Tab S12 Ultra lasts 11 hours on the web, 23 in Samsung's lab
Independent labs put the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra between 11 and 20 hours depending on the test. Samsung still charges $200 more than last year for a chip that is already a generation old.
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The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra is the Android tablet to buy for the 14.6-inch OLED, and a weak upgrade if last year's Ultra is still in the house. Independent rundown tests put endurance between about 11 and 20 hours depending on the workload. Samsung's own headline is 23 hours, measured in a quiet local-video lab that does not look like a working day.
Samsung priced the Ultra from $1,399.99, $200 above the Tab S11 Ultra, with US availability from October 7. The S Pen is in the box. The keyboard that turns the slab into a laptop is not. That extra money buys a MediaTek Dimensity 9500 and the same 11,600mAh cell as last year. The question for anyone shopping is whether the measured gains cover the new sticker.
What the labs actually drained
Samsung's 23-hour figure is specific. A footnote on the US newsroom post says it is local 720p playback in the default player, full screen, 162 nits, earbuds at volume 7, Wi-Fi and mobile data off. Expert Reviews ran its own local video test and recorded 19 hours 44 minutes, more than two and a half hours longer than the Tab S11 Ultra in the same routine and more than two hours longer than an M5 iPad Pro 11 the site tested last year. Those two video numbers sit in the same neighbourhood. They are not 23 hours, and they are not a browser workday.
Tom's Guide used continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits and got 11 hours 31 minutes. That result is about 30 minutes shorter than last year's Ultra in the same test, and well behind the iPad Pro M5 (13:16) and OnePlus Pad 3 (16:21) on the same chart. Tom's Guide's reviewer wrote that the new tablet "doesn't last as long as last year's model" and still put battery in the positives because a workday remains in reach. The two labs are not contradicting each other's clocks. They are measuring different jobs. Samsung's marketing number is the video job with radios off.
Charging tops out at 45W. Samsung says its 45W adapter takes the battery from empty to full in about 95 minutes, and Trusted Reviews listed around 90 minutes for a full charge.
The chip is faster. It is also last year's flagship
Samsung says the 3nm Dimensity 9500 is up to 19 percent faster in CPU, 17 percent in GPU, and 61 percent in NPU work than the Tab S11 Ultra. Trusted Reviews' sample scored 2,661 single-core and 9,097 multi-core in Geekbench 7, against 2,390 and 8,333 for the S11 Ultra. Everyday use was snappy. The same review called the 9500 a year-old chip, with MediaTek's Dimensity 9600 Pro already announced for newer flagships. Expert Reviews saw about a 9 percent GPU gain over last year and still found gaming a relative weak spot.
Tom's Guide found it fast enough for browsing and YouTube but not a true laptop replacement. DeX is the disagreement. Tom's Guide said DeX mode requires an external monitor for full functionality. Stuff, after a week, said DeX no longer requires a second screen for a PC-like layout with resizable windows and virtual desktops. Trusted Reviews listed DeX's laptop-like app experience among its pros, while calling the $399 Pro Keyboard an expensive accessory. Those are three outlets describing three setups. The hardware does not settle which one a buyer will get.
Who should spend $1,400
This tablet is for someone who wants the largest current Galaxy OLED, will use the included S Pen, and plans to keep the device through Samsung's seven OS upgrades and seven years of security patches. It is a poor fit for an S11 Ultra owner hunting a reason to swap. Trusted Reviews called it nearly identical to the S11 Ultra, and the 11,600mAh battery is unchanged. The $200 rise was Tom's Guide's first complaint, and RAM stays at 12GB.
Add the Pro Keyboard and the bundle reaches $1,798 before a laptop has entered the comparison. Expert Reviews noted that the iPad Pro 13in starts at £1,499 without a stylus or 5G, and judged the Samsung better value than the equivalent iPad, so the Samsung stack can still be the cheaper big-screen kit. That arithmetic only holds if Android apps and DeX cover the work. Buyers who need the screen should buy it. Buyers who need last year's value should keep shopping the S11 Ultra while it is still on shelves.
Image: thumbnail from Tech Spurt's Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra review video. MobileTech has not independently tested the tablet.