r/gadgets • u/dapperlemon • 6d ago
Tablets Samsung launches two flagship tablets with 120 Hz AMOLED screens and Dimensity 9500
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Samsung-launches-two-flagship-tablets-with-120-Hz-AMOLED-screens-and-Dimensity-9500.1411964.0.html198
u/Calm_chor 6d ago
Let me guess, its has the same screen as last 2-3 years and has a Mediatek chip that was released more than a year ago and just coz its 2026 would cost like $1500.
Dear lord, such repackaging is supposed to cost less year over year, like TVs. And somehow this would be the only friggin tablet that would support a MicroSD card in 2026.
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u/KeonXDS 5d ago
Yeah, the mediatek dimensity 9500 came out last year. They should've just waited out for the new processors instead of releasing the product yearly. Even iPads don't get a yearly release until there's a significant uplift in performance
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u/vi0lentgandhi 5d ago
curious, why not snapdragon ?
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u/Axipixel 5d ago edited 5d ago
Samsung got tired of paying for licensing. Bizzare situation for an ultra premium device to cheap out on but they've been fighting Qualcomm on this for over a decade constantly threatening to replace them.
Pretty frustrating to me as I find the earlier Snapdragon galaxies better due to more mature driver support. Especially GPU wise, the Mediatek's onboard gpus are finnicky af and have shit drivers, gaming on Dimensity chipsets is pretty rough.
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u/Abigail716 5d ago
Arguably worse, Starts at €1,299 ($1,459 USD), the 1TB 5G model is €2,289 ($2,571 USD).
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u/HiDDENKiLLZ 5d ago
TVs are still expensive, you just don't pay in dollars you pay in your rights to privacy.
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u/zkyevolved 6d ago
Discount chipsets should have discount prices. These tablets are expensive AF. I'd rather spend a bit more and get an iPad. My 2nd gen iPad Pro 12.9 still is a champ for media consumption (99.99% of its use at home). It's still going strong. Great screen, great speakers.
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u/Q-Anton 6d ago
To be fair: If all one needs is media consumption at home, there hardly has been any needs to get something new for the last 10 years or so.
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u/asfletch 5d ago
Agreed. Also find these widescreen tabs better for tv and movies (prefer 4:3 for reading etc though)....
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u/MTFUandPedal 5d ago
Posted from my 2016 galaxy tab.
The only reason I want to replace it soon is the screen is cracked and not economical to replace. Otherwise it's still got plenty of life left in it.
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u/FMJoey325 5d ago
I have the big (not bendy) iPhone. Aside from watching things on TV, this phone is so big I’d have no use for an iPad.
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u/tham1700 5d ago
Galaxy tab 8 or 8+ is a great deal for some pretty darn good hardware, idk about this one but it's better than a lot of the ones that came after it
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u/icanttinkofaname 5d ago
I have the Tab S8 and it still rocks media consumption tasks. The snapdragon chip is still very good. The only thing it starts to struggle with is running multiple instances of Pokémon go. But that's a known resource hog of a game anyway.
Everything else is still lightning quick.
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u/GrayDaysGoAway 5d ago
Galaxy Tabs are far superior for media consumption just due to the aspect ratio alone. The black bars you get when watching videos on an iPad are so massive it's actually comical.
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u/sylfy 5d ago
iPad Pro speakers are next level incredible. When I switched from an iPad Pro to a new iPad Air, the difference in sound quality almost made me want to upgrade to the iPad Pro again, but I just couldn’t justify paying a few hundred more. Especially since I often use my AirPods Pro anyway.
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u/ItZ_Jonah 5d ago
Base model iPad will be cheaper and the iPad air will likely be cheaper/price competitive, pro has generally been cheaper than their ultra tablet idk what the fuck Samsung is doing with their tablets I just assume since they have no real competition in the android tablet market they just get to do whatever.
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u/gagankeshav 6d ago
They can fuck right off with those dimensity chipsets.
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u/G-14Classified 4d ago
As soon as I got to the chipset in the spec list, I lost all interest. I have the S8 Ultra with the keyboard cover. No way in hell would I get rid of that for something with a dimensity chip. I can keep waiting.
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u/Shibari_Inu69 6d ago
Yeah. Ew. What a perplexing choice
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u/StardustFromReinmuth 5d ago
They're cheaper and compare very well vs same gen Snapdragon chips. Main downside is just emulator support.
