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mhl hdmi note 2 - unimpressed

so i just bought a MHL adapter for this in hopes of it looking good on a big screen. connected it to my 19" monitor first...popped up and it looked ok. icons were a little bigger than what looks compared to on the device. so using my BT mouse and keyboard i did some browsing around through some apps...not a good experience at all. then i noticed it cut the edges off on all 4 sides by just a little bit. look horrible. i thought it was the monitor, so i moved it to my 42" tv.
so connected it to my tv, again, cut off the edges, everything got larger. if you get a notification, the bar is so big u need to scroll down, not ideal, looks cheap.
tried web browsing, not as bad but every time you click on something to insert txt, a HUGE keyboard shows up that you have to hit back button on mouse or keyboard to get it to go away. cant get around this because to connect BT keyboard need to have the samsung keyboard active. maybe will be different using smart dock and usb keyboard. the notification bar takes up so much space along with tabbed browsing and address bar that 1/3 of your screen is gone.
the audio sounded horrible via hdmi, didnt try to use a 3.5mm out at the same to see if that would change.
oh and it eats battery.
did anyone else try it and have better luck? will the smart dock do a better job?

To get rid of the on screen keyboard while using a secondary monitor, download "null keyboard" from the play store. Also, I agree that the hdmi experience isn't anything to write home about, but it is useful for watching downloaded movie's, or browsing YouTube. I use a handheld bluetooth keyboard, and it's usable, but not too pleasant.

the reason why the edges are cut off isnt because of your phone, its because of your TV. you have overscan enabled. disable it.
as for the keyboard, yeah, i noticed that as well. it seems to only really go away with the default keyboard. kinda annoying =(

I believe with the smart dock the keyboard doesn't pop up if u have one connected

Souai said:
the reason why the edges are cut off isnt because of your phone, its because of your TV. you have overscan enabled. disable it.
as for the keyboard, yeah, i noticed that as well. it seems to only really go away with the default keyboard. kinda annoying =(
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Click to collapse
whats overscan? i tried looking at every setting for picture..didnt see anything ..

The MHL should have a power connector because of the high power consumption of the device. It needs to be plugged in. I get great sound over HDMI, maybe your video has a bad encode?
I will agree, on a 40" TV it doesn't look too great, but then I didn't transcode for a large screen either...

Would running a custom rom stop from the mhl hdmi to work?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

Hdmi sound is digital. Something is wrong with your setup
swyped all these spelling errors from my galaxy note 2

Greetings i just bought the original Samsung MHL for note 2 and galaxy s3 today .
To be honest if you want to play games , or do what you normally do with your phone its very laggy and bad quality picture.
If you want it to watch movies, youtube, music, Photos e.t.c ( Multimedia) its great . The video engine its totally different so the video output on screen its very nice and the sound very good.
So if you dont have a media center home or smart tv or whatever its good to have . If you have then its a bad investment you can not do much on screen even with BT keyboard.
Oh , browsing its ok...
I expected more but unfortuantly thats the deal, i dont know if someone running 4.1.2 can confirm better performance on mirroring , games etc. i run stock on latest update 4.1.1 .
Cheers
Vatis

Waiting on Ubuntu for Android
http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android

I own the Smart Dock and the virtual keyboard doesn't pop up when connected to USB KVM.
As far the display not fitting the screen there's a tools button on the Samsung TV's remote that allows changing the Picture Size to Just Scan so it fits properly.
For the most part it works well except for a few minor quirks but it may be related to me connected to an Avocent KVM to use one set of monitor, keyboard and mouse for all my devices. For anyone with Smart Dock, does holding down both shift and space bring up English(US)?

Yes this is overscan. This is common place with home theater pcs. Typically tvs don't have much functionality when it comes to dealing with over/underscan. Luckily with pcs, gpu drivers do.
Sent from my SPH-L900

Same deal with using the allshare cast hub, got the cutoff screen untill I adjusted my tv settings. The only issue I have with the hub is that ive noticed the sound lags a tad. Love everything else.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

so is overscan on our tv's something we have to live with?

You can turn overscan off. Just look in your televisions picture setup. The scaling should be done by your phone. Not the telly.

xxsupergman25xx said:
whats overscan? i tried looking at every setting for picture..didnt see anything ..
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Click to collapse
If its a Samsung you may need to switch from 16×9 to autofit.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 04:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:51 PM ----------
I just got my adapter in today from Samsung. It just get a gray screen. Is there a limit to what it can push to? I had it connected to a new Samsung 65" TV.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

The stock video player plays full screen and correct aspect ratio. Random regular apps like gtalk display full screen and correct aspect also.
Netflix squishes into 4:3 for no explicable reason.
It's not the particular video on netflix since it looks right on the phone screen and it looks right on the tv too if I use my ltevo to play the same vid via mhl to the same tv over the same hdmi cable instead of the gn2.
Stretch to fit doesn't correct it either. No zoom/aspect option corrects it.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

DaBountyHunter said:
You can turn overscan off. Just look in your televisions picture setup. The scaling should be done by your phone. Not the telly.
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Click to collapse
Thanks, I have a Samsung 40" tv so I'll check it out later tonight to see if that option is available. I'm really loving this mhl cable though~

KEYofR said:
The stock video player plays full screen and correct aspect ratio. Random regular apps like gtalk display full screen and correct aspect also.
Netflix squishes into 4:3 for no explicable reason.
It's not the particular video on netflix since it looks right on the phone screen and it looks right on the tv too if I use my ltevo to play the same vid via mhl to the same tv over the same hdmi cable instead of the gn2.
Stretch to fit doesn't correct it either. No zoom/aspect option corrects it.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes netflix is squished into 4:3 on the smart dock too and probably on the allshare cast hub but I don't have that to test it.

The squish thing Netflix does is just Netflix and whatever coding they did for the app. I think it does same thing on the GS3.

