Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Plus Review: The sweet spot

Design

• Thinner and lighter than the Tab S10 Plus
• Full IP68 dust and water resistance
• S Pen included, and now attaches to the side

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Plus, despite missing a generation with last year’s Tab S11 collection, looks remarkably similar to its predecessor. It remains a premium-looking tablet with an all-aluminium build that feels cool to the touch, and it’s available in the same shades of Grey and Silver as the Tab S12 Ultra.

I do think Samsung could’ve been a little more experimental with this year’s colour finishes – grey and silver look very alike, and maybe a little drab compared to the more colourful finishes on competing premium tablets like Apple’s entry-level iPad and Amazon’s new Alexa Tablets – rather than sticking with the safety of grey and silver tones.

That said, there are a few tweaks to the overall design; it’s 0.3mm thinner and 18g lighter than the outgoing Plus tablet, bringing it down to 5.3mm and 553g. It’s still not quite as slim as the 5.1mm Ultra model, but it remains a delightfully thin tablet to hold and use, and a durable one at that.

It’s still one of very few tablets to offer full IP68 dust and water resistance – Apple has only recently caught up with the IP67-enabled iPad Mini – and couples that with Samsung’s Enhanced Armor Aluminium frame and Gorilla Glass 5 protecting the 12.6-inch AMOLED panel. As such, it’s one of the few tablets I’d feel comfortable using at the pool or on a beach, with no real concern about it getting soaked – though I’d probably get a case for it just in case it gets dropped.

While a case doesn’t come in the box, Samsung’s S Pen continues to ship alongside the tablet – it remains one of the key benefits compared to Apple’s iPad range, which requires a separate purchase of around £100/$100 depending on the model of Apple Pencil you need. There’s nothing explicitly new with the stylus, but with a shape, weight and feel that closely resembles a pencil, it’s great for taking notes and doodling on the tablet’s large canvas.

And, unlike the older Tab S10 Plus, which had a rather inconvenient stylus attachment on the rear, the stylus now lives on the side of the device. It’s a change Samsung made with last year’s Tab S11 range, so it’s more the Plus model playing catch-up, but still, it’s a welcome change.

Screen

• 12.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate
• 1600-nit peak brightness and HDR10+ support
• Slightly thicker bezels than the Ultra

Samsung has a bit of a reputation for its displays, and that’s no different here; the Tab S12 Plus has a fantastic panel. It uses Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED 2X tech – essentially an LTPO-enabled AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate – and that brings the kinds of vivid colours and deep blacks expected from the tech.

It’s also a little larger than that of the outgoing Tab S10 Plus, measuring in at 12.6 inches compared to 12.4 inches for an increase of 0.2 inches, all without making the body of the tablet significantly larger.

In my experience, this is the sweet spot for tablet sizes; once you creep up to 13 inches and beyond, they get a little unwieldy – and at the opposite side of the spectrum, small tablet screens don’t deliver the best movie-watching experience. Here, you get the benefit of the big panel without it becoming a hassle to carry around and hold.

And, in many cases, it matches the panel of its expensive Ultra sibling; both offer the same bright 1600-nit peak brightness, enhanced Vision Booster tech and support for HDR10+, making for a great viewing experience regardless of what’s on screen.

That said, it’s not the exact same panel as you’ll find on the S12 Ultra, size aside. It has slightly thicker bezels than the ‘true’ flagship tablet, though I’d argue that this isn’t really a deal-breaker.

I actually appreciate the thicker bezels here, as they give my fingers somewhere to rest when holding the screen without actually interacting with it. And they’re still about as thick as you’ll find on some of Apple’s best iPads, so it’s far from egregious – just not quite as premium-looking.

Still, overall, this is a display that’s hard to find fault with; it’s large, pixel-packed, boasts vibrant colours great for scrolling and movie-watching alike, and it’s super-smooth in everyday use. Sure, the S12 Ultra’s screen is bigger, but bigger isn’t always better.

Performance

• Same MediaTek Dimensity 9500 as the Tab S12 Ultra
• Cheaper rivals offer more power
• Smooth in everyday use, even in DeX

While the Tab S12 Plus’ screen is a step down from its Ultra sibling in certain regards, the same can’t be said in the performance department. Both tablets, despite the £/$200 price difference, sport the same MediaTek Dimensity 9500 – a flagship chip, yes, but not the latest flagship chip. That’d be the Dimensity 9600 Pro, found in phones like the Oppo Find X10 Pro Max.

While there’s not much of a jump between the S11 Ultra and S12 Ultra in terms of performance, there’s certainly a more noticeable jump when compared to the Dimensity 9300+ within the Tab S10 Plus – the last ‘Plus’ model in Samsung’s tablet collection – especially when paired with 12GB of RAM and 256- or 512GB of storage as the S12 Plus is.

As you’d expect, the tablet fares pretty well, with benchmark scores across CPU, GPU and NPU all comparable to its bigger sibling – though Samsung’s decision to go with a year-old chipset means it’s not the fastest tablet around.

Yes, Apple’s iPads – both A- and M-equipped – offer better performance, but that’s not really new. What is telling, however, is that tablets like the RedMagic Astra 2 – which costs less than Samsung’s tablet – offer better performance in many regards, and that’s also using a year-old chipset.

