Samsung Galaxy S10 Ultra Review: Big Same

Worth When Reviewed

From $1,199.99

Finest Costs At present: Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely

£1199

$1,499

Samsung’s greatest and strongest pill is again with a 2024 refresh, and though it could look virtually equivalent to its predecessor, there are, in actual fact, numerous modifications this 12 months.

The Korean tech large has opted for a flagship MediaTek chip this time round, quite than the same old Qualcomm affair, and there’s loads of new Galaxy AI goodness to sink your enamel into as nicely.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely, because the identify suggests, is designed to be the very best of the very best. It’s huge, highly effective and loaded with top-of-the-line specs.

The query is, is it actually well worth the hefty £1,199/$1,199 asking worth? And is any pill, for that matter? I’ve been utilizing it for the previous week in an try to search out out.

Notice that this 12 months, the Tab S10 sequence is simply two fashions as there isn’t any common Tab S10. 

Design & Equipment

• Moonstone Gray and Platinum Silver choices
• 5.4mm thick, 718g
• S-Pen and non-obligatory keyboard covers

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely seems virtually equivalent to the Tab S9 Extremely.

Actually, it’s so comparable that the equipment from the older pill match this one, too. The one outward distinction is that it’s barely slimmer and has new color choices.

Luke Baker

This mannequin is on the market in Moonstone Gray or Platinum Silver, primarily a lighter or darker shade of gray. I’ve the Platinum Silver mannequin in for testing and it seems good {and professional}, if somewhat plain. It’s undoubtedly obtained a slight Apple vibe to it.

Simply as we noticed with its predecessors, the Extremely is completely huge, and it has some heft to it, too. If you happen to’re in search of the largest pill out there, this could possibly be the one for you. Simply remember that holding it for lengthy durations requires some bicep and wrist power.

The physique is constructed from a large slab of aluminium and it’s Samsung’s new Enhanced Armor Aluminum formulation. Supposedly, this makes it extra sturdy than its predecessor, however I’ll need to take Samsung’s phrase for it.

For what it’s price, my overview unit remains to be wanting spotless, however because it has by no means been dropped and used primarily round the home, you’d anticipate that to be the case.

Luke Baker

On the rear, there’s a cut-out space for the S Pen, which comes included within the field. It attaches magnetically and costs wirelessly on this location, simply because it did on the Tab S9. I had a behavior of knocking it off by chance, however most of Samsung’s instances cowl it as much as preserve it safer.

There’s a wholesome vary of keyboard covers out there for this pill, and for probably the most half, they’re the identical as those you might get for the S9 Extremely. The important thing distinction with the newer keyboards is that they’ve a devoted AI button. Personally, I’d choose to avoid wasting cash and simply seize a keyboard designed for the S9 Extremely.

The Galaxy Tab S10 has vibration motors in-built, which isn’t all the time the case with tablets. Sadly, although, they’re not as spectacular because the motors featured in Samsung’s flagship telephones.

They’re robust sufficient to get your consideration for a notification however suggestions whereas typing is faint and imprecise. Nonetheless, it’s higher than nothing.

Display & Audio system

• 14.6-inch 2.9K 120Hz AMOLED show
• 930 nits peak brightness
• Quad stereo audio system

The defining characteristic of this show is its scale. Measuring 14.6-inch diagonally that is by far the most important pill I’ve ever held. It’s a display that might look extra at residence on a laptop computer than as a standalone slate.

Luke Baker

The 16:10 side ratio can be one thing extra generally discovered on a laptop computer, and I believe it’s one in every of this pill’s biggest strengths. Tablets have many makes use of, however personally, I have a tendency to make use of them for content material consumption greater than the rest.

This ratio signifies that 16:9 content material fills many of the show, with minimal black bars, it seems nice. The identical is true for web sites considered in desktop mode, they simply match on this display higher than a number of the extra square-shaped competitors.

One other large win is the addition of the superb anti-glare glass coating that we first noticed on the Galaxy S24 Extremely. You won’t discover it at first look, however when in comparison with an ordinary pill show, the reflectivity is dramatically lowered.

This makes the pill infinitely extra usable in vibrant situations or outdoor, it won’t be on fairly the identical degree as Huawei’s PaperMatte coating, but it surely’s the subsequent neatest thing. Not like Huawei’s answer, you don’t lose any distinction with this coating, both, so darkish areas look as deep and inky as you’d anticipate from an OLED panel.

Luke Baker

The brightness doesn’t sound too spectacular on paper, peaking at 930 nits, however in actuality, it is a very vibrant show. HDR content material is dazzling sufficient to make you squint in a dimly lit room, and the panel had no bother competing with daylight blaring in by my conservatory home windows – I think we’ve the anti-glare coating to thank for that.

The Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely has a really slim bezel on all sides, round 5mm in width, leading to a really trendy look. Sadly, this additionally signifies that there’s not a lot area so that you can grip when holding the pill, and I usually encountered phantom touches.