Smart Dock - framerate after connecting mous

Hello,
I've got note II (stock rom 4.1.2) and Smart dock. When I connect only keyboard pendrive etc (not mouse) to the dock, and connect all to TV (hdmi) the phone's screen is still on. In this way I have very good framerate. I can play games and watch movies. Ecerything works like a charm. But when I connect the USB mouse, phone's screen is off. It's good for that purpose, but after that I've got really big problems with framerates. Films are not like 25fps, more like 18 to 20. I don't know why it works like that.

I have still yet to reproduce this effect. I can only assume its something with your ROM or maybe the USB mouse. Mine works and I never see a frame rate drop.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 AM ----------
Are you on a custom ROM. Kernel. Stock.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

xKrisx said:
I have still yet to reproduce this effect. I can only assume its something with your ROM or maybe the USB mouse. Mine works and I never see a frame rate drop.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 AM ----------
Are you on a custom ROM. Kernel. Stock.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried two logitech mice. I've got last stock rom drom samsung 4.1.2. Does the screen off in your device when you connect mouse? Because i think the problem is with this feature

Yes. I actually dont even use my wired mouse. It is only connected to auto off/rotate my screen. Does your TV have the option to set display to 720p instead of the 1080p the DOC defaults. I managed to replicate a FPS drop when connecting to a friends TV. Checked settings and it was displaying at 1080p. Changed it down to 720p max and it cleared right up.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

xKrisx said:
Yes. I actually dont even use my wired mouse. It is only connected to auto off/rotate my screen. Does your TV have the option to set display to 720p instead of the 1080p the DOC defaults. I managed to replicate a FPS drop when connecting to a friends TV. Checked settings and it was displaying at 1080p. Changed it down to 720p max and it cleared right up.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually my tv don't have such option. This issue is strange because without mouse all is extra smooth

I can vouch for the OPs Smart Dock issue as I have had the dock for awhile trying to isolate the same problem. Its not a rom issue.... if you look at NZtechfreak's (google search) review of his early loaner sample from Samsung, he didnt have any noticeable sign of this issue..... but if you notice at the end of his review he states that one issue is that the screen does not turn off at all while in use.
Samsung must have updated the software to recognize when a mouse is connected and for the phone to shut off the screen for display just on TV or Monitor..... however they updated this function, screws up the output. I have no 720p tv's or monitors to verify if it does not have the same effect but on my 1080p Sony & Samsung TVs, and my Samsung & Generic monitors, it happens. (either 1080i or 1080p is how the dock is detected on my displays)
Ive already tried reverting my Note 2 back to complete AT&T stock, different HDMI cables, different mice (both basic wired and wireless) and all combinations work fairly smoothly up until the point you plug in the usb cable/dongle of a mouse, then it switches off the phone's display and you can see how the smoothly mirrored output on your display begins to lag.
Its easy to notice if you mirror a movie or run a game on the phone while in the dock and seeing it displayed on both screens the just keep plugging in and out a mouse to the dock and you should see the difference.
Hopefully this Smart Dock is firmware updatable and Samsung fixes this ASAP.

haywood said:
I can vouch for the OPs Smart Dock issue as I have had the dock for awhile trying to isolate the same problem. Its not a rom issue.... if you look at NZtechfreak's (google search) review of his early loaner sample from Samsung, he didnt have any noticeable sign of this issue..... but if you notice at the end of his review he states that one issue is that the screen does not turn off at all while in use.
Samsung must have updated the software to recognize when a mouse is connected and for the phone to shut off the screen for display just on TV or Monitor..... however they updated this function, screws up the output. I have no 720p tv's or monitors to verify if it does not have the same effect but on my 1080p Sony & Samsung TVs, and my Samsung & Generic monitors, it happens. (either 1080i or 1080p is how the dock is detected on my displays)
Ive already tried reverting my Note 2 back to complete AT&T stock, different HDMI cables, different mice (both basic wired and wireless) and all combinations work fairly smoothly up until the point you plug in the usb cable/dongle of a mouse, then it switches off the phone's display and you can see how the smoothly mirrored output on your display begins to lag.
Its easy to notice if you mirror a movie or run a game on the phone while in the dock and seeing it displayed on both screens the just keep plugging in and out a mouse to the dock and you should see the difference.
Hopefully this Smart Dock is firmware updatable and Samsung fixes this ASAP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope that they will update it soon, because it's really annoying.

Sputnik_Wwa said:
I hope that they will update it soon, because it's really annoying.
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Click to collapse
yeah, I hope so too since I mainly bought this to play games on the big screen and this bug makes it unplayable unless you stick to the simple ones like angry birds or something. As for my MC4......forget it! at least I can browse and watch streaming movies still.... just have to disconnect the mouse each time.
I am wondering if BT mice do not cause this issue since they bypass the dock?

haywood said:
yeah, I hope so too since I mainly bought this to play games on the big screen and this bug makes it unplayable unless you stick to the simple ones like angry birds or something. As for my MC4......forget it! at least I can browse and watch streaming movies still.... just have to disconnect the mouse each time.
I am wondering if BT mice do not cause this issue since they bypass the dock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With BT mouse screen is on and everything works fine. But when you are watching videos it's shown on overlay without subtitles etc and you have to force landskape mode because phone still things that it doesn't have mouse.

Sputnik_Wwa said:
With BT mouse screen is on and everything works fine. But when you are watching videos it's shown on overlay without subtitles etc and you have to force landskape mode because phone still things that it doesn't have mouse.
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Ultimate Rotation Control

IamPro said:
Ultimate Rotation Control
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Click to collapse
I've already bought it the only way shich is annoying with bluetooth mouse is that the videos is playing in the overlay. I have dice player which shows subtitles in hdmi but i like more the option with showing on tv exactly what is on the phone

Sputnik_Wwa said:
I've already bought it the only way shich is annoying with bluetooth mouse is that the videos is playing in the overlay. I have dice player which shows subtitles in hdmi but i like more the option with showing on tv exactly what is on the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know with MXplayer it plays subtitles and you can pinch to zoom in and out so u can make it fit the screen

IamPro said:
I know with MXplayer it plays subtitles and you can pinch to zoom in and out so u can make it fit the screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have problems with fitting the screen There are many half solutions but I want more make it work out of the box as it should work

[Q] Nook HD+ HDTV Adapter and versions of CM

Recently I bought the HDTV adapter for my Nook HD+ and I'm trying to find the version of CM that will work best with it. I could not find this information through searching the forum.
My Nook had CM 10.1.3 the first time I tried it and it did not work particularly well. It was in the wrong resolution and did not display full screen. I did some searches on the forum and found that updating may fix the problem so I updated to CM 10.2.
CM 10.2 seemed to work better. Video looked much sharper, but 1080p video was choppy (probably because the Nook is playing the video on both screens) and still would not fill the screen.
Is there a version that has perfect or near perfect functionality? I really just need:
-not choppy 1080p video, games and emulators to play in full screen
-when playing a movie the Nook will normally display, "Playing on TV" so that the nook only has to render video on one screen
Are both of these possible?

