Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Plus Review – Worthy Laptop Replacement Unless You Really Need Windows OS

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Plus

Starting off the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Plus review with the unboxing, the packaging comes in the form of a rather thin, albeit large, white box. It’s minimalistic and pretty much goes in line with the design of other Samsung products. Inside, we found the following items:

• Documentations
• SIM ejector tool
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• S Pen
• The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Plus

Our review unit also came with the Samsung Book Cover Keyboard Slim with AI Key, which is a keyboard that directly attaches to the tablet and doubles up as a protective case.

Specifications

Display	12.4″ 2800 x 1752 Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, 16:10, 266 ppi HDR10+ 1Hz to 120Hz refresh rate
SoC	MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ (4nm) (1 x Cortex-X4 @ 3.25GHz + 3 x Cortex X-4 @ 2.85GHz + 4 x Cortex-A720 @ 2GHz) Immortalis-G720 MC12 GPU
RAM	12GB
Storage	256GB / 512GB UFS (expandable)
Audio	Quad Stereo Speakers with Sound by AKG, Dolby Atmos
Front camera	8MP f/2.2 ultrawide LED Flash, HDR, panorama, up to 4K @ 30FPS
Rear camera	13MP f/2.0 wide angle with AF + 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide HDR, up to 4K @ 30FPS
Connectivity	Wireless Wi-Fi 6E Tri-Band (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz) with Wi-Fi Direct Bluetooth 5.3 with A2DP and LE GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO 5G and 4G LTE (except for Wi-Fi-only model) Wired USB 3.2 Type-C, magnetic connector
Battery	10,700mAh 45W fast charging
Size	285.4 x 185.4 x 5.6 mm
Weight	571g
Ingress Protection	IP68
Color	Moonstone Gray, Platinum Silver

Performance

Starting off the benchmark suite with Antutu v10, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Plus had a very impressive showing, taking the 2nd runner up spot in our list of benchmarked devices. As it managed to beat out most of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 smartphones, it shows that the Dimensity 9300+ is no slouch by any means, and that MediaTek has come a long way from the entry-level / midrange performance levels.

A similar pattern can be seen in Geekbench 6, albeit with it excelling greatly in multi core performance while single core seems to be par for the course. Again, another strong showing for the Dimensity 9300+ chip that will surely boost confidence in users and brings further sense as to why Samsung opted for this chip instead of the usual Snapdragon affair.

Moving on to 3DMark, it appears that this is the area where the Dimensity chip falls a bit short but that’s only if we’re being really nitpicky. It still did perform well in Wild Life Extreme, Solar Bay, and Steel Nomad and I find it interesting that the Exynos 2400e managed to outperform it in 2 of the 3 tests. Thermal efficiency is decent as it managed to get a stability rating of 72.4%. It’s insane to think that it managed to beat out most flagship devices from this year in both thermal efficiency and performance.

Lastly on PCMark’s Work 3.0 benchmark, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Plus performed admirably as it sits between last year’s and this year’s flagship devices in terms of raw performance. Keep in mind that as far as being a daily driver for productivity, it does have an edge over a lot of smartphones as you have to account for the bigger screen as well as S Pen support, which the stylus is included in the box. Add the keyboard case with it and you have a pretty reliable mobile productivity device for daily use across all tasks.

For those of you are wondering about its battery life, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Plus lasted 6 hours and 57 minutes (417 minutes) in PCMark’s Work 3.0 endurance test. This may seem pretty low compared to the other devices listed, especially given its large 10,700mAh battery capacity but keep in mind, it also has a significantly larger screen, at 12.4-inches, which is clearly the reason why the battery drains much faster than smartphones. Generally speaking, you shouldn’t have any trouble using this without a charger with at least 6 to 7 hours of screen on time.

As for charging speed, here’s what we got with a 3rd party 100W GaN charger from 2% battery:

• 15 minutes = 22%
• 30 minutes = 37%
• 45 minutes = 47%
• 60 minutes = 64%
• 75 minutes = 77%
• 90 minutes = 88%
• 101 minutes = 100%

It’s worth noting that it only supports up to 45W for charging.

Video Call and Mic Test

With some lighting, the video quality you can get from the front-facing cam is pretty cent. Face details do appear rather soft but for the most part, quality is certainly above average if you compare it to other tablet’s front cameras on even laptop’s built-in webcams. Of course, I wouldn’t use it in a dark room as quality would be abysmal but that’s natural for most small-sensor cameras anyway.

Microphone quality is surprisingly great as it can capture vocals with a surprisingly natural tone and depth. Of course, it might still sound like a typical phone call quality over video conference but that’s due to the software’s compression rather than the tablet itself. It is a bit sensitive as it manages to capture the sound of my ceiling fan but not too much that it sounds unbearable. In a quieter room like a meeting room for example, it will sound great.

The Good

There are a good number of reasons to consider getting the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+. For starters, the display is certainly flagship-caliber. It’s a 12.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with adaptive refresh rate. Colors are vivid and punchy and while brightness could be better, 650 nits is still adequate for the most part. Moreover, the 16:10 aspect ratio is good to have as it’s more in line with laptop displays and it gives a little bit of extra screen real estate.

