DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY!! iPad Pro vs Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra

I've been looking forward to this comparison ever since the Tab S8 Ultra was announced because I wanted to see whether it could compete with the 12.9 inch M1 iPad Pro. There's a lot to talk about. Both have beautiful big displays, a ton of impressive features. I've used both tablets for watching video, for social media, gaming, browsing the web, and for the general office type work that I do for managing tech gear talk. And taking all that into account, I gotta tell you, this is gonna be a close one. The Tab S8 Ultra is the biggest tablet that I've ever used. So I have to start by talking about the size because I was actually worried about it being too big. And when you hear 14.6 inches versus 12.9 inches on the iPad Pro, which is already big, the Tab S8 Ultra sounds huge. And while it is noticeably longer, it's actually a bit narrower. So I've had every 12.9 inch iPad Pro since the first generation. I'm used to holding a large tablet. In portrait mode, these don't feel significantly different. And I love how much more I can see on a Tab S8 Ultra without having to scroll. When you rotate both of these and then hold them in landscape mode, then you really notice the difference. And not necessarily in the bad way that I was worried about. I absolutely love watching videos on a Tab S8 Ultra. And because of the aspect ratio, we have much smaller black bars than what we get on the iPad Pro. And the image is so much bigger. So something that really surprised me about the Tab S8 Ultra is that it's almost a full millimeter thinner than the iPad Pro. I guess I just thought that since it's a bigger tablet, it would also be thicker. And if you're used to holding the iPad Pro without a case, you will notice the difference. Now I'm curious whether long-term, this tablet will have any issues with bending. Although honestly, I've never had any problems with other tablets that reportedly bend. Both tablets feel really solid. And again, I'm surprised at how sturdy the Ultra is, especially for how thin it is. And for the most part, I do keep both of these tablets just like my other mobile devices in cases because I do drop things. From a design standpoint, both tablets have flat edges and rounded corners, but the bezels on the Tab S8 Ultra are a bit smaller than the ones on the iPad Pro. This means that Samsung is really maximizing the footprint, but it also means that you're more likely to inadvertently activate the touchscreen with the inside of your thumb. This is something that I've discussed in the past whenever the idea of smaller and smaller bezels is brought up. And I wonder if companies could add a feature where you could toggle this on and off and then deactivate the touch on the outer rim. Maybe they could even let you select how many pixels you wanna deactivate. It hasn't been a real issue for me so far, and it really comes down to how you hold your tablet and what type of case you're using because some cases have a small lip that could help with this. Now, if you don't use a case, it could be an issue for you when you're gaming on the Tab S8 Ultra, which I'll talk about more in a minute. And don't think that I'm gonna skip over this notch either. Now, looking around the edges, both tablets have power buttons, volume up and down controls, and then USB-C ports. The one on the Tab S8 Ultra is 3.2, and the one on the iPad Pro is a more powerful Thunderbolt slash USB 4 port, which has faster transfer speeds. If you're not really transferring a lot of files to or from your tablet, this isn't really an advantage for you. But if you regularly work with a large number of photo or video files, you will appreciate the faster transfer speed on the iPad Pro. The one advantage of the Tab S8 Ultra is that it has a micro SD card slot, which you can use to expand the internal storage by up to one terabyte. Now, remember that this space will essentially only be used for files and not for apps. So you still need to get enough internal storage to accommodate the apps and the games you wanna download. But still, it's a much less expensive way to add storage when you compare it with expanding the internal storage on the iPad Pro. Now, before I compare the displays, let's talk about biometric authentication. The iPad Pro has Face ID with a TrueDepth front-facing camera. It's accurate, it's secure, and it works very fast, even when I'm not sitting directly in front of the iPad. The Tab S8 Ultra has face recognition and an on-screen fingerprint scanner. Both have worked pretty well for me, although the facial recognition isn't as secure as Apple's Face ID, but I like the versatility of having both options for different situations. Now let's talk about these displays, which are supposed to be the highlights of these two tablets. So we'll quickly look at the differences in terms of specs and then discuss how they impact real-life use. The iPad Pro has a 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with a resolution of 2048 by 2732, 120 Hertz adaptive refresh rate, a four-by-three aspect ratio, and a pixel density of 256 PPI. The Tab S8 Ultra has a massive 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1848 by 2960. It has a refresh rate of up to 120 Hertz, a 16 by 10 aspect ratio, and a slightly lower pixel density of 240 pixels per inch. When I compare the iPad Pro to something like the smaller Tab S7 Plus, I actually like the four-by-three aspect ratio of the iPad Pro because it gives me a wider canvas to work with when I'm taking notes in portrait mode, it's better for multitasking, and I don't actually mind black bars when I'm watching content. But with the Tab S8 Ultra, because the display is so much bigger, I'm getting plenty of width in portrait mode, a much bigger display for multitasking, and the 16 by 10 aspect ratio is absolutely incredible for media consumption because we're pretty much using the entire display for the video. So from