I tested the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ for a week, and it's almost perfect

CNN

21-04-2025

The Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ is almost the best Android tablet on the market. For starters, I love to see a 13.1-inch Android tablet for $650, because Apple's 13-inch iPad Air is $150 more. The Tab FE+ even packs facial recognition, something Apple locks behind the $999 iPad Pro. On top of that, Samsung's slate packs a bright display with good color quality, for an overall package that should put it in the running for the title of best tablet.
But the actual experience of using the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ reminded me why we actually test electronics: to see if their specs match their real-world reliability. While the Tab S10 FE+ offers longer battery life and improved performance, it struggles to knock its predecessor off the throne when it comes to actual usability. So let's break down where Samsung went right and wrong.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+
Samsung's biggest midrange tablet packs a 13.1-inch screen and throws in an S Pen stylus for free. A great display
The Galaxy Tab S10 FE+'s 13.1-inch screen size is best feature. Whether I was enamored with the vibrant colors of Mario and his friends and enemies in new Mario Kart World footage or admiring the blues of the new Fantastic Four uniforms in the trailer for that upcoming film, this big 2880 x 1800 display gave my favorites plenty of space. Those who want to use multiple apps at the same time may want to opt for the FE+ over the 10.9-inch Tab S10 FE because that smaller tablet's 2304 x 1440 screen won't fit as much on its panel. For everyone who wants a big screen they can take everywhere, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ looks like the best way to check that box without venturing into premium laptop pricing.
In under-the-screen news you can use, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ sports a 90Hz refresh rate, which enables smoother motion than the iPad Air that tops out at 60Hz (Apple makes you pay for the iPad Pro to get 120Hz smoothness). I mostly noticed this extra fluidity when I dragged windows around the screen in DeX mode.
Samsung rates the Tab S10 FE+ for up to 800 nits of brightness (which is a lot), and I found it bright enough for use when I was having lunch outside. Annoyingly, it's not bright enough for watching the film 'Top Gun: Maverick' in direct sunlight, as I mostly saw my own reflection and some fingerprints I'd left on the screen. This wasn't a huge surprise, but Samsung proudly touted this tablet's brightness in its promotion materials, so I had to check.
But what good are nice visuals without sweet audio? Fortunately, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+'s speakers do a good job with both music and spoken word. So, not only did Lucy Dacus' music video for 'Ankles' sound right, with accurate vocals and twinkling instruments, but all of my favorite podcasters also came through clear and easy to understand.
Even better battery life than before
I loved the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ for its long battery life, so I'm happy to reveal that the slightly larger Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ is even more impressive. Our looping 4K video battery test drained the S10 FE+ of a full charge in 14 hours and 18 minutes, beating the S9 FE+ by over 45 minutes and topping the 11-inch iPad Air M3 by more than 4 hours.
14:18
13:26
10:11
13.1-in. (2960 x 1848)
12.4-in. (2560 x 1600)
13-in. (2732 x 2048) Anecdotally, the Galaxy Tab 10 FE+ also proved reliable for a day of work, with 26% of battery life left after 7-plus hours of mixed use including writing this review in Google Docs, streaming TV and trailers and even taking a Zoom call. The Tab S10 FE+ should also refuel pretty fast if you have the right chargers, because it supports charging speeds up to 45W.
Good performance for its price
Once you go above a certain price point for Android tablets, you expect everything to just work smoothly, and mostly that's the case here. Apps such as Bluesky, Discord, Todoist, Google Drive and Slack all load and run as smoothly as you'd expect, and I could switch from one to the next without issue. I also took a break with some light gaming, running Asphalt Legends: Unite and Honkai: Star Rail without a hitch. Loading three apps at once also went smoothly, though the experience of adjusting said apps and their placement on screen could have been a tad snappier.
This is all owed to how the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ has all the standard specs you'd expect from a mid-range Android tablet, including an octa-core Exynos processor that you'll find on many Samsung slates at this price. It starts with 8GB of memory and 128GB of storage, and my unit is the $100-pricier configuration with 12GB of memory and 256GB of space. Ports are also predictable, with USB-C and a microSD memory card reader (RIP headphone jack).
Samsung Exynos 1580
Samsung Exynos 1380
Apple M3
1,352
1,024
3,046
3,912
2,898
11,745 That set of specs is reflected in the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+'s benchmark scores, as it beat the Tab S9 FE+ by 32% to 35% on Geekbench 6's tests that measures how a range of apps run. The latest iPad Air, however, obliterates the Tab S10 FE+'s scores, showing how Apple's in-house chips are on their own level.
Facial recognition and other perks
I want to applaud Samsung for putting both fingerprint and facial recognition tech inside the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+. Apple only puts fingerprint sensors in the iPad Air, making you pay at least $999 for the iPad Pro if you want to unlock your tablet with your face.
