The year of Samsung’s Galaxy AI on phones is making the jump to a slightly bigger screen, as AI comes to its tablets, too.
Apple isn’t the only player with a powerful thin and light tablet this year. Heading into the back half of 2024, Samsung also has the same, and it’s bringing its take on AI to the generation, as the Galaxy Tab S10 range is announced and priced for Australia.
The follow-up to the Tab S9 range, which included the massive yet thin Tab S9 Ultra, the Tab S10 will see two tablet sizes in Australia: the 12.4 inch S10+ and the 14.6 inch S10 Ultra, confusing this journalist on “why Samsung doesn’t have a standard named S10, and why it doesn’t just start at 10 before adding the plus”.
That conversation could be for another day, but at launch the focus is on the software capabilities largely because of the AI involved.
Like the Galaxy S24 Ultra we saw earlier in the year, the Tab S10 range will bring AI to a bigger screen, allowing Google’s Circle to Search to function on a large display, as well as summarising the notes you take on the larger screen in Note Assist. The S-Pen stylus is her for the ride, and will provide AI features triggered by the pen itself, though finding a use will be down to your needs.
On a hardware level, there’s a MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ chip inside each, a surprise given Samsung normally opts for either Qualcomm’s Snapdragon or its own Exynos hardware, and they’ll each come with a 12GB RAM for the 256GB and 512GB storage options, while the 1TB will push that to 16GB RAM.
Big batteries play a part, too, packing in over 10,000mAh in each, all in a body measuring 5.4mm thin on the Tab S10 Ultra and 5.6mm on the Tab S10+. It’s still not quite as thin as what Apple managed in the 5.1mm iPad Pro, but at this level, you won’t likely notice the difference.
In Australia, the Tab S10 range will see pricing from $1799 for the Tab S10+ WiFi model, while the larger Tab S10 Ultra starts from $2099, with availability in October.
Galaxy AI comes to the Fan Edition S24
Australians will also see a new version of the Galaxy S24 this year, with the target being folks who might have wanted one of the more expensive models, but didn’t want to spend as much to get it.
The “Fan Edition” model known as “FE” is back for another year, and it’s bringing in some of the tech and AI that made the S24 so interesting.
Starting at $1099, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 FE will bring a 6.7 inch 120Hz Full HD+ display to the S24 range, and use a Samsung Exynos 2400e chip instead of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Memory will run at 8GB RAM and storage at a choice of either 128 or 256GB.
Meanwhile the cameras include a 50 megapixel wide camera, 12 megapixel ultra-wide, and 8 megapixel 3X telephoto, making it not unlike what was in the un-Ultra models from the S24 range.
The hardware may not be the big point in this, however, with the AI features one of the main focuses, much like the tablet. That’ll include notebook summaries, text changes in messages, translation from languages, and yes, Google’s circle to search. In short, much of what was found on the S24 Ultra that could be used without the S-Pen will be found here on the S24 FE. It’s like a Galaxy S24, but at a slightly different price.
In terms of pricing, the difference is roughly $200 for what the S24 FE brings versus the original S24. The Galaxy S24 standard starts at 256GB and still costs $1399, while the 256GB Galaxy S24 FE will cost $1199, making the change in camera and processor, as well as other minor differences, largely a $200 difference. However, given cost is a serious consideration in upgrading, it’s also one that could convince people to try.
“We want everyone to enjoy all the benefits of our latest mobile innovations,” said SeaYoung Lee, Samsung’s Head of the Smartphone Research and Development team.
Much like the Tab S10 range, the Galaxy S24 FE will land in Australia October 10.