B23X said:
Recently I bought the HDTV adapter for my Nook HD+ and I'm trying to find the version of CM that will work best with it. I could not find this information through searching the forum.
My Nook had CM 10.1.3 the first time I tried it and it did not work particularly well. It was in the wrong resolution and did not display full screen. I did some searches on the forum and found that updating may fix the problem so I updated to CM 10.2.
CM 10.2 seemed to work better. 1080p video looked much sharper, but still would not fill the screen.
Is there a version that has perfect or near perfect functionality? I really just need:
-1080p video, games and emulators to play in full screen
-when playing a movie the Nook will normally display, "Playing on TV"
Are both of these possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that depends on your tv. I have two tvs at home and one shows as full screen with default setting, and the other one doesn't.
Try to change the scale setting of your tv.

lentm said:
I think that depends on your tv. I have two tvs at home and one shows as full screen with default setting, and the other one doesn't.
Try to change the scale setting of your tv.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the response. Unfortunately I have tried to change the aspect ratio settings and none of them fix the full screen problem. I've tried every screen setting on multiple TV's and there's no way to get full screen. I also tried the Resolution Changer app and that did not work either.

B23X said:
I appreciate the response. Unfortunately I have tried to change the aspect ratio settings and none of them fix the full screen problem. I've tried every screen setting on multiple TV's and there's no way to get full screen. I also tried the Resolution Changer app and that did not work either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@B23X
I have used the HDMI adapter a lot with different Nook HD+ roms with no problems. I have found that the video player i use on the Nook makes all the difference with the play back quality. I use MXplayer but you may want to try a few to find the right fit for your Nook

kokercey said:
@B23X
I have used the HDMI adapter a lot with different Nook HD+ roms with no problems. I have found that the video player i use on the Nook makes all the difference with the play back quality. I use MXplayer but you may want to try a few to find the right fit for your Nook
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do have MX player also that's a good player. I updated to CM 11, Wiped data & factory reset, cleared the cache and video seems to be in full screen now. It still plays on both screens though, but I guess that doesn't matter. I wonder if anyone knows how to make the video only play on the TV?

The HDMI adapter was originally $39. If I paid that much for this piece of $hit, I would have shot someone. It is garbage and not worth the hours of your life you will spend on it. Even with it works, it stops working if you fart (literally) or bump it. And when it does 'work' the resolution is for crap. If I could roll back time and have given a homeless person $13 and never have seen this disaster, I would have done so in a minute. It is the single most shockingly low quality piece of trash I have encountered in the modern era of electronics. Spend another $15 and get a raspberry pi or something.

I'm disappointed in the HDMI adapter as well.
The fine print in the specs rate it at 24fps @1080P, which is unacceptable.
That's part of the motivation to get Wi-Fi display/miracast working, plus the latter doesn't need a cable.
With Wi-Fi display working and wiimote support, one would have a nice functional media center using xbmc/kodi.

