The 14.6-inch Samsung Galaxy Tablet S8 Ultra, which will be available for purchase in short order, is the newest tablet comparable to the powerhouse that is the most recent Apple Pad Pro (12.9-inch). There was a time when everybody referred to any tablet as an “iPad.” Apple once had a stronghold on the in-between smartphone and laptop marketplace, but that isn’t the case anymore. Over the last few years, the tablet wars have been heating up, and the gap between Apple and everyone else — especially Samsung — has all but vanished.
That leads us to the question: which tablet, the Apple iPad Pro or Samsung Tab S8 Ultra, is more worthy of your time (and money)? Below we’ll take what we know so far about the newest edition of the Samsung tablet, the Tab S8 Ultra, and see how it stacks up against the ever so popular 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Specifications
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra
- 12.8 x 8.21 x 0.21-inches, 726 grams
- 14.6-inch 2960 x 1848 Super AMOLED 120 Hz
- 13MP + 16MP ultra wide rear cameras
- 12MP (wide) + 12MP (ultra wide) front cameras
- 8/12/16GB RAM, 128/256/512GB storage
- 11,200 mAh battery
- It starts at $1,099, S-Pen included
Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch)
- 11.04 x 8.46 x 0.24-inches, 682 grams
- 12.9-inch 2732 x 2048 Liquid Retina XDR display 120 Hz
- 12MP wide + 10MP ultra wide rear cameras
- 12MP ultra wide front camera
- 8/16GB RAM, 128/256/512GB & 1/2TB
- 40.88-watt-hour battery
- Starts at $1,099, Apple Pencil optional
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Design & Hardware
First, let’s talk about the displays on these impressive tablets. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 will come in three different varieties: the S8, S8+ and the S8 Ultra. The S8 sports an 11-inch display, while the S8+ has a 12.4-inch, and the S8 Ultra boasts a massive 14.6-inch 2960 x 1848 Super AMOLED. By comparison, the S8 Ultra has a larger screen (diagonally) than the iPad Pro 12.9 (2732 x 2048 pixels). You might be thinking; all that junk has got to add some weight to the trunk. Not true. The S8 Ultra remains almost as lightweight as the iPad Pro, only about a tenth of a pound heavier.
Both displays sport incredibly bright and vivid pictures with incredible resolution and ultra-smooth 120 Hz scrolling refresh rates. If real estate is something you value with a tablet, you’ll want to go with the S8 Ultra, which is the biggest and has the best overall resolution.
All Samsung Galaxy S8 tablets come with a 4nm octa-core processor, and all run Android 12. We’ll be anxious to see how the performance compares to the impressive M1 processor found inside the 12.9 iPad Pro.
The internal processing and storage for the S8 Ultra will come in a few different varieties to choose from 8GB of RAM with 128GB memory, 12GB RAM with 256GB memory, or maxed out with 16GB RAM of 512GB of memory. Additionally, with the option for an external microSD up to 1TB, the S8 and S8+ don’t offer a 16GB option; instead, both max out at 256GB of memory.
How does that stack up against iPad Pro? It’s quite comparable with one significant difference: you can supermax the iPad Pro to have a whopping 2TBs of storage. Those models, of course, come with 16GB of RAM. That’s a lot of processing power for either tablet.
Camera & Battery
Neither tablet’s camera specs won’t let you down. Both Samsung and Apple are rocking dual systems with their rear cameras. Samsung’s setup consists of 12MP wide and 12MP ultra-wide, while the iPad Pro features 12MP wide and 10MP ultra-wide cameras. Both camera systems capture 4K video. However, it’s worth pointing out that the S8 Ultra uses a dual-camera system for its front cameras as well, while the iPad Pro has your standard single camera.
The Samsung Galaxy tablets will have batteries that are 8,000 mAh for Tab S8, the S8+ sports a 10,090 mAh battery, while the Ultra has the biggest at 11,200mAh. If you do the math (which we don’t expect you to do), the Ultra should be able to last upwards of 11 hours on a single charge with the battery it comes with, but that, of course, will depend on a variety of factors and usage. If so, the battery life will be comparable to the iPad Pro 12.9, which can last close to 11 hours, depending on use.
The Verdict
So, which tablet outduels the other? Well, that ultimately depends on what you want in your tablet. If you are a content creator who wants maximum power and portability (a huge but lightweight tablet), then we suggest the iPad Pro 12.9 for you. Especially when you max out the specs, the iPad Pro is like a supercomputer, except it’s a tablet. At the base level, you can expect the iPad Pro to run you about $1,100.
That said, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra looks stacked as well. The camera specs are legit, and the processing power seems close to that of the iPad Pro 12.9. The price for the Ultra looks like it is going to be similar to that of the iPad Pro, with the same starting price of $1,100. However, you should know that Samsung’s tablet comes included with the S-Pen stylus, which attaches snuggly into a spot on the back of the tablet. This inclusion adds a ton of value for users and its cost because the Apple Pencil will set iPad Pro users back an additional $129 to pick it up.
If you’re a more casual user, go with the Tab S8 or S8+ because of their lower starting costs, but if you’re a power user, your choice between the Tab S8 Ultra and iPad Pro might be as simple as whether you are team Android or iOS.
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