Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S11 Undercuts the iPad Pro, but Apple Still Leads Tablets

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra starts at $1,199.99 and comes with a stylus Apple charges $79 for separately. It undercuts Apple’s 13-inch iPad Pro by roughly $100 before anyone adds a keyboard. None of that has stopped Apple from shipping more than double the number of tablets Samsung did in the first quarter of 2026.

That gap sits underneath every spec sheet Samsung has published this year. The Galaxy Tab S11 line runs a faster chip, a brighter screen and more Galaxy AI tools than any Tab before it. Samsung’s tablet shipments still fell 12.6% year over year in the same quarter. The value math works on paper. The market has not followed it yet.

Samsung Throws in What Apple Sells Separately

Start with the accessory. Every Galaxy Tab S11 model ships with an S Pen in the box, no extra charge. Apple’s Pencil Pro costs $79 on top of an iPad Pro that already starts higher than Samsung’s flagship.

Samsung Electronics America priced the standard model at $799.99 and the Ultra at $1,199.99 in its September 2025 launch announcement. The Ultra also brought Samsung’s first 3 nanometer tablet processor, the MediaTek Dimensity 9400+, with gains Samsung’s global newsroom put at 33% faster NPU, 24% faster CPU and 27% faster GPU over the previous chip.

“The Galaxy Tab S11 series combines AI innovation with refined hardware to deliver a true multitasking experience that reflects Samsung’s deep experience in mobile productivity,” said Jay Kim, an executive vice president at Samsung Electronics.

The build matches the price tag. Both models use an aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass up front and carry an IP68 rating against dust and water. Samsung also kept its wider 16:10 screen shape, better suited to video and split screens than the narrower, more paper-like ratio Apple uses on the iPad Pro.

Samsung’s Tablet Shipments Fell 12.6% While Apple’s Grew

Zoom out from the spec sheet and the picture flips. Global tablet shipments barely moved in the first quarter of 2026, growing just 0.1% to roughly 37 million units. Apple absorbed almost all of the growth that existed.

Omdia’s tracker put Apple at 40.1% of worldwide tablet shipments for the quarter, on 14.8 million iPads, up 7.9% from a year earlier. Statista’s own tracker confirms Apple remained the leading global tablet vendor in the period. Samsung held 15.7% of the market on an estimated 5.8 million units, down 12.6% year over year. Huawei and Lenovo grew fastest among major vendors, up 28.1% and 20% respectively, though both still trail Samsung’s overall share by a wide margin.

The decline is not a one quarter blip. Samsung’s tablet shipments already fell 9.2% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025, to 6.4 million units, even as the overall market grew 10% and Apple delivered 19.6 million iPads, up 16.5%. Samsung has now posted back to back annual declines while Apple extended its lead each time. Samsung still comfortably holds second place ahead of Huawei and Lenovo, but the gap to Apple keeps widening rather than closing.

What Got Cut to Get There

Reviewers who spent real time with the Tab S11 line found the savings came with quiet trade-offs.

• No Bluetooth in the S Pen. Both the standard Tab S11 and the Ultra dropped Bluetooth connectivity from the bundled stylus, a feature earlier Tab S models had.
• No vibration motor on the Ultra. PhoneArena’s review found Samsung removed the haptic motor entirely from its largest tablet.
• A smaller front camera setup. The Ultra lost its wide angle selfie camera, and a notch still interrupts the display.
• Quarterly, not monthly, security patches. SamMobile reported Samsung ships security updates for the Tab S11 line once every three months, slower than the schedule some cheaper Samsung phones get.
• Bootloader locked for modders. Discussion threads on XDA Forums say One UI 8 blocks bootloader unlocking on the Tab S11 line, closing off a customization path some earlier Galaxy tablets allowed.

Owner complaints on GSMArena’s forum echo some of that: muffled speaker sound at lower volumes and a battery rated for fewer charge cycles than the outgoing Tab S10. PhoneArena’s own testing scored the Tab S11 Ultra 9% below the average device in its price class, a group that includes the 13-inch iPad Pro.

The Tab S11 Ultra Meets Its Real Rival

Price is where Samsung’s pitch is strongest. The rest of the spec sheet tells a split story.

Samsung’s own product page lists peak HDR brightness at 1,600 nits, with 1,000 nits sustained in outdoor mode, on a 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel. Storage on both S11 models expands up to 2TB through a microSD slot, something the iPad Pro does not offer at all.

