Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Samsung Launches $1,200 Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra With Thin Design and Revamped S-Pen

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,443
40,541


Samsung today announced its newest tablet lineup, introducing the Galaxy Tab S11 and the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra. We were able to take a quick look at the new tablet options prior to when Samsung launched them, giving us an early idea of how they compare to Apple's iPads.


The 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is Samsung's thinnest and lightest tablet to date, measuring in at 5.1mm thick. That's the same thickness as Apple's 13-inch iPad Pro. The S11 Ultra has a 120Hz AMOLED display with an anti-reflective coating, but no nano-texture-style matte display option.

The smaller Tab S11 has an 11-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and both tablets support 1,600 nits peak brightness. An upgraded 3-nanometer processor provides faster performance, more responsive AI features, and smoother multitasking, according to Samsung.

There is a dual rear-camera setup in the S11 Ultra, featuring a 13-megapixel wide-angle lens and an 8-megapixel ultra wide-angle lens. The S11 has a single 13-megapixel rear camera, and both models have a 12-megapixel ultra wide selfie camera.

Samsung includes a microSD slot in its tablets, so both support up to 2TB of microSD card storage. The standard S11 has 12GB RAM, while the S11 Ultra has 16GB. Both tablets work with Samsung's redesigned S-Pen for an Apple Pencil-like experience. The S-Pen has a cone-shaped tip that supports increased tilt angles for improved control, and the hex design is meant to feel more ergonomic in the hand. It doesn't use Bluetooth anymore, so you don't need to remember to manually charge it. Just stick it on the S11 and it will charge automatically, much like the Apple Pencil.

Samsung upgraded its DeX smartphone integration feature to improve multitasking. Extended Mode turns the Galaxy Tab S11 devices into external monitors for a dual-screen setup, with DeX running across both screens for better multitasking. Users can drag and drop apps between displays, and create up to four custom workspaces.

Gemini Live is integrated for real-time screen sharing and visual input, allowing users to have a conversation with Gemini about what they're looking at. Gemini is also able to complete tasks in and across apps, plus Samsung includes Drawing Assist and Writing Assist AI features.

The Galaxy Tab S11 and S11 Ultra are available starting today from the Samsung website. The Galaxy Tab S11 is priced starting at $800, while the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is priced starting at $1,200.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Article Link: Samsung Launches $1,200 Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra With Thin Design and Revamped S-Pen
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/09/04/samsung-galaxy-tab-s11-ultra/
  • Haha
Reactions: SFjohn
Interesting they didn’t launch a 12” model this go round, after omitting the 11” for the S10 series.
 
Garbage device.

Large size with a quality screen which should be great for artists, photographers/videographers and the like yet still runs a phone processor.

No wonder developers don’t bother to bring their high-end Apps to Android tablets. If hardware manufacturers don’t take this market seriously then why would they?
 
  • Disagree
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: rhinosrcool, uacd, thewebb and 6 others
justanotherdave said:
Garbage device.

Large size with a quality screen which should be great for artists, photographers/videographers and the like yet still runs a phone processor.

No wonder developers don’t bother to bring their high-end Apps to Android tablets. If hardware manufacturers don’t take this market seriously then why would they?
Click to expand...
Which processor? I can't find anything on Samsung's web site.
 
PeeWee1963 said:
Which processor? I can't find anything on Samsung's web site.
Click to expand...
Likely running a Qualcomm Snapdragon. Although, it could be running Samsung’s SOC, but there isn’t a lot of variation there either like Apple or Nvidia

It’s running the Mediatek Dimensity 9400+. However, if this is positioned against the iPad Air and Pro, it wouldn’t be a fair comparison. iPadOS already limits the M series, but it will still thump this SOC since it would be more on par with an A18 vanilla and Bionic.
 
Last edited:
PeeWee1963 said:
Which processor? I can't find anything on Samsung's web site.
Click to expand...
It's actually weaker than the processor found in the S25U and ZF7.

The MediaTek Dimensity 9400+, Mediatek is best known for making Chromebook processors btw. For the price I have no idea what they were thinking. It's a good 24-30% slower than the Snapdragon 8 Elite found in the S25U and 35-40% slower than the 8-core M4 found in the IPP.

That being said the price isn't actually $1200, especially when its already $200 off without any pre-order bonuses and trade in bonuses. It should be closer to $700.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FatLouie, snipr125, GuruZac and 2 others
Cuesca said:
It's actually weaker than the processor found in the S25U and ZF7.

