Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra reviews praise the tablet and doubt the laptop pitch

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra starts at $1,399.99 in the US, $200 more than the Tab S11 Ultra cost at launch, according to SamMobile’s review. Full reviews began landing at the end of September. The consensus is easy to state: it is the best big Android tablet you can buy, and only a modest step over last year’s model. Whether it can stand in for a laptop is where reviewers part ways.

Where reviewers agree

The screen and the battery carry the tablet. The 14.6-inch AMOLED panel is unchanged in its specs, and reviewers still rate it highly. Expert Reviews’ Jonathan Bray measured about 1,700 nits with HDR content, above Samsung’s 1,600-nit claim. GSMArena’s lab recorded 1,514 nits on a small white patch. SamMobile notes one regression: the anti-reflective coating appears to be gone, so the panel is more reflective outdoors.

Battery results vary by test, but every number is good. Expert Reviews ran its video loop for 19 hours 44 minutes. GSMArena says the tablet

“earned a 13:23h Active Use Score, matching the class-leading endurance of its predecessor.”

SamMobile’s harsher test, Netflix over Wi-Fi at maximum manual brightness, drained about 10% an hour. Android Authority’s Andy Boxall got a full working week from a couple of hours of use a day.

The new MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip is faster, though not dramatically. Samsung claims up to 19% more CPU and 17% more GPU performance than the Tab S11 Ultra. Expert Reviews measured gains of 23% single-core and 21% multi-core in Geekbench 6, but only 9% on the GPU, and says the tablet still trails Apple’s M4 and M5 iPad Pro.

Reviewers also agree on how little else changed. SamMobile lists the camera hardware, display specs, battery capacity and charging speed as largely the same as last year. The S Pen is still in the box but remains passive, without Bluetooth remote features. GSMArena and SamMobile both note that no charger is included. Software support is long: seven Android upgrades and seven years of security patches, per SamMobile.

Where they split: can it replace a laptop?

This is the real argument, and it depends on how each reviewer tested. Samsung sells a Pro Keyboard for $399.99, which brings the kit to about $1,800 before tax.

GSMArena is the most generous. Its verdict calls the tablet

“a laptop lookalike which does the same job most of the time”

and says the keyboard is “pretty much a must-have.” It also adds a warning: do not expect Windows or macOS levels of app compatibility.

Expert Reviews sits in the middle. It calls the tablet usable as a laptop replacement in DeX mode but notes that most Android apps are still not optimized for large screens, and that DaVinci Resolve is not available at all. Bray pins his hopes on Googlebook OS, Google’s laptop software, rather than on Samsung’s hardware.

Android Authority went furthest and liked it least. Boxall used the tablet with the keyboard as his main computer for several weeks, then went back to his MacBook Air. The pair weighs 1.32 kg, the trackpad needs firm, precise clicks, the screen angle cannot be adjusted, and the upward-facing camera made face unlock unusable. His conclusion:

“It takes more than a big screen, a keyboard, and cool software features for a tablet to become a true laptop alternative.”

The difference is mostly method. GSMArena and Expert Reviews judged the tablet against other tablets and measured it in the lab. Boxall lived with it as a laptop and priced it against one: he notes a 13-inch MacBook Air with M5 and 24 GB of RAM costs $1,500, less than the tablet and keyboard together.

Who should buy, and who should skip

Buy it if you already know you want a very large Android screen for video, drawing, note-taking or split-screen work, and you will use it mostly as a tablet. SamMobile puts it well:

“The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra makes the most sense when its screen size is solving a real world problem.”

Owners of older Ultra models stand to gain the most. Tab S11 Ultra owners should skip it: SamMobile lists most of the hardware as unchanged, and GSMArena found the same battery endurance.

If your plan is to replace a laptop, the reviews point the other way. At about $1,800 with the keyboard, you are paying laptop money for Android apps that, by Expert Reviews’ account, are still not built for a screen this size. Wait to see whether Googlebook OS changes that, or buy a laptop and a cheaper tablet.