Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra & Tab S11 First Impressions

I spent about an hour and a half with Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra and Tab S11 at the closed-door briefing, and the first thing that struck me was just how thin the S11 Ultra is. Holding a 14.6-inch tablet that measures only 5.1mm and still packs an 11,600mAh battery feels almost unreal. The regular Tab S11, meanwhile, goes for a more compact and practical 11-inch size, lighter in hand and easier to carry around. Both tablets exude a premium feel, yet also feel familiar at the same time. Here are my first impressions.

Design and Build

Samsung’s design language for the S11 series feels restrained compared to the brighter shades of the Galaxy S25 FE — here, it’s muted grey and silver tones. The Ultra, at 692 grams, is still a massive slab, and while it isn’t exactly comfortable to hold for long stretches, the 5.1mm profile makes it feel razor-thin in the hand.

The flat sides, brushed metal finish, and sharper detailing all add to the premium feel, though the back panel does attract fingerprints quickly. The camera module is tucked neatly into the corner, small and unobtrusive. The power and volume buttons sit on the right of the tablet when held vertically. But, I would’ve preferred the power button on the top, similar to what we’ve seen in some of the OnePlus Pads.

This isn’t really a tablet designed to be used handheld for hours, the Ultra feels more at home propped up with a keyboard cover, where it doubles as a proper work machine. The regular Tab S11, meanwhile, is the one you can toss in a bag and actually use on the go because of its 469g weight structure and compact form factor.

Display

This is where the Ultra flexes. The 14.6-inch AMOLED panel supports HDR10+, 120Hz refresh rate, and goes up to 1600 nits claimed peak brightness.

It’s actually quite massive in reality, closer to a laptop screen than a typical tablet. The resolution (2960 x 1848) makes everything look tack-sharp. Watching video clips on it during the briefing was immersive, and the punchy colours plus the smooth scrolling felt spot-on. The regular Tab S11 isn’t left behind; its 11-inch AMOLED is smaller at 2560 x 1600 resolution, with the same brightness and refresh rate. But side by side, the bezels on the S11 look chunkier, which takes away some of the sleekness the Ultra carries so effortlessly.

Cameras

Both tablets share the same 12MP front-facing camera, which should be solid enough for video calls. Around the back, the S11 Ultra gets a dual-camera setup — a 13MP main sensor paired with an 8MP ultrawide.

While the regular S11 sticks to just the 13MP shooter. Both setup feel more about convenience than creativity, enough for scanning documents, hopping on calls, or the occasional snap.

Performance and Battery

Samsung has gone with MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 for both tablets, the same chip we’ve seen on phones like the Oppo Find X8 Pro and Vivo X200 Pro. It’s paired with the Immortalis-G925 MC12 GPU, and from my experience with this chipset in our processor tests, it’s efficient and capable. That efficiency will be key for the Ultra’s massive 11,600mAh battery, which will need to push through heavy workloads on a 14.6-inch display. The regular Tab S11’s 8,400mAh pack feels more balanced for its size, but it’ll be interesting to see how both hold up in day-to-day use. The Tab S11 and S11 Ultra support 45W wired charging.

Both models come with 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, so there’s plenty of headroom for multitasking. Samsung DeX support is still here, letting you plug into a monitor and work in a desktop-like mode. On the software front, they’ll ship with One UI 8 on top of Android 16, with Galaxy AI features sprinkled throughout.

The S Pen has been reworked too — now with a hexagonal design instead of the older circular barrel, and a cone-shaped pen tip. I didn't find enough time to play around with it, but do look forward to the review.

Early Verdict

After an hour with both tablets, what stands out is less about new tricks and more about refinement. The Ultra is a statement piece — impossibly thin, massive, and clearly aimed at those who treat their tablet like a laptop. The Tab S11 is the one most people will actually use, lighter and easier to carry without giving up the essentials. We’ll have a full review on Gizbot soon, where we’ll see if these first impressions hold up in real-world use.