that standpoint, I feel like with the Tab S8 Ultra, I'm getting the best of both worlds. When we look at the quality of the display, it's a bit of a split decision. The Super AMOLED display on a Tab S8 Ultra has a beautiful crisp image with bright colors and darker blacks. The iPad Pro display has incredibly accurate color reproduction. It's a better option for HDR content with 1000 nits of typical brightness and 1600 nits peak brightness. So the iPad Pro display also has an adaptive refresh rate, meaning that it can lower the refresh rate in real time when you're doing something like reading a book in order to save on battery life. And then it can bump it up all the way to 120 Hertz if you're navigating around the UI or if you're doing anything else where 120 Hertz would give you a more fluid user experience. The Tab S8 Ultra does give you the choice between 60 Hertz and 120 Hertz, but it's one or the other. So how would I choose a display? I guess it would come down to personal preference. If I'm literally sitting there and I'm watching both displays side by side, watching an HDR movie, I'd give the iPad Pro a very slight edge in terms of quality, dynamic range, and color accuracy. If on the other hand, you asked me which of these displays was more fun to watch content on and which one I would choose, that would be the Tab S8 Ultra because it's still an unbelievable display and it's just so much bigger than it makes the 12.9-inch iPad Pro look small. Now, one strange element that you may notice about the Tab S8 Ultra is the notch that houses the dual front-facing camera system. We're getting two 12-megapixel cameras, one wide and one ultra-wide, and the image quality is as good as I've gotten from any Samsung tablet. The iPad Pro has a single 12-megapixel front-facing camera, it's an ultra-wide true depth camera, and here's a quick sample of the camera and mics. So let me know which one you like better. And the 12.9-inch M1 iPad Pro, and also an idea of what the microphones are going to sound like. I prefer the camera placement on the Tab S8 Ultra because most of the time for video calls, I have the tablet in landscape mode, whether it's in a case or on a stand. And because the camera is on the long edge, I'm always centered in the frame and the camera is higher up off the desk, which gives it a better angle. With the iPad Pro, the camera is on the short side, which means that if you're watching the display, it will appear to the other person as if you're looking off to the side. Both tablets also have a similar feature, Apple calls it center stage and Samsung calls it auto frame. Essentially, the ultra-wide camera can identify a subject, follow it as it moves around, and then zoom in and out in order to keep it properly framed. Both tablets work, but center stage on the iPad Pro is more accurate, reliable, and smooth. The notch itself is a little bit weird on the tablet because sometimes it's on the side and sometimes it's on the top, and I prefer the cleaner look of the iPad Pro. Now, practically speaking, because the Tab S8 Ultra display is so big, it doesn't actually impact my user experience, and it's not in the way when I'm watching video, but I'll definitely give you updates in my longer-term reviews. Now, moving on to the rear-facing camera modules, on the Tab S8 Ultra, we're getting a 13-megapixel wide and a 6-megapixel ultra-wide versus 12-megapixel wide and 10-megapixel ultra-wide on the iPad Pro. Both tablets have a flash, but the iPad Pro also has a LiDAR scanner. The rear-facing cameras are not really a big deal for me because I'm never gonna hold one of these giant tablets to take pictures, so I pretty much only use the front-facing cameras. All around, I'm going to give the edge to the iPad Pro, but Samsung is definitely starting to close the gap, and of course, if you need a LiDAR scanner for AR or for any other specific task, go ahead and pick the iPad Pro. And moving on to the speaker systems, both tablets have four speakers, and these are the two best-sounding tablets that I've ever used. If you plan on using these speakers for media consumption or to game on, you'll be super happy with both. If I had to choose, I would give the slight edge to the Tab S8 Ultra. The sound has a bit more presence to it, and it's a bit fuller. Now, since these tablets are so capable, a lot of buyers are gonna consider using a stylus and a keyboard case, and this is an area where we see some major differences. So starting with the stylus, the Tab S8 Ultra is compatible with Samsung's newest and fastest S Pen, and we're getting latency of 2.8 milliseconds, which is outstanding. Now, this S Pen is also included with the price of the Tab S8 Ultra versus the second-generation Apple Pencil, which will run you an additional 130 bucks. Both stylus options are great, but they have a completely different feel to them. So the tip of the S Pen is a lot softer, so when you write with it, it's going to feel more like using a real pen on a pad of paper, where the pages compress as you press down. The Apple Pencil has a more firm tip, and it feels like you're writing on a single sheet of paper that's placed on a hard surface. Now, one isn't necessarily better than the other, it's just a completely different feel. Looking at keyboard cases, the iPad Pro is compatible with the Magic Keyboard, and there are several great options from Logitech. The Tab S8 Ultra has a dedicated Ultra Book Cover Keyboard from Samsung. Now, both have backlit keys and a trackpad, but they're completely different designs. The Magic Keyboard has a more solid construction, the keys are more comfortable to type on, and it's got a better trackpad. Now, the Ultra Book Cover Keyboard has a dedicated row of function keys, a spot to protect the S Pen, and you can actually separate the back from the keyboard, so you can use the Tab S8 Ultra in tablet mode, while still protecting the back of the device and housing the S Pen. Now, both keyboards cost 350 bucks, but using the links in the description, I