Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Tab S10 Plus: Go big or even bigger?

Samsung’s 2024 tablet lineup precocious arrived pinch an absorbing twist. While nan institution amazed america past twelvemonth pinch a caller 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, adding a 3rd exemplary to nan mix, this twelvemonth it reduced nan family backmost to 2 models by dropping nan modular 11-inch Galaxy Tab. Your prime is now betwixt nan large Galaxy Tab S10 Plus and nan moreover bigger Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra.

As usual, Samsung has made immoderate bully year-over-year improvements to some tablets nether nan hood, though connected nan outside, you’ll person a difficult clip telling them isolated from their predecessors. However, that still leaves nan much important mobility of which exemplary is correct for you. Is nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra worthy investing successful solely for its larger screen, aliases is it much than conscionable a bigger type of its 12.4-inch Tab S10 Plus sibling? Let’s excavation successful and find out.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Tab S10 Plus: specs

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Tab S10 Plus: design

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If you’re acquainted pinch past year’s Galaxy Tab S9 lineup, you won’t find excessively galore surprises successful nan caller Galaxy Tab S10 models. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and Tab S10 Plus characteristic nan aforesaid high-quality style and decorativeness arsenic their predecessors, pinch comfortable rounded corners, an aluminum back, and Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 astir nan front. The dimensions are besides virtually identical to anterior models, though nan beige and graphite shades of nan Tab S9 bid person been replaced pinch Moonstone Gray and Platinum Silver.

There are a fewer different subtle changes this year, including a recessed magnetic docking area to thief support nan S Pen successful spot and insignificant accent creation tweaks for illustration nan camera rings. However, these changes use to some nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and nan Tab S10 Plus. Ultimately, nan biggest quality betwixt nan 2 tablets is besides nan astir obvious: their respective sizes.

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Like its predecessor, nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has an expansive laptop-like 14.6-inch display, making it a formidable 12.85 x 8.2-inch slab. That’s a footprint comparable to the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 or MacBook Air. However, astatine only 5.4mm (0.21 inches), nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is half nan thickness of a accepted laptop aliases moreover the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x since a removable keyboard is optional. The weight is besides considerably little than a laptop astatine 718 grams (1.58 pounds). It’s not arsenic ray arsenic Apple’s 13-inch iPad Pro (2024), but it’s distributed good capable that we ne'er recovered it unwieldy.

While it whitethorn beryllium difficult to telephone nan 12.4-inch Galaxy Tab S10 Plus a “compact” tablet, it’s nevertheless a smaller and lighter replacement for those who find nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra excessively imposing. It’s besides nan smallest tablet disposable successful this year’s lineup since Samsung appears to person skipped nan successor to nan modular 11-inch Tab S9 this clip around. At 11.2 x 7.3 inches, it’s a spot much portable, though it’s besides a spot thicker than nan Tab S10 Ultra, coming successful astatine 5.6mm, presumably arsenic there’s little room for Samsung’s engineers to dispersed nan components out. The weight is besides a much reasonable 571 grams (1.26 pounds), putting it connected par pinch Apple’s largest iPad Pro, but still heavier than astir 11-inch tablets.

Beyond nan size differences, some models characteristic nan aforesaid levels of durability, pinch an IP68 standing for particulate and h2o resistance, a USB-C port, and a micro SD description paper slot. The Galaxy Tab S10 Plus is disposable successful a 5G type pinch other abstraction for a beingness SIM wrong nan micro SD paper tray.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Tab S10 Plus: display

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The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and Tab S10 Plus usage nan aforesaid move AMOLED 2X surface technology. However, nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has an other beforehand camera (more connected that later), which somewhat mars nan different awesome show pinch an unsightly notch.

Beyond that, nan only quality betwixt nan 2 displays is their size. Samsung Display is 1 of nan starring show manufacturers successful nan industry, and naturally, Samsung reserves its champion screens for its ain products. It’s brought its A-game to nan Galaxy Tab S10 series. This year’s models are overmuch amended for usage outdoors, acknowledgment to a caller anti-reflective coating and Samsung’s High Brightness Mode and Vision Booster.

Still, successful mundane indoor use, nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra tin get astir 50% brighter. Its highest brightness is 930 nits, compared to only 650 nits for nan Galaxy Tab S10 Plus. Those are some respectable numbers, but nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra should supply a amended acquisition for watching HDR video, particularly mixed pinch its larger screen.