[RESEARCH] External touch screen instead of AA head unit

Seeing videos of people integrating Raspberry Pis into their cars with OpenAuto got me interested in Android Auto. There is one thing I don't like about it, however: you're just adding another device to pass on audio/video/touch to an external display, from the phone. Why not cut out the middle man?
Back in the good old days of my Xperia S, phones had a dedicated micro-HDMI output. Delicous 60fps 720p (and even 1080p, with the UI drawn at 720p, but for instance video playback in full 1080p), and a free charging/OTG port. However, nowadays, we're stuck with MHL, and unless you have a Samsung phone, which has a proprietary connector, you can't use MHL and OTG at the same time, nor does MHL properly support touch functionality (only in theory), so we need the OTG.
DisplayLink to the rescue. We're going to sacrifice a lot of display smoothness/responsiveness here unless you have a modern phone with a USB 3.0 Type-C port (so you can use a newer high performance DisplayLink adapter), but we can use an OTG hub to get both HID touch functionality and HDMI through the DisplayLink adapter at the same time. More on this later. Also, I originally bought a $6 USB to HDMI adapter off eBay thinking it would be DisplayLink (or a compatible off-brand clone), but it turns out to be the really dodgy Fresco Logic FL2000, which is so cheap because it does none of the clever things that DisplayLink adapters do, and instead just spits out full resolution frames as fast as it can, which is completely incompatible with USB 2.0 or low power devices like phones. I found an affordable HP DisplayLink DVI adapter second hand from a Chinese seller that works.
On to the next hurdle: charging while using OTG. This is an interesting one, as it's not something I really gave a lot of thought initially. I mean surely just using a powered hub and giving the phone 5V over its micro-USB port would work, right? Well, it's a bit more complex than that, but Sony used to have an OTG dock that could charge, so I'm confident once I get the right OTG hub, it will work fine on my Z5. The one I got off eBay wouldn't do anything but charge, and when I opened it up, I saw it doesn't even use the 5th OTG pin, which would explain why it didn't work. I soldered a regular Type-A plug onto it and used my Sony OTG adapter to test, and I can get either charging or OTG, so something a bit less hacky is required. I ordered the Acasis H027, so when it arrives, we'll see if that works.
Touch: I haven't tested it yet. I have an HDMI touch screen in storage at my brother's house, so next time I visit I'll see if I can get touches to register on the phone. Based on my Googling most people on the internet seem to have gotten this to work fine, although there is no touch calibration on Android as far as I'm aware, like there is on Windows.
Portrait mode: this is my personal pet project and what I've been struggling with the most so far. It would be by far the easiest to just use a touch screen in landscape mode, but hear me out. Because HDMI (touch) monitors are cheap anyway, and in the 7 inch to 24 inch size range, bigger usually means cheaper, I want Tesla-style portrait mode. In portrait mode we can fit more screen estate in the centre console of the car than in landscape mode, and a bigger screen = bigger text = quicker glancing = safer driving. And it also happens to look extremely cool. If you have a big car you can probably fit a 20 or 24 inch screen, but I think I'm going for 13 inch. However. Using the DisplayLink Presenter app or the DisplayLink Desktop demo app which as far as I can tell does exactly the same things, I cannot for the life of me get native portrait mode to work. Android insists on pillarboxing portrait mode, and no amount of forcing rotation, setting build.props like ro.sf.hwrotation or persist.demo.hdmirotation works to change its mind. More worryingly, it seems that for the HDMI rotation prop to work, you need to also set persist.demo.singledisplay, which prevents apps from accessing secondary displays, which means DisplayLink Presenter, which itself is an app, cannot mirror the screen output any more and you get a sad single stripe of garbage pixels on an otherwise completely black screen. I probably need help here from an XDA developer, to hack the DisplayLink app, or to develop an Xposed module that causes all apps to draw themselves in portrait mode while the system is actually in landscape mode, or something along those lines. I've tried most things in my power that I could think of, and since my phone is unlocked, rooted, magisk'd and xposed, that is actually quite a lot, but nothing helped. So, uh, help?
Lastly there is DPI, which is one of the easier hurdles that I did solve. Android Auto (in phone mode, so not connected to any head unit) has a ridiculously huge UI on my phone's native dpi, and while I understand the reasons for it, with a larger external touch screen attached it just becomes unreasonably huge. With Tasker set to run "wm density 240" the entire Android UI becomes a lot more suited to a large screen, and even though Android Auto is still pretty huge compared to other apps, it's what I would consider reasonable.
More to come!

So, quick update:
While the screen portrait mode issues were "simple" to fix (although root was definitely required), the touch orientation issues as well as charging-during-OTG require kernel modifications to be fixed. I managed to compile a modified kernel with charging-during-OTG support thanks to @nlra 's work on that front, but I couldn't get the new image to boot.
A few things happened in the mean time:
- I discovered scrcpy
- I got an Xperia XZ3 (which I haven't rooted yet)
Scrcpy seems to be basically what Android Auto does, but for the whole Android desktop instead of only one app. I kind of don't like it because it involves adding a computer in between the display and the phone again (probably a Raspberry Pi), but the advantages are so huge it's basically the only realistic option right now.
Scrcpy:
- Basically always runs at 60fps, even on USB 2.0
- Handles portrait/landscape gracefully
- Integrates display, touch, (audio in a future version), and charging in a single connection
- Doesn't require root (although automatically setting the Android resolution to 1920x1080 and keeping the display on at 0% brightness are things that can probably only be accomplished with Tasker, which requires root)
So basically this simplifies and moves the project further immensely, however there are still some blocking issues right now. Touch screens only work on Windows because in addition to generating touch events, Windows also generates fallback mouse click events for touches, something that Linux doesn't do, and because there is no formal touch screen support in scrcpy, multi-touch doesn't work at all. Audio support also seems to be in an experimental state currently, and is not enabled for regular builds.
I hope ROM1V will eventually implement touch screen support (it's been in his GitHub issue tracker since March) as I have enough work to do as it is. I will focus on the hardware part (Raspi, cabling, VESA mount etc.) first and if by that time touch support is still missing I'll take a crack at it myself. Thankfully scrcpy is built on SDL which I'm fairly familiar with, although I've never worked with the touch input API before.

For the charging you need hub with usb-c PowerDelivery passthrough and HDMI. I am testing ones with less power consumption right now. I am not sure why you weren't able to use it.
I think people would be better of using following app for changing resolution, etc. using SecondScreen (I think root is required to run HDMI in portait mode, because it is grayed out for me).
I am doing the same project, but I keep the screen 1600x1200 horizontally and use apps in split view mode. I don't want root. I was thinking of using SamsungDEX for it, but the menus are too small.
The good thing is though, that on Samsung it is possible to create two-apps split screen pair (e.g. google map + music) as a launcher shortcut (using Good Lock (MultiStar plugin) from Galaxy Store). Unfortunately, I don't think it is possible to automate launching two apps in split screen automatically, nor create a split-pair shortcut on other launchers.
It would be good to have some multiwindow manager since I also wanted my BMW-tuning/logging gauges app to run in a floating window on top or minimized to a floating icon. It is possible naturally but it is a lot of manual clicking :/
One more thing that I don't think will be possible, is to completely turn off the phone screen. With the screen on, Note8 doesn't do fast charging. Can the screen be off with scrcpy somehow, I don't think?

So this dead?

