Samsung's Snapdragon 662 tablet drops name hints as release nears

Samsung's next mid-range tablet identified by model number SM-T505 will likely launch as the Galaxy Tab A 7.0 (2020), or perhaps even as the Galaxy Tab A7. The former possibility was already subject to sizable speculation ever since the said model designation first appeared in some benchmark listings earlier this week. However, Samsung itself submitted it for Wi-Fi certification as the “Galaxy Tab A7”, which breaks precedent with its standard communications practices that usually have it avoid marketing names altogether when dealing with any kind of regulatory authority.

What makes the SM-T505 different, if anything, remains to be seen. For now, this seems to be the very same slate – code-named “Bengal” – which was previously spotted in benchmark listings mentioning a combination of an octa-core Kryo 260 CPU and the Adreno 610 GPU. Both the Snapdragon 665 from last year and the newer Snapdragon 662 would fit that CPU-GPU combo and while a newer SoC might seem like an obvious choice, this has hardly been a year of obvious choices for Samsung. The WFA certificate also mentions Android 10, but no Wi-Fi 6 support, as is to be expected from a decisively mid-range product.

Samsung's tablet business remarkably stable in 2020

The SM-T505 is believed to be the LTE variant of the Galaxy Tab A7, whereas the iteration limited to Wi-Fi should be designated as SM-T500. Samsung tends to launch Galaxy A-series devices globally but between this range, the recently released Galaxy A 8.4 (2020), and the rumored SM-T575 borrowing some of the original Galaxy S9 specs, the tech giant is really keeping us guessing about its near-term plans. Of course, the flagship Galaxy Tab S7 family is just around the corner as well, but that line is in a price range of its own.

All things considered, Samsung's tablet business has actually been remarkably stable this year, which may be what prompted this recent wave of experimentation.