This afternoon, I dropped off Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra at FedEx for its trade-in return. Samsung offered a deal I couldn’t resist—and I nearly did let it pass. During the days leading up to Christmas, I twice ordered—and cancelled—the flagship tablet, finally committing on Dec. 27, 2024. The thing arrived on Jan. 3, 2025.
I waffled because the S10 Ultra is an iterative upgrade that also abandons Qualcomm chips for MediaTek’s—and I was apprehensive about the switch. But Samsung maintained a relentlessly persistent promotion: trade-in that was $200 more than what I paid for the S9 Ulta (after another trade-in) for total $1,000 discount that brought the purchase price down to a few hundred dollars—for a top-tier tablet that few others can match, including those from Apple.
I had similar concerns when deciding to swap Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone for its successor, with iteration being one reason and loss of 10x optical zoom the other. But the incorporation of Galaxy AI capabilities, vastly improved camera functionality, and antiglare screen made the S24 Ultra switch satisfying.
There is much to like about S10 Ultra that I hadn’t expected, and by far antiglare coating stands out so much that it is best described as transformative. I spend much more tablet time than ever before, compared to any other device—yes, even iPad. Primarily reading.
Quick Specs: Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with 2960 x 1848 resolution (WQXGA+); MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ processor; 12GB RAM; 512GB internal storage; expandable storage (MicroSD, up to 1.5TB); Bluetooth 5.3; Wi-Fi everything, etc.
Do I like it. Hell, yeah.
The Featured Image comes from Nikon Zf and NIKKOR 40mm f/2 (SE) lens. Vitals, ISO manually set: f/4. ISO 3200, 1/60 sec, 40mm; 6:24 p.m. PST, today. What’s that other device, blurred in the background? Google Pixel Tablet.