Question Recommendations for a new Tab S8 Plus

I ordered it over the weekend for my birthday -- was going to go through Best Buy but they were only going to offer me $40 trade in for my 256gb Tab S4 -- Samsung offered $300 plus a free set of Galaxy Buds2. So I took the deal.
Questions:
1) To root or not to root -- will rooting disrupt normal software upgrades? Any compelling reason to root (or not)? Are there guides to root the S8 Plus?
2) Are there any guides for debloating, even if this is just disabling bloatware?
3) Is there any real need to update accessories? I've got aa DVD/CD player, a HDMI + USB C hub, wireless mouse and keyboard, most other adaptors.
3A) What about power bricks? Most of my power bricks are either Samsung lightning chargers or USB C 20 Watt PD plugins.
4) Is there any way to optimize wireless transfer to shared drives on a PC? I usually use Solid Explorer; on the Tab S4 transfer speeds are really slow
5) I use Nova Launcher on my Tab S4. Is there any reason to switch to a different launcher?
6) With Nova Launcher Backup, I can easily get the app icons in the right places (assuming I keep Nova Launcher). Is there any way to backup your DEX desktop in a similar way?
7) Any other thoughts on the move from Tab S4 to S8 Plus?
Thanks,
Joe

Prepare yourself. WoT (Wall of Text) incoming.
drjoe1 said:
I ordered it over the weekend for my birthday
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Click to collapse
First, Happy Birthday, whether it's late or soon.
drjoe1 said:
-- was going to go through Best Buy but they were only going to offer me $40 trade in for my 256gb Tab S4 -- Samsung offered $300 plus a free set of Galaxy Buds2. So I took the deal.
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Click to collapse
Not bad at all. Awesome!
drjoe1 said:
1) To root or not to root --
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Root for me, always.
drjoe1 said:
will rooting disrupt normal software upgrades?
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Click to collapse
Yes. Click the yellow "How To Guide" quick filter at the top of the list of threads in this section and you'll find a thread with directions on how to root in the first place and how to update while rooted. TL;DR: From memory, the process is nearly identical - one of the differences between first-time root of the device versus updating is flashing one particular file instead of another particular file.
drjoe1 said:
Any compelling reason to root (or not)? Are there guides to root the S8 Plus?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See above answer for guide(s). It all depends on what you want out of root. I like full backups of every single app and app data including system apps. There are other things but I can't remember off the top of my head regarding root of Samsung devices - on my Pixel 6 Pro there are six or a dozen things I definitely like root for.
Edit: Just remember something else I like root for, but I'll cover that below (two questions down) in my answer to your accessories/hub question.
drjoe1 said:
2) Are there any guides for debloating, even if this is just disabling bloatware?
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Click to collapse
I think I saw one also here you'd likely find in this section with either the "How To Guide" or "General" quick filter. I rarely debloat anymore, but my main mobile device being a Pixel I don't have any reason to want to debloat, and on my Samsung, I'd rather not micro-manage and take the chance I'll hinder some capability that I would normally have, and now I would have to troubleshoot what I debloated that I shouldn't have. Plus firmware/system apps change, and what's safe or not safe may change. It's just too much. I used to debloat like crazy, but I just don't anymore.
drjoe1 said:
3) Is there any real need to update accessories? I've got aa DVD/CD player, a HDMI + USB C hub, wireless mouse and keyboard, most other adaptors.
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No. If they're all USB-C or you have reliable adapters to use them with USB-C, then you're set. The only possible reason I could think is if you want a USB-C PD (Power Delivery) compatible hub that handles at least 45 watts so that you can externally power your hub and have the hub in turn charge your tablet at full power. I like the capability plus I wanted to be very minorly future-proof (no such thing) so I got a 100-watt GAN generation 3 three-port PD compatible charger, and a 100-watt USB-C hub where the hub's cable is a regular detachable USB-C <-> USB-C cable.
There's only one USB-C port on the tablet, so if you need to use a hub and charge the tablet at the same time, a PD-compatible charger and hub that support at least 45 watts would be ideal. Your mileage may vary with lower wattage of either.
Note that I treat my batteries relatively carefully. For all my devices, I try to not let go below 25%, I don't fast charge unless I really need to (so very rarely for my usage), and I only charge the device up to 75%.
Now for how this is related to root. I use something called ACC along with a GUI-front end app called AccA that allows you, using root, to turn off charging the device automatically when it reaches a top % you configure, and not charge the device until it's a low % you configure - more or less.
drjoe1 said:
3A) What about power bricks? Most of my power bricks are either Samsung lightning chargers or USB C 20 Watt PD plugins.
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Click to collapse
See above. Tablet handles up to 45-watt, but you can use lower. I don't quick/fast charge my devices at all unless I really have a particular need to.
As you probably know, the tablet does not come with a charger. I don't even know if the USB-C cable it comes with handles 45-watt, or if it supports data speeds faster than USB 2.0. I have a surplus of previous plus new OEM and third-party cables.
drjoe1 said:
4) Is there any way to optimize wireless transfer to shared drives on a PC? I usually use Solid Explorer; on the Tab S4 transfer speeds are really slow
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Click to collapse
Hmmmm. I don't have a great amount of experience with this. For heavy-duty (great quantity and/or size) transfers I only use cable. I've used X-plore File Manager's Wi-Fi mode to transfer wirelessly but only small files normally, and it's done fine. Maybe someone else has more experience.
drjoe1 said:
5) I use Nova Launcher on my Tab S4. Is there any reason to switch to a different launcher?
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Click to collapse
Heck no. Nova Launcher (Prime) FTW and forever as far as I'm concerned. I used to try new devices' OEM launchers and other third-party ones, but I don't even bother anymore. I actually restored my phone's Nova Launcher (built-in app) backup to my tablet and will tweak from there when I have time. I like having the same things available at the same places on every device I use, and from old devices to new devices.
drjoe1 said:
6) With Nova Launcher Backup, I can easily get the app icons in the right places (assuming I keep Nova Launcher). Is there any way to backup your DEX desktop in a similar way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had any successful experience with DEX period, so I can't speak to that.
drjoe1 said:
7) Any other thoughts on the move from Tab S4 to S8 Plus?
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This is my first Samsung tablet, and only the second Android tablet I've ever bought for myself (and my wife). The other was back in 2014-2015 - the LG G-Pad 8.3.
drjoe1 said:
Thanks,
Joe
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Click to collapse
You're welcome! Hope this helps and you enjoy whichever decision you make. Good luck!
WrT