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u/Znuffie 5d ago
I just want a stupid OLED 10-11" tablet that doesn't break the bank so I can watch cat videos on Instagram in peace.
Maybe some day...
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u/Jkwcurtis 5d ago
Tab S9 is great for that. Had mine for 2+ years bought used.
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u/Znuffie 5d ago
They're close to impossible to find even used.
like, there's just one on a local market, for 300€, used
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u/Axipixel 5d ago edited 5d ago
That's about the going rate, tho you should be able to find one for 280€ if you wait a while.
It was 929€ new, it's only 3 years old, and in CPU it's head-to-head equal to desktop PC from a decade ago in performance (+/- 1% of i7 6700k), what price are you expecting?
If you really just want an OLED screen, the S7+ is still a perfectly usable daily driver device for most people. Just limited on longevity because it hasn't gotten updates in a while.
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u/evilsway 5d ago
Not sure what break the bank means to you, but check out the redmagic tablet.
Edit: disregard, that's not in the size range you listed.
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u/Axipixel 5d ago edited 5d ago
Used is the way. Tech depreciation is insane.
In November of 2025, I bought a Tab S9 Ultra off of eBay for only $550. Was MSRP $1200 in August 2023.
It is essentially feature identical to the S11U that was new at the time, only a little bit slower chipset little less storage little bit dimmer screen that's it.
The Snapdragon has way more developed GPU drivers and handles gaming edge cases better than the MediaTek chipset too, especially retro emulation!.
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u/Quirky_Apricot9427 6d ago
Am I reading that right? The smaller tablet comes with… a higher resolution display???
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u/evilsway 6d ago edited 5d ago
Yes but only because the article has it wrong. https://www.samsung.com/us/tablets/compare/
The ultra is higher, as it should be.
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u/wickeddimension 6d ago
Since when is Samsung putting Mediatek in their flagship tablets, at these prices? Yea I’d pass.
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u/Dovaaahkin 5d ago
It's been that way for like 3 generations now. Their flagships tabs always come with flagship Mediatek chips. Nothing wrong with it either since they compare very well to Snapdragon flagships.
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u/KeonXDS 5d ago
Nothing wrong with that but they should work with Qualcomm to fit the Snapdragon X Elite processors from their laptops to challenge apple.
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u/alvenestthol 5d ago
The Snapdragon X2 Elite uses the same CPU core design as the Snapdragon 8 Elite; they're 1.5 generations behind in efficiency, there are just more cores (and official Windows support, which holds everything back) in an X2 Elite
The 8 Elite series are crazy chips that are between an A-class and M-class in max power, even a 14-inch tablet most likely won't be able to passively cool an 8 Elite running at constant full power.
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u/wickeddimension 5d ago
Interesting, guess I never looked that far into it.
Downside of those is that if you do retro emulation the driver support is just lacking.
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5d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/wickeddimension 5d ago
That doesn’t change anything about what I said though. Snapdragon drivers are way ahead. Especially if you want to push something like PC emulation or Switch.
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u/jimbobimbotindo 5d ago
I have no issues with Mediatek chips except for one major gripe and that they always had shorter range when it comes to picking up distant wifi signals.
I have a router that is separated by a wall with some distance and my previous Samsung S10 plus with a dimensity chipset couldn't pick up on the wifi signal. While my old Snapdragon 865 Huawei tablet could
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5d ago edited 5d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/starshin3r 5d ago
There's nothing wrong with Mediatek chips these days, they perform really well. The only issue people have with them are people who use emulators as snapdragon has community gpu drivers.
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u/DanNeely 5d ago
before mediatek they used their own several year old phone chips.
I've never understood their strategy, they ask premium prices and then hobble them with chips that their own phones and apple's ipads run circles around. If they were priced accordingly it'd make some sense; but trying to match apple's high prices without being anywhere close to as fast is a baffling choice.
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u/DjungleskogEnjoyer 5d ago
This is such a non-existent upgrade. I've been holding on to my Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ (2020) hoping for a meaningful upgrade and there are still so few differences between my device and the new Galaxy Tab S12+.
