Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra in for review

The line between tablets and laptops has been increasingly more blurred for the past few years. That's especially true for devices like the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra - a top-of-the-line slate with a huge AMOLED display and a thin profile.

It goes the other way as well; laptops nowadays get the same mobile-based chipsets and tablet-like battery life and fluidity. Perhaps the two categories were always destined to meet in the middle.

This is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra, and it's a $1,399 (€1,569/£1,399) flagship with a close-to-15-inch 120Hz AMOLED display, an 11,600mAh battery, and a 5.1mm profile. It's also IP68-rated, which your laptop can't match.

For the price, you're getting a USB-C cable and a bundled S Pen, with which we're all too familiar at this point.

If you're willing to pay extra, there's the Pro Keyboard Book Cover, which adds a full-width backlit keyboard and touchpad to the tablet. The accessory is also compatible with last year's Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra.

Full-on laptop mode

Both tablet and keyboard work seamlessly. Just place the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra onto its tailor-made cradle, and it will magnetically connect. The keyboard adds hinges and a kickstand on the back, so that the big tablet stays in place. Frankly, having some kickstand-enabled accessory is a must with such a huge tablet.

The connection between the pair is very strong, and the tablet doesn't wobble at all. You can adjust the hinge to about 120 degrees backwards and fully close the keyboard and the tablet together.

The hinge isn't very strong though, so it can't keep the tablet up when the two halves are close together.

Sadly, the keyboard doesn't add any ports to the single USB-C on the tablet.

It's very thin when closed

Visually, the keyboard has a distinct MacBook Pro look to it. The keys sit in a black backdrop, which is in contrast with the grey metal surface around it.

The keyboard features adjustable backlighting with three levels. Key travel is on the narrow side, similar to the MacBook, in fact. Other tablet keyboards we've seen have a deeper travel, despite being much less premium overall.

A quality keyboard with backlight

Still, the combination of the tablet, the keyboard, and the S Pen is a mighty one. It's a true hybrid setup, letting you enjoy movies and shows on the couch, do some typing on a desk, or draw, create, or physically write to your heart's content.

But it does come at a formidable cost. The tablet itself is €1,569, and that's for a base 12/256GB model. Samsung hasn't yet revealed the price of the Pro Keyboard, but the one for the Tab S11 Ultra, which is essentially the same, is almost €400 at the time of writing. That's €1,960 in total, which feels way too much, considering a 15-inch MacBook Air is €1,700 directly from Apple (and often less from third-party sellers), and that's a 512GB unit. And while the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra's Dynamic AMOLED absolutely crushes the Air's display in quality, the Air in turn demolishes the tablet in performance and versatility. For significantly less money.

That means that you really have to want a premium tablet in order to shell out the cash for the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra. But if you are, in fact, after a premium tablet, this one seems like the perfect place to look.

Keys and a pen