amsung's Galaxy Tab S has battery life to spare......

When it comes to tablets, Samsung's attitude has been, "let's try everything." With tablets of every size, shape and color, it's hard to think of something Samsung hasn't done yet.

One surprising omission has been a tablet with an ultra-thin OLED screen— that is, until the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4-inch (MSRP $399.99) showed up this past summer. The super-slim tablet isn't without its faults, but it's a very cool addition to a crowded market — and a great sign of things to come. Though its specs don't represent a huge leap over those of the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro, the OLED screen takes a solid blueprint and adds a beautiful finishing touch. Improved battery life, more accurate color reproduction, and a slimmer package await users migrating from other tablets. REVIEWED Apple iPad Mini with Retina Display Tablet Review And because this screen doesn't need a backlight, Samsung has been able to trim quite a bit of weight. Though tablets with LCD displays have been getting thinner (like the iPad Air), the Tab S checks in at a mere 0.26 inches thick. That's thinner than most smartphones and No. 2 pencils. Along with the new screen, Samsung has thrown in every feature but the kitchen sink. There's an IR blaster, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, a fingerprint scanner, in-chassis case locks, a forward-facing camera and — well, you get the idea. But while the Tab S's touted AMOLED display is undoubtedly the future of display technology, it does have its downsides. First off, it has an unbelievably high-contrast ratio, since OLED screens simply don't illuminate black areas of images. That's great in most situations, but it can destroy shadow detail in some photos and videos. You'll also need to be sure to stay out of direct sunlight, as the Tab S's high reflectivity means the image will be tough to see when there's lots of light. REVIEWED Google Nexus 7 (Gen 2) Review In the long run, however, OLED's pros far outweigh its cons. The ability to turn individual pixels on and off as needed yields a great picture in most cases, and also saves big time on battery life. Indeed, the Tab S obliterates the competition when it comes to longevity, clocking a hair over 12 continuous hours of use in our video rundown test. That said, when viewing mostly white-screen content — like the pages of an eBook —battery life dwindles at an alarming rate. Our unit only lasted 5 hours, 58 minutes under those conditions. If you're reading on a long flight, we recommend changing to "night mode" (white text on a black background) if your eyes can handle it. Samsung's software experience still leaves something to be desired. The company has rethought virtually every Android feature with its TouchWiz user interface, often for the worse. The result is a slower, choppier experience than you'd get from a stock Android device. Similarly, as soon as you power on the Tab S you're greeted with a host of Samsung and Samsung-partner apps and services that you probably don't need or want. Frustratingly, many of these bloatware apps can't be uninstalled to free up storage space. But while there are rough edges galore in the user experience, this tablet's hardware is polished as can be. The battery is fantastic, the ergonomics are great and the dual quad-core processors (backed up by 3GB of RAM) make for a very capable machine, despite TouchWiz-related hiccups. Considering how much you get with this tablet, the relatively steep price tag doesn't come as a surprise. It's clearly meant to compete with the iPad Air and, to its credit, Samsung does present some tantalizing reasons for Apple users to jump ship. Still, until the company embraces a less-obtrusive user interface — like, say, stock Android 5.0 Lollipop — it's hard to wholeheartedly recommend the Galaxy Tab S 8.4. All told, this is a laudable first OLED effort, and it leaves us excited to see what Samsung can do next time around