Pros & Cons
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- Large, gorgeous display
- Fantastic performance
- Long battery life
- Productivity-focused software
- Included S Pen stylus
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- Big and heavy
- Expensive
Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra Specs
| Battery Life | 11 hours, 10 minutes |
| CPU | MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ |
| Dimensions | 8.21 by 12.85 by 0.20 inches |
| Operating System | Android 16 |
| Screen Resolution | 2,960 by 1,848 pixels |
| Screen Size | 14.6 |
| Storage Capacity | 256 |
| Weight | 1.53 |
The Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra (starting at $1,199.99) is the biggest and most powerful tablet from Samsung. It has a huge 14.6-inch screen for getting work done, paired with top-notch performance and plenty of battery life to get you through the day. It also comes with an S Pen stylus, emphasizing its role as a productivity tool. We like Samsung's advanced One UI software features, its helpful Galaxy AI tools, and its DeX interface for multitasking. The regular Galaxy Tab 11 is smaller and costs less (it starts at $799.99), but if you want the biggest, fastest, longest-lasting Android tablet for pro-level workflows, the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is our Editors' Choice winner.
Design: Absolutely Enormous
Tablets have more or less settled on a universal design. There's little leeway to stray from the formula (screen on the front, camera on the back, buttons and ports around the edges), except perhaps when it comes to size. In that respect, the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra certainly makes its mark.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)The Ultra is simply gigantic, measuring 8.21 by 12.85 by 0.20 inches (HWD), and weighing 1.53 pounds. It’s impressively thin (the stylus is thicker than the tablet itself), but the weight makes the tablet a bit too much to hold one-handed for long periods. The standard S11 is more compact (6.51 by 9.99 by 0.22 inches, 1.03 pounds), while the 13-inch iPad Pro ($1,299) is smaller and lighter (8.48 by 11.09 by 0.20 inches, 1.28 pounds).
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protects the front from scratches, while the frame is made from Samsung's Armor Aluminum (the same material used in the Galaxy S25). The S11 Ultra retains its predecessor's IP68 rating, which keeps out dust and water. The iPad Pro does not have an IP rating and is not marketed as waterproof.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)A volume rocker and power button are located on the top edge to the left, while a microSD card slot is to the right. The S Pen magnetically attaches to the top-right edge, though you can also attach it to the bottom edge. Two notches on the bottom edge help secure optional accessories, such as keyboard covers, to the tablet. The two speaker slits are located on either short side, with the USB-C port positioned on the right. An under-screen fingerprint sensor is on the right side of the display, where it's easy to reach with your thumb. It works well.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)The back of the device is bare. It's populated by two cameras and a flash in the top right corner, the Samsung logo in the left corner, and three pogo pins near the bottom to connect to accessories.
The Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is available in gray or silver; I received a silver model for testing. The colors are a little dull, but how often do you look at the back of your tablet? The smaller S11 shares most of the same design features.
Display: An Experience to Envy
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)The Tab S11 Ultra is defined by its massive, 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. The panel features a resolution of 2,960 by 1,848 pixels, an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. The S10 Ultra’s display is significantly less bright at 930 nits, meaning the S11's screen has improved visibility. Meanwhile, the 13-inch iPad Pro features a 2,752-by-2,064-pixel screen, an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. Both the Tab S11 Ultra and the iPad Pro have anti-reflective coatings to prevent glare.
Upon first grabbing the tablet, I couldn't help but focus on the user-facing camera, which his housed in a notch at the top of the screen. I'm not a fan of notched displays, but after a few minutes, I barely noticed it.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)Indoors or outdoors, the Tab S11 Ultra’s display is easy to see. The anti-reflective finish effectively reduces glare, and the increased brightness significantly improves visibility.
Performance: The Ultra Can Do It All
The Tab S11 Ultra is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ processor and is available in two configurations: 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage ($1,199.99) or 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage ($1,619.99). Samsung claims the new chip inside outperforms the S10 line by up to 24%. The Tab S11 Ultra also supports an additional 2TB of storage via a microSD card, which is a feature no iPad has ever offered. The S11 is limited to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
(Credit: Geekbench/PCMark/PCMag )To objectively measure performance, I used a series of benchmarks to compare the Tab S11 Ultra with the Tab S10 (which is powered by a MediaTek 9300+) and the Apple iPad Pro (which uses Apple's M4 processor).