The MediaTek Dimensity 9400+, Mediatek is best known for making Chromebook processors btw. For the price I have no idea what they were thinking. It's a good 24-30% slower than the Snapdragon 8 Elite found in the S25U and 35-40% slower than the 8-core M4 found in the IPP.

That being said the price isn't actually $1200, especially when its already $200 off without any pre-order bonuses and trade in bonuses. It should be closer to $700.
Click to expand...

They switched to the MediaTek chips with the S10 series. For some uses the S8 and S9 are still better, especially graphics heavy stuff.

General sentiment is that Samsung wanted to cut costs (especially with the frequent discounting they do on the devices) so Qualcomm got the boot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: buddhistMonkey and progx
GMShadow said:
They switched to the MediaTek chips with the S10 series. For some uses the S8 and S9 are still better, especially graphics heavy stuff.

General sentiment is that Samsung wanted to cut costs (especially with the frequent discounting they do on the devices) so Qualcomm got the boot.
Click to expand...
MediaTek makes some pretty good SOCs, but this one was not the one to put in a tablet like this one.

Also, doesn’t Samsung make their own SOCs? Exynos? I’ve heard they rival the Snapdragon line-up, but yet they don’t use them across all their devices?
 
  • Like
Reactions: buddhistMonkey
progx said:
MediaTek makes some pretty good SOCs, but this one was not the one to put in a tablet like this one.

Also, doesn’t Samsung make their own SOCs? Exynos? I’ve heard they rival the Snapdragon line-up, but yet they don’t use them across all their devices?
Click to expand...
I think people are somewhat hesitant to buy anything with an Exynos based on previous experiences or just based on its reputation. Like for instance back when they released the S10 six or so years ago, there where two variants, the Exynos and Snapdragon. Early reviews already point to the Snapdragon being better with better compatibility and a superior modem. This ended up causing the S10 to lose market share against the Apple phone at the time because in region where the Snapdragon variant wasn't available people would either just skip or opted for an iPhone.

Is that a Patlabor avatar?
 
  • Like
Reactions: buddhistMonkey and progx
Ah. I thought I recalled a little bit of hype for Samsung’s Exynos, but that is quite a while ago.

Yes, I took a shot of Goto and got it to fit within the size allotted. Patlabor is an excellent anime.
 
  • Like
Reactions: buddhistMonkey and Cuesca
progx said:
Ah. I thought I recalled a little bit of hype for Samsung’s Exynos, but that is quite a while ago.

Yes, I took a shot of Goto and got it to fit within the size allotted. Patlabor is an excellent anime.
Click to expand...
There are some new Exynos series of chips slated to come out in the near future they just don't get the same amount of hype as Qualcomm or Apple chips. And I think Samsung actually makes more money fabrication chips for Apple and Qualcomm than trying to keep pushing the Exynos line.

Yea I love 80s stuff, they are just animated better with more detail and fluidity. It was more of a labor of love back then with some extreme budget constraints. For instance, Gainax actually ran out of the budget for Gunbuster which caused them to use a lot of still frames for the final battle. Now a days its more of a business with studios trying to push for maximum profit. One of the worst examples for me is Macross Delta which combines Macross with idol shows.
 
  • Like
Reactions: progx
If your main thing for tablets is media than this device is amazing. Not only is it bigger than the iPad Pro and Air 13, it's a wider aspect ratio so you don't get massive black bars when watching movies/TV.

Screenshot.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: coleblk and bandits1
Slo Pesci said:
If your main thing for tablets is media than this device is amazing. Not only is it bigger than the iPad Pro and Air 13, it's a wider aspect ratio so you don't get massive black bars when watching movies/TV.
Click to expand...
That’s true, but that SOC performance will show and pretty expensive for strictly media consumption.
 
Its abundantly clear that most of the folk commenting on here have never used one of the recent Galaxy Tabs.

The MediaTek CPU's are fine for pretty much everything you might want to do on one of these devices although they fall down v Snapdragon when it comes to high end game emulation (Switch mainly) which I suspect most folk dedicated to that are now picking up dedicated devices from Ayn, Retroid, etc these days anyway. - That said there's also issues with the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chips and gaming as there's a lack of drivers.

There's barely any software/apps on Android that really pushes the system anyway at this point; you could just as easily get away with an S9 or S10 and probably not notice the difference. For most people they're fine; I've flitted between iPad, Galaxy and Surface devices for years and never had any real issue with Android performance wise its always been just a lack of apps - I'd love to see some more graphic/photo apps like Affinity though!
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: rhinosrcool, uacd, Evil Lair and 2 others
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back