Wondering what’s the best Samsung tablet to buy? I have a secret recommendation

I’ve spent time with a lot of tablets over the years. I’ve used everything from Amazon’s smallest Fire 7 — without an HD resolution — to Apple’s massive M2-powered iPad Air and found reliable use cases for both, but I have to admit that I’m most comfortable with Android tablets. Among them, I’ve always had a soft spot for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab experience, and I’ve recommended it to family and friends time and again.

However, I struggled to know which Galaxy Tab to recommend for a long time. Although Samsung has a lot of great options, many overlap with each other a bit too much to come out with a clear-cut winner. Or, at least, they did until I simplified the way I make my recommendations. Here’s how I suggest which Samsung tablet to buy these days.

Before I get to how you should pick your next Galaxy Tab, let me first dig into why you should buy one in the first place. After all, if you’ve never had a tablet, it can be daunting to jump into this new large-screen experience that’s not quite a laptop, yet certainly more than a phone. But honestly, that’s precisely how you should treat your tablet — as something else entirely. It doesn’t have to take away from the social media streaming you do on your phone, nor does it have to become a portable work station like your laptop.

Instead, I think you might stumble upon a Galaxy Tab and decide to stay a while because Samsung’s tablets are excellent for streaming. Ever since I reviewed my first Samsung tablet, the Galaxy Tab A8, I realized just how good the wide 16:10 aspect ratio would be for most modern content. At that time, I used it for titles like the first season of The White Lotus and The Wheel of Time, having no idea the opposite journeys those shows would take.

And yes, at first, the wide aspect ratio threw me for a loop — I’d been so used to almost-square iPads through high school and college — but now it’s become second nature. I’m in the middle of reviewing Samsung’s much newer Galaxy Tab S10 FE, yet the aspect ratio remains the same, letting me download the most recent season of The White Lotus and dive back into Andor while on my way to and from New York for Motorola’s recent Razr launch.

Right alongside Samsung’s excellent streaming experience is the fact that the wide (or very tall) aspect ratio is excellent for multitasking. While reviewing the Galaxy Tab S9 Plus at another Motorola event, I appreciated that its 12.4-inch display allowed me to drag and drop two smaller windows, making it much easier to research and write my way through a script for a YouTube Short without drawing me away from my main laptop display. That said, I don’t know that I’d recommend vertical multitasking, as the tall, thin aspect ratio makes it almost impossible to reach the top of your display one-handed.

Also, yes, you can multitask on other Android tablets, too. I’ve had no complaints using the OnePlus Pad 2 alongside its Stylo 2 and folio case, but its relatively square 7:5 aspect ratio makes it more comfortable for reading webpages than jumping between writing and research windows. So, I’ll just keep going back to my selection of Galaxy Tabs in the meantime.

Samsung has also set the Android standard for software updates, and its Galaxy Tabs mostly follow the same rules. They might not be guaranteed seven full versions of Android like their smartphone counterparts, but to have four major versions reach a tablet, along with an additional three years of quarterly security updates, is no small commitment.

Last, but certainly not least, I continue to be impressed by Samsung’s tablet build quality at all price points. Sure, I expected something like the $1,100 Galaxy Tab S10 Plus to be impressive with its mix of Enhanced Armor Aluminum and Gorilla Glass 5, but Samsung’s more affordable slates like the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus and Galaxy Tab S10 FE have regularly punched above their price tags with sturdy aluminum (and a little bit of plastic) bodies and IP68 protection on the latter. Perhaps the only reason the Galaxy Tab S10 FE didn’t come with me on some of my recent trips is that it hadn’t arrived yet.

Now that you know what to expect from Samsung Galaxy Tabs at all price points, how are you supposed to pick one? That’s the easy part: Pick the one you can afford. No, I’m not trying to be smart or fresh with my recommendation — settle how much money you can afford to spend on a new tablet, and I promise that Samsung will have something to meet your needs. I’ve reviewed them at all price points, from budget to ultra-premium, and I’ve yet to find one that feels like a sour note.

So, to work my way through some recommendations from cheap to expensive, let’s start with none other than the Samsung galaxy Tab A9 Plus ($219.99 at Amazon). It’s the most affordable option in Samsung’s lineup, but also the easiest to pick up and take with you without worrying. You do have to make a few cuts, like the fact that the Galaxy Tab A series doesn’t come with an S Pen in the box and is limited to 15W wired charging, but it has a bigger, smoother display than the Galaxy Tab A8 did and comes with an optional cellular configuration for less than the price of any iPad on the market. I still carry the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus on certain vacations, like my recent trip to Mexico, when I want a large-screen experience on the plane but don’t necessarily want to worry about bringing my most expensive devices.

Stepping up a bit, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S10 FE ($499 at Amazon) is probably its best iPad competitor, landing in the sweet spot between the iPad Mini and iPad Air. It comes with an S Pen in the box, which has been extremely helpful for preinstalled apps like Goodnotes, even though my handwriting remains terrible, and for Circle to Search, which is available on the Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE Plus. Also, Samsung’s smaller Galaxy Tab S10 FE might be your best bet for usage on the go, thanks to its support for Wi-Fi 6e and optional 5G. And, for $500, it’s tough to complain about perks like an IP68 rating, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a 6mm aluminum chassis — even if I would have loved an OLED panel.

Once you get to the flagship price point, Samsung has a few different slates to choose from, and it mostly comes down to the size of the display you want and whether you’re willing to spend $1,000. Unfortunately, Samsung decided to do away with its smallest screen size for the Galaxy Tab S10 series, so if you want an 11-inch tablet, you’ll have to go back a generation for the Galaxy Tab S9 ($799 at Amazon). It wasn’t a bad slate in its day, though the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip falls slightly behind MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300 Plus in the newer Galaxy Tab S10 series.

Perhaps the best selling point for something like the older Galaxy Tab S9 is that you can track it down on sale while getting slightly better materials than the Galaxy Tab S10 FE can match, along with a 120Hz AMOLED panel over an LCD. Yes, Samsung makes excellent displays for all of its tablets, but the deeper blacks of an OLED will still come out on top pretty much every time.

And then, there’s the no-compromise, do-it-all Galaxy Tab S10 Plus ($999.99 at Samsung). I could put the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra in this slot, but I think the Tab S10 Plus probably makes more sense for most people. It’s still massive at 12.4 inches and offers a huge 10,090mAh battery with 45W wired charging, you’ll just have to live without a second front-facing camera and the option for 16GB of RAM and 1TB of onboard storage. But, unless you’re truly on the hunt for a capable laptop replacement, you might find that the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus is more than you need in a tablet, in which case I’d probably tell you to grab yourself a Galaxy Tab S10 FE and pocket the other $600.

And, if you find yourself between price points, I’d say round down. Although you might get a little bit more from the more expensive tablet, the more affordable one will still be excellent and offer you most of the experience you want. Then, if you ultimately decide you need a more powerful tablet, you can upgrade later.