M5 iPad Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra

[proveritas]

Apparently some musicians use the S11 Ultra for performance. Holds all the sheet music and displays it in actual size.

The best the Ipad Pro 13 can display is 87% and 4:3 is not optimal to display standard sheet music.


https://www.tablets-for-musicians.com/best-tablets/

 

[FreddyVegas]

As someone who just completely switched from Android to iOS, one thing I’ve noticed which is a significant difference not mentioned in this article is the audio. Front facing speakers are such a game changer and Dolby Audio. Why the iPhone and iPad doesn’t have them is honestly egregious. My S25 Ultra and Tab S9 Ultra were so loud and clear, I can’t tell you how much I miss it. However, for the overall better experience I am enjoying with iOS it’s a trade off I can deal with but should certainly be considered in future designs and well overdue for Apple.

 

[Suicidy]

The Fire HD is a much better deal.

Still not as much bang for the buck as an Etch a Sketch.

 

[bookofxero]

For me, personally, that widescreen form factor is just so damn sexy. It's time Apple lose the extremely dated ratio of the current iPad and just go wide already!! Should have made the change years ago. Let's go ahead and shave those bezels down as well....

I strongly disagree. The ratio is the sole reason I would get an iPad over any other offering as it is closest to paper. It’s not a simple consumption machine and not priced as one. I actively avoid the Android tablets because the ratio is so uncomfortable for a tablet.

 

[bookofxero]

While the Apple Pencil may have a better feel compared to the S Pen, and the Apple Pencil may offer a better experience for people wanting to use their tablet for digital drawing and painting, the iPads still lag far, far behind in terms of handwriting support. Android totally outshines them there.

I’m not an artist, but I’ll never understand the appeal of hard plastic on glass feel. Yeah, there are “paper-like” screen protectors, but it would be even easier to just engineer different tactile feels on the Apple Pencil.

 

[bookofxero]

Apparently some musicians use the S11 Ultra for performance. Holds all the sheet music and displays it in actual size.

The best the Ipad Pro 13 can display is 87% and 4:3 is not optimal to display standard sheet music.


https://www.tablets-for-musicians.com/best-tablets/

The iPad Pro is basically a 1:1 sheet of letter size paper. Not a musician, but sounds like they maybe use A-sized sheets? First I heard of this particular use case.

 

[svish]

For me, getting a tablet means getting an iPad only. While I do also have an Android phone, somehow I am not happy with an Android tablet. Apps need not be optimized in the case of Android tablets. Hardware wise, the Samsung tablet is very good. But overall for me, I will choose an iPad any day. Very happy with my 11" M4 cellular iPad Pro which I got just a few months ago.

 

[leifp]

I’m a bit allergic to Samsung, however my M4 iPad Pro is so overpriced for what it can actually do and what I want of it that my entire computing paradigm is coming under the loupe for the next generations…

And I hate the trackpad on the keyboard, Dan! I’d rather not have it and save some money. I was one of those pining for a trackpad when iPads didn’t offer keyboards with it and immediately bought a case with it. And in those many years can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually used it.

Options! Not the Apple way…

 

[Dr McKay]

Nobody buys an iPad Pro for content consumption.

I did, and the content I consumed looked fantastic on that tandem OLED screen 👌

 

[Anaxarxes]

For me, personally, that widescreen form factor is just so damn sexy. It's time Apple lose the extremely dated ratio of the current iPad and just go wide already!! Should have made the change years ago. Let's go ahead and shave those bezels down as well....

The bezels are there for you to hold your tablet with your thumb and not interfere with the screen.

4:3 is superior to 16:10 on all counts except watching videos. I want a device to read, browse the web, write emails, work on files with both portrait and landscape modes.

Thanks got product designers are not just changing things because they are "sexy".

 

[radus]

lacking a touchpad is not a Problem esp. in DeX mode there is full mouse support not a kind of mouse support like on the iPad

 

[engbren]

I’ve tried Android tablets a few times and they’ve always felt a little unpolished. The original Samsung Galaxy Tab S was an incredible form factor, thin iPad mini size but before the iPad mini came out. It blatantly copied Apple’s design aesthetic down to the 30 pin connector which was simply reversed pins. Unfortunately, the user experience and the app availability were poor compared to iPad.
I later had a Galaxy Tab S 8.4 which had an amazing OLED screen in 16:9 format and amazingly thin bezels for the time. Those thin bezels hid a major usability problem though in that they didn’t implement palm rejection. I wanted to throw that thing out the window every time I used it.
Then there was the Kindle Fire that I rooted and installed stock android. And the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 which was so underwhelming. I’m in no hurry to try an Android tablet again but I appreciate they’re still developing a tablet and I’m sure the experience on the high end ones is much better now than it once was.

