Samsung has been launching a new iteration of its oversized Galaxy Tab S Ultra for three years. These tablets are large and heavy, but they also have one of the best mobile AMOLED displays you can get your hands on. And these unique characteristics make it appealing to a very niche market. If you are browsing for a large tablet, you are either looking to use it as a second screen or as a sketchpad. It’s too large even for a “light” productivity device, and when you pair it with its two keyboard options, it is also quite expensive. I have been using the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra for a few weeks, and I’m not too convinced about why anyone should invest in one when a Galaxy Tab S10+ exists.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra Design: Built for your table
- Dimensions – 208.6×326.4×5.4mm
- Weight – 718 grams (Wi-Fi), 723 grams (5G)
- Durability – IP68 dust and water
Laid flat on my large work desk, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra still feels substantial. It’s even bigger than my daily driver, an Apple MacBook Air with a 13.3-inch display. Now, Samsung could have attempted to make it feel lighter. But I’m sure there’s no way to make a tablet with a 14.6-inch display feel any lighter unless you go with titanium instead of Armour Aluminium or chop down the size (or change aspect ratio) of its display. Apple’s 13-inch iPad Pro (2024) weighs a lot lighter at 582g, which is still manageable.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has four speakers, two on either side (when held horizontally)
Design-wise, things mostly remain the same. Samsung has managed to make its new Ultra tablet 0.5mm thicker and 14 grams lighter than the previous model. Indeed, these are minor gains and given that its overall design has not changed, I don’t see any reason for someone who owns the Tab S9 Ultra to upgrade to the new model.
The tablet is available in two storage variants. The 12GB RAM + 512GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 1,08,999 for the Wi-Fi model, while the 5G model is priced at Rs. 1,22,999. The Wi-Fi-only 512GB storage variant is available at Rs. 1,19,999, while the 5G model is available at Rs. 1,33,999.
The only protrusions on the flat and minimalist design are the two rear-facing cameras
Given that this tablet was expected to be heavy, Samsung should have gone all out and engineered a Microsoft Surface-like kick-stand into it. This could have made it more attractive to the creative crowd as a tiltable canvas for artists.
When you purchase a Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, all you get is the tablet, a charging cable and an S Pen. This is a bit more than what you get with an Apple iPad Pro, if we are being honest. However, Apple does provide the essential charger in the box. And since the Tab S10 Ultra is too heavy to hold, you will need to purchase the optional Smart Book Cover (around Rs. 6,999) to make it stand upright when watching movies or for work. At launch, Samsung also announced two keyboard accessories.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra versus the Apple MacBook Air M1
There’s an InboxBook Cover Keyboard, a single-piece cover with a built-in keyboard. This cover lacks a trackpad and so isn’t advisable for productivity applications. The second cover, called Book Cover Keyboard Slim, consists of two pieces, one for holding up the tablet and the keyboard half, which attaches to the three flat pins at the bottom (when held horizontally). This one does come with a trackpad but is also priced higher at Rs. 26,999. The downside is the overall weight when the two are put together, which should be around 1,378 grams (or 1.3 kg). So, you might as well grab a Galaxy Book 4 360 instead.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra Display: Fantastic!
- Display – 14.6-inch, 2,960×1,848, 16:10 ratio
- Display type – AMOLED, 120Hz,
- Display protection – Glass with anti-reflective coating
It may seem like the same display used in the older Tab S9 Ultra, but Samsung has bumped its brightness to 930 nits, making it sufficiently bright outdoors. The anti-reflective coating is the star of the show indeed, and it effectively reduces reflections both indoors and even outdoors.
The large display offers good clarity thanks to its anti-reflective coating, as seen in this mock setup
Colours look natural when viewed with the default Vivid Screen mode. Samsung only lets you choose between an energy-saving 60Hz or a smoother 120Hz (adaptive) refresh rate. Given the size of the display, I also wished that Samsung included the ability to run the display at a specific resolution (like on its Galaxy smartphones), which could have helped extend its battery life even further.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra Software: Nicely done
- Software – One UI 6.1.1
- Version – Android 14
- Latest security patch – 1 November, 2024
It’s disappointing to see such an expensive tablet running Android 14, but knowing Samsung, an update must be on the way. We have had a glimpse of One UI 7, which is expected to bring many changes, and we have also witnessed how well Samsung has handled its Galaxy AI offering on its smartphones.
Things are not too different on the tablet, but just a bit more S Pen-friendly. I like the ability to doodle with a stylus and create AI images from my basic sketches. The results, too, are very impressive. The Notes app is also interesting on the tablet, which gets plenty of AI enhancements for those who love hand-written notes. The Sketch to Image basically lets you create custom images for your notes, while Galaxy AI can format, summarise, spell check, translate and even transcribe a recording into a note. Covers for these notes can also be AI-generated.
The Notes app takes good advantage of the S Pen, Galaxy AI and the large display
Given the sheer size of its display, the tablet is best enjoyed in Dex Mode, which works well, letting you open multiple apps in Windows, which can then be resized as per your requirements. The good part is that the system handles it well and does not slow down despite opening 8-10 apps, one of which had video playing while the Chrome browser app had several tabs open.