That said, I think most would be hard-pressed to tell the differences in performance between the Tab S12 Plus and most top-end tablets in real-world performance.

It feels every bit as smooth and responsive as you’d expect a premium tablet to feel, with absolutely no issue running more demanding apps or games, even combined with that 2.8K resolution. And the same can be said for split-screen multitasking, even in its full-fat DeX mode – but more on that shortly.

It’s a tablet that won’t disappoint the vast majority of users then, with optional cellular connectivity available on top of the likes of Wi-Fi 6E (you’ll need to plump for the Ultra for Wi-Fi 7, oddly) and Bluetooth 6.0 for use when out and about.

Software

• One UI 9 based on Android 17
• DeX offers a desktop-like multitasking experience
• Seven years of OS upgrades and security patches

The biggest software draw of the Galaxy Tab S12 Plus is, of course, DeX, which turns the usual Android interface into something much closer to a desktop operating system. Apps can be opened in separate, resizable windows rather than being restricted to standard split-screen multitasking, making it much easier to jump between apps.

Features like external monitor support push the experience even further, helping the Tab S12 Plus serve as a convincing laptop alternative when you need to juggle several apps at once – especially when paired with a keyboard case.

It’s all powered by One UI 9, based on Android 17, with plenty of features designed specifically for Samsung’s larger slabs. That includes pre-installed versions of Photoshop, Notability, GoodNotes and LumaFusion, although their presence is slightly misleading. As I found with the Tab S12 Ultra, opening them generally takes you to the Samsung Store to make a purchase, rather than providing full access as part of the tablet.

Galaxy AI is similarly prominent, bringing across the same collection of tools available on the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 8. There’s a mixture of photo-editing and productivity features, including a text-based photo editor that works surprisingly well. They’re useful tools for those who need them, but they aren’t features I’d run out and buy the tablet for.

One UI still has its familiar frustrations, most notably the abundance of Samsung alternatives to Google apps that I’d rarely choose to use. However, these complaints don’t detract too heavily from what remains one of the slickest software experiences available on an Android tablet.

Samsung’s excellent update commitment rounds out the package, with seven years of operating system upgrades and security patches promised for the Tab S12 Plus. That should theoretically carry it through to One UI 16 based on Android 24.

Cameras

• A single 13MP rear camera, with no ultrawide
• 12MP selfie camera in the landscape bezel
• Fine for video calls and document scanning

If there’s one area where the Tab S12 Plus has seen a downgrade, it’ll be in the camera department. While the S10 Plus came with a duo of cameras on the rear – a 13MP main and 8MP ultrawide – the Tab S12 Plus features just the 13MP main lens.

Though, as I’ve said many times before, cameras are at best an afterthought on tablets – they’re just too big and unwieldy for most shots – so it’s really not as big a deal as it might sound. It’s not like the ultrawide on the Tab S10 Plus was anywhere near as competent as that on the smartphone in your pocket, after all.

That said, the main rear snapper is still decent for quick in-the-moment shots when you might not have your phone handy, but really, it’s relegated to use as a document scanner or for presenting in a video call. It’ll do a solid job of capturing details in well-lit environments, but dim lighting causes inevitable issues, and shots aren’t particularly vibrant either.

The solitary 12MP selfie snapper, embedded within the bezels of the long side of the tablet, is best placed for video calls. It does a good enough job, again, in good light environments, but it’s not exactly a camera you’d use to record videos for TikTok or Instagram Reels.

If you think you’d get a better experience from something like an iPad, you’d be wrong; they offer similarly basic cameras for premium prices. It’s just not a priority for the form factor.

Battery life

• 10,600mAh battery, up 600mAh on its predecessor
• Comfortably lasts a full day
• Slow charging with a third-party charger

Meaningful upgrades continue in the battery department, with a fairly decent 600mAh increase in battery capacity compared to its predecessor, bringing it to 10,600mAh. That, on paper at least, is pretty solid for the size of the screen, especially considering it’s both slimmer and lighter this time around – similar-sized tablets like the Honor MagicPad 4 measure in at 10,100mAh, for context.

And, as you’d probably expect from a healthy battery capacity like that, especially when combined with a less-demanding screen than the Tab S12 Ultra, it doesn’t shy away from a full day of use. It’s rated for up to 21 hours of video playback by Samsung, and I’d say that just about aligns with my use over the past few weeks.

I’m not one for using tablets constantly, instead preferring to use them more sporadically for reading longer articles, watching YouTube and the like – and it has the standby time to last around a week with that kind of usage in mind.

Of course, your mileage will vary depending on what you’re doing, so take those numbers with a pinch of salt. Big-screen gaming will inevitably lead to shorter gaps between charges than using it to watch movies, after all.

When it comes to charging, it sports the same 45W charging as its pricier Ultra sibling – though I could only get it to hit around 15W using my Anker Prime 250W charger; at those slower speeds, it only reached 16% in 30 minutes in testing, and took just over three hours to fully charge. I’d recommend splashing out on a Samsung-branded charger for this one.

Should you buy it?