Announced earlier today, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s new Galaxy Tab S2 are set to hit the market in August and come in two sizes: an 8-inch version and a 9.7-inch version.

Since Samsung’s new tablets are competing directly with Apple’s iPads, we have already compared the 8-inch Galaxy Tab S2 to the iPad mini 3, and below we compare the larger 9.7-inch variant to Apple’s largest iPad, the iPad Air 2.

9.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 vs. Apple iPad Air 2:

Design and dimensions

Galaxy Tab S2: 169mm x 237.3mm x 5.6mm, with the Wi-Fi-only model weighing 389g and the Wi-Fi and LTE version weighing 392g, all metal frame and, like the smaller 8-inch version, available in standard black or white.

iPad Air 2: 240mm x 169.5mm x 6.1mm, despite having the same display size, the iPad is heavier and thicker than the Galaxy, with the Wi-Fi-only model weighing 437g and the Wi-Fi and LTE version weighing 444g, anodized aluminum unibody, available in Apple’s signature Silver, Gold, Space Gray.

Display

Galaxy Tab S2: 9.7-inch 2048 x 1536 (QXGA) Super AMOLED displays, unknown pixel density at this point.

iPad Air 2: 9.7‑inch LED‑backlit Multi‑Touch display with IPS technology, 2048 x 1536 resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi), Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating, fully laminated display with an antireflective coating.

Processor

Galaxy Tab S2: Exynos 5433 SoC with four Cortex A57 cores at 1.9GHz, and four Cortex A53 cores at 1.3GHz with 3GB of RAM.

iPad Air 2: A8X chip with 64‑bit architecture, 2GB of RAM and M8 motion coprocessor.

Storage

Galaxy Tab S2: 32GB and 64GB versions both with microSD up to 128GB.

iPad Air 2: Available in 16GB, 64GB and 128GB versions, no microsSD.

Camera

Galaxy Tab S2: 8MP AF rear camera, 2.1MP front camera, QHD video recording (2560 x 1440) at 30 fps and UHD video playback (3840 x 2160) at 30fps.

iPad Air 2: 1.2MP FaceTime Camera with 720p HD video capability, 8MP iSight camera with autofocus, face detection, backside illumination, five-element lens, HDR photos, Panorama feature, Hybrid IR filter, burst mode, 1080p HD video recording with time-lapse and slo-mo video feature, 3x video zoom, video stabilization, and tap to focus while recording.

Battery

Galaxy Tab S2: 5,870mAh (no further details at time of writing).

iPad Air 2: Built-in 27.3-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi‑Fi, watching video or listening to music.

Sensors

Galaxy Tab S2: Accelerometer, Finger Scanner, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall Sensor, RGB Sensor.

iPad Air 2: Touch ID, Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor.

Operating System

Galaxy Tab S2: Android 5.0 Lollipop

iPad Air 2: iOS 8, with a free upgrade to iOS 8.4 currently available.

Price

Galaxy Tab S2: Samsung has not released pricing yet, but we expect it to be in the region of $399 to $499 – similar to the outgoing Galaxy Tab S.

iPad Air 2: Ranging from $499 for the 16GB, Wi-Fi only model to $829 for the 128GB Wi-Fi and Cellular model.

Image via Samsung Mobile Press