Google may have given up on making Android tablets, but Samsung is putting along. Last week, Samsung announced a budget slate—the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite—but now it's time for flagship tablets. At IFA 2025, the tech exhibition in Berlin, the company announced the next-gen Galaxy Tab S11 series, comprising the Tab S11 and the Tab S11 Ultra. Also in tow is the Galaxy S25 FE (Fan Edition), a midrange Android phone that marks the fifth entry in the Galaxy S25 series.
The Galaxy Tab S11 costs $800, while the Tab S11 Ultra is $1,200, and the Galaxy S25 FE starts at $650. All of these devices are available for purchase today. Here's what you need to know.
Android’s iPad Pro
Samsung's Galaxy Tab S11 and Tab S11 Ultra are the iPad Pro of the Android world, boasting flagship specs across the board. They can even match Apple's latest slate in one key metric: thickness. Apple highlighted the remarkable thinness of the M4-powered iPad Pro when it launched in 2024, and now the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra matches it—both Apple’s and Samsung's top-tier tablets are a mere 0.20 inches thick (5.1 mm). The cheaper Tab S11 is 0.22 inches, which is a hair thicker than the 11-inch iPad Pro. Samsung's tablets are slightly heavier, though.
Unlike the prior generation Tab S10 series, there's no middle “Plus” model anymore. You have the 11-inch Tab S11 and the gargantuan 14.6-inch Tab S11 Ultra. Both run Android 16 out of the box, have 120-Hz AMOLED displays, and can hit a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. Samsung's S Pen stylus is bundled as usual, but it has been redesigned for the first time in years, with a hexagonal design for better grip and a cone-shaped tip for increased tilt angles and finer control. It magnetically sticks to the top edge of the slate for storage and charging.
Once again, Samsung employs a MediaTek processor, the Dimensity 9400+, which is competitive with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite. They start with 12 GB of RAM, but the Ultra's 1-terabyte model bumps that up to 16 GB. (Storage is expandable via microSD.) The tablets are IP68-rated, have in-display fingerprint sensors, and support 45-watt charging speeds to fill the 8,400- and 11,600-mAh batteries, respectively.
Samsung is playing up the AI features on these tablets, which support Google's Gemini Live multimodal capabilities, so you can chat in real time with the assistant and even show it what you're seeing with the tablet's cameras. Then there's Galaxy AI features from Samsung's phones, like Drawing Assist, which turns your sketches into AI-generated art, and Writing Assist, which can rephrase your words into a different tone.
None of this is new, but there are some upgrades to Samsung's DeX platform, which converts the tablet OS into a traditional desktop-like user interface, with windowed apps and a dock. A new Extended Mode lets you convert the Tab S11 tablets into an external monitor, running DeX across the tablet and a paired display for dual-screen multitasking. You can even drag and drop apps and content between the two screens. DeX also now supports up to four workspaces, so you can create four desktops catered to specific tasks and cycle between them. These tablets support Samsung's Book Cover Keyboard Slim, a keyboard cover that brings them closer in design to a 2-in-1 detachable laptop.
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Outside of the screen and battery sizes, the Tab S11 Ultra has a few extra perks over the Tab S11. It has Wi-Fi 7 support versus Wi-Fi 6E, making it a little more future-proof (you need a Wi-Fi 7 router to take advantage). It has an extra 8-MP ultrawide camera on the rear, and the base model starts with 256 GB instead of 128.
The Ultra is a rare beast—one of the only Android tablets you can find at this size. But once you add the Book Cover Keyboard Slim, you're looking at a $1,410 package. You can buy a MacBook Air for under $1,000 these days, and prior experience with older Tab Ultra models has proven that it's difficult to wield as a tablet due to its massive size.
It's a good thing these slates will be supported for seven years; they'll continue getting new features and security patches over that time, giving you more bang for your buck.
