The Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 is a great tablet with a big problem

The Galaxy Tab S11 is Samsung’s bread-and-butter tablet. It’s not the cheapest or the most expensive in its range, so it should be all things to most people. Unfortunately, Samsung faces a problem, and it’s the price. Can the Galaxy Tab S11 take on the cheaper competition?

7/10

Storage

128, 256, or 512GB

Operating System

Android 16

Battery

8,400mAh

Display type

Dynamic AMOLED 2X

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S11’s thin and light chassis, beautiful screen, good performance, and slick software makes it a brilliant multimedia machine I’ve enjoyed using. But all this can be said about its cheaper competition too.

Pros & Cons

• Thin and light
• Stunning AMOLED screen
• Software works well on a tablet screen
• S Pen included

• Slow battery charging
• Slow fingerprint sensor
• Disappointing audio

Specs, price, and availability

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 is available to buy now, and comes in three different versions. The standard 128GB version costs $800, the 256GB costs $860, and the top 512GB is $980. While these are the full retail prices, the Galaxy Tab S11 is often included in Samsung’s regular special deals, and it may be worth waiting for a lower price before buying.

Slick and modern design

Quality hardware

Samsung gets off to a good start with the Galaxy Tab S11, as it’s a beautiful piece of hardware. At 5.5mm thick and 461 grams, the aluminum body isn’t fatiguing to hold, and it slips into a bag without being too heavy or ungainly.

The rear has a single camera and antenna lines for the 5G connection, and it comes in either grey or silver colors. It’s not eye-catching, but the understated simplicity makes it modern and mature. An IP68 dust and water resistance makes it durable, and able to be used in most rooms in the house without much concern.

This comfort and convenience is a large part of the Galaxy Tab S11’s appeal, as I could watch videos and play games without feeling like I wanted to rest the tablet on something after a while. The 11-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen is just the right size, too. The narrow bezels still provide space to hold the tablet without greatly intruding on the screen.

There are two main downsides related to the design. The first is the use of an in-display fingerprint sensor, which I find slow to react and less convenient to quickly locate than those inside the power key. There is a face unlock option, but camera placement means it’s not much faster than the fingerprint sensor.

The other is the power key and volume controls, which are set almost flush against the thin chassis, quite low down the side, and have the same color and texture. It’s less intuitive to find than if they are mounted closer to the corner, and had some kind of visual or tactile hint as to where they are. I’m constantly feeling my way around the slate, only to still miss them.

Visuals and performance

Ideal for everyday use

For some reason, Samsung doesn’t advertise what processor is inside the Galaxy Tab S11, but MediaTek makes it clear it’s the Dimensity 9400+ powering the tablet, complete with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space.

As mentioned above, the screen is a Dynamic AMOLED 2X, meaning it has a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support, and is capable of high brightness, good contrast levels, and vivid colors. It’s the same type of screen found on Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series phones.

I’ve left the screen in its Vivid setting, and love the way colors pop off the screen even at half brightness. Videos look excellent, and I’ve been using it as a second display next to my computer, where my eyes are constantly drawn to how crisp and bright it looks, and how wide the viewing angle is.

Playing games like Asphalt Legends: Unite and Hill Climb Racing 3 shows the processor easily handles regular games, and each looks brilliant on the big screen. Samsung’s Game Booster mode is available for more intensive games.

There are four speakers on the chassis, and at reasonable volumes they sound good, with a wide soundstage and plenty of detail. However, they struggle at anything above half-volume, with a harsh, tinny sound coming through.

It’s easy to cover two of the speakers when you hold the tablet in landscape orientation, muffling the sound a little, but this is not a problem unique to the Galaxy Tab S11. You won’t find niceties like Dolby, Hi-Res Audio, or any way to tune the audio either. Audio is the most disappointing part of the Galaxy Tab S11’s multimedia ability.

What’s the software like?

Surprisingly good

Android 16 with Samsung’s One UI 8 is installed, just like most of the brand’s modern smartphones, and it’s a very similar experience. One UI has been refined and improved over the last few years, and version 8 is one of the best-looking, least intrusive, and simplest to learn interfaces for Android available.