One other slight niggle is that the glass coating appears to select up fingerprint smudges extra simply than different gadgets. I all the time stored a mushy material close by to maintain the show wanting its finest, as with out it, you get a reasonably smudgy-looking display after 10 minutes of swiping.

Luke Baker

The pill has quad stereo audio system positioned on the highest and backside (when held in portrait orientation) and so they can kick out some critical sound.

There’s a good quantity of bass, extra quantity than most would wish and plenty of readability. The width of the pill creates a pleasant stereo impact, too, they’re preferrred for watching Netflix round the home.

Specs & Efficiency

• MediaTek Dimensity 9300+
• 12GB / 16GB RAM
• 256GB / 512GB / 1TB storage (microSD expandable)

The Tab S10 Extremely is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300+ chipset, and it’s the primary Samsung Extremely pill to make use of one thing aside from a Qualcomm flagship chip.

Luke Baker

Whereas which may trigger some preliminary issues, it shouldn’t, because the Dimensity 9300 sequence chips are significantly highly effective.

To make issues even higher, it’s paired with a beneficiant 12- or 16GB of RAM, relying on the mannequin you select, and as much as 1TB of storage. I’ve the bottom mannequin in for testing, with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

It’s greater than sufficient for most individuals, plus it has microSD help, so you may add as much as 2TB of further storage in case you want it.

Luke Baker

The Dimensity chip could fall behind Qualcomm’s finest in artificial GPU benchmarks, however in use, you’d have a tough time telling the distinction. The pill had no bother working demanding video games like Zenless Zone Zero and Genshin Affect on the best graphics settings at 60fps.

I’ve seen that earlier Dimensity-wielding flagships are likely to get fairly scorching whereas gaming, however that’s not the case with Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely. It is a big pill, with loads of room for a super-sized vapor chamber, and it really works wonders.

The most important difficulty for avid gamers is the sheer measurement of the show, it will get fairly laborious to achieve a number of the contact controls. I’d undoubtedly suggest investing in a superb Bluetooth controller if you wish to recreation on this correctly.

Luke Baker

Outdoors of gaming efficiency, the pill continues to impress. I had a clean expertise all through the testing interval, and by no means seen any stutters or slowdowns, even underneath heavy multitasking with three or extra apps on the display directly.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely benchmarks

Cameras

• 13Mp f/2.0 most important – 4K 30fps video
• 8Mp f/2.2 ultrawide
• 12Mp customary selfie, 12Mp ultrawide selfie

Utilizing a pill as a digital camera isn’t probably the most sensible choice, and that’s all of the extra true when your pill is the scale of a small tv.

Fortunately, although, Samsung has put extra effort into its front-facing cameras than most pill producers and it is a good transfer, as they’re prone to get much more use than the rear snappers.

The Tab S10 Extremely has two selfie cameras, one has a reasonably typical area of view, whereas the opposite offers you an ultrawide perspective. It might come in useful in case you’re attempting to carry a Zoom name with a bigger group of individuals, or in case you simply wish to exhibit your environment whereas retaining your self within the body.

On the again, you get a good 13Mp most important shooter and an unimpressive 8Mp ultrawide. They’re serviceable for the occasional pic, however they’re nowhere close to pretty much as good because the cameras you discover on a Samsung smartphone and so they definitely wrestle in dimmer situations.

You may report video at as much as 4K/30fps on the entrance and rear cameras, which I used to be comfortable to see. Many tablets solely provide 1080p video on their selfie cameras, however they’re doubtless for use for video conferencing greater than the rest, so that you actually need the very best specs across the entrance.

9 instances out of ten, it makes extra sense to make use of your telephone cameras quite than those constructed into your pill, however these cameras get the job carried out in case you want them.

The entrance cameras simply beat your typical laptop computer webcam setup, and Samsung’s portrait mode results impress as ordinary, which could possibly be important in case you’re deciding between a pill and a laptop computer.

Battery Life & Charging

• 11,200mAh battery
• 45W quick charging
• No charger within the field

The Galaxy Tab S10 has a huge 11,200mAh battery inside, however with an OLED panel this measurement, all these milliamps could be fairly crucial.

In use, I discovered the battery life to be good, however not as distinctive because the battery capability could lead you to anticipate. The pill can nearly final for a full workday, and I usually skilled round 7-8 hours of screen-on-time earlier than reaching for the charger.

After all, your mileage could differ, and prolonged gaming periods will drain the cell faster than that.

Luke Baker

As is the case with all new Samsung merchandise, the charger doesn’t come included, you solely get a USB-C to USB-C cable. So you might must think about the price of a 45W-capable wall adapter to benefit from the total velocity.

With the precise charger, you may anticipate to go from 0% to round 40% in half an hour. In the meantime, a full cost takes nicely over an hour. It’s not the quickest, however given the scale of this battery pack, that’s completely comprehensible.