The Fifth Galaxy S25
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The year began with the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 Ultra smartphones—Samsung's flagship trio. Then in the spring, Samsung debuted the first-ever Galaxy S25 Edge, an ultra-thin and lightweight version of the Galaxy S25 phones, with a mix of features between the S25+ and S25 Ultra (plus lackluster battery life). Now, the final device to round out the series is the Galaxy S25 FE, which stands for Fan Edition. It's what the company typically uses to denote midrange or budget versions of its products.
The Galaxy S25 FE offers a very similar experience to the Galaxy S25+ but with lesser specs. It retains the 6.7-inch screen size, for example, but with an adaptive refresh rate that switches from 60 to 120 Hz depending on what's on the screen. (The S25+ can drop as low as 1 Hz for more battery savings.) The screen also doesn't get as bright.
It's powered by Samsung's Exynos 2400 chipset, the same chipset inside the Galaxy Z Fold7 FE, with 8 GB of RAM. This is a nearly identical chipset used in last year's Galaxy S24 FE, but with slightly faster clock speeds, so you can expect a marginal performance boost. You get 128 GB of storage, with the option to upgrade to 256 GB. (No microSD card slot here.)
| Specs: Galaxy S25 FE | Galaxy S25+ | Galaxy S24 FE |
|---|---|---|
| Display: 6.7-inch, 60 to 120-Hz, AMOLED | 6.7-inch, 1 to 120-Hz LTPO, AMOLED | 6.7-inch, 60 to 120 Hz, AMOLED |
| Processor and RAM: Samsung Exynos 2400 with 8 GB of RAM | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite with 12 GB of RAM | Samsung Exynos 2400e with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage: 128 or 256 GB | 256 or 512 GB | 128 or 256 GB |
| Battery: 4,900 mAh | 4,900 mAh | 4,700 mAh |
| Cameras: 50-MP main camera, 12-MP ultrawide, 8-MP telephoto (3X), and 12-MP selfie camera | 50-MP main camera, 12-MP ultrawide, 10-MP telephoto (3X), and 12-MP selfie camera | 50-MP main camera, 12-MP ultrawide, 8-MP telephoto (3X), and 10-MP selfie camera |
| Updates: 7 years | 7 years | 7 years |
| Extras: Qi wireless charging (Qi2 Ready with case), IP68, fingerprint unlock, NFC, Gorilla Glass Victus+, Wi-Fi 6E | Qi wireless charging (Qi2 Ready with case), IP68, fingerprint unlock, NFC, Gorilla Glass Victus 2, Wi-Fi 7 | Qi wireless charging, IP68, fingerprint unlock, NFC, Gorilla Glass Victus+, Wi-Fi 6E |
| Colors: Navy, Jet Black, White, Icyblue | Navy, Mint, Icy Blue, Silver Shadow, Blueblack, Coralred, Pinkgold | Graphite, Blue, Mint, Gray |
| Price: $650 | $1,000 | $650 |
Compared to the S24 FE, Samsung says it has upped the size of the vapor chamber cooling system by 10 percent. Better cooling means better sustained performance during intensive tasks, like gaming. It manages this despite being 8 percent slimmer, measuring just 7.4 mm.
It boasts the same 4,900-mAh battery capacity, and the FE supports 45-watt fast-charging. If you use the right charging adapter, that'll net you up to 65 percent in 30 minutes. There's wireless charging too, and it's the Qi2 Ready flavor like the rest of the Galaxy S25 series. That means, unlike the latest Google Pixel 10 phones, there are no native magnets inside; you'll have to use a magnetic Qi2 case to achieve Qi2 wireless charging speeds and efficiency.
You still get a triple-camera system, with a 50-MP main sensor, 8-MP telephoto (3X zoom), and 12-MP ultrawide, plus a 12-MP selfie camera. Many of the same AI features from the flagships are available here, like Instant Slow-Mo, which lets you add slow-motion to existing videoclips, and Audio Eraser, which can cut specific sounds from your footage, like wind noise, crowd, or music.
The newly announced Galaxy S25 FE and Galaxy Tab S11 series are available today, but it's also the launch day for the previously announced Galaxy Tab S10 Lite ($350) and Galaxy Buds3 FE earbuds ($150). Stay tuned for our reviews.
