The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is a flagship product with ’S’ branding, and therefore checks all the boxes for performance from a high-end tablet. That said, it does work a fair bit differently to how Samsung’s flagship smartphones operate, favouring certain processes over others. It is, of course, a 5G-enabled device that will let you place and receive calls if you like, but that’s obviously not the point of this supersized tablet.
Instead, things are geared around making use of the massive display and S Pen to actually put it to creative and productive use. For my review, I tried a bunch of things including taking notes and sketching, as well as using the AI features to turn the stylus work into useful or creative productions.
Drawing and AI generations were quick and largely on par with what you’d expect from a high-end device such as this, and general performance was smooth and quick for the most part. Things like multi-tasking and switching between different apps worked decently enough, thanks to plenty of RAM and a capable processor under the hood. It’s got enough power to get through most of what you need from a flagship tablet, although it’s still firmly positioned and functions like a large smartphone rather than similar to a compact and modular laptop.
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You’re likely to use the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra in landscape orientation most of the time, and most Android apps are obviously made to work best in portrait mode. Some apps such as Amazon look strange all stretched out, while others such as Facebook forcibly change the orientation and force you to turn the tablet over to the right direction.
Apps such as Youtube and Netflix worked just fine, and made good use of all the screen real estate to present the UI nicely, apart from obviously being able to display video content correctly. That brings me to what I found the Galaxy. Tab S10 Ultra best for - watching content. Whether it was catching up on F1 race highlights or watching episodes of shows on Netflix, the Tab S10 Ultra was an excellent big-screen companion. This came in handy while lying in bed, and also when at my work desk where I had it propped up on a stand to watch videos on low volume while at work.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has a massive 11200mAh battery, which is necessary to power that big screen over long usage periods. Depending on your usage, you can get up to 16 hours of continuous video playback time on a full charge. It also means you get decent standby time with relatively conservative use, and I was able to run it for over a week between charges while using it for only about an hour or two every day.
Charging uses the USB Type-C port, but since there’s no adapter included in the box, you’ll have to plug it into one of your existing power adapters. With the right adapter - 45W is the ideal spec - you should be able to get a full charge in a little over two hours, or even get to about 60 percent in an hour or so.