Thanks a bunch. That was a lot to digest!
My birthday was yesterday (5/22). Another year older, thankfully not deeper in debt this year!
I started out with a Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, then a Tab S2, Tab S4 and now Tab S8 Plus. Climbing the ladder. For all people disparage Samsung, the Note 10.1 was a great productivity tool ten years ago; we are getting closer and closer to "laptop" as time goes by.
I've wanted an upgrade from the Tab S4 for a long time -- really missed a fingerprint reader, and feel the Tab S4 was really limited by only 4GB RAM. I played around for a while with DEX, but had multiple crashes related to too many apps open at one time. I really wish they would have opened up the Tab S8 Plus to a 16GB option. I just didn't want the size that goes with the Ultra.
I'll look over the guides; I haven't been active on XDA for a long time (since the Tab S4 was new), and the layout of the main page is different than it was. I see the guides for rooting and debloating.
Most of my accessories are either USB C, USB 3.0 or have adaptors/adaptor cables. My main hub is a UGREEN 70411 6-Port adaptor that claims it accepts up to 100W PD. It was necessary when using DEX on my TV -- with other hubs, I would lose power over time. But 20W PD on this hub was enough to the Tab S4at full charge. I'll look around for a 45W PD brick.
take care,
Joe

drjoe1 said:
Thanks a bunch. That was a lot to digest!
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You bet, you're welcome!
drjoe1 said:
My birthday was yesterday (5/22). Another year older, thankfully not deeper in debt this year!
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I hear that. Me too (not deeper in debt)!
drjoe1 said:
I started out with a Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, then a Tab S2, Tab S4 and now Tab S8 Plus. Climbing the ladder. For all people disparage Samsung, the Note 10.1 was a great productivity tool ten years ago; we are getting closer and closer to "laptop" as time goes by.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think Samsung makes great hardware, but I don't like their software anymore for my phone.
drjoe1 said:
I've wanted an upgrade from the Tab S4 for a long time -- really missed a fingerprint reader, and feel the Tab S4 was really limited by only 4GB RAM. I played around for a while with DEX, but had multiple crashes related to too many apps open at one time. I really wish they would have opened up the Tab S8 Plus to a 16GB option. I just didn't want the size that goes with the Ultra.
I'll look over the guides; I haven't been active on XDA for a long time (since the Tab S4 was new), and the layout of the main page is different than it was. I see the guides for rooting and debloating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XDA changed the software for their forum out of necessity roughly two years ago, maybe a little less, I don't recall exactly. I was an RC at the time and I, too, wasn't very active. Since I got my Pixel 1 in 2016 and was very satisfied with it, I spent less and less time until the Pixel 6 Pro with 512 GB of storage was announced last year. Right around the time for the pre-order of it was when I started being just as or even more active on XDA as I used to be.
drjoe1 said:
Most of my accessories are either USB C, USB 3.0 or have adaptors/adaptor cables. My main hub is a UGREEN 70411 6-Port adaptor that claims it accepts up to 100W PD. It was necessary when using DEX on my TV -- with other hubs, I would lose power over time. But 20W PD on this hub was enough to the Tab S4at full charge. I'll look around for a 45W PD brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very nice. If you don't know, the "GAN" technology used in some chargers the last few years makes chargers noticeably smaller, although it's not a requirement so it's just whatever your preference is. It's not specific to any one manufacturer, and the 3rd generation GAN that I referenced is even smaller than the 2nd generation was.
drjoe1 said:
take care,
Joe
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Click to collapse
You too, see you around the forum!
WrT

Keep in mind rooting a new device will void whole warranty completely and it will trip KNOX permanently so apps like samsung pass, secret folder and so will stop working since they require working KNOX chip.
So I would never root a brand new device that has 1-2 years valid warranty since if the device decides to lay off or get issue with graphics or similar then warranty can cover it. But that won't be available if you have rooted because of bootloader is unlocked and has triggered the KNOX chip permanently.

drjoe1 said:
I ordered it over the weekend for my birthday -- was going to go through Best Buy but they were only going to offer me $40 trade in for my 256gb Tab S4 -- Samsung offered $300 plus a free set of Galaxy Buds2. So I took the deal.
Questions:
1) To root or not to root -- will rooting disrupt normal software upgrades? Any compelling reason to root (or not)? Are there guides to root the S8 Plus?
2) Are there any guides for debloating, even if this is just disabling bloatware?
3) Is there any real need to update accessories? I've got aa DVD/CD player, a HDMI + USB C hub, wireless mouse and keyboard, most other adaptors.
3A) What about power bricks? Most of my power bricks are either Samsung lightning chargers or USB C 20 Watt PD plugins.
4) Is there any way to optimize wireless transfer to shared drives on a PC? I usually use Solid Explorer; on the Tab S4 transfer speeds are really slow
5) I use Nova Launcher on my Tab S4. Is there any reason to switch to a different launcher?
6) With Nova Launcher Backup, I can easily get the app icons in the right places (assuming I keep Nova Launcher). Is there any way to backup your DEX desktop in a similar way?
7) Any other thoughts on the move from Tab S4 to S8 Plus?
Thanks,
Joe
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Click to collapse
As roirraW has already respond with plenty of useful info, I won't go into AS much detail, but I'll still give some.
1. I personally root any device I have that can be rooted. Unless it can't be rooted, it's absolutely gonna get rooted. If your device is rooted and your device offers you a software update (which it shouldn't unless you somehow managed to make your device status show up as official) then allowing it to install will just fail. Even if you don't have a custom recovery installed, having a modified rom will not allow updates to be installed. You'll have to patch some newer firmware with Magisk and use Odin to flash the newer firmware. There is a guide to root the S8+, along with the S8 and S8U. Just use the "how to / guide" filter and it should be the first thing you see. Very easy to follow.
2. There is also a guide to debloat in the same "how to" section as the root guide. I've seen it, and while it's pretty lengthy, it's essential as there is quite a bit of bloatware.
3. There's only the one USB C port on the tablet, so I'd just plug em all in and see what works and what doesn't, but you shouldn't have much issue with it.
3a. Like roirraW said, the tablet supports fast charging up to 45W, but I personally use the Anker 65W charging brick as it's from a company I trust and is less expensive than the official Samsung ones.
4. Not really sure about this one. If you're referring to an FTP server than I'd recommend you to keep using Solid Explorer, as it's the one I use for wirelessly transfering files from one device to another.
5. I used to use Nova Launcher, and I'd still recommend it as it's super simple to use and offers a lot of customization. Even so, I really enjoy the OneUI Launcher, enough to where I've fully switched over to it. OneUI has gotten so much better over the years, and it feels great to not be basically required to use a 3rd party launcher to have a nice UI. So, I'd either use Nova or the stock OneUI launcher. Up to you though.
6. I used Nova Backup to get my apps in roughly the same positions as they were before, but there are bound to be some issues if not every single app you used on your previous device is present on your newer one. Regardless, the backup system works well and you can use it no worries. However, the same can't be said about Dex as you can't change your Dex launcher. You can't even open Nova in Dex last I checked.
7. I actually switched from the Tab S4 to the Tab S8+ (used the S7+ for a short time before upgrading), and it's night and day. I love this tablet so much, and I use it every day for all of my needs. Whether it be gaming, productivity, or anything that I used to do on my Tab S4, it's so much better on the Tab S8+. I even got the keyboard attachment that comes in two pieces; the magnetic back cover which protects the S-Pen, and the keyboard with the trackpad. The trackpad is on the lower-end side, so I'd just use a wireless (or wired) mouse instead, but the keyboard feels nice to type on, has sufficient spaces for your palms to rest on, and has the F1-F12 row that serves various, useful functions.
Here's another text wall for you to read. Hopefully this gives you some more useful info alongside roirraW's.

