Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra First Look: Is this the new laptop replacement?

The old laptop's fan has started sounding like a hairdryer, the battery quits before lunch, and you are wondering whether the next machine needs to be a laptop at all. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra is built for exactly that moment: a 5.1mm slab with a 14.6-inch OLED screen, a stylus in the box and a desktop mode waiting behind a keyboard you buy separately. Choose well and you carry one lighter device; choose badly and you have spent laptop money on something that cannot open the software your job depends on.

What's Actually New: Dimensity 9500 and the Laptop-Replacement Pitch

Samsung announced the Galaxy Tab S12 series on 30 September 2026 and put it on sale in the UK on 7 October, and its launch messaging was unambiguous: this is a productivity range first. The Ultra replaces the 2025 Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, and the headline change sits inside. MediaTek's Dimensity 9500, built on a 3nm process, takes over from the Dimensity 9400+, with Samsung listing peak CPU clocks of 4.21GHz, 3.5GHz and 2.7GHz across its eight cores.

Samsung's own claims for the jump are 19% faster CPU, 17% faster GPU and up to 61% faster NPU processing than the S11 Ultra. Those are manufacturer comparisons. Samsung has also redesigned the cooling around a 3D vapour chamber, which it says shifts heat more effectively than the previous flat design and should help the chip hold its pace under heavier loads.

The independent numbers paint a more measured picture. Tom's Guide recorded Geekbench 6 scores of 3,229 single-core and 9,763 multi-core. Expert Reviews put the generational gain at roughly 23% single-core and 21% multi-core, but only around 9% in GPU testing, noticeably shy of Samsung's 17% graphics claim. That is a real step forward, not a reinvention.

In graphics, the Ultra edges the OnePlus Pad 3 by a modest margin and trails Apple's iPad Pro M5 by a wide one. Reviewers at Tom's Guide and Expert Reviews agreed that the Dimensity 9500 handles Android apps, demanding games, Photoshop, video editing and heavy multitasking comfortably. This is not a slow tablet; it simply is not the quickest premium tablet you can buy for sustained professional work.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra: Specs, Pricing and UK Configurations

The model covered here is the Wi-Fi Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, model SM-X940. It comes in one size only: if 14.6 inches sounds like too much, the smaller Galaxy Tab S12+ uses a 12.6-inch display and is sold as a separate model. The Ultra is offered in Grey and Silver.

Check today's price: Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra on Amazon UK

A practical note before you order: Amazon UK listings for this tablet have shown some confusion between the two finishes. Check the model code on the product page rather than relying on the title. SM-X940NZSREUB is the 256GB Silver; SM-X940NZAREUB is the 256GB Grey. Both are identical in generation, size, memory and storage, so this only matters if you care which colour arrives.

Of the 256GB, Samsung lists around 226.9GB as available out of the box. The UK range also includes 512GB with 12GB of RAM, and a top 1TB model that is the only way to get 16GB of RAM. 5G versions add dual-SIM support via a physical SIM and eSIM, and weigh 695g rather than 692g.

These are launch RRPs rather than live street prices, and retailers move quickly on premium tablets, so check the current figure before buying. For most people the entry 256GB model is the sensible rung: microSD support up to 2TB takes the pressure off large media libraries for far less than the £200 step to 512GB. The 1TB model makes sense mainly if you specifically want the extra RAM for heavy multitasking.

The Screen That Makes the Laptop Case: 14.6 Inches of Dynamic AMOLED 2X

The display is the single biggest reason to choose this tablet over its rivals. At 14.6 inches measured across the full rectangle (14.5 inches allowing for the rounded corners) and 2960 × 1848 pixels, it gives DeX and split-screen apps genuinely laptop-sized room. Three apps side by side stop feeling cramped, and an A4 document can sit beside a browser without either being shrunk to postage-stamp size.

Independent labs measured it in different ways and reached somewhat different numbers, which is useful in itself: it tells you the results depend heavily on brightness mode and test pattern.

Read together, the figures say this: the panel gets very bright when the automatic mode and HDR content let it, but its everyday manual brightness is more modest. Tom's Guide's gamut figures point to vivid, often oversaturated colour rather than strictly natural tones, even with a very low Delta-E. Expert Reviews found less complete coverage and accuracy than the headline OLED look might suggest, though a 1.87 Delta-E in Natural mode is still a respectable result for photo editing that is not destined for print proofing.

GSMArena also confirmed HDR10+ support and adaptive refresh that drops to 1Hz for static content and rises to 120Hz when you scroll or draw. That low floor matters for battery life when you are reading a document for minutes at a time.

Samsung DeX, Multi-Window and the Software Reality Check

Hardware gets the tablet to the starting line; software decides whether it finishes the race as a laptop. Samsung DeX is the centre of that argument. It rearranges Android apps into resizable windows with a taskbar, either on the tablet itself or on an external monitor connected over USB-C, and it sits alongside One UI's three-app split-screen mode.

The reviewer verdicts are consistent. Tom's Guide called DeX useful but said it does not reproduce a full Windows-style desktop workflow, and concluded explicitly that it would not replace its laptop with the Ultra. SamMobile was more enthusiastic, singling the tablet out for writing, research and multi-window work, and praising the browser AI features for wrangling research tabs and notes. It drew the same line, though: DeX changes how Android apps are arranged, but it does not turn them into their Windows or macOS equivalents.