This sure sounds like a fun, productive setup, but it literally is that and nothing beyond it. This is because neither Chrome nor Samsung Internet is a desktop-class browser that will scale apps perfectly like on a laptop or even let you install any plugins. Samsung Internet only has a handful of them. So, I would not recommend opening any critical web pages on this tablet.
Even when not in Dex mode, you can run several apps (including a game). Be sure to use a controller when you do so.
Samsung’s Dex appears like a solid solution to Android’s limited selection of tablet-friendly apps, letting you change their form on the fly. However, my experience with using apps like Slack was frustrating. It’s an “Android problem” since apps that are available for download on tablets are rarely designed for tablet use. So most apps still lack a basic split-screen mode like on Apple’s iPads, leaving you reading through messages that stretch from one end to the other end of that super wide 16:10 aspect ratio display.
- Processor – Mediatek Dimensity 9300+ (4 nm)
- RAM – 12GB
- Storage – 256/512GB (MicroSD up to 1.5TB)
As you can tell from the table below, the performance was quite good. It’s not going to beat a Snapdragon 8 Elite smartphone, but it all seems very sufficient, given that One UI 6 runs smoothly without any hiccups.
| Benchmarks | Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra | OnePlus Pad 2 |
|---|
| AnTuTu v10 | 18,74,172 | 15,64,773 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 16,145 | 11,625 |
| Single | 2,115 | 929 |
| Multi | 7,058 | 4,536 |
| GFXB T-rex | 120 | 50 |
| GFXB Manhattan 3.1 | 106 | 50 |
| GFXB Car Chase | 68 | 46 |
| 3DM Slingshot Extreme OpenGL | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Slingshot | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Wild Life | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Wild Life Unlimited | 18,163 | 17,615 |
Most of the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra’s performance is hindered by its sheer size. I would have loved to play AAA mobile titles on it, but I stuck to casual titles. I used a controller (gamepad) to play a majority of games as the tablet was uncomfortably large and heavy to hold up when playing any touchscreen games. I did try out Asphalt Legends Unite, with its graphics settings maxed out, and it worked smoothly with gorgeous graphics. The tablet barely warmed up, even during extended sessions.
Samsung’s Dex mode literally turns the tablet into a PC-like desktop for running multiple Android apps
When using it for work with a Bluetooth keyboard and a mouse connected, everything worked just fine. So, you can use the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra for light productivity work like sending emails working on Google Docs, Sheets or Microsoft Office 365 apps, provided they have been designed to take advantage of the large display.
The quad-speaker setup is loud and very clear. The speakers are loud enough to be used in outdoor environments and work even better when the content you are viewing supports spatial audio.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra Cameras: The usual
- Primary camera – 13-megapixel, f/2.0, AF
- Ultrawide – 8-megapixel, f/2.2, FF
- Selfie cameras – 12-megapixel, f/2.2 (wide), 12-megapixel, f/2.2 (ultrawide)
Image quality from the rear-facing cameras is average for a tablet, which means they cannot compete even with budget smartphones launched in 2024. The resolved details and dynamic range are quite low, so photos from both come out quite soft and lack detail.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra camera samples: Top: Primary camera, Center: Ultrawide camera, Bottom: Primary camera (Night mode) (Tap images to expand)
The camera system does not have auto night mode, so you will have to switch to the dedicated Night mode manually. The results from this mode are a lot better but still decent at best. Video recording quality is limited to 30fps and maxes out at UHD (4K). The quality is decent at best. Overall, the rear cameras are better suited for more tablet-like duties like document scanning.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra selfie camera samples. Top: Primary selfie camera, bottom: ultrawide selfie camera (Tap to expand images)
The front-facing cameras are pretty good. The images from the ultrawide camera come out a bit soft; the primary camera captures good photos and videos for a fixed focus unit. And so, this is a good camera when you are on a video call or a conference call, provided there’s good ambient light.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra Battery: Good but not great
- Battery capacity – 11,200mAh
- Wired charging – 45W
- Charger provided – No
With work or light productivity usage, the tablet lasts a good two days (9 hours each) on a single charge. With casual use, when viewing videos or when used as a media consumption device, the tablet lasts 2-3 days before it needs to be charged. However, playing 3D games or watching HDR content drains its battery much faster. In our video loop battery test, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra managed 10 hours and 25 minutes, which seems a bit low considering its AMOLED panel. These figures are a bit low given that the OnePlus Pad 2, with a smaller 11-inch LCD panel, managed 15 hours and 28 minutes in the same test.
Since Samsung does not provide a charger in the box, I had to resort to a 100W GaN charger to charge the tablet. As expected, the tablet is extremely slow to charge its large battery, managing just 13 percent in 30 minutes and 26 percent in an hour, touching a fully charged state in exactly 4 hours. This is a bit too slow, even for a tablet. Samsung recommends purchasing its 45W charger, which could perform better.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra Verdict
With its Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, Samsung is fueling a niche. I can see a very small set of buyers going in for one, including the creative crowd looking for a quality display with the accompanying S Pen stylus.
The smaller Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ (Rs. 90,999 onwards) is definitely a smarter choice for the average consumer unless you are looking for an expansive touchscreen display (powered by Android) for your desktop. And if you are fine with an LCD panel, then Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ (Rs. 54,999 onwards) is a sensible option. Of course, there’s also the OnePlus Pad 2 (Review), which offers immense value, faster charging and great software at Rs. 39,999.