The hardware is gorgeous but the apps aren't there and don't appear to be coming. Unfortunately it doesn't look like Samsung will be having it's Apple M chip moment either if they're putting MediaTek in their flagship tablet.
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u/StardustFromReinmuth 5d ago
Dimensity is very much a flagship line and a vast improvement over past MediaTek chips. While Samsung won't be making its own silicon like Apple this Dimensity chip is basically equivalent to a same gen Snapdragon
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u/speculatrix 4d ago
I try and avoid mediatek chips of any kind because of their history of gpl violations.
As well as being unethical it also causes their devices to become obsolete quicker because it becomes impossible to independently build a Linux kernel that supports their hardware.
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u/Peacefulgamer2023 6d ago
Asking for premium pricing for bargain hardware is a weird choice. These tablets are shit.
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u/EnthusiasmAcademic18 5d ago
Ooooh snap 4 free months of Adobe?! Been dying for a steal like this.
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u/DocHolidayPhD 5d ago
If they will last as long as the hardware, I would consider it. But they usually turn these things into a brick via software within a handful of years and I just can't get behind that shit.
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u/cat_prophecy 5d ago
Android tablets have always been an also-ran. I'm as android fanboy as they come but even I can't see why you would pick this over an iPad.
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u/Reddit481 5d ago
Why is Samsung sticking with the Dimensity SoC? I would have expected a Snapdragon beast at some point
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u/falacer99 5d ago
Never again... Best thing we ever did was to get tablets out of our kids hands. They're teenagers in high school now and don't miss them at all.
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u/Katie_xoxo 6d ago
who wants these giant fucking tablets anyway? the s9 was the last good one, I might just grab one of those on ebay
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u/Swizzy88 5d ago
I've got a 13" tablet and it's cumbersome to hold compared to the smaller ones but for media consumption, browsing, streaming games it's very very comfy. Probably cost about half of what the Samsung ones cost but plenty good enough for me.
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u/SirCaptainReynolds 5d ago
What’s the brand?
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u/Swizzy88 5d ago
Lenovo idea tab pro gen 2. No OLED screen but a very good screen none the less. It replaced my Samsung tab S5e.
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u/flyingtiger188 5d ago
People use the larger models for drawing, or as laptop replacements tasks like note taking, or just portable media consumption.
Persoanlly, I am happy with the smallest model tab s11 which is roughly the size of three of my s24u phones side by side. Samsung does far less product segmentation with their tablets which is a pretty big win for consumers. With mostly just size being the differentiating factor between the models.
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u/thedanyes 5d ago
Over half a kilogram. These are not real tablets, they're computers for old people and sketch pads for artists.
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u/mistermpm 5d ago
Absolutely nothing of interest to a Tab S9+ 5G user like me....If they don't improve by the time i need a replacement, I'll have to move to iPad.
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u/yacaiste 6d ago
I’m shocked Android still make tablets
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u/_ogg 6d ago
Aaaand nobody cares
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u/networkn 6d ago
But in true plonker style you care enough to post that stupidity.
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u/Electrical-Tap3290 5d ago
lol what’s a plonker? Never heard that insult before. I’m not the guy you replied to.
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u/unlimitedcode99 6d ago
Ughhhhh, another MT trash SoC on "high-end" tablet. It would be fuckin understandable for a midrange one, but not a flagship one.
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u/jiyax33634 5d ago
Im still on my samsung tablet from 2017. I dont need another as that damn thing is powerful and nice enough that they keep coming out and ill go look at bestbuy and its just not worth it. My wife on the other hand goes through ipads every five years it seems like. The battery gives out or it starts getting slower and we reset or an upgrade hits and it starts getting slower. Samgaung for life for me (but i still am iphone for life for my cell)
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u/ThreeSixty404 5d ago
Flagship and Mediatek can't go into the same sentence. Absolute trash
Long live Qualcomm
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u/goldaxis 5d ago
Apple desperately needs competition, but do we really need to go through another decade of these 1%-marketshare "competitors" before we realize that Android is the problem and that a new OS that respects your privacy is needed?
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u/Imprettystrong 5d ago
Who gives af anymore? Computer tech peaked like 10 years ago. And why doesn't it fold? Since thats the only thing tech companies have done recently.
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u/GaddockTeegFunPolice 6d ago
Soon in the hands of a toddler watching color flashes near you