Mario Bautista
Every new Galaxy phone and tablet release demands fresh upgrades and features before it can be deemed worthwhile. It’s no different for the latest Galaxy Tab S10 series, and here’s how the two new Samsung tablets stand apart from their predecessors. These are the best Galaxy Tab S10+ and Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra features.
A better outdoor experience
Although the Galaxy Tab S10+ and Tab S10 Ultra screen sizes, resolutions, and refresh rates have stayed the same, the new displays bring one meaningful upgrade that enables a more comfortable experience, especially in bright environments. Namely, the 12.4 and 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display have a new anti reflection coating.
Reflections can be very distracting for such large panels, especially when using the tablets in direct sunlight. The new anti-reflective treatment works wonders and will make using the Galaxy Tab S10+ and Tab S10 Ultra much more enjoyable.
The anti-reflective coating really makes a difference. If you want to see it in action, we have a brief demonstration in our Galaxy Tab S10 hands-on video below.
The Galaxy Tab S10+ and Tab S10 Ultra are DeX monsters
Samsung’s new premium tablets have changed lanes and employed a MediaTek chip instead of an Exynos or Snapdragon solution. Although this decision seems unusual, it might pay off.
Samsung says the new Dimensity 9300+ chip offers performance boosts of 18% (CPU), 28% (GPU), and 14% (NPU) — when comparing the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra with the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. The new chip also benefits from a vapor chamber that’s 1.48x larger.
We haven’t spent enough time with these new tablets to offer a concrete performance review, but we’re sure of two things. One is that they are extremely smooth, and the second is that they perform admirably in Samsung DeX.
One of the issues of using Samsung DeX on previous Galaxy tablets is that they’re quite sluggish when entering and exiting DeX mode. Loading and exiting DeX on older tablets takes a long enough time to become a bit of an obstacle. One that could prevent many users from launching DeX more often.
In our experience so far, the new Galaxy Tab S10+ and Tab S10 Ultra are DeX monsters. They fly by the DeX loading screens and make the desktop environment much more approachable.
Optimized Galaxy AI and a new keyboard button
Speaking of the new Dimensity 9300+ chip, Samsung claims that it worked closely with MediaTek to optimize it for Galaxy AI features. Exactly how much energy Samsung spent on this is unknown, but either way, the Galaxy Tab S10 series offers a complete Galaxy AI experience.
More so, Samsung has slightly redesigned the Keyboard Cover accessories for the Galaxy Tab S10 series by adding a new AI button. More specifically, Samsung didn’t quite add a new key but replaced the language button with this new AI one. When pressed, the AI key summons either Google Gemini or Samsung Bixby.
Backward compatibility with Tab S9 accessories
In our testing, we found that older Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra accessories, such as the Keyboard Cover, are compatible with the new Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. The camera cutout and S Pen holster fit perfectly, and simply put, the older keyboard works with the new tablet just fine. Check out our Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra hands-on video below for more details.
Samsung told us the new Galaxy Tab S10+ and Tab S10 Ultra accessories are also compatible with the Galaxy Tab S9 series. They are all cross-compatible.
Galaxy Tab S8 users who upgraded to the Galaxy Tab S9 last year didn’t have the luxury if reusing their accessories because the size and location of the camera cutouts didn’t match from one generation to the next. Samsung has done away with this problem, which can be a huge plus for people who may want to upgrade from the Tab S9 series to the Tab S10.
Of course, even if older Plus and Ultra accessories are compatible with the new tablets, base Tab S9 users will be out of luck repurposing their accessories, given that there is no base Galaxy Tab S10 this year.
Galaxy Tab S10 series gets seven big OS upgrades
Aside from shipping with Android 14, One UI 6.1.1, and the latest Galaxy AI features, Samsung wants to ensure these new tablets are built to last. The Galaxy Tab S10+ and Tab S10 Ultra are the first non-enterprise tablets to be supported with seven major OS upgrades for seven years.
Combined with a strong Armor Aluminum build and an IP68 rating, the upgraded seven-year software policy ensures that Galaxy Tab S10+ and Tab S10 Ultra buyers can keep using their devices longer without worrying about missing out on key One UI features or security patches.
