Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Review: Finally on par with the iPad Pro?

It’s taken quite a while, but the successor to the Galaxy Tab S9, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11, is finally here. That’s right, there’s a new, truly premium 11-inch tablet from Samsung again, featuring a very bright AMOLED, a powerful processor, and the S Pen is included too.

I’ve reviewed it extensively over the past few weeks, written and worked with it in several cafes, played Fortnite, of course, but I’ve also built a small workstation using the S11 as the basis. It’s a great tablet, but it’s not the best choice for everyone. In this video, I’ll tell you when the S11 is the perfect tablet for you and for whom it’s better to go for an alternative.

Display: 1600 Nits AMOLED

At a glance, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 looks just like its predecessor, but there’s one big improvement. With up to 1600 nits peak brightness, it’s now brighter than pretty much every other Android tablet on the market and on a similar level as the iPad Pro.

We’re getting an 11-inch AMOLED again with beautifully deep blacks and great contrast. It’s very sharp as well; the resolution is 2560 x 1600 pixels, and it supports 120Hz.

Since it’s so bright, you can use the S11 outside in direct sunlight, so it’d even be something for the beach. In a direct comparison to the iPad Pro, the Samsung tablet is actually still a tiny bit darker, even though they’re equally bright on paper. But the S11 is significantly brighter than the OnePlus Pad 3, which is a cheaper flagship alternative.

Colors on the Tab S11 just look great—vibrant, but not overdone. I think it’s fantastic for watching Netflix, YouTube, Disney Plus, and so on. However, the iPad Pro has a bit more natural colors in a direct comparison. If you’d like to edit photos with accurate colors, the Apple tablet would be better suited. From the side, it can also sometimes have a slight magenta tint. Really just a tiny bit.

It’s also well suited for movies and series, thanks to the four stereo speakers. The sound quality is really good. I compared it again with the iPad Pro M4 and the OnePlus Pad 3. All three are extremely close—it’s hard to hear differences. The OnePlus might sound a tiny bit better, but it’s also larger and has more volume, so larger tablets almost always sound better.

Hardware and Performance

Inside the Galaxy Tab S11 sits the MediaTek Dimensity 9400+, a premium processor that aims to play in the same league as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. Additionally, there’s 12 GB of RAM and 128 GB to 512 GB of internal storage. For a premium tablet, 128GB of standard storage is pretty little. But hey, at least there’s a MicroSD card slot.

The S11’s performance is excellent in the real-world. It never felt slow to me and was always very quick to respond. I edited a 4K video in LumaFusion, and that works very well, truly great, even the export was fast.

To get even more out of the tablet, I built a small workstation with the S11 as the base. I used a USB-C dock with a built-in tablet stand, and connected an external monitor, an external SSD, and internet via Ethernet, and, of course, a mouse and keyboard. Then I turned on Samsung DeX and got some work done. And that works really well.

Software-wise, DeX has smaller bugs sometimes, so the desktop mode isn’t perfect yet. But the system is stable, and the performance is excellent; nothing lags.

By the way, I’ve linked the accessories I use with the S11 in the description. I find the dock particularly great and really useful.

Geekbench and 3D Mark

In the Geekbench 6 benchmark, the processor performance is a bit weaker than the OnePlus Pad 3, which is a cheaper alternative. But the graphics performance is better. And in all aspects, it’s significantly more powerful than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, its direct predecessor.

In the 3D Mark graphics test, it surprised me that the S11 is more powerful than the OnePlus Pad 3 with the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Not by much, but a bit. And it’s naturally more powerful than the S10 series. The iPad Air with the Apple M3 chip is even faster, but only a little bit – so it’s really impressive that this MediaTek chip gets so close to the M3.

Read: Best iPad Alternatives: These Tablets Beat Apple

Gaming

I also played lots of games including Fortnite, Genshin Impact, and Vampire Survivors. All three perform great.

Fortnite runs at a stable 60 FPS with Epic graphics settings, meaning everything turned up to max. Sounds great, but you can’t even select 90 or 120 FPS. You can only play at 120 FPS if you select lower graphics settings. That’s not due to the pure performance of the chip but more because of the brand of the chip. Many games are better optimized for Snapdragon chips. For instance, on the OnePlus Pad 3, you can select Epic and 120FPS and it runs well.

Vampire Survivors runs perfectly at 60 FPS, which is unsurprising. Genshin Impact also runs wonderfully. And generally, of course, every game will continue to run well on the S11 for years to come.

As I said, the Dimensity 9400+ is a very powerful chip. But since some games are better optimized for Snapdragon processors, you’ll be able to squeeze slightly more performance out of the OnePlus Pad 3 for gaming.

