The Galaxy Tab S10 Plus and the Galaxy Tab S9 Plus look the same. Sure, there's a 0.1mm difference in thickness and some 10 grams difference in weight, but it's only worth mentioning in passing. The design difference isn't that big, so we can essentially assume that the two are truly identical.
That's not a negative trait, though. The current middle-sized Galaxy Tab S tablets are as sleek as they get, with an efficient and minimalistic design that has a lot to love. I definitely love the design of Samsung's mid-sized tablets, and actually use an older Galaxy Tab S7 Plus tablet for my multimedia needs at home: it's perfect for movies and TV shows.
A large part of that plays the 16:9 aspect ratio, which is what most media is shot in these days, so you can enjoy your favorite shows and flicks without back bars at the top and bottom, like on the iPad. The bezels are thin, but large enough for you to hold on to.
Galaxy Tab S10 Plus is slightly thinner (Image by PhoneArena)
Colors-wise, things are kept mundane with Moonstone Gray and Platinum Silver, a non-inspiring pair of hues that don't stand with anything.
Both tablets come with a Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays that span 12.4 inches across. It's a lovely 16:9 screen that comes with up to 120Hz refresh rate, HDR support, and pretty decent peak brightness.
One great new feature that's available on the new Galaxy Tab S10 Plus is the anti-reflective coating, coming straight from the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It minimizes screen reflections and glare, which essentially improves the legibility by a lot. That's a great user-friendly feature that will come off as especially useful if you use the tablet in bright lighting conditions.
Both tablets have IP68 water- and dust-resistance. The biometrics of choice on both tablets is a fingerprint scanner embedded in the display.
Performance and Software
Qualcomm is out, MediaTek is in
One of the major changes between the old and new tablets is the chipset on deck.
The Galaxy Tab S10 Plus ditches Qualcomm’s Snapdragon in favor of MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300+ chip, likely as a cost-saving move due to rising prices for Qualcomm’s high-end processors.
The octa-core Dimensity 9300+ is a 3rd-gen 4nm chip that consists of quad Cortex-X4 performance cores that are clocked at up to 3.25GHz, as well as quad Cortex-A720 efficiency cores, clocked at 2GHz. MediaTek boasts that the Dimensity 9300+ is the first chipset to exclusively use big cores, and this seems to be the case.
This promises exceptional performance for gamers and heavy users. The 12-core Immortalis GPU with enhanced second-gen ray tracing should also come in useful in such scenarios.
The Dimensity 9300+ is also the world's first chip to get the latest LPDDR5T RAM, which supports read/write speed of up to 9600Mbps. There's also a hardware-based generative AI engine, which should come in useful paired with Galaxy AI on the tablet.
In our brief hands-on experience with the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, we didn’t notice much difference compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 model. Sure, Samsung boasts improvement in performance: 18% increase in CPU productivity, 28% better GPU performance, and 14% boost in NPU calculations, in particular. That's great, but not something you'd notice in regular day-to-day scenarios.
However, the Dimensity 9300+ might not excel at emulation tasks, though it’s likely more than capable for everyday use. Keep this in mind if you plan to run plenty of ROMs on the device.
Galaxy Tab S10 Plus (Image by PhoneArena)
Both the 256GB and 512GB versions come with 12GB of RAM, and there’s also microSD card support for expandable storage, which is a great addition.
The new Galaxy Tab S10 Plus is equipped with Samsung's One UI, which runs on Android 14. Android 15, along with the next version of One UI, will arrive in early 2025. This tablet will have seven years of software updates, like Samsung's best phones. That's great!
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There are some extra new functionalities in the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, aside from the regular Galaxy AI.
Galaxy AI makes note-taking easy with its large display and S Pen. The tablet supports PDF overlay translation for translating PDFs directly on-screen, and Handwriting Help cleans up messy handwritten notes thanks to AI.
The Sketch to Image feature converts rough sketches into refined images, enhancing creativity. It's possible to search for information, translate content, or solve math and physics problems without switching apps with the Circle to Search feature, which is mighty useful.
Finally, the S Pen's Air Command and Galaxy AI Key provide quick access to the on-device AI features, allowing users to toggle between Bixby and Google's Gemini for a personalized AI experience.
The Galaxy Tab S10 series is capable of running premium third-party applications such as Goodnotes, LumaFusion, Noteshelf3, Clip Studio Paint, PicsArt, and Sketchbook.
Camera
Galaxy Tab S10 Plus camera (Image by PhoneArena)
There are dual rear 13MP wide and 8MP ultrawide cameras on the Galaxy Tab S10+, and a single 12MP camera on the front. That's the same setup as the one on the Galaxy Tab S9 Plus.
Rear cameras aren't that important on tablets: they are only used for the occasional photo in passing, so quality isn't a big concern here. What's more essential are the front cameras, which are used for video calls. Samsung hasn't disappointed us in this regard despite the lack of any sophisticated technologies, like the iPad's Center Stage, which keeps you always in the frame.
Battery Life and Charging
Not much has changed in the battery department. Both come with large 10,900mAh batteries, which should keep the lights on for a long time. How long exactly remains to be seen.
The Galaxy Tab S9 Plus fared pretty well in our custom battery tests. In the PhoneArena browsing test, it lasted for 8 hours and 44 minutes, which is a good result. The tablet lasted for 6 hours and 21 minutes in our video test, which is acceptable. Finally, it scored eight hours in our gaming test.
Of course, we expect the battery life of the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus to be better or at least equal to that.
Both support 45W wired charging. There's no wireless charging on board.
Audio Quality and Haptics
Both come with quad-speakers. The audio experience should be great when watching movies and shows. Haptics are okay: they are not too strong and precise, but provide some feedback. Hey, at least these two have haptic feedback (looking at you, iPad).
Specs Comparison
Specs
Galaxy Tab S10 Plus
Galaxy Tab S9 Plus
Size and Weight
185.4 x 285.4 x 5.6 mm, 571gr (Wi-Fi) or 576gr (5G)
285.4 x 185.4 x 5.7 mm, 581gr (Wi-Fi) or 586gr (5G)
Display
12.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 1-120Hz, Anti Reflection
12.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 1-120Hz
Processor
MediaTek Dimensity 9300+
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Memory
12GB RAM 256GB/512GB storage microSD card slot
12GB RAM 256GB/512GB storage microSD card slot
Software
One UI, Android 14
One UI, Android 14
Cameras
13MP main 8MP ultrawide 12MP front
13MP main 8MP ultrawide 12MP front
Battery Size
10,900mAh
10,900mAh
Charging Speeds
45W wired charging
45W wired charging
Prices
12GB/256GB: $1000 12GB/512GB: $1200
12GB/256GB: $1000 12GB/512GB: $1200
Which one should you buy?
Well, if you have the Galaxy Tab S9 Plus, there's zero reason to even consider the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus. Those two are basically the same tablets, save for a few not-so-major differences. There's no point upgrading, even if you're coming from a Galaxy Tab S8 Plus.
However, if you're just now considering getting a Samsung tablet, then the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus is likely the perfect entry point as it's the newest and will be supported the longest. Of course, if you happen to stumble upon a deal on the Galaxy tab S9 Plus, don't hesitate to get that one, too.
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Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.
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