Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra: What’s new?

Samsung has revealed the new top-end Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, but how does it compare to last year’s Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra?

This is far from a complete redesign of the ultra-level tablet, sporting a very similar design complete with the same XL 14.6-inch Super AMOLED 2X screen, but there are refinements on offer from this year’s tablet.

That includes a slightly thinner, lighter yet more robust design, improved anti-reflection screen tech, boosted Galaxy AI smarts and even a top-end MediaTek chipset in place of the custom Qualcomm chipset used by last year’s tablet.

That said, this isn’t a tablet that’ll tempt Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra owners to upgrade, and more of an upgrade to ensure that those new to the tablet will get the very best experience possible.

We’ve gone hands-on with the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and we’ve spent plenty of time with the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, and here’s how the two compare.

Pricing & availability

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is very much a premium tablet with a price tag to match, starting at £1,199/$1,199 for the 256GB/12GB combo, with the top-end 1TB/16GB variant coming in at £1,549/$1,549, with an additional £150/$150 if you want 5G connectivity. It’s available to pre-order now ahead of its 4 October 2024 launch date. 

That’s matched by the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra in terms of RRP, but with the reveal of the newer tablet, it’s likely that we’ll see the 2023 tablet discounted as retailers shift the last remaining stock.  

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is slightly slimmer and stronger

While the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra shares largely the same design as the Tab S9 Ultra, there are a few minor differences on offer from this year’s top-end tablet. 

That includes an ever-so-slightly slimmer frame, measuring in at 5.4mm vs 5.5mm from last year’s tablet, and it’s slightly lighter at 723g as a result. It’s also made from enhanced Armor Aluminium that boosts the hardness of the shell by 10%, making it more resistant to scratches and dings.

The Tab S10 Ultra is also available in new colour options in the form of Moonstone Grey and Platinum Silver compared to the Tab S9 Ultra’s Beige and Graphite.

Elsewhere, though, it’s very much business as usual for the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, meaning you’ll get a very similar-looking device regardless of the tablet you opt for. Both have support for the S Pen with a rear-facing magnetic attachment, both sport the same massive 14.6-inch screen and both support the same optional keyboard accessories.

Even the use of Gorilla Glass protection and IP68 dust and water resistance are consistent across the two tablets. 

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has improved display tech

The main draw of both the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and the older Tab S9 Ultra is the display; both tablets sport an absolutely massive, pixel-packed 14.6-inch Super AMOLED 2X screen that’s among the largest you’ll find on any tablet. 

This makes the Ultra tablets well suited not only to binging Netflix on a truly big screen, but multitasking, especially when combined with the optional keyboard accessory that can turn the tablets into something resembling an Android-powered laptop. 

However, while they look the same on the surface, there are subtle differences between the two. This year’s Tab S10 Ultra introduces the same anti-reflective coating present on the top-end Galaxy S24 Ultra, which reflects under 2% of ambient light, down from 4.5% on the Tab S9. 

That’s combined with Samsung’s Vision Booster tech to adjust brightness, contrast and tones depending on the light in your environment to essentially boost the viewing experience, even in bright environments. 

Aside from the Tab S10 Ultra aiding outdoor viewing, the two screens are pretty evenly matched, sporting the same smooth 120Hz rate and 1848 x 2960 resolution. 

If there’s one big difference between the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and its older sibling, it’d be performance. 

While the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra boasts the same custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset as that year’s flagship Galaxy S23 Ultra thanks to an exclusive partnership between the two manufacturers, this year’s Ultra tablet has made the switch to MediaTek.

More specifically, the Tab S10 Ultra sports the top-end MediaTek Dimensity 9300+, with Samsung claiming an 18% boost to CPU, 27% boost to GPU and 14% to NPU compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy – but we’ll be interested to see how it benchmarks compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset found in other Samsung devices.

How much of a difference this will make in day-to-day use is yet to be seen, but we’d wager that you’d only be able to tell when running the most processor-hungry apps and games possible. 

Elsewhere, the Tab S9 Ultra and Tab S10 Ultra offer the same 256GB/12GB, 512GB/12GB and 1TB/16GB storage and RAM options with a microSD card slot that can expand that by up to 1.5TB if required. 

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has more advanced Galaxy AI features

AI is the buzzword in the mobile and tablet spaces in 2024, and it should come as no surprise that both the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and Tab S9 Ultra offer support for Samsung’s wide-ranging Galaxy AI in some form.

However, there is a difference between the specific Galaxy AI features available on the tablets, primarily due to the boosted NPU found in 2024 Snapdragon and Dimensity chipsets. 

That means that, while features like AI object removal in images, AI writing tools and AI summarisation tech are available on the Tab S9 Ultra, newer features like Portrait Studio and Sketch to Image are exclusive to the Tab S10 Ultra.

The Tab S10 Ultra also offers a few new tablet-focused AI features, with a redesigned Notes app that can auto-format notes, built-in audio recording and transcription and even the ability to help with maths equations – it will when the software update rolls out in November, anyway.

It also ties in well with the S Pen, with Sketch to Image, Smart Select and Air Command all supported, and you can even use the S Pen when using Circle to Search on the tablet.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has a larger battery

Both tablets have pretty large 11,200mAh batteries to help power those XL screens, although the improved battery efficiency from the Tab S10 Ultra’s newer Dimensity chipset could allow it to last a little longer on a charge than its Snapdragon-equipped processor – though we’ll have to wait until we fully benchmark the newer tablet to say for sure. 

However, with the same 45W charging support, both tablets should take a similar amount of time to fully recharge – 143 minutes in our experience with the Tab S9 Ultra. 

Early Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra may not offer a huge upgrade over the Tab S9 Ultra, but that’s not really the point – unlike smartphones, it’s rare to see users upgrade a tablet on a yearly basis, so it’s not a tablet designed to appease the needs of Tab S9 Ultra owners. 

Instead, this year’s improvements focus on enhancing the already-premium experience on offer from the Tab Ultra collection with a faster processor, more capable AI smarts and a slightly thinner, lighter design so that those yet to dabble in the world of Galaxy Tab Ultra tablets get the very best experience possible.