was able to get the Book Cover Keyboard included with the price of the Tab S8 Ultra. Now, before moving on to multitasking, battery life, and gaming, let's talk about processing power. The iPad Pro comes with an incredibly capable M1 chip, the 128, 256, and 512 gig models come with eight gigabytes of RAM, and the one and two terabyte models come with 16 gigs of RAM. The Tab S8 Ultra features the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, the 128 gigabyte model comes with eight gigs of RAM, the 256 comes with 12, and the 512 gig model comes with 16 gigabytes of RAM. Now, very quickly, for those of you who are interested in benchmark scores for single core performance, we're looking at 1,669 on the iPad Pro versus 1,148 on the Tab S8 Ultra. And for multi-core performance, we're looking at 7,321 by 3,288. And a higher number is better. So in both cases, the iPad Pro comes out well ahead. Now, personally, I don't find benchmark scores super meaningful, so let's get to real life use where one of the places where you're gonna use this processing power is multitasking. So both the iPad OS and One UI have some excellent multitasking capabilities. You can have apps open side-by-side and in pop-up windows, and in both cases, the chips were able to handle any combination of apps that I tried. One nice thing about the Tab S8 Ultra is that the larger display gives you more real estate to work with, and you can actually have three tiled apps, and it still doesn't feel like you're tight on space. The Tab S8 Ultra can also boot up in DeX, which gives you a desktop-like user interface with a taskbar, floating windows, and desktop icons. You can even pair a keyboard, a mouse, and an external monitor for an impressive dual display setup. Ultimately, if you want a single device to act as a tablet and a laptop slash desktop replacement, the Tab S8 Ultra is a better option. Now, both tablets can also be used as additional displays for various laptops and desktops. Apple calls this feature sidecar, and Samsung calls it second screen, and I found both to work very well as long as you have good Wi-Fi. When we look at the apps and operating system support, we see some important differences. So first, there are plenty of great options both in the Apple App Store and in the Google Play Store. Now, some creative apps like Affinity Photo and Procreate are only available for the iPad, so if they're a critical part of your workflow, the iPad Pro is the way to go. If you're looking for a good drawing option for the Tab S8 Ultra, check out Clip Studio Paint. Now, video editors who wanna use LumaFusion just got some good news. While currently it's still only available for the iPad, the company is working on releasing an Android version in the near future. When it comes to the OS, Apple has really refined iPad OS, and at the same time, one UI has improved by leaps and bounds over the past few iterations. Ultimately, it comes down to whether you prefer a more tightly locked down but streamlined operating system versus additional flexibility and customization. As far as OS updates, Samsung stepped it up this year, and they're promising four years of OS updates and five years of security updates. This brings them closer to Apple, who offers outstanding long-term operating system support, and my iPad Air 2, which I got in 2014, is still compatible with iPad OS 15. Now, moving out to battery life, both tablets easily get me through a full day of typical use, as long as I don't sit down and play PUBG for four hours. What I like about the Tab S8 Ultra is that it has faster charging, and it can accept 45 watts versus 30 watts on the iPad Pro. In terms of processing power, both tablets play games like PUBG, COD Mobile, and Genshin Impact without a hitch. Playing PUBG on the iPad Pro, you can run smooth graphics at 90 frames per second, or all the way up to Ultra HD graphics and Ultra for frame rate. On the Tab S8 Ultra, you can go to HDR with frame rate set to extreme, or you can set Ultra HD for graphics and Ultra for frame rate. In both cases, gameplay is smooth and responsive. I love how big everything looks, but keep in mind that these are big and heavy tablets, so you can get fatigued very quickly. Of course, this is gonna depend on what games you play and how you hold the tablet, whether you're holding it in your hand or if you have it resting on something, so it will come down to personal preference. I also paired my Xbox controller, and then I played my favorite Xbox Game Pass games on both tablets. Playing on both was super fun, but the Tab S8 Ultra literally feels like I'm playing on a TV. It's noticeably different than any other mobile gaming experience that I've ever had, and I'm definitely gonna give it the edge. When we look at the configuration option and prices, we see some super important differences. I'm going to use the prices off of the Apple and Samsung stores because they're more standardized, but you can usually find better prices by using the links in the description. So both tablets start out with 128 gigs of internal storage and eight gigabytes of RAM for $1,099, but the Tab S8 Ultra price includes the S Pen, and again, using the links in the description, I was able to get the $350 Ultra Book Cover Keyboard for free, which I think is a tremendous value. The Tab S8 Ultra maxes out at 512 gigabytes of internal storage, while the iPad Pro can go all the way up to two terabytes, and remember that you can use a micro SD card with the Tab S8 Ultra if you want additional storage for different types of files. The Ultra also offers faster Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 versus Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 on the iPad Pro, but I haven't seen the 5G versions of the Tab S8 Ultra sold in the US, at least so far. Now you should watch how the Tab S8 compares with the iPad Air 4. Hopefully this comparison was helpful. Click on my face to subscribe. You know what I always say, buy it nice or buy it twice. Good luck and see you soon.