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On that note, some tablets support HDR10+ and person a adaptable refresh complaint of 1Hz to 120Hz, which adjusts dynamically and can’t beryllium locked in. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has a somewhat higher solution of 2960 x 1848 pixels, but it’s not proportional to nan larger 14.6-inch display. The Galaxy Tab S10 Plus’ 12.4-inch sheet has a 2800 x 1752-pixel solution that gives it a higher pixel density of 266 pixels per inch (ppi) versus 239 ppi connected nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. That makes nan larger tablet little sharp, but not truthful overmuch that astir folks will announcement without comparing them broadside by side.

One subtle quality worthy mentioning is nan in-display fingerprint sensor, which is positioned connected some tablets successful nan aforesaid comparative location arsenic Samsung’s Galaxy S24 bid phones, adjacent nan “bottom” of nan surface erstwhile held successful image orientation. That puts it connected nan correct broadside of nan surface during normal tablet use, and immoderate folks person observed that it’s awkward to scope connected nan larger 14.6-inch screen. Your acquisition present will alteration depending connected really large your hands are, but it’s thing to support successful mind. Thankfully, there’s besides Face Unlock, though it’s not rather arsenic unafraid arsenic nan fingerprint reader.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Tab S10 Plus: performance

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Samsung made a bold move pinch its tablet lineup this twelvemonth by leaving Qualcomm’s chips down to clasp MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300 Plus. It’s a large first not only for Samsung, but for immoderate flagship Android tablet successful nan U.S., and from our testing, it’s been a bully telephone for some capacity and efficiency.

The aforesaid spot is utilized successful nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and Tab S10 Plus, truthful some will execute arsenic well. Compared to past year’s Tab S9 models, this intends CPU gains of 15% and GPU gains of 30%, positive a beefier neural processor to grip Samsung’s Galaxy AI features.

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We recovered nan caller chipset made nan astir noticeable betterment successful DeX mode, which is smoother and much unchangeable than ever. That will beryllium much important for nan larger Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra since nan 14.6-inch surface lets you do much pinch DeX, but it should beryllium conscionable arsenic snappy connected nan Tab S10 Plus, arsenic nan 2 tablets mostly person nan aforesaid 12GB of RAM. The Tab S10 Ultra only gets a boost to 16GB if you opt for nan 1TB exemplary — a capacity exclusive to nan larger tablet.

Another different twist is that only nan Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra offers Wi-Fi 7 support; nan smaller 12.4-inch Tab S10 Plus is constricted to Wi-Fi 6E. That’s astir apt not a deal-breaker, arsenic Wi-Fi 7 routers aren’t precisely mainstream correct now, but it does adhd immoderate other future-proofing to nan larger tablet. On nan flip side, only nan Tab S10 Plus is disposable successful a sub-6GHz 5G type correct now, though it’s constricted to nan Moonstone Gray 256GB model. A cellular type of nan Tab S10 Ultra should beryllium coming to nan U.S. pinch improved mmWave 5G connectivity, but there’s nary connection connected erstwhile we’ll spot it.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Tab S10 Plus: package and features

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The Galaxy Tab S10 bid ships pinch Android 14 and Samsung’s One UI 6.1 layered connected top. Both tablets should get Android 15 and One UI 7.0 early adjacent year. As pinch Samsung’s smartphone promises, nan institution guarantees 7 years of updates, and while Android 15 will count arsenic nan first of those, it’s still a bully tally that will yet return nan tablets to Android 21.

While Android and One UI execute good acknowledgment to nan caller MediaTek chip, Samsung’s tablets proceed to beryllium plagued by anemic Android support for large displays. Samsung has done its champion to reside these shortcomings successful One UI and DeX mode, but there’s only truthful overmuch it tin do. We recovered it a little than perfect acquisition that detracts from nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra being a due 2-in-1 device. The large surface and S Pen make it a bully media depletion and creation instrumentality for artists and note-takers, but you’ll want to deliberation doubly astir whether it tin switch your laptop.