Benchmark testing tells the harder part of the story. Gadget Hacks ran both flagships through Geekbench and found the M5 iPad Pro scored 4,155 in single core and 16,517 in multi core tests, against 2,811 and 9,126 for the Tab S11 Ultra. Apple’s chip is not close.

Samsung answers with screen size and Samsung DeX, its desktop mode that turns the tablet into a two monitor workstation when connected to an external display. Tom’s Guide’s own comparison called the iPad Pro the better all around choice, citing its operating system and keyboard accessory, while naming the Tab S11 Ultra the more affordable pick, especially for watching video. For drawing specifically, some reviewers still give the edge to the iPad Pro’s narrower 4:3 canvas over Samsung’s wider, more cinematic 16:10 screen.

The accessory market has not caught up either. A three month reviewer at Accessible Android found case and screen protector options for the Tab S11 “surprisingly limited” next to the wall of choices built around every iPad.

Is the Galaxy Tab S11 Worth Buying over an iPad?

For most buyers replacing an aging Android tablet, yes: the Tab S11 line matches or beats iPad pricing, throws in a stylus Apple charges extra for, and runs Samsung DeX for desktop style multitasking. For buyers already invested in iPhones and Macs, or chasing the fastest possible chip, the iPad Pro still wins on raw benchmarks and software depth.

PhoneArena’s review of the standard Tab S11 called it one of the best compact Android tablets available, even after Samsung removed Bluetooth support from the bundled pen. Its take on the bigger Ultra was blunter: “Big screen, big letdowns.”

Newsweek reached a warmer verdict on gaming, reporting the Ultra keeps demanding titles at a steady 60 frames per second and can run a game in a split window next to a second app while a video plays in a floating overlay. Consumer Reports rated the Tab S11 “excellent” for everyday tasks like web browsing and file transfers in its lab testing, with very good speeds copying files and connecting to Wi-Fi.

Retail pricing has softened fast, too. Best Buy and Samsung were both discounting the Tab S11 Ultra by $350 off its list price within ten months of launch, according to deal tracking site 9to5Toys, with open box units marked down by as much as $454.

Samsung Is Betting Everything on the Premium Tier

Omdia, the research firm tracking these shipment numbers, says the whole category is narrowing toward the high end. Vendors are chasing premium buyers because that is where demand is holding up, not the mass market.

Within the tablet space, vendors’ focus in 2026 will be skewed toward the premium segment, where demand has held up better relative to the mass market.

Himani Mukka, research manager at Omdia, said the volume tier faces a tougher road, with little room left to raise prices and no “structural refresh catalyst” comparable to the Windows 10 end of support cycle that lifted PC sales.

Samsung is not waiting to find out. One UI 8.5 began rolling out to the Tab S11 line this year, with the same software reaching older Galaxy Tab S10 tablets and select A series phones soon after. A Galaxy Tab S12 is already expected around September 2026, likely alongside Samsung’s next Galaxy foldable, giving the company another shot at closing the gap before Apple updates the iPad Pro again.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Does the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Cost?

The standard Galaxy Tab S11 starts at $799.99 in the US and 899 euros in Europe for the Wi-Fi only base model, based on Samsung’s launch pricing. The Tab S11 Ultra starts at $1,199.99 and climbs to $1,619 for the 1TB configuration with 16GB of RAM.

Does the Galaxy Tab S11 Come with the S Pen?

Yes, every Tab S11 model ships with an S Pen included, and Samsung’s keyboard cover for the Ultra costs $209 versus $349 for Apple’s Magic Keyboard on the equivalent iPad Pro.

When Will the Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Launch?

Samsung has not confirmed a date, but Newsweek reports the Tab S12 is likely to arrive around September 2026, possibly unveiled alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8 or Galaxy S26 FE.

Is the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra Good for Gaming?

Reviewers found it handles demanding titles well. Newsweek’s testing had the Ultra running Zenless Zone Zero and Pokemon GO in a split window while a video played in a floating overlay, without frame drops.

What Is Samsung DeX?

DeX is Samsung’s desktop interface mode. Plugging a Tab S11 into an external monitor activates Extended Mode, which runs separate app layouts on the tablet screen and the monitor at once.

How Long Does the Tab S11’s Battery Actually Last?

Samsung rates the standard Tab S11’s 8,400 mAh battery for up to a full day of mixed use. NextPit’s hands-on testing found an hour of gaming at maximum brightness drained the battery by 30%, meaning heavy gaming sessions will run it down faster than browsing or video.