It’s also really well-suited to tablets. The split screen mode is intuitive — just drag an icon from the taskbar to open it — with easy-to-access buttons to stack two windows side-by-side or on top of each other. The Settings menu defaults to a wide, side-by-side appearance, making it fast and simple to find what you want.

It comes with a few pre-loaded apps which are suited to tablets and the included S Pen stylus, but they’re a mixed bag. AI workspace Notion and GoodNotes provide limited free versions, but LumaFusion (an admittedly excellent mobile video editor) and Clip Studio Paint have a cost attached.

The app you should pay most attention to is Samsung’s PenUp, which has a fun mode that replicates those popular coloring books for adults, and it’s not only really relaxing, but it also shows off the S Pen’s sensitivity and accuracy. There are a few app double-ups too, including Samsung’s own web browser and Chrome, plus both the Galaxy App Store and the Google Play Store.

I’ve mostly used the Galaxy Tab S11 for media, browsing, some games, and a few too many hours in the PenUp app, and the software has been smooth and reliable. Samsung promises updates will continue until 2032.

Battery and charging

Great for at-home use

The Galaxy Tab S11 has an 8,400mAh battery, and I’ve happily used the tablet for days in a row without recharging it, usually with an hour or two of screen time per day. The screen-off standby time doesn’t seem to be as lengthy as that of a OnePlus tablet, where the software has been tuned to last for months when in standby.

The battery lasted 10.5 hours on a full charge when running a 1440p YouTube video at full brightness, down from Samsung’s estimate of 18 hours using a locally stored 720p video. However, 10 hours of video should still last you through most long-haul flights.

Elsewhere, a 20-minute Wildlife Extreme stress test from the 3DMark benchmarking app took 8% from the battery, without generating much heat at all. A 30-minute YouTube video takes just 3%, showing the MediaTek processor is efficient even under strain.

The tablet is recharged using a USB-C cable, and it supports 45W, but it’s still rather slow. I expect the battery to take about an hour and 25 minutes to fully recharge, based on my experience so far. It’s not terrible, provided you mostly use the tablet at home.

What else do you need to know?

I haven’t tested Samsung’s keyboard accessory with the Galaxy Tab S11, but you can buy the Book Cover Keyboard Slim separately if you want to do some basic work on the tablet. Alternatively, any Bluetooth keyboard links to the Tab S11, and you can buy the basic cover with its built-in stand instead.

The Galaxy Tab S11 works with Samsung’s DeX desktop mode, where it connects to a monitor and creates a Windows-style desktop to make working easier. It’s very useful and, paired with a mouse and keyboard, it can realistically replace a desktop computer, provided your requirements are light.

It comes with various Galaxy AI features, including AI-Sketch to Notes, which takes sketches and turns them into AI art. This makes more sense on a tablet than on a phone, if you’re using it to create presentations or documents.

If the Galaxy Tab S11’s 11-inch screen is too small, consider the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, which has a massive 14.6-inch screen and a larger capacity battery. It’s also bigger and heavier, and considerably more expensive. Take a look at our in-depth comparison here.

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11?

The Galaxy Tab S11 has been a trusty, useful, and fun companion over the last couple of weeks. It’s slim and relatively light, the screen is fantastic, it has enough performance for my general use, and the battery is long-lasting.

Surely that means I’m about to recommend it, right? Well, almost. The disappointing audio, slow charging, and annoying security aren’t enough to say don’t buy it, but the $799 price is enough to say think twice because of the competition.

During my time with the Galaxy Tab S11, I’ve also used the OnePlus Pad Go 2, which costs $399. While not quite as powerful or highly specced, it still did everything I wanted, all for half the price. If your needs are relatively modest, you probably don’t need to spend $800 on a tablet, and a $400 one will be just fine.

Depending on where you live, the Poco X1 tablet and the floating keyboard accessory can be purchased for less than the Galaxy Tab S11 on its own. I also really like Samsung’s own Galaxy Tab S10 FE, which starts at $500. It makes value the biggest downside of the Galaxy Tab S11, and the suitability of the competition for your needs is what you should consider most before buying.

7/10

Storage

128, 256, or 512GB

Operating System

Android 16

Battery

8,400mAh

Display type

Dynamic AMOLED 2X

The biggest barrier to fully recommending the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 is the availability of other, lower-cost tablets offering better value for money.