Design and Build Quality

Samsung stays true to itself visually. The Galaxy Tab S11 looks almost exactly like the Tab S9, and that’s not a bad thing. The chassis is entirely aluminum, is very thin now at 5.5 mm, and weighs 469 g. It’s great that the IP68 certification has remained, so it’s still protected against water and dust. That’s still a rarity for tablets.

The magnetic area for the S Pen is missing on the back now. You used to be able to charge the pen that way. It’s missing because this time, you cannot even charge the pen because it doesn’t have a battery.

The under-display fingerprint sensor works reliably and is precise.

In addition to a USB C 3.2 port, there’s also a MicroSD card slot. And if you’ve got the 5G version, there’s also space for a SIM card.

The 13-megapixel main camera on the back and the 12-megapixel front camera both deliver solid results. Both can record videos in 4K at 30 FPS, and the quality is very good for a tablet.

The S Pen Stylus

The S Pen, or at least the design of the S Pen, has been updated. It’s still IP68 certified and can be magnetically attached to one of the long sides. This pencil shape is new, however, and it feels better. It’s more comfortable to hold.

The built-in battery is gone. So the pen no longer needs to be charged. However, that also means: no more Air Gestures. So you can’t use the pen as a remote control for PowerPoint or as a camera remote controly anymore. Samsung seems to be moving away from this feature in general, as the S25 Ultra doesn’t support it anymore either.

The writing and drawing feel is great. I personally prefer the new, harder pen tip to the old S Pen’s. But only because it’s still slightly softer than the Apple Pencil. I was able to write notes comfortably with it. My colleague Sandor, who draws a lot, also finds the new tip more comfortable, especially during long drawing sessions.

It also remains the case that I consider Samsung Notes to be the best notes app for Android. You can not only write notes with it but also annotate PDFs well and so on. And sadly Samsung Notes only works on Samsung tablets.

It’s also nice that the new S Pen is fully compatible with older tablets—and vice versa, old pens also work on the S11. That’s a real plus.

New Keyboard Cover

I tested the Galaxy Tab S11 with the Samsung Book Cover Keyboard Slim—and wrote the review for this tablet in a cafe with it, among other things. The typing feel is good, the keys have a pleasant travel, and you get used to the compact layout after a few days. So the keyboard is great.

However, it’s a shame that Samsung has changed the keyboard design. As a result, the S11 is no longer compatible with older keyboard covers. Too bad. So anyone upgrading from an S7, S8, or S9 has to buy the new cover separately – and as usual, official accessories are quite expensive. I also find it a pity that there isn’t a version with a touchpad, at least currently. Sure, there’s a large touchscreen, but sometimes a touchpad is more pleasant.

Nevertheless, even if it isn’t perfect, the keyboard is very well made overall and is definitely an accessory I wouldn’t want to miss.

Read: Best Tablets With Stylus Pen For Drawing & Writing | 2025 Edition

Software: Android 16 with OneUI 8

Samsung ships the Galaxy Tab S11 with One UI 8, based on Android 16. Seven years of software updates are included, which is always great with Samsung.

There aren’t any major software novelties; it’s just the same as on Samsung’s current smartphones. Only adapted for tablets. And Samsung DeX makes more sense, especially with a keyboard cover, of course. And it works very well for the most part.

There are also some AI functions, such as for summaries or text recognition, and you can have a sketch turned into a generated image. But I think Google’s AI features are better, and I think almost everyone is better off with ChatGPT or Gemini.

Battery Life

In our standard battery test, the Galaxy Tab S11 achieved a runtime of 12.75 hours. The battery life is slightly longer than the predecessors, and overall, that’s a very good result. For this test, an HD YouTube video always runs on a continuous loop at max brightness.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Review: My Final Verdict

Overall, I really like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11. We’re finally getting a really bright AMOLED display that’s pretty and sharp, as well as good speakers, a great S Pen, up-to-date software, and a high-quality design that’s protected against water and dust. The performance is great too, although a Snapdragon chip would’ve been better for gamers.

So, if you’re looking for a high-quality 11-inch Android tablet, the Galaxy Tab S11 is an excellent choice. Also, because there are hardly any alternatives in the premium league. The S9 is already a bit older and won’t get updates in a few years. And otherwise, there are upper-mid-range tablets, but hardly any premium competitors.

If you can do without an AMOLED and 120Hz, the 11-inch iPad Air is a great alternative for gamers. You can also get great pens and keyboards for it. The 11-inch iPad Pro has a slightly better display and better performance, but it’s also significantly more expensive. Especially when you factor in the pen.

For gamers, the OnePlus Pad 3 is another exciting alternative. Sure, it’s bigger, and the LCD isn’t quite as nice. But the performance of the Snapdragon 8 Elite is better for games, and it did well in our test. You should definitely check that one out next.