That said, there is one annoying caveat: Samsung's facial recognition sensors often fail to work when I'm in a low-light situation. This means reaching for the fingerprint scanner if you're in bed at night, or just typing in your PIN on an external keyboard, which I did while writing this review in my dark home office.
Oh, and one other little bit of value I can't skip past: Samsung throws in its S Pen stylus for free, something neither Amazon nor Apple do. It's not the fanciest stylus, but I still appreciate that it's free. While I prefer to write on a digital notebook such as the ReMarkable Paper Pro, I will concede that the Tab S Pen offers a decent writing experience with low latency.
A decent rear camera
I can't honestly endorse the art of using a tablet as a camera, especially because the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ is such an awkwardly large device, but I will give Samsung's 13-megapixel rear camera its props. Taking the tablet out for a spin in my neighborhood, it captured decent color and detail. Whether I was snapping a snackable-looking shot of a layer cookie on top of a matcha latte or a bright and lovely shot of a tree full of white Callery pear blossoms, I got images on this camera that are at least worthy of capturing a memory in a pinch. It's not enough to replace my iPhone 16 Pro Max any time soon, primarily because I love the added contrast you get with Photographic Styles.
However, I don't have anything especially positive to say, about the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+'s 12MP front camera. While I captured decent-enough selfies on the Tab S10 FE+, my mood soured when I used it for a Zoom call and it gave me an awkward zoomed-out angle that practically looked like it was shot on a fish-eye lens. When I asked my colleague Mike Andronico how I looked, he replied 'you definitely look like you're on a cheap tablet,' before declaring the image quality was 'totally passable, but kind of dark and a bit pixelated.'
A larger design goes too far
While the Galaxy Tab S10 FE is a 10.9-inch tablet like the S9 FE, Samsung decided that the 12.4-inch S9 FE+ wasn't big enough. Enter the 13.1-inch Galaxy Tab S10 FE+, a tablet so big that you might prefer to use it like a laptop, propped up against books or attached to one of Samsung's Book Cover Keyboard cases. I've found it to be a bit too large in my usage, and so I'd recommend most people gravitate towards the $150-cheaper S10 FE, unless they're sure they want a massive tablet.
For a while, I was confused why the Tab S10 FE+ felt so awkward, since I had none of these problems with the 13-inch iPad Pro M4. Once I stacked these tablets on top of each other, I figured out the answer. Samsung's slate is 0.74 inches longer, and that extra size just makes it a tad ungainly to hold.
The awkwardness isn't just about carrying the Tab S10 FE+'s 1.5-pound weight, either. I've also found it a bit too easy to accidentally rotate the S10 FE+'s display orientation — which has me locking orientation just to make it stop doing that. Lastly, this long tablet also makes typing a tricky thing. Holding it in the horizontal (landscape) orientation made its on-screen keyboard too wide, and rotating it 90 degrees just gives you a plank of a tablet that's hard to really balance in your hands.
Productivity ambitions are failed by DeX mode's bugs
Trying to see why someone would need this much screen, I started using the Tab S10 FE+ in DeX mode, the windowed interface meant to mimic Windows and macOS. In this situation, with Bluetooth mouse and keyboard paired, I was able to see my S9 FE+ review, write my S10 FE+ review, watch the 'Paradise' drama series on Hulu and use the Command + Tab keyboard shortcut to check my productivity apps (Google Calendar and Todoist) when I didn't know what to do next or how much time I had before my next meeting.
Traditional multitasking, though, proved that DeX isn't ready for the job, starting with the app switcher view you activate with the Command + Tab keyboard shortcut. At first it wouldn't show all of the previously opened apps, and later it sometimes failed to show the app previews, instead just putting a big blank space between the app icon and name.
Things got worse when trying to actually work. All I wanted to do was to reply to my manager in Slack, but doing so meant the whole window was taken over by a text composition window. So, every time I wanted to talk to someone, I couldn't see what they said, as the window practically seized up over and over again. This was when I knew I couldn't rely on DeX mode. Similarly, the Zoom app wouldn't let me use the chat room functionality without it taking over the whole screen.
This is the problem with trying to create a whole new paradigm; a single point of failure is too much when it's an important app. And Slack and Zoom not working right is a dealbreaker. This isn't technically the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+'s fault, but it's definitely a reason to not expect DeX mode to replace your MacBook or Windows laptop. Unfortunately, a productivity mode kind of needs to be perfect if it's going to ship at all — which is why I don't use the iPad's similar Stage Manager mode either.
There's more AI software that you can ignore
No matter how many gadgets the leading tech companies stuff their generative AI stuff into, the story remains the same: this isn't it. But for as much of an AI skeptic as I am, I'm just as intent on reviewing everything thoroughly, so I brought the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ around my neighborhood (and into my camera roll) to see what I could do with its latest tricks.
