Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra Arrives With a Dimensity 9500 and a $200 Higher Starting Price

The physical similarities are extensive. Both tablets use a 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with 2,960 by 1,848 pixels, the same teardrop cutout for a single 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, and the same peak brightness of 1,600 nits for HDR content and 1,000 nits in high brightness mode. Engadget said the S12 Ultra has the same body measurements, thickness of 5.1 millimeters and weight of 692 grams as the S11 Ultra. Both carry an IP68 water and dust resistance rating. The S12 Ultra ships with One UI 9.0, but the S11 Ultra will receive the same update before long.

Inside, Samsung moved from MediaTek's Dimensity 9300+ to the Dimensity 9500. Both chips are built on a 3nm process. Samsung claims the new chip provides a 19 percent increase in CPU performance, a 17 percent increase in GPU power and a 61 percent jump in NPU performance, according to Engadget. The tablet also adds a new 3D vapor chamber for heat dissipation. But Engadget said the uplift is not enough to justify the higher price, especially as 2nm mobile chips such as Apple's A20 Pro and Qualcomm's 8 Elite Gen 6 enter the market with larger performance gains.

Audio is one of the clearer changes. The S12 Ultra supports four-channel spatial audio through its four-speaker array, up from 2-channel spatial audio on the S11 Ultra. Engadget said the four-speaker setups on Samsung's previous Ultra tablets are second only to their displays in impressiveness, producing wide soundstages and clear element positioning for TV and movies with good spatial mixes.

Samsung did not increase charging speed. The S12 Ultra has an 11,600 milliamp-hour battery, the same size as the S11 Ultra's, and remains at 45W charging. Engadget noted that competitors such as Redmagic, with the Astra 2, offer faster charging. The S12 Ultra also does not bring back the ability to remotely control the tablet with an S Pen, a feature that was removed and not restored.

Engadget's comparison concluded that the S12 Ultra offers little reason for S11 Ultra or S10 Ultra owners to upgrade. For users still on a Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra or S8 Ultra, the new model would feel like a significant boost, but the $1,400 starting price remains difficult to accept. The report described the S12 Ultra as an iterative update for Samsung's laptop-sized tablet line, with the same formula refined over several generations.

Editor's Summary Samsung's Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra is an iterative update to its 14.6-inch tablet line, adding a Dimensity 9500 chip, four-channel spatial audio and a 3D vapor chamber while keeping the same display, design, battery, charging speed and IP68 rating as the Tab S11 Ultra. Its $1,400 starting price is $200 higher than the S11 Ultra's launch price, and Engadget said the changes offer little reason for recent Ultra tablet owners to upgrade.