Software program & Apps

• One UI 6.1, primarily based on Android 14
• Galaxy AI options
• LumaFusion and Clip Studio Paint pre-loaded

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely runs One UI 6.1, identical to its smaller Galaxy S24-series siblings. It comes loaded with the entire identical Galaxy AI options as these handsets, too.

Luke Baker

I like the way in which Samsung optimises its OS for bigger shows. For example, knocking down the quick-settings shade offers you a sensibly sized menu, quite than supersizing every part like another tablets, do.

Multitasking choices are plentiful and simple to navigate, too. They’re not large modifications, however they’re considerate, and make for a extra polished-feeling general expertise.

Simply as I discovered with this 12 months’s Samsung Galaxy telephones, the AI options are spectacular and work fairly nicely, however numerous the time they really feel extra like occasion tips than stuff you’d really use each day. 

The one one I discover myself gravitating in direction of is Circle to Search. It’s a very fast and useful method to get extra details about one thing, and doing it with the S Pen feels extraordinarily pure.

This characteristic is not unique to Samsung, we’ve simply seen it seem on the newest Xiaomi handsets and Motorola is including it too. Nonetheless, the Galaxy Tabs are a number of the first tablets to help this characteristic, outdoors of Google’s personal Pixel Pill.

Lots of Samsung’s advertising centres round this pill being a inventive powerhouse, and if we’re simply speaking about {hardware}, there’s reality to that. The issue is that iPads simply have a greater choice of inventive apps, like Procreate and Ultimate Minimize Professional, as an example – neither of which work on Android.

The Android choices are getting higher, Clip Studio Paint is a strong digital illustration app, and it comes preinstalled together with Samsung’s personal PenUP, and LumaFusion for video enhancing.

Nonetheless, it’s price noting that LumaFusion and Clip Studio Paint each require a further buy to make use of.

The S Pen is among the lowest-latency styluses to come back with an Android pill, outdoors of Huawei’s NearLink choices, it has nice strain sensitivity and line accuracy, too.

It’s only a disgrace that it appears like you need to compromise barely on the purposes – and that’s not what you need while you’re investing a lot cash in a inventive instrument. After all, this solely applies in case you’re attempting to make use of this pill as knowledgeable illustrator, the choices listed here are nice for many hobbyists.

Luke Baker

Worth & Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely is on the market to buy now globally. You may seize it straight from Samsung or by a third-party retailer like Amazon, John Lewis, Currys and Argos within the UK.

Within the US, discover it at Samsung in addition to Amazon and BestBuy.

It begins at £1,199/$1,199 for the Wi-Fi mannequin with 256GB storage or £1,349 if you wish to add 5G connectivity. If you happen to up the storage to the utmost of 1TB, you may anticipate to pay £1549 for the Wi-Fi mannequin or £1699 for 5G.

Curiously, within the US it doesn’t include 5G as an choice so aside from the entry degree mannequin you could have the selection of 512GB or 1TB storage for $1,319 and $1,619 respectively.

It’s price remembering that the Tab S10 Extremely nonetheless helps microSD card storage, so in case you want a bit additional, and may sacrifice somewhat velocity, you might save rather a lot by choosing up probably the greatest microSD playing cards.

Try our checklist of the very best tablets for extra choices.

Do you have to purchase the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely?

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely leaves me with blended emotions. On one hand, it’s an undeniably spectacular little bit of equipment and a delight to make use of, however on the opposite, it’s so just like the earlier mannequin that there’s barely any cause to improve.

To summarise the modifications, this mannequin will get an anti-glare coating on the show, a slimmer and harder aluminium shell, a brand new Dimensity chipset and a few totally different color finishes. The anti-glare coating does make a distinction, but it surely’s unlikely to sway present Tab S9 Extremely homeowners, and the Dimensity 9300+ doesn’t make a sufficiently big distinction to warrant an improve both. 

That leaves us with Galaxy AI options, most of that are already out there on the Tab S9 Extremely. The one unique options are the Portrait Studio and Sketch to Picture, owing to the newer NPU within the S10 Extremely. They’re fairly neat, however definitely not the form of factor you’d purchase a brand new pill for.

So, the place does that depart us? Effectively, the Tab S10 Extremely is Samsung’s finest large-screen pill to date, and if you need the very best super-sized slate, it’s in all probability the one to get. Personally, although, I’d save myself some cash and simply get the Tab S9 Extremely as an alternative.

It’s virtually the very same expertise, and now that it has been changed, it may be had for a significantly better worth.

Specs

• MediaTek Dimensity 9300+
• 12GB / 16GB RAM
• 256GB / 512GB / 1TB (microSD expandable)
• 14.6-inch AMOLED show
• 2960×1848 decision, 930 nits peak brightness
• 120Hz dynamic refresh price
• 11200mAh battery
• 45W quick charging (no charger included)
• Twin front-facing 12Mp digital camera
• Rear 13Mp most important digital camera + 8Mp ultrawide
• Quad audio system
• 326.4 x 208.6 x 5.4 mm
• 718g (pill solely)