 

[aliomenti]

Nobody buys an iPad Pro for content consumption.

I traded in my iPad Air for an iPad Pro for content consumption. Watching Dolby Vision on an OLED TV spoiled me 🤣.

 

[jchap]

I’m not an artist, but I’ll never understand the appeal of hard plastic on glass feel. Yeah, there are “paper-like” screen protectors, but it would be even easier to just engineer different tactile feels on the Apple Pencil.

I think that's why there are third-party tips out now for the Apple Pencil, to give different writing feels.

 

[Abazigal]

Majority of iPad users still use the device for consuming media. And those that "produce" on it, well, majority are also doing that in landscape, just as their desktops, laptops, etc., are all landscape. "Working in portrait" sounds like an incredibly niche workflow. Let's get the widescreens rolling!!

The problem with widescreens is the lack of vertical screen space, which is a pain when trying to read pdfs and other documents, even in landscape mode. I teach with my iPad in the classroom and 4:3 is really the ideal resolution when projecting my screen to the class whiteboard.

With a wider screen, I either have to keep scrolling (because a narrower screen displays fewer lines of text), or I zoom out of the document (thus negating the benefits of the extra width of the display).

Also, just because my content is 16:9 doesn't mean the display has to be. Like when I am watching YouTube on my iPad, I don't go full-screen. The video plays while I check the comments or preview what to watch next. All this benefits from having a taller screen in general.

Nobody buys an iPad Pro for content consumption.

I don't know why "content consumption" gets such a bad rep around here. Not everyone's job revolves around editing videos or spreadsheets (though I also deal with a ton of data and spreadsheets as a head of department). For me, a great deal of my work is consuming content. For example, I could be reading soft copies of lesson plans and teaching guides and vetting exam papers and student remarks in Notability, browsing the web, checking email, or when I am marking, run Notability + YouTube in split-screen mode on the desk in front of me). At home, I can be lounging on the sofa and again catching up on my news feed, playing Slay The Spire, again triaging my mail or just messaging friends (yay for WhatsApp finally coming to the iPad). 😛

As for what distinguishes the two, I feel it really comes down to apps and ecosystem. Like I already have an iPhone, so getting an iPad feels like a no-brainer when I can share app purchases between the 2 (no having to buy the same app twice). Also, some apps are just not available on Android (Notability, Ivory, Reeder, Overcast, 1password, Play, amongst others).

Maybe the iPad does cost more upfront, but at this stage of my life, I am not really that price-sensitive over something I expect to last me 5-6 years (my 2018 iPad Pro lasted me till April last year, so around 5.5 years?). I am familiar with iOS, I am deeply invested in the platform, it works, so no point changing now. 😬

 

[badmachinery]

Having used both extensively, the only really good use case for the Samsung S-series tablets vs Apple is if you usually work on Clip Studio (the pro comic art/illustration software) on the desktop, and want a truly mobile Wacom solution for that exact niche. The Pencil and the Wacom digitiser (used in the Samsungs and Wacom's tablets) have very different pressure curves that I can never make feel the same, and I've spent 6 or 7 years trying. It's just enough to throw me off. The 13" iPads are better devices for the job in every other way - the 4:3 is better for drawing pages - wide enough in portrait, tall enough in landscape. The Apple app ecosystem is so much better. Airdrop is endlessly helpful. But I've been working on Wacom tech for 20+ years, my hand and brain fight the Apple Pencil all the way round the page when I'm inking. But that's it. The most niche use case scenario imaginable, that even most comic artists don't care about.

 

[highdefjunkie]

The problem with widescreens is the lack of vertical screen space, which is a pain when trying to read pdfs and other documents, even in landscape mode. I teach with my iPad in the classroom and 4:3 is really the ideal resolution when projecting my screen to the class whiteboard.

With a wider screen, I either have to keep scrolling (because a narrower screen displays fewer lines of text), or I zoom out of the document (thus negating the benefits of the extra width of the display).

Also, just because my content is 16:9 doesn't mean the display has to be. Like when I am watching YouTube on my iPad, I don't go full-screen. The video plays while I check the comments or preview what to watch next. All this benefits from having a taller screen in general.


