Samsung’s new Android tablets are priced to rival | Tech News

Samsung has unveiled two new Android tablets at a flashy occasion on the IFA tech commerce show in Berlin that appear priced to compete immediately with Apple’s iPad Pro vary. The 11-inch Galaxy Tab S11 and large 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra value from £949 and £1,199 respectively, teeing them up for a struggle for shoppers’ money with the £999 11-inch iPad Pro and £1,299 13-inch iPad Pro.

Samsung’s Tab S11 and Tab S11 Ultra exchange final yr’s Tab S10 Plus and Tab S10 Ultra – there was no common S10 final yr, and now there may be no S11 Plus. It’s all very complicated.

The backside line is £999 is a lot to pay for a pill, even when Samsung says the gadgets have software program upgrades, transport with One UI 8 primarily based on Android 16 and with full Google Gemini AI integration.

You additionally get Samsung’s Galaxy AI, with instruments corresponding to drawing help and writing help to rework and improve your sketches and emails.

“Powered by the latest Galaxy AI, now enhanced by One UI 8 and new multimodal capabilities, the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is the thinnest Galaxy Tab to date, without compromising performance, going beyond a slim form factor to show what a premium tablet can be,” Samsung mentioned.

“Together, the series is built for effortless productivity on the go, combining pro-grade hardware with experiences optimised for a large screen.”

Those phrases suggest these high-end tablets are constructed for engaged on, which might nicely require a keyboard or stylus, relying in your career. Thankfully, each Tab S11 fashions include an S Pen stylus within the box, one thing Apple by no means presents with its iPads and Apple Pencil.

Samsung claims the S Pen has been redesigned to improve consolation, and is designed to work seamlessly with third get together apps corresponding to Goodnotes, Clip Studio Paint, LumaFusion and Notion, however you’ll nonetheless have to fork out further for a keyboard case if you’d like to use both Tab S11 as a laptop computer alternative.

If you need to do this, you’ll additionally benefit from Samsung’s intelligent DeX software program constructed into both pill, which turns the Android working system into a desktop-like expertise suited to working with an exterior keyboard and mouse. Samsung says you may hook both pill up to a monitor and run the entire setup with two screens, making these gadgets probably more versatile than a laptop computer.

The Tab S11 Ultra has a whopping 14.6-inch OLED screen with smooth-scrolling 120Hz refresh charge and an anti-reflective coating comparable to that seen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra. Its 5.1mm thickness can be, to be frank, ludicrously skinny, and spectacular for a pill of this screen measurement.

It additionally has twin rear cameras however in any other case shares its most important specs with the smaller 11-inch S11, which has a 120Hz OLED show with out the flamboyant coating and just one rear digital camera.

Both slates run on the MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ and include 12GB RAM as customary, pack in quad audio system, IP68 mud and water resistance, and the option to pay more for a 5G appropriate model of both that comes with twin SIM capabilities (one bodily, one eSIM).

If you go for Wi-Fi solely variations, the Ultra will get Wi-Fi 7 compatibility whereas the common S11 has to accept Wi-Fi 6E, although most people received’t discover a tangible distinction. Plus, you solely get Wi-Fi 7 speeds when you have a Wi-Fi 7 router and a zippy enough fibre broadband plan.

Battery measurement may very well be a motive to go for the bigger S11 Ultra, because it has a big 11,600mAh cell in contrast to the S11’s 8,400mAh.

The Galaxy Tab S11 and Tab S11 Ultra are accessible to pre-order from immediately from Samsung. The firm is initially offering a free Book Cover Keyboard Slim with each buy, plus £200 off the Ultra if you commerce in any pill or Android cellphone in any situation.