Samsung Galaxy Tab S12: Release Date, Price and Specs

Samsung officially unveiled the Galaxy Tab S12 series on September 30, 2026, introducing two models — the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra and Galaxy Tab S12+ — with sales starting October 7 in select markets. Both tablets run Android 17 with One UI 9, pack a MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip, ship with an S Pen in the box, and are rated for up to 23 hours (Ultra) and 21 hours (Plus) of battery life. Samsung's own announcement does not list a retail price for either model, so anyone quoting a dollar figure right now is estimating, not reporting.

The announcement frames the Tab S12 series as a step up in both raw hardware and the software wrapped around it, pairing a new chipset and thinner chassis with a heavier emphasis on bundled productivity and creative apps than previous Galaxy Tab launches. Samsung's own materials repeatedly position the lineup around workflows that span a commute, a classroom, and a desk — splitting screen space between note-taking, video playback, and an AI assistant rather than treating the tablet as a single-task device. That framing shows up throughout the spec sheet: the display, battery, keyboard accessories, and Galaxy AI features are all described in terms of sustaining multi-step tasks rather than any single headline spec.

Release Date and Availability

Samsung confirmed the Galaxy Tab S12 series will "be available starting Oct. 7 in select markets," offered in two finishes, Gray and Silver. The company's global newsroom announcement does not break down the launch by country or list which regions are included in that first wave, and it stops short of naming a worldwide rollout date beyond "select markets." A companion write-up on Samsung Mobile Press mirrors the same October 7 date without adding further regional detail. Until Samsung's retail pages go live with country-specific availability, the only release-date fact that can be reported with confidence is the October 7 start.

Design and Build

Samsung is calling the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra its thinnest Galaxy Tab to date at 5.1mm thick, measuring 208.5 x 326.3mm and weighing 692 grams in the Wi-Fi version (695 grams for the 5G model). The Galaxy Tab S12+ measures 187.8 x 289.5 x 5.3mm and weighs 553 grams (Wi-Fi) or 555 grams (5G). Both tablets carry an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, and Samsung says a newly designed 3D Vapor Chamber helps the series sustain performance during longer sessions like video editing or graphics work without throttling as aggressively. A vapor chamber works by spreading heat away from the chipset across a wider surface area so it can dissipate faster than it would through a single heat-conducting strip, and Samsung frames the redesigned version here as the reason the Tab S12 series can sustain its performance claims during longer creative or editing sessions rather than slowing down after a few minutes of heavy use.

Display and Sound

The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra uses a 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel at 2960 x 1848 resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate, while the Galaxy Tab S12+ steps down to a 12.6-inch panel at 2800 x 1752, also at 120Hz. Samsung lists peak brightness at 1,600 nits with 1,000 nits of high brightness mode (HBM) on both models, paired with an updated Vision Booster that adjusts brightness in real time based on ambient lighting. Audio gets a notable bump too: both tablets move to 4-channel spatial audio through a quad-speaker setup, which Samsung describes as twice the channel count of the previous Tab S11 generation.

Performance: MediaTek Dimensity 9500

Both tablets are built around the MediaTek Dimensity 9500, a 3nm chipset. Samsung's own comparison claims up to 61% faster NPU processing, 19% faster CPU performance, and 17% improved GPU power versus the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra — figures Samsung attributes to internal testing rather than a third-party benchmark suite, so treat them as manufacturer-reported rather than independently verified. In practice, Samsung frames the performance gain around sustained workloads: rendering creative projects, multitasking across a lecture video, notes, and an AI assistant at the same time, and similar scenarios where thermal headroom matters as much as raw speed. The move to a 3nm manufacturing process is also what underpins Samsung's efficiency claims elsewhere in the announcement — a smaller process node generally draws less power per operation, which is part of why Samsung can claim both a faster chip and a longer battery life figure than the previous generation in the same breath, rather than trading one for the other.

Battery Life and Charging

The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra houses an 11,600 mAh battery rated for up to 23 hours of use on a single charge, while the Galaxy Tab S12+ carries a 10,600 mAh battery rated for up to 21 hours. Samsung says both models can go from 0% to 100% in about 95 minutes using the included 45W adapter. As with all manufacturer battery-life figures, these numbers come from Samsung's own test conditions rather than a controlled third-party benchmark, so real-world results will vary with brightness, connectivity, and workload. Once the Tab S12 series has been in use for a while, tracking how that battery ages is worth doing the same way owners already check it on their phones — this battery health walkthrough for Android and Galaxy devices covers the same settings menu that applies to Galaxy tablets.

Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra vs. Galaxy Tab S12+: Specs Compared

The two models share a chipset, operating system, S Pen bundle, and IP68 rating, but differ in screen size, battery capacity, memory ceiling, connectivity, and camera count. Here is how Samsung's published specification sheet lines them up:

The practical difference for most buyers comes down to three things Samsung's spec sheet makes clear: screen real estate, top-end storage, and wireless connectivity. Only the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra offers the 16GB+1TB configuration and Wi-Fi 7, and only the Ultra adds a second rear camera (an 8MP ultra-wide alongside the 13MP main sensor). The Galaxy Tab S12+ gives up roughly 2 inches of screen and caps out at 12GB+512GB with Wi-Fi 6E, but it is also lighter and comes in at a smaller footprint — tradeoffs that track with how Samsung has split its Ultra and Plus tablets in past generations.

S Pen, Keyboard and Accessories

Both the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra and Galaxy Tab S12+ ship with an S Pen included in the box at no extra cost. Samsung's spec sheet notes the bundled stylus does not support Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), meaning air-gesture and remote-shutter tricks tied to BLE on past Samsung styluses aren't part of this bundle. For a more deliberate workstation setup, Samsung is offering two keyboard accessories separately: the Pro Keyboard, which has an aluminum finish and a dedicated Galaxy AI key for launching an AI assistant instantly, and the Book Cover Keyboard Slim, a lighter, more flexible cover-keyboard combo. A Book Cover is also listed as Ultra-only, alongside an anti-reflective screen protector across the line.

Galaxy AI and Software Features

The Galaxy Tab S12 series ships on Android 17 with One UI 9, the same software foundation Samsung has been rolling out across its phone lineup — the One UI 9 rollout timeline covers how that update has reached other Galaxy devices, and Android 17's feature changes apply the same way on tablets as they do on phones. On top of that base, Samsung is layering several Galaxy AI features specific to this launch. Note Assist can summarize notes taken in Samsung Notes while a lecture or recording keeps playing, letting a student or employee capture key points with the S Pen without pausing what they're watching. Multi Window support lets users split the screen into up to three sections at once — notes on one side, a video in the middle, an AI assistant on the other, for example.

Samsung is also bundling a six-month trial of Google AI Pro, giving broader access to Google's Gemini models from the first day of ownership. That includes Gemini Notebook, which can pull together notes, images, recordings, and files into one workspace and generate summaries, podcast-style audio, or quizzes from that material. Samsung Browser adds its own layer on top, using on-device understanding of open tabs and browsing history to summarize information spread across multiple pages or resurface a source a user looked at days earlier.

Pre-Loaded Apps and Bundled Perks

Samsung is positioning software bundling as a bigger part of the Tab S12 pitch than in past generations, citing roughly $600 worth of combined app benefits. Adobe Photoshop now comes pre-installed on the Galaxy Tab S12 series, which Samsung describes as a first for Android tablets, with a tablet-optimized interface, S Pen support, and access to Adobe Firefly-powered generative tools like Generative Fill and Image to Video. Tab S12 buyers get four months of the Photoshop mobile plan free.

Notability is newly pre-loaded as well, bundled with a six-month free trial and 20% off a first subscription. Goodnotes is included with one year of free access, LumaFusion is offered at a 66% discount, Notion throws in one free month of its Plus plan, and Clip Studio Paint comes with a six-month trial plus 20% off. Samsung also calls out MyScript Math and MyScript Notes for handwriting-to-text conversion and equation solving, Noteshelf 3 for customizable note layouts, and ArcSite for converting hand-drawn field sketches into CAD drawings.

Pricing: What Samsung Has (and Hasn't) Confirmed

This is the one category where Samsung's own announcement is notably quiet: the press release covers design, display, chipset, battery, S Pen bundling, software, and bundled app value in detail, but it does not state a price for the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra or Galaxy Tab S12+ in any configuration or region. It also does not specify per-market launch pricing or carrier deals. Readers should treat any specific dollar, euro, or pound figure circulating elsewhere as unconfirmed until Samsung publishes pricing on its own retail channels — this article will be updated once that information is officially released.

What's Next

With the October 7 on-sale date approaching, the near-term confirmations to watch for are regional pricing, the full list of launch markets, and carrier or storage-tier availability — none of which Samsung included in its unveiling. Samsung also hasn't said whether a smaller or more affordable Galaxy Tab S12 variant (following the "Tab S FE" or base-tier pattern from past generations) is planned alongside the Ultra and Plus. Samsung's commitment to up to seven years of OS upgrades and security updates means whatever ships Oct. 7 is positioned as a long-term device, so pricing details, once announced, will matter more than usual for anyone trying to judge value against that support window.

Written byNadia Osei

Nadia Osei covers mobile and consumer gadgets for Pandromeda: smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, earbuds and smart-home devices. She tracks launches, software updates and pricing across Apple, Google, Samsung and the rest, and builds comparisons from the manufacturers' published specifications.

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