Introduction
With its Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, Samsung is making a bold statement – its latest 14.6-inch Android tablet that matches the iPad Pro in display performance, beats it in connectivity options, and packs in Galaxy AI features that finally add some genuinely intelligent functionality to Android tablets. This is the definitive review of my month-long daily usage of this tablet split equally among content creation, media consumption, and productivity uses.
Apple has dominated the premium tablet market since 2015 when it launched the first iPad Pro. Each of the other Android manufacturers has tried to compete with the iPad Pro in terms of hardware excellence, software optimization, and third-party app and peripheral support to only limited success. The Tab S series by Samsung came the closest, but the Tab S10 Ultra offers the most significant threat to the category dominance of the iPad Pro that Android has offered yet.
Display: Best Screen on Any Portable Device
The 14.6 inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display offers the best performance we have seen on any portable device. With the peak brightness of 2,600 nits, any concerns about using it in direct sunlight are allayed, while the display automatically drops its refresh rate from 120 Hz to 1 Hz for static content to preserve battery life. Without any need for calibration, it offers the color accuracy required to do professional color-sensitive work thanks to the Cinema mode with DCI-P3 coverage.
As a company manufacturing panels for the mobile market for decades now, Samsung is unsurpassed in display technology. Its anti-reflective layer provides superior protection against the direct sunlight, and even viewing in direct sun during high-brightness mode is comfortable enough. It is definitely a huge advantage to those who like working outdoors or near their window.
Galaxy AI Integration
The Note Assist in Samsung Notes takes any handwritten meeting notes and turns them into formatted summaries, action points, and follow-up questions with great precision. The PDF Overlay Translation superimposes translated text over any PDF you have in the language you want in real-time, preserving the layout of the original document. Circle to Search – tap-hold anywhere on the screen and create a circle around any text or object to immediately search it – has become one of our favorites.
Live Translate operates in any app without developer integration – in messages, emails, and any social networks. Unlike the similar iOS functionality, there is no need to install any additional applications for it.
Performance, DeX Mode, and S Pen
The Samsung Tab S10 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Elite CPU can go toe-to-toe with Apple Silicon devices across most of the tests. Due to its better cooling capabilities, it can offer even better performance than the M4-powered iPad Pro on sustained GPU tests. On the 20-minute GPU test, Samsung maintains 94% of peak GPU performance compared to the M4’s 88%.
Running in the DeX mode with an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse allows creating a true desktop experience with up to eight apps running in resizable windows. It ships with the S Pen, which is not the case for iPad Pro users who have to purchase the Apple Pencil for $129 extra. The lag on the pen is imperceptible, and there are 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity like with the Apple Pencil.
Battery, Connectivity, and Conclusion
The 11,200mAh battery lasts anywhere between 12 and 14 hours on average use. It takes about 90 minutes to charge with a 45 W charger; however, it also supports wireless charging at 15 W, unlike the iPad Pro which does not offer wireless charging at all. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 are the newest standards implemented.
Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is Samsung’s best tablet and the strongest offering by Android yet to take on Apple in the premium tablet market. The Galaxy AI functionalities are genuinely useful and make work much easier, the display quality is the best on the market, DeX mode enables it to serve as a laptop replacement, and the included S Pen gives creative potential without extra cost.
