 x 1620 pixels, 4:3 ratio, 265 PPI | 2000 x 1200 pixels, 16:10 ratio, 224 PPI |
| Technology | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Screen-to-body | 74.94 % | 81.63 % |
| Features | Oleophobic coating, Ambient light sensor | Ambient light sensor |
Samsung is known for its display technology and even Apple buys displays from Samsung but here the case is different. Tab S6 Lite is using a TFT display and iPad is eqiuped with AMOLED display. I don’t know why Samsung is not using a AMOLED display.
Now as far as the sharpness or detail, the iPad has 3.5 million pixels, everything looks nice and sharp. Samsung actually lowered it from 4 million pixels last year to 2.4 million pixels for the S6 light, so it’s no longer OLED and the actual sharpness and detail is quite a bit lower as well.
One area that the S6 Light is better than the iPad is that it’s using a laminated display, so you don’t have a gap between the screen and the touch surface.
As they are medium range tablets, so you have only screens running at 60Hz.
Comparing brightness, the iPad is just slightly brighter but it is super close. iPad also has better viewing angles but ultimately if you’re going to be using these in bright rooms or outdoors, you’re gonna have an easier time seeing what’s on the screen on the Samsung S6 light.
S-PEN / PENCIL
The S6 light comes with this S-Pen, it definitely feels very lightweight and lighter than the one with the S6, so it is a more budget option. It does still have a button here and as soon as you bring it closer to the tablet it will actually hover, so it is connected smartly and then you will see a little menu giving you options for things you could do with the S-Pen.
Now as far as the iPad, we have the Apple pencil, this thing is not included, it costs $100, it is pricey but it feels like it’s about 4x weight of the S-Pen. It definitely feels higher quality and it dosen’t have any sorts of buttons.
Overall, I would say, if you’re somebody that who wants to do a lot of drawing and writing, I would definitely push you towards the iPad just because it has less delay and better sensitivity.
HARDWARE & PERFORMANCE
| iPad 10.2 | Tab S6 Lite | |
| System chip | Apple A10 Fusion APL1W24 | Samsung Exynos 9610 |
| Processor | Quad-core, 2340 MHz, Hurricane and Zephyr, 64-bit, 16 nm | Octa-core, 2300 MHz, Arm Cortex-A73 and Arm Cortex-A53, 64-bit, 10 nm |
| GPU | PowerVR 7XT GT7600 Plus | Mali-G72 MP3 |
| RAM | 3GB | 4GB |
| Internal storage | 32GB/128GB | 64GB/128GB |
| Storage expansion | – | microSDXC up to 1000 GB |
| OS | iPadOS (13.x) | Android (10), Samsung One UI |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, dual-band; MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct | 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, dual-band; Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 4.2 | 5.0 |
In Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, you have got Android 10 along with One UI 2.0 while in iPad you have iPadOS 13.4.
Talking about CPU in Tab S6 Lite you have a Exynos 9611, which is an octa core processor and GPU is Mali-G72 MP3. While in iPad, you have Apple A10 chipset, which is like 3 years old now and GPU in Power VR Series that has 6 core graphics.
Moving towards storage and memory, iPad is available in 32GB or 128GB internal storage and both the varients comes with 3GB of RAM. While Tab S6 Lite starts at 64GB internal and 128GB for the bigger variant. In both variants of Tab S6 Light, you have 4GB RAM. One advantage of S6 Light that you can expand the storage up to 1TB via SD Card.
I know Apple A10 chip is old but it is still more powerful than the Exynos 9611. The gap is not that large, if you compare like for daily usage. There will be no difference in performance, If you will sketch, play games, make notes their would be no issues at all.
Moving towards network and connectivity, in both tablets you will have wifi modems that are dual band, so you can enjoy speed upto 150 mbps over a good wifi network. In S6 Lite, you have bluetooth 5.0 that has better connectivity over the 4.2 found in iPad.
CAMERA & BATTERY
| iPad 10.2 | Tab S6 Lite | |
| Rear | Single camera | Single camera |
| Main camera | 8 MP (Autofocus, BSI sensor) | 8 MP (Autofocus) |
| Video recording | 1920×1080 (Full HD) (30 fps), 1280×720 (HD) (120 fps) | 1920×1080 (Full HD) (30 fps) |
| Front | 1.2 MP (HDR) | 5 MP |
| Battery Capacity | 8827 mAh | 7040 mAh |
| Type | Li – Ion, Not user replaceable | Not user replaceable |
Both of them are having rear cameras of 8MP in which you can record 1080p videos at 30FPS while front camera in iPad is 1.2MP that can record 720 at 30FPS whereas in S6 Lite you have a front facing camera of 5MP that can record 1080p at 30FPS.
Talking about the camera quality, Samsung is a bit ahead in terms of taking good pictures and videos but no one buys tablets for camera.
Now moving towards the battery, you have 7040mAh with 15W fast charging in Tab S6 Lite while in iPad battery capacity is 8827mAh that can charge with a speed of 12W. Screen on time in Apple iPad is around 8 hours while the screen on time for Tab S6 is 7 hour.
CONCLUSION
The iPad comes in at $329 but there are tons of sales and you can get it as low as $250 at times whereas the S6 Light, it is $350 and that does include the S-Pen which Apple does not include.
Which one I suggest you to buy? Well, I think most people are gonna be happier with the iPad. I think there’s a massive difference in quality for the pen support that’s the main thing that samsung added this year but the pen quality is not great. There are a lot of downsides to this S6 light, for example, they removed a keyboard dock connector, the display is no longer OLED, and performance didn’t get better.
Whereas the iPad it’s not a great device but for that price point, it packs in a ton and a lot of Android guys will actually buy iPad’s just because of the App Store. There’s a huge amount of optimized apps, the pen support is great, and on top of that we have the smart connector this year which Apple added.