Like with other Galaxy Tabs, the S Pen is included for free inside the box. If you’re familiar with Samsung tablets, then you know that this is the full-sized S Pen, making it pretty easy to wield. You get full access to all of the S Pen gestures, making it easier to interact with the tablet, especially without a keyboard given its size. While you do need to charge it, it’s pretty easy as all you need to do is magnetically stick it to the rear, near the camera, and you’re good to go.

Another major plus point is the quad speakers on this tablet. While volume feels pretty much the same, audio quality seemed to have improved as it feels richer than before. Likely, its because of improved bass, giving audio more depth than before. As usual, it’s typically geared more towards the mid to high end sounds, making vocals crystal clear overall, and the improved bass doesn’t come close to overpowering the other sounds, which is to be expected since it’s just tablet speakers. Overall, I’m pretty satisfied.

If you’re looking at this tablet as a potential laptop replacement, at least for some functions, you’d be happy to know that it’s a very portable tablet, especially given its 571g. Adding the Samsung Book Cover Keyboard gives you the full keyboard and touchpad experience without adding much heft. Assuming you have the apps needed to make use of it as a laptop replacement and you don’t do heavy multitasking, it’s comparable to a 13-inch tablet.

Lastly, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ (along with the Ultra) marks the first time their tablet comes with Galaxy AI. As for a brief summary of the Galaxy AI features includes, I’ve listed them right below here:

• Live Translate = A real-time two-way call translation that works via the native Phone app. Currently supports up to 13 languages but will add more in the future. It might have a little bit of trouble depending on how you enunciate words but works fine for the most part. I just wished it was a little faster but that’s expected to improve over time.
• Chat Assist = You can let the AI write a message in different tones, such as a friendly or professional tone, based on what you’ve written to convey things more aptly depending on the recipient. You can also translate messages using it, with the same 13 languages being supported for now. I wouldn’t overly rely on it as it can make you sound more robotic or convey a completely different personality compared to your own writing style.
• Circle to Search = You can highlight any picture, video, or text within the display and immediately search it up on Google without leaving the app that you’re on. Arguably the most convenient tool to pop up and one I foresee many people make use of moving forward. The use of the S Pen makes this feature more intuitive to use.
• Note Assist = Using the Samsung Notes app, you can turn your notes into something far better by letting Galaxy AI create summaries, handle the formatting, spellcheck, translate, and more. For people like me who lack the creativity to make our own notes pop out better or have the tendency to write in ways only we ourselves can understand, this is a godsend.
• Transcript Assist = Using the Voice Recorder app, you can get the audio to be automatically transcribed, complete with the ability to identify when different speakers are talking. At times, it might have trouble getting the right word down due to how some words are enunciated and if they can be heard clearly but for the most part, works pretty well.
• Interpreter = A 2-way real-time translation tool where you can select two different languages and have a conversation. This is perfect for travelers and the UI design makes it easy for two people to look at the screen and communicate but the 13 language limitation means there are a lot of places out there you still can’t make use of it yet.

For a deeper dive into Galaxy AI and its respective features, click right here.

The Bad

As good as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is, it does have its fair share of drawbacks. For starters, while Samsung has done a good job with the UI, there are plenty of Android apps that still aren’t optimized for a tablet. Moreover, moving from app to app won’t feel as seamless as using a Windows PC so if you’re planning to replace your laptop with this, it would be on the lighter side of computer use like web browsing, office work, and videos.

Next up, while the display is great, I wished that they made the bezels noticeably thinner. It’s a bit too thick for today’s standards, making it look a little outdated. While it might be difficult to innovate the design of a tablet to truly be a breath of fresh air, I believe thinning down the bezels would be good enough to keep people satisfied.

Next up, while the battery life is good for what it is, the charging speed could certainly use an improvement. Given its enormous battery capacity, it’s no surprise why it took a while for it to fully charge, with the general expectation being 90 to 120 minutes. If they can bump up the 45W support to 65 or 90W across the entire series, that would certainly make it more attractive for consumers.

Lastly, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ is rather pricey for a tablet. Sure, it packs a whole lot inside, and we’ve had quite a bit of good things to say about it as well, with its Dimensity 9300+ performing better than expected. However, RM4,599 is still not a price that is easy to swallow, and it gets higher if you want 5G connectivity as well (RM5,249). For premium tablets, it’s worth the money but whether it’s worth it for you purely depends on your use case.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ is an excellent tablet for both multimedia-heavy consumers and creatives. Combined with the S Pen and keyboard case, it makes for an attractive laptop replacement, especially if you’re not a heavy user. Ultimately, it depends on whether you’d prefer a laptop or are willing to make the jump to this. Between this and the Ultra, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ is certainly the better value for the price but if you want even better value, you might need to wait for an FE model if it ever happens again.

At the end of our Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ review, I award this tablet with our coveted Gold Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Samsung Malaysia for sending us this tablet for the purpose of this review.