Let's start with the funniest fail: the new version of Object Eraser image editing tool that Samsung's press materials say is 'upgraded.' When I tried to use it to simply remove a phone from the bottom of a group photo, I accidentally wound up with a fuzzy void where the strangers behind us were sitting, because the app automatically selected them (and I didn't know I needed to unselect them).
You also get the increasingly ubiquitous Circle to Search trick, where you hold down the home button and then draw on a part of your screen to instantly search Google for whatever you highlight. It's a Google feature that's spreading throughout the world of Android OS devices, and I found mixed results when using it to learn more about my neighborhood. While it properly identified the white Callery pear blossoms adorning a tree nearby, it took four tries to correctly identify and search for details about my local city councilman when his name was on the poster I'd photographed. Also, Circle to Search has its limitations, as it doesn't support Hulu (likely due to some copyright protection baked into the app), so I had to google 'James Marsden or James Marsters' to remember the name of the 'Paradise' co-star I was watching on the Tab S10 FE+. I guess the rumors of the death of typing to search have been greatly exaggerated.
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The next category of generative AI in the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ involves the Samsung Notes app and the included S Pen. If you write out a mathematical equation and finish it with the equals sign, Math Solver will give you your answer for you, writing it out like you did it yourself. Not to sound like a teacher's pet, but this is not something we should be letting anywhere close to kids, who should learn how to do this stuff on their own (Apple provides the same tricks with its Math Notes on the iPad). And if any adult thinks they need this, there's a calculator app for that. There's also the handwriting assist tool, which realigns the letters and words you write with the S Pen in the Notes app. Maybe my handwriting is too neat for Samsung to think much can be done, but I barely noticed its adjustment.
Then, we have Best Face, which is supposed to let you make the perfect composite of a set of photos by moving the most well-posed facial expressions into the same still. Unfortunately, you can't use this with just any group photos you have, as it requires shots with Samsung's Motion Photos setting enabled. You can also take Motion Photos on phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. I tested this out with selfies I shot on the tablet, and all of the suggestions have an uncanny valley-like look to them that makes me realize I don't need this at all.
Then there's the Auto Trim video editing tool, which is supposed to make a highlight reel from your videos. It's hidden in the Studio section of Samsung's Gallery app, which you find in the left menu. I fed it a few minutes of footage shot in my neighborhood, and it simply tried to cut the footage down to the most actiony shots; something that doesn't feel all that interesting. I would have liked some transitions to be added or zooms if this feature is supposed to be truly enhancing what I give it.
All in all, it's yet another suite of features that were packed in that should have been left on the cutting room floor.
Once you accept that Samsung's latest batch of generative AI stuff is not worth wasting your time on, you'll find the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ is as great as it is big. Its large screen is bright and colorful, and its performance and audio are also solid, making it a great content consumption device. Which is exactly why many people might disagree with my verdict on this tablet being too big.
I'm not saying Samsung was wrong to bet on a bigger screen; from living room TVs to the phones in our pockets, there's a current trend where the displays just keep getting larger. If only Samsung had cut this display with slightly different dimensions — a little bigger on its width and a little shorter on the length — the ergonomics here would be fantastic, and we'd have a new best Android tablet. But since tablets are meant to be held in hand, I will look back fondly at the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+, and look forward to some day testing the smaller Galaxy Tab S10 FE, which looks to be the better of the pair this year.
So, if you want a huge tablet that's more for watching than it is for holding, then the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Tab FE+ is definitely the tablet for you. There's not a huge difference between the Tab S9 FE+ and the Tab S10 FE+, aside from size, though so grab the former if you find it on sale — or just save $150 and get the Tab S10 FE. Either way, you're gonna love watching and listening to stuff on these tablets.
Can you add storage to a Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+?
Can you add storage to a Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+?
Yes. In addition to selecting between 128GB and 256GB storage options, the Tab S10 FE+'s microSD card reader allows you to add up to 2TB of space.
How long does the battery last on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+?
How long does the battery last on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+?
The Tab S10 FE+ aced our battery test — where we run a looping 4K video with Airplane mode enabled and adaptive brightness disabled — posting a time of 14 hours and 18 minutes. For mixed use including streaming, a Zoom call and various app usage, the Tab S10 FE+ made it through seven hours with 26% battery life left over.
What color finishes does the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ come in?
What color finishes does the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ come in?
I tested the pale blue Tab S10 FE+, and it's also sold in gray and silver versions.
CNN Underscored thoroughly vets all the products we cover, and we provide full transparency about how these products are tested, so you know they'll meet your standards because they meet our requirements. Our skilled writers and editors have many years of testing experience that informs them how they plan their product reviews, and we ensure each article is edited for accuracy and clarity.
We're made up of an experienced team of editors and writers who provide full transparency about our testing methodology. Electronics writer Henry T. Casey has been testing tablets in his work as a tech reviewer for nearly a decade. Throughout the years, he's given verdicts on tablets of all shapes and sizes, from the chunkiest kids' tablet to the slimmest iPad Air.