On Geekbench 6, which measures raw CPU power, the Tab S11 Ultra scored 2,773 on the single-core test and 9,091 on the multi-core test. Comparatively, the Tab S10 scored 2,072 and 7,242, while the iPad Pro crushed them both at 3,679 and 14,647.
The PCMark Work 3.0 test measures a device's ability to handle general tasks. In this test, the Tab S11 Ultra scored 18,019, outdoing the S10’s 15,598 mark. This test is not compatible with Apple devices.
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To gauge gaming performance, I used the GFXBench Aztec Ruins test. The Ultra produced 66 frames per second (fps), improving on the S10’s 55fps and besting the iPad Pro’s 60fps.
For real-world gaming performance, I played the resource-intensive Asphalt Legends at the game's highest graphics settings and at 120fps for 20 minutes. Gameplay was smooth with no dropped frames or slowdowns. The center area of the rear panel became mildly warm, while the edges remained cool, and the device overall remained comfortable to the touch.
Battery Life: It Keeps Going and Going
The Ultra packs an 11,600mAh battery that charges at up to 45W over USB-C. In a battery rundown test, in which I streamed a 1080p video to the device with the screen at full brightness, the Ultra lasted 11 hours and 10 minutes. That’s longer than both the Tab S10 (8 hours, 10 minutes) and the iPad Pro (7 hours, 43 minutes). The S11 Ultra can easily run for an entire workday and still leave you with enough juice to watch a movie.
Using a compatible charger, the Tab S11 Ultra reached a 19% charge in 15 minutes, a 37% charge in 30 minutes, and a 100% charge after 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Connectivity: Great Wi-Fi, But No 5G
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)The Tab S11 Ultra supports Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7. It's not available in a configuration with 5G, though last year's Tab S10+ is.
When connected to and tested near a Wi-Fi 6 router, the Ultra performed well, with a maximum download speed of 594Mbps and a maximum upload speed of 22.8Mbps. The S10+ reached 573Mbps down and 22.5Mbps up. Taking the tablets to the limits of my Wi-Fi network, both still delivered good performance. The Ultra hit 398Mbps down and 22.7Mbps up, while the S10+ managed 490Mbps down and 22.7Mbps up.
Audio: Loud, But Lacks Oomph
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)The Ultra features four stereo speakers that produce high-quality audio, though it lacks deep bass. The speakers cannot reproduce the lowest notes of our test track, The Knife's “Silent Shout." The tablet’s maximum volume reaches 93.1dB in testing, which easily fills a small room.
Cameras: Fine for a Tablet
Historically, tablet cameras have not been as good as those in phones. The Tab S11 Ultra features a 13MP main camera and an 8MP ultra-wide camera on its back, with a 12MP selfie camera on the front. All three take pleasant-looking images with good, but sometimes soft, detail, and oversaturated colors.
Video capture tops out at 4K resolution at 30fps on both the front and rear cameras. With video, colors are less vivid, while details remain similar to those in still images. The cameras don't include optical image stabilization, which means hand jitter is visible in your videos. The cameras are certainly good enough for quick snaps and video conferencing.
By comparison, the standard Tab S11 has only the 13MP main camera.
Software and Stylus: Mature, Yet Fun
The Tab S11 Ultra ships with Android 16 and Samsung’s One UI 8.0. One UI features advanced multitasking, DeX (Samsung’s desktop-like interface), Edge Panels (a hideable taskbar), and Galaxy AI (Samsung’s suite of AI tools). The Ultra will receive seven years of OS and security updates, the longest support window for Android tablets. For comparison, Google’s Pixel Tablet will receive five years of OS and security upgrades.
Galaxy AI’s Browser Assist summarizes websites, Notes Assist reformats your notes, and Transcript Assist transcribes voice recordings. Circle to Search by Google and Gemini are also on board. Portrait Studio creates images of people in several different styles, though, like every other Samsung Portrait Studio experience I’ve had, the Ultra changes my race, as you can see above. You can limit Galaxy AI to on-device processing only; however, many features require an online connection to function properly.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)On the productivity front, Samsung’s customizations let you go beyond Android’s standard capabilities. The Ultra can display multiple apps on screen at once in resizable windows, while DeX provides even more control in a Windows-like environment. Even with multiple apps active simultaneously, the Ultra performs smoothly.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)The S Pen stylus works well with the tablet. The stylus is now hexagonal, like a wooden pencil, with a thicker tip than previous models. The S Pen is passive, meaning it does not require charging. These changes make it feel familiar and comfortable to hold and use. As always, I appreciate that Samsung includes a stylus in the box.