I don't know why "content consumption" gets such a bad rep around here. Not everyone's job revolves around editing videos or spreadsheets (though I also deal with a ton of data and spreadsheets as a head of department). For me, a great deal of my work is consuming content. For example, I could be reading soft copies of lesson plans and teaching guides and vetting exam papers and student remarks in Notability, browsing the web, checking email, or when I am marking, run Notability + YouTube in split-screen mode on the desk in front of me). At home, I can be lounging on the sofa and again catching up on my news feed, playing Slay The Spire, again triaging my mail or just messaging friends (yay for WhatsApp finally coming to the iPad). 😛

As for what distinguishes the two, I feel it really comes down to apps and ecosystem. Like I already have an iPhone, so getting an iPad feels like a no-brainer when I can share app purchases between the 2 (no having to buy the same app twice). Also, some apps are just not available on Android (Notability, Ivory, Reeder, Overcast, 1password, Play, amongst others).

Maybe the iPad does cost more upfront, but at this stage of my life, I am not really that price-sensitive over something I expect to last me 5-6 years (my 2018 iPad Pro lasted me till April last year, so around 5.5 years?). I am familiar with iOS, I am deeply invested in the platform, it works, so no point changing now. 😬

Very well said.

 

[Jean Claude]

The bezels are there for you to hold your tablet with your thumb and not interfere with the screen.

I don't get how this is so complicated for folks - it's a very easy solution. You simply make the surrounding pixels 'unactivated' to touch, but still 'active' as a display. So you're essentially creating an artificial bezel of pixels that are viewable and active, but not susceptible to touch or false positives. The amount of people on a tech site that think physical bezels are needed to hold a device never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Jean Claude]

I do not remember appointing you as the representative for the “rest of us,” and would appreciate it if you stop acting like one. I am using a plain iPad to read email, touch up spreadsheets, do light web searches, etc., almost all of it in landscape orientation. and would be extremely put out if iPad goes any longer and narrower.

Dude ... just stop ....

 

[justanotherdave]

I did. So, that would make you wrong.

Only wrong if you think in absolutes and that a minority of users represents the entire population.

 

[justanotherdave]

Take your tunnel-vision glasses off. Most tablet consumers are not animator/digital artists. Your views may work for your daughter but it certainly doesn't apply to everyone.

So I guess you want to ignore what professionals use these devices for or the fact numerous companies invest millions in creating high-end Apps for those markets and pretend the only thing they're used for is consumption.

I can understand why. You're intentionally avoiding all the points I made because you don't have a rebuttal for them. So you want to make this discussion about consumption.

I'll try to make this as clear as possible:

Android tablets are JUNK because their software ecosystem is garbage compared to the iPad.

 

[justanotherdave]

You really might want to reconsider your overreaching blanket opinions when you say "nobody". Nobody mean absolutely no one, and by the comments here, you're wrong. There is certainly a niche industry where an iPad Pro would be superior, but in the real world, people use tablet for dozens of things...content consumption being one of them, and in your daughters case, digital art. Open your eyes...

Of course you're going to be pedantic about my use of the word nobody.

I'll correct it for you: "practically nobody".

As with content consumption you want to harp away about my use of the word nobody because you're trying to avoid a comparison of the capabilities of the iPad Pro against Android tablets like the S11. It's why you're avoiding all the points I made. You'd rather attack my use of a word than actually discuss how lousy Android tablets are compared to the iPad.

 

[justanotherdave]

Apparently some musicians use the S11 Ultra for performance. Holds all the sheet music and displays it in actual size.

The best the Ipad Pro 13 can display is 87% and 4:3 is not optimal to display standard sheet music.


https://www.tablets-for-musicians.com/best-tablets/

That's an interesting use case, but it brings up another.

People who record/produce music overwhelmingly use iOS and iPadOS devices. Mainly because Android can't handle audio/MIDI the same way and you have to deal with lag/latency. Google never really took this market seriously and it shows. Apple ported over CoreAudio and CoreMIDI from Macs to their portable devices.

A 10 year old iPhone/iPad can outperform a Galaxy S25 for audio work.

 

[jon9091]

Only wrong if you think in absolutes and that a minority of users represents the entire population.

Nope. Completely wrong no matter how you now try and move the goal posts.
Your statement was that “nobody buys an iPad Pro for content creation”. I certainly didn’t see you offering and data to back up your claim…because there isn’t any.

 

[melgross]

I’ve found that in practice, the Tabs don’t live up to their expectations. Performance is always mediocre. The screens, for some reason, don’t have the life expectancy you would think they would, turning darker and green over time, particularly when the brightness is turned down.