While Samsung is billing nan Tab S10 models arsenic nan first tablets built for AI, nan Galaxy AI features present are mostly nan aforesaid arsenic what you’ll find connected Samsung’s 2024 smartphones. However, we recovered that nan larger screens bring Sketch to Image to a caller level, particularly connected nan 14.6-inch Tab S10 Ultra. The MediaTek Dimensity 9300 Plus really proves itself here, letting you smoothly create AI-generated useful of creation pinch nan S Pen pinch nary lag aliases overheating.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Tab S10 Plus: cameras

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It’s improbable you’ll beryllium holding up moreover nan 12.4-inch Galaxy Tab S10 Plus to return a batch of photos, overmuch little nan larger Tab S10 Ultra, and for illustration astir tablets, nan cameras bespeak this. The 13-megapixel (MP) main and 8MP ultrawide combo connected nan backmost are nan aforesaid connected some tablets and much than capable for archive scanning aliases different casual use. There’s not overmuch to opportunity astir them beyond that.

Similarly, nan 12MP ultrawide beforehand cameras are chiefly location for video calls, but nan larger Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra gets a prize present pinch a 2nd 12MP wide camera. The 2 tablets stock an f/2.0 camera pinch a 120-degree section of view, while nan further lens connected nan Tab S10 Ultra has a tighter 80-degree section and a smaller f/2.4 aperture. While it’s difficult to reason pinch much cameras, we’re not wholly judge what nan constituent is of nan further 1 here. Samsung hasn’t said overmuch astir it contempt adding an unattractive surface notch to make room for it.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Tab S10 Plus: artillery life and charging

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The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra packs successful an 11,200mAh battery, while nan Galaxy Tab S10 Plus has a smaller 10,090mAh cell. While you whitethorn deliberation those other 1,110 milliamp-hours would equate to longer artillery life, some tablets travel successful astir nan aforesaid since nan further powerfulness is needed to thrust nan larger 14.6-inch display.

The bully news is that it’s fantabulous for both. Even though nan batteries person remained nan aforesaid size arsenic those successful past year’s Tab S9 models, nan caller Dimensity 9300 Plus spot takes powerfulness ratio to caller levels, particularly erstwhile you’re not utilizing nan tablet. We sewage an hr of further surface clip connected nan Tab S10 Ultra, but nan caller spot sips artillery juice successful standby mode to nan constituent wherever it lasted 2 days longer.

Most folks shouldn’t person a problem getting respective days of usage betwixt charges from either tablet, but conscionable beryllium alert that Samsung hasn’t done thing astir charging speeds. These max retired astatine 45 watts charging, truthful expect it to return 2.5 hours to get a afloat charge.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Tab S10 Plus: value and availability

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Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra starts astatine $1,200 for a guidelines exemplary pinch 256GB of storage. A 512GB exemplary is disposable for $1,320, and nan 1TB model, which besides takes you to 16GB of RAM, is priced astatine $1,620. It’s only disposable successful nan U.S. arsenic a Wi-Fi exemplary correct now, and it tin beryllium purchased straight from Samsung and astir different awesome retailers.

The Galaxy Tab S10 Plus is simply a spot much complicated. There’s a 5G type available, but you’ll request to activate pinch a bearer to get it, and you’ll person to settee for nan 256GB type successful Moonstone Gray. The 512GB capacity and Platinum Silver decorativeness are only disposable successful nan Wi-Fi model. The 256GB Wi-Fi exemplary starts astatine $1,000, while nan 5G type is $1,150 connected AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, aliases U.S. Cellular.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs. Tab S10 Plus: verdict

Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends

The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and Galaxy Tab S10 Plus are awesome tablets pinch virtually identical specs. For astir folks, nan prime betwixt nan 2 will travel down to 1 thing: size.

While nan Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has an other beforehand camera and Wi-Fi 7 support, neither of these are compelling capable upgrades to warrant its larger footprint and heftier weight unless you really want nan 14.6-inch screen. That bigger surface unsocial is logic capable to opt for nan Tab S10 Ultra, however. Though Android limitations clasp it backmost from being a existent laptop replacement, it tin beryllium fantabulous surface for bingeing your favourite Netflix shows aliases an expansive canvas for sketching and drafting pinch nan included S Pen.

Still, if you find a 14.6-inch tablet unwieldy, nan Galaxy Tab S10 Plus will springiness you nan aforesaid capacity and personification acquisition successful a much portable shape factor. It has coagulated multiday artillery life and a gorgeous 12.4-inch screen, positive a bundled S Pen and nan aforesaid MediaTek spot and Galaxy AI features. It’s besides nan only type disposable pinch 5G support correct now, astatine slightest successful nan U.S.