5 reasons I’d buy the Galaxy Tab S11 over the S11 Ultra

It’s that time of the year when Samsung updates its premium tablet lineup alongside launching a new FE phone. The Galaxy Tab S11 series is out now, but this time it looks a little different. There’s no Plus or Pro model to speak of — just the standard Galaxy Tab S11 and its uber-packed, equally uber-expensive Ultra sibling.

The Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra does give you a few extras besides that massive screen, but if you ask me, I’d stick with the standard model. Here’s why.

Seriously, what’s a giant laptop-sized screen doing on a tablet? Almost 15 inches of display is the size of the bigger MacBook Air — and there is a reason I use the standard 13-inch one. Holding a 15-inch display while lying in bed to watch Netflix feels like I’m in a cinema hall, and not in a good way. It feels like a big chunk of the scene is out of my vision, and I must dart my eyes side to side to get the full view.

An 11-inch display is much better. It may seem like a small difference, but remember these measurements are diagonal. That means the extra vertical and horizontal space is massive on the Ultra. Even Samsung realized 11 inches is a sweet spot, which is why it brought it back after a year’s gap.

Sure, some people need the extra space for creating art or using the tablet as their primary work machine. But now that DeX’s desktop UI is gone from tablet screens, does splurging on a bigger screen even make sense?

A more manageable display size directly translates into a form factor that’s easier to carry. See, I’m not looking to replace my laptop with a tablet. They both do different jobs (and are pretty well at that), and I want it to stay that way.

When I travel, it’s either my laptop + phone or my tablet + phone if I want to travel light — my laptop and tablet never go together. Traveling light being the keyword, I don’t want to lug around a massive tablet that probably weighs more than my laptop with its accessories, defeating the entire purpose of getting a tablet in the first place.

The Galaxy Tab S11 is much lighter than the Ultra, and the size is perfect for both my backpack and a smaller sling bag. I can just pop it out anywhere, maybe sitting in a cafe and following my muse.

No, really. There’s a negligible difference on the inside. Both rock the same MediaTek processor, so performance is neck and neck. The Tab S11 Ultra does get 16GB of RAM as an upgrade, but the S11 comes with 12GB, which is plenty for everything. If it were restricted to 8GB, bottlenecks could show up, but 12GB is fairly generous.

More importantly, they both run the exact same software, feature for feature. If you’re getting Samsung’s new AI features on the Ultra, you’re getting them on the Tab S11 too. The same goes for Samsung staples like DeX and the S Pen.

Both even ship with the new S Pen with a hexagonal shape like those age-old wood-graphite pencils from school. But let’s be real, it doesn’t feel great calling it “new” when it’s actually a downgrade without Bluetooth (like on the Galaxy S25 Ultra). At least both models share the same downgrade.

The point is: you’re not missing anything feature-wise to justify the upgrade.

Okay, yeah, the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra does throw in a few extras like dual rear cameras. But do I care? Absolutely not. At most, I use my tablet’s camera to scan documents, and honestly, any potato camera can do that. I definitely don’t need a second camera on the back for that.

But I do care about that fancy anti-reflective coating on the Tab S11 Ultra, lifted right off the Galaxy S25 Ultra. I am, in fact, a bit jealous. But am I $400 jealous? Nope. I’d rather live with my good-old reflective display and keep the cash I saved.

You saw this coming from a mile away, right? Unlike phones, where the Pro vs non-Pro price gap is usually small, the Galaxy Tab S11 vs Tab S11 Ultra difference is full four Benjamins — that’s the price of a solid mid-range phone. So instead of splurging on the Ultra, I could get the Tab S11 and pick up a Pixel 9a on my way back. Or just use the savings for some great accessories for the tablet.

For my kind of use, the difference just isn’t worth it. $800 already gets you a whole lot of tablet — a premium one with zero compromises. The Ultra only makes sense if you have a very specific use case for it, like pro-level artwork or replacing a laptop. That’s certainly not me.

That’s my opinion after comparing the two. I’m so averse to big devices that I wouldn’t even want to touch them — I like the smaller Pixel 10, a 13-inch MacBook Air, and yes, an 11-inch tablet. That’s the perfect size for me.

But not everyone feels the same way. You might prefer the big-screen experience, in which case the Ultra is perfect for you. Tell me in the comments — which one would you pick?