Expert Reviews went further, describing Android's tablet-app ecosystem as still substantially behind iPadOS. Even Samsung acknowledges that a laptop may still be needed for certain specialised software. The single USB-C port also limits how many peripherals you can plug in at once without a hub.

The honest test is simple: list the apps you open in a typical week. If every one has a capable Android version or runs in a browser, the Ultra can do the job. If even one is a Windows-only or macOS-only essential, no amount of screen size will fix that, unless you are happy to reach it through a remote desktop.

Keyboard, S Pen and the True Cost of 'Going Laptop'

Here is where the laptop comparison gets expensive. The Pro Keyboard is sold separately, and Expert Reviews recorded it adding £399 in the UK. Add Samsung's 45W charger, also absent from the box, and the bill climbs past what many people expect to pay for a tablet.

Weight shifts too. SamMobile put the Pro Keyboard at 636g, taking the combined setup to roughly 1.33kg. That is lightweight-laptop territory, so the "one thin device" pitch only really holds when you leave the keyboard at home. Lighter alternatives exist in Samsung's accessory range: the Book Cover Keyboard Slim, a plain Book Cover and an Ultra-only Frame Cover.

The S Pen is where the value tips back in Samsung's favour. It is included and pressure-sensitive, whereas Apple sells its Pencil separately for the iPad Pro. On a canvas this size, it turns the Ultra into a sketchbook, a marked-up PDF or a lecture notepad that a conventional laptop simply cannot match.

Battery Life: Why the Numbers Don't Agree With Each Other

Samsung quotes up to 23 hours of video playback from the 11,600mAh battery, measured under its own laboratory conditions. Real use rarely resembles a lab loop, and the independent results scatter widely depending on what each reviewer asked the tablet to do.

The cleanest like-for-like comparison comes from Tom's Guide, which ran the same continuous Wi-Fi web-browsing test at 150 nits across several tablets.

That 11 hours 31 minutes was more than 30 minutes shorter than the Tab S11 Ultra managed in the same test. Other labs were kinder. GSMArena's Active Use Score, a mixed-use methodology, came in at 13 hours 23 minutes, which it said matched the previous Ultra. Expert Reviews' local video playback test ran for 19 hours 44 minutes. PhoneArena recorded 10 hours 10 minutes browsing, 9 hours of video and 11 hours 7 minutes gaming, whilst Netzwelt reported 12.5 hours of continuous streaming at maximum brightness.

Charging is adequate rather than quick. With Samsung's 45W adapter, GSMArena saw 21% after 15 minutes, 41% after 30 minutes and a full charge in 84 minutes. Expert Reviews estimated around 95 minutes, PhoneArena measured 1 hour 34 minutes and Netzwelt 110 minutes. Reviewers noted that some rivals charge faster. You will need a USB Power Delivery charger capable of 45W to see these speeds.

Stacked Against the Competition: iPad Pro M5 and OnePlus Pad 3

Tom's Guide placed the Ultra alongside Apple's iPad Pro M5 and the OnePlus Pad 3 in the same set of tests, which gives a fair three-way picture.

Against the iPad Pro M5 (Tom's Guide compared the 13-inch model), the gap in raw performance is large and consistent: around 69% more multi-core performance on Apple's side and roughly 50% more graphics throughput. The iPad also lasted longer in Tom's Guide's web test and in PhoneArena's browsing run (15 hours 19 minutes against 10 hours 10 minutes). PhoneArena did record the Samsung ahead in gaming endurance, at 11 hours 7 minutes versus 7 hours 59 minutes, and charging fully faster, at 1 hour 34 minutes versus 1 hour 55 minutes.

Samsung's counter-arguments are not about speed. It offers a larger 14.6-inch OLED canvas, a stylus in the box, microSD expansion, an IP68 rating and DeX. Against the OnePlus Pad 3, the Samsung is quicker by a modest margin and noticeably brighter in SDR, with the S Pen ecosystem and IP68 protection on its side, but the OnePlus battery result is hard to ignore and Tom's Guide suggested it may be better value.

Sound, Cameras and the Details That Round Out the Package

A new feature for the S12 generation is four-channel spatial audio across four speakers. GSMArena rated loudness "Excellent" and described the sound as loud, bassy and immersive, with weaker high-frequency reproduction. PhoneArena reported Dolby Atmos, a wide soundstage, good bass, clear separation and minimal distortion at high volume.

Not everyone agreed. Expert Reviews found the speakers loud but lacking richness and bass, and SamMobile, whilst praising the quality, pointed out that there is limited mobile content built to exploit the four-channel format fully. Expect a fine sound for films on a hotel desk; do not expect to bin your headphones. Speaking of which, there is no 3.5mm jack, so wired headphones need a USB-C adapter.

Who Should Actually Consider This a Laptop Replacement

Reviewers broadly agree on the type of person this tablet rewards: someone who will actually use the pen, the big screen and Samsung's software, rather than someone buying the biggest tablet simply because it is the biggest.

It is also poor value if your plans are mainly Netflix, browsing and the occasional email; much cheaper tablets handle those well. And if portability matters more than workspace, the Galaxy Tab S12+ uses the same Dimensity 9500 chip in a 553g, 12.6-inch body for a lower launch RRP of £1,199, though the smaller screen gives less room for laptop-style multitasking.

Common Questions About the Tab S12 Ultra as a Laptop Replacement