Thanks also for your thoughts.
Regarding file transfer: I have drive sharing enabled on hard drives attached to my windows 10 laptop. They are mapped in Solid Explorer as network drives. I've got my video library on them, as well as the backup for my eBook's library, my pictures library, music backup, documents archive, etc. Usually I download videos on my tablet and then transfer them to the video library on the laptop. Then I stream from the laptop to Chromecast on my TV, with the Tab S4, video conversion to allow Chromecast sometimes leads to choppy video when casting. Or I stream directly on my tablet. But anyhow, the transfer speed to the hard drives is very slow... Less than 20 Mb/s which means it takes a long time to transfer multi GB movies (or multiple episodes of a seasonal show, which can add up fast). Direct copying to/from the drives from the laptop is 100MB/s. What kind of wireless transfer speeds do you get?
The new tablet is supposed to be delivered tomorrow!
Take care,
Joe

@drjoe1 the Tab S4 10.5 (I assume is the same) used Samsung's UFS 2.1, and the Tab S8+ uses UFS 3.1. Here are speed differences listed. It could offer some improvement in speed if it was part of the bottleneck, although I'm not sure if it was. The "3 x enhancement" etc for 3.1 is probably with respect to 3.0, which I cut out of the quote.
UFS 2.1​Following are features of UFS 2.1.
• Introduction year : 2017
• Memory options : 512 GB, 1 TB, Automotive versions
• Sequential Read (Mbps) : 860 Mbps ( with 512GB )
• Sequential Write (Mbps) : 255 Mbps ( with 512GB )
• Random Read (IOP/sec) : 42,000 ( with 512GB )
• Random Write (IOP/sec) : 40,000 ( with 512GB )
UFS 3.1​Following are features of UFS 3.1.
• Introduction year : 2020
• Memory options : 256 GB, 512 GB
• Sequential Read (Mbps) : 2100 ( with 512GB )
• Sequential Write (Mbps) : 1200 Mbps (3 x enhancement) ( with 512GB )
• Random Read (IOP/sec) : 100,000 (1.6 x enhancement) ( with 512GB )
• Random Write (IOP/sec) : 70,000 (1.3 x enhancement) ( with 512GB )
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Click to collapse
UFS 4.0 has been announced and speculated that the Galaxy S23 will use it.

I got my Tab S8 Plus yesterday!
First impressions:
1) It's big.
2) An inch or two extra in each direction compared to the Tab S4 is big. I can't imagine carrying an Ultra around. I'm sure I'll get used to the larger size, but maybe an S8 would have been a better size.
3) Transfer to the new tablet was smooth. Nova Launcher is awesome -- I restored the settings from my old tablet, and it put all the icons in the right places. Then tap on the icon to open Play Store, or side load the app and it is good to go. I used SmartSwitch to transfer contacts, messages, and home screen, and I was surprised that it didn't only copy the home screen images, but it copied the DEX desktop layout. I didn't run DEX until I had already reloaded all the aps, so I had nothing to do to set up the DEX desktop.
4) DEX is weird -- less options in the settings. I was fooled by one of the few -- it does screen mirroring by default If you plug in an HDMI cable & then turn on DEX -- The only way not to screen-mirror is to enable "start DEX on HDMI connection" -- in which case you get the TV in DEX and the tablet in Android.
5) Did I mention it is BIG?
Thanks all for your helpful information,
Joe

6) Trusted places no longer is an option I can find for unlocking the tablet. Not that unlock on 4 character pin + unlock on face recognition + unlock on thumbprint aren't options enough, but it was nice making my apartment a "safe place".
7) Also about face recognition -- so much better than iris recognition on the Tab S4! I wear strong prescription glasses, and had to remove them for iris recognition.. No more! I still have a problem with the location of the tablet /direction of the camera related to "where the camera points" and "where my face is" related to the tablet stand I use.... the angle and height of the tablet make my face half below the field of view of the camera
8) Apps not optimized for tablets are a much bigger problem (pun intended) on the Tab S8+ than on the Tab S4 if nothing else because of the bigger size of the tablet. I like Catan Classic, and it is close to un-playable on the Tab S8+.
9) DeX over PC -- I thought the Tab S4 couldn't do DeX over PC because it was too old... Turns out the Tab S8+ can't either. Samsung Tablets in general don't support DeX on PC. How stupid is that? Let's take the productivity platform and make it less productive! I tried for at least an hour to get the damn thing to connect before I found some references that tablets are left out. Rotten!
take care,
Joe

