Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra hands-on: Small changes, same huge screen

The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra is here, and honestly, it isn’t a massive upgrade over last year’s model. The Tab S11 Ultra already introduced a thinner profile, slimmer bezels, and a smaller camera notch. Samsung hasn’t tried to reinvent any of that.

Most of the meaningful improvements are under the hood: a faster processor, a redesigned cooling system, more immersive speakers, and One UI 9.0. Yet after spending time with the device, its most compelling addition isn’t part of the slate itself. It’s Samsung’s new Pro Keyboard, which makes the Tab S12 Ultra feel more like a Galaxy Book than ever before.

The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra once again features a massive 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1,600 nits of peak brightness.

At just 5.1mm, it remains remarkably thin given its footprint. The Wi-Fi model weighs 692g, keeping the tablet surprisingly manageable for a device firmly in the laptop territory.

Frankly, Samsung didn't need to change much here. The Tab S11 Ultra already looked and felt exceptionally premium, and the same holds true for its successor.

The primary draw of a screen this large is the workspace it provides. Editing photos or videos, reviewing documents, or running multiple apps side by side feels far less cramped than on a standard tablet.

For casually browsing social media or streaming YouTube on the couch, however, 14.6 inches can still feel unwieldy. The slim chassis helps, but it doesn't mask the reality that this is a lot of tablet to hold.

Audio gets an upgrade as well. The Tab S12 Ultra retains a quad-speaker layout, but it now supports four-channel spatial audio. Samsung promises richer, more immersive sound, though that will require more real-world testing before making a definitive call.

Samsung’s new Pro Keyboard is arguably the standout element of the Tab S12 Ultra experience.

Featuring an aluminum finish, it feels significantly sturdier and more refined than Samsung’s previous keyboard covers. The tablet connects via rear pogo pins, and once docked, the entire setup mimics the look and feel of a traditional laptop.

That form factor makes sense here. A 14.6-inch display offers ample real estate for real work, and pairing it with a full-size keyboard transforms the S12 Ultra from an oversized Android tablet into a sleek, Android-powered Galaxy Book alternative. There is also a dedicated Galaxy AI key for quick access to an assistant.

The catch: the keyboard is sold separately, adding another cost to an already pricey device. Still, anyone buying the Tab S12 Ultra primarily for productivity will get far more utility with the Pro Keyboard attached.

The S Pen remains bundled in the box and retains its dust- and water-resistance rating. It’s as handy as ever for taking notes, annotating PDFs, and sketching, though Bluetooth functionality remains absent, just as it was on the Tab S11 Ultra.

Cameras have never been the primary selling point of an Ultra tablet, and the S12 Ultra doesn’t change that narrative.
Around back, you get a 13MP main sensor alongside an 8MP ultrawide. The front houses a 12MP ultrawide camera—arguably the most important lens on a device like this.

A tablet this large won’t replace your phone camera, but the setup works fine for document scanning, quick snapshots, and video calls. For remote meetings in particular, the wide front-facing field of view is far more practical than chasing high megapixel counts on the rear sensors.

Shipping with Android 17 and One UI 9.0, the S12 Ultra doubles down on multitasking.

Multi Window divides the display into up to three panes, a feature that genuinely takes advantage of this much canvas. You can keep a browser alongside Samsung Notes while an AI assistant runs in a third window, and nothing feels crowded.

Samsung has also broadened its built-in AI toolset. Samsung Internet, for instance, can analyze the contents of multiple open tabs and draw on your browsing history to summarize research or surface previously viewed pages. This is a practical addition for research-heavy workflows where information routinely gets scattered across tabs.

Additionally, Samsung bundles six months of Google AI Pro, granting access to more capable Gemini models and Gemini Notebook.

The most notable internal change is the jump to the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip.

Samsung touts up to a 19% boost in CPU performance over the Tab S11 Ultra, a 17% lift in graphics performance, and a 61% jump in NPU speeds.

Benchmark gains are predictable, but peak numbers rarely tell the full story. What matters more is sustained performance during heavy workloads, such as running multi-window setups, rendering video, or handling large creative files under continuous load.

That’s where the new 3D vapor chamber comes in. The redesigned thermal system aims to disperse heat more effectively than older flat vapor chambers, theoretically letting the processor hold peak clocks without aggressive throttling. We’ll need extended testing to verify those claims, but it could be the most impactful functional upgrade for power users.

Battery capacity remains static at 11,600mAh, supported by 45W wired charging.
Samsung rates the battery for up to 23 hours of video playback, with a full top-up taking roughly 95 minutes using a compatible 45W brick.

Squeezing an 11,600mAh cell into a 5.1mm chassis is an engineering feat, but without faster charging or larger capacity, battery endurance will hinge entirely on the efficiency of the Dimensity 9500 and One UI 9.

The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra is familiar territory.

If you already own a Tab S11 Ultra, nothing here demands an immediate upgrade. The industrial design, footprint, and core display tech carry over largely untouched; Samsung chose instead to focus on thermals, silicon, speakers, and software refinement.

That isn't a strike against it. The Tab S11 Ultra was already top-tier hardware with few obvious flaws to address. The real question is whether the sustained performance gains and software tweaks translate into a noticeably better daily workflow.

Paired with the Pro Keyboard, the S12 Ultra makes a more convincing case as a laptop alternative than any Android slate before it. But at $1,399 (or $1,199 for the Galaxy Tab S12+), it remains an expensive luxury.

If you're upgrading from an S8 Ultra or S9 Ultra, the leap in power, display quality, and accessories makes this an easy recommendation. If you bought last year's model, you can safely hold onto it.