The Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely is the most recent mannequin in Samsung’s lineup of tablets with shows so large they put most laptops to disgrace. Like the corporate’s Galaxy S Extremely smartphones, the Tab S10 Extremely represents the perfect of what Samsung has to supply.
It’s the third Extremely-branded Samsung has launched since 2022, but it surely’s the primary mannequin that I’ve had the pleasure to make use of. My full ideas on the expertise of utilizing the Tab S10 Extremely can be in our official overview; for now, I wish to share the listing of my favourite Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely options and one factor about it that frustrates me.
No Snapdragon? No downside, MediaTek is nice
For the primary time ever, Samsung has used a MediaTek chip in a flagship cellular machine. And never simply in some markets, however in all places. For the longest time, MediaTek made chips that have been low cost for producers to purchase however lagged in a lot of the vital areas, together with efficiency, thermal administration, and effectivity.
However it has turned issues round over the previous few years, a lot in order that some Samsung followers would moderately use a MediaTek-powered cellphone or pill as an alternative of 1 powered by an Exynos chip.
I’m a kind of followers. Exynos made a return to kind this 12 months, however for essentially the most half since not less than 2019, Exynos chips have both had points or have been simply positive. MediaTek, in the meantime, has gone from energy to energy, and though Qualcomm and its Snapdragon chips are nonetheless within the lead, MediaTek is proving to be a superb different.
It’s probably why Samsung determined it may lastly ditch Qualcomm for MediaTek on a flagship machine, particularly as Qualcomm continues to hike up the value of Snapdragon chips. Our preliminary testing revealed the Tab S10 Extremely’s MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ is a implausible chip, and my expertise has been no completely different.
The Tab S10 Extremely is all the time easy, all the time fast. I’ve seen no lag or slowdowns. Whether or not I’m navigating by the consumer interface, testing graphically intensive video games, or utilizing Galaxy AI options like Sketch to Picture, the Tab S10 Extremely refuses to lose a step.
It’s precisely what you anticipate from a pill that’s as costly as this one, and you may relaxation assured the change to MediaTek has had zero repercussions. If Samsung finally ends up utilizing a MediaTek chip for the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ subsequent 12 months, you’ll hear zero complaints from me.
The huge show is nice, particularly for drawing
The 14.6-inch Tremendous AMOLED show is the declare to fame for Samsung’s Extremely-branded tablets, and as anticipated, the Tab S10 Extremely show is implausible. The colours pop, viewing angles are as large as might be, and brightness ranges are by no means a difficulty.
The show doesn’t get practically as shiny open air as Samsung’s flagship cellphone shows, however the Tab S10 Extremely show does have an anti-reflection coating just like the Galaxy S24 Extremely. It makes a distinction, too. It’s normally onerous to take pictures of Samsung tablets open air due to the reflections, however I took the Tab S10 Extremely photograph you see above with out points.
The 14.6-inch display screen can also be nice for those who love drawing. I don’t draw or have any expertise within the subject, however even I preserve selecting up the S Pen daily, significantly to make use of the Sketch to Picture Galaxy AI function. I’ve additionally watched a number of films on the Tab S10 Extremely, and that’s an incredible expertise too.
The audio high quality is stable as nicely. The 4 audio system are greater than loud sufficient, sufficient for me to often watch movies with out headphones or earbuds in my mid-sized workroom of about 11 ft x 12 ft.
The one challenge with a display screen this large is that you would be able to’t use it in your arms for lengthy durations of time. Portrait orientation is particularly problematic. I purchased a case with a stand inside an hour of unboxing the Tab S10 Extremely, and I largely have it on the stand when utilizing it except I’m drawing on it with the stylus, during which case I put it flat on the desk.
Battery life is implausible
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S Extremely fashions have the biggest battery of any Galaxy pill, and that makes for superior battery life. Just like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ is manufactured on TSMC’s 4nm node and is super-efficient, and even with common use, the Tab S10 Extremely doesn’t require charging for 4-5 days.
Sure, that is my first long-term expertise with a Galaxy Tab S Extremely so you could assume I’m overstating issues, however that’s not the case. Battery life actually is nice and is amongst my favourite Galaxy Tab S10 Extremely options. And that’s a very good factor, as a result of the one factor about this pill that makes me wish to tear my hair out is the battery’s charging velocity.
45W charging is depressingly gradual for some purpose
It appears that evidently whereas Apple is lastly catching as much as Samsung and others in charging speeds, the Korean big has been lowering or messing up charging speeds on latest merchandise. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 takes longer to cost than its predecessors regardless of the identical battery capability and charging velocity (25W). I seen the identical factor on the Tab S10 Extremely.
I’ve Samsung’s official 45W charging brick and a third-party charger that may cost Samsung telephones at 45W. The Tab S10 Extremely takes greater than two hours to succeed in 100% cost with each. I do use third-party cables as I misplaced the official wire Samsung’s 45W charger comes bundled with, however they work simply positive for 45W charging on Samsung’s telephones.
It is not just like the pill doesn’t detect that the charger is a 45W one. Nonetheless, it expenses nearly as gradual as I assume it might at 25W. I haven’t examined 25W charging on the time of penning this so I can not be certain, although I do hope 25W charging is not equally gradual.
It’s unhealthy sufficient that producers now not provide you with a charger with the machine. And whereas it could be for security issues, at the moment, compatibility with third-party chargers and cables shouldn’t be restricted for these issues. Once more, the pill does report that I’ve related a 45W charger, but it surely doesn’t really cost at that velocity.
Is Samsung intentionally lowering charging speeds on its units now that it’s promising to supply software program updates for seven years so the batteries degrade at a slower price? I hope not. However whether it is, Samsung must make that clear as an alternative of deceptive prospects through the use of the identical previous terminology on the spec sheet whereas not providing the identical real-world efficiency as older units.