drjoe1 said:
6) Trusted places no longer is an option I can find for unlocking the tablet. Not that unlock on 4 character pin + unlock on face recognition + unlock on thumbprint aren't options enough, but it was nice making my apartment a "safe place".
7) Also about face recognition -- so much better than iris recognition on the Tab S4! I wear strong prescription glasses, and had to remove them for iris recognition.. No more! I still have a problem with the location of the tablet /direction of the camera related to "where the camera points" and "where my face is" related to the tablet stand I use.... the angle and height of the tablet make my face half below the field of view of the camera
8) Apps not optimized for tablets are a much bigger problem (pun intended) on the Tab S8+ than on the Tab S4 if nothing else because of the bigger size of the tablet. I like Catan Classic, and it is close to un-playable on the Tab S8+.
9) DeX over PC -- I thought the Tab S4 couldn't do DeX over PC because it was too old... Turns out the Tab S8+ can't either. Samsung Tablets in general don't support DeX on PC. How stupid is that? Let's take the productivity platform and make it less productive! I tried for at least an hour to get the damn thing to connect before I found some references that tablets are left out. Rotten!
take care,
Joe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Face recognition isn't as safe as iris recognition. Since you can manipulate the face recognition and unlock the device easy. It even states a warning when setting upp face recognition that it is not as safe than password/pin is.

Jake.S said:
Face recognition isn't as safe as iris recognition. Since you can manipulate the face recognition and unlock the device easy. It even states a warning when setting upp face recognition that it is not as safe than password/pin is.
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Click to collapse
Of course you are correct. But I don't expect an experienced hacker will ever try to break into my tablet. As far as I'm concerned, the security is there so someone can't pick up my tablet and have direct access to my file. If I leave it in a public place, or have it stolen, someone probably won't have my picture or know what I look like. I'm not particularly worried that a thief will take my picture then steal my tablet. I'm also not terribly worried about the FBI or law enforcement breaking into my phone -- I don't know why they would.
Face recognition is so much more convenient than iris recognition when you wear strong prescription glasses. By the time I take my glasses off, the camera has timed out and needs to be restarted.
I think for a casual tablet owner, it isn't such a risky thing. Of course, not so necessary when you have the fingerprint reader available.
Joe

drjoe1 said:
Of course you are correct. But I don't expect an experienced hacker will ever try to break into my tablet. As far as I'm concerned, the security is there so someone can't pick up my tablet and have direct access to my file. If I leave it in a public place, or have it stolen, someone probably won't have my picture or know what I look like. I'm not particularly worried that a thief will take my picture then steal my tablet. I'm also not terribly worried about the FBI or law enforcement breaking into my phone -- I don't know why they would.
Face recognition is so much more convenient than iris recognition when you wear strong prescription glasses. By the time I take my glasses off, the camera has timed out and needs to be restarted.
I think for a casual tablet owner, it isn't such a risky thing. Of course, not so necessary when you have the fingerprint reader available.
Joe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to be experienced to fool face recognition which is why warning appears since it's quite easy to manipulate it. So anyone can do it without skills.

Another update and more impressions...
1) I followed Jake's advice and wiped face recognition. It really isn't needed with the thumbprint reader placed in easy access when holding the tablet in landscape orientation. Plus the feature that the four-digit PIN automatically unlocks after you put the correct four digits makes putting pin in very fast.
2) I love super fast charge. This is the first device I have with it (my phone is a Galaxy S10 Plus). It really is fast enough that you can charge the phone between planes in an airport terminal.
3) [Charging rant on] Charging is and has always been more mysterious than it should be. I found out that all cables were not the same back with my first tablet in 2014. And that you had to read the fine print to determine the gauge of the mini- and micro- USB cables. Then that chargers weren't the same. There is table at https://www.digitalcitizen.life/fast-charging-standards/ that has over TWENTY EIGHT different standards. And Samsung doesn't use the standard standards! My understanding is that Samsung Adaptive fast Charge was really a castrated version of Qualcomm Quick Charge 2! And now they have Samsung Super Fast 1.0 and 2.0 as separate standards again from PD! So how do you know if a brick supports Super fast 2.0? You'd think it would have gotten better with PD and USB C, but no! Samsung is still Samsung!
So I got an awesome charger that is also a power bank ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DC99CB5 ), and I get the Super Fast Charge with it. But I still don't have a clue how the damn thing works. First, they rate the primary charge on the native 3.8V lithium ion batteries. 10,000 mAh. But the battery pack has to convert this (with losses) to a USB standard voltage. This used to be 5V, and they do still tell you the rating at 5V. 5,800mAh. But the PD (Power Delivery) standard uses 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V, and 20V. I have no idea what the battery rating is for the higher voltages. And then, the tablet has to take the 20V, 15V, 12V, 9V, and 5V and convert them with losses back to 4V to charge the internal battery. And if the internal battery is charged and you are maintaining the battery level, I don't know if it is powering the tablet directly (and at what voltage) or topping off the tablet battery at 4V as it discharges. And what the efficiency is. So how much charge do I get with a battery pack? I don't know!
And now there is more USB-C cable madness. Again, you have to figure the gauge of the cable! And it seems sometimes they rate cables by current rating not gauge. Sometimes they tell you descriptively it is for fast charging sometime they don't. And add to that the mysterious "Super Fast Charge 2.0" (not to be mixed up with "Fast Wireless Charging 2.0")! It seems you need a cable with an "E-Mark" chipset to run at currents over 5A. And maybe for 20V -- it isn't clear to me if E-Mark is related to "Super Fast Charge 2.0" kicks in. And I can't find any documentation for it except references on the S20 series phones ( https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/what-is/super-fast-charging/ ). The S20's seem to be 45W just like the Tab S8+. But other info on Super Fast Charge 2.0 suggests it is for 65W or 100W laptops.
So does "Super Fast Charging 2.0" exist on the Tab S8 series? I don't know. When does it kick in? I don't know. How much faster is it? I don't know. Why do they need to make this so confusing? I don't know. I have a PhD in Physics and work as an engineer in a semiconductor factory that makes wide band-gap chip products for chargers, and I don't know!
Hahaha.... [Charging rant off] Very frustrating. But liking the tablet. Still getting used to the size.
Joe