Apple just announced the new M3 iPad Air, but you might want to wait on that pre-order. Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE+ just leaked and they're bringing a lot to the table.
The new iPad Air just launched at a whopping $599 for an 11-inch tablet with the M3 chip. That M3 chip is packed with power, but do you really need all that performance for a tablet? Spoiler alert: most people don’t.
You may want to consider the new Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE+, especially because they’ll launch at lower prices (presumably). Let’s jump into what you’ll get.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE is the better budget option
The most recent leak comes from YTechB (via SamMobile), reportedly revealing official press renders of the Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE+. Surprise, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE looks like, you guessed it, a tablet.
With the base FE featuring a 10.9-inch screen and the FE+ rocking a 13.1-inch display, they’re both wrapped in a metal frame. They come in three colorways: blue, gray, and silver. As far as what’s inside, they’ll reportedly come with the Exynos 1580 processor, 8GB/12GB of RAM, and 128GB/256GB of storage.
The Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE+ reportedly feature a 12MP (selfie) and 13MP (rear-facing) camera, quad speakers, a fingerprint reader, a microSD card slot, and an IP68 rating (dust and water resistance). The former will sport an 8,000mAh battery while the latter bumps up to a 10,090mAh battery. Best of all, they come bundled with the Galaxy S Pen.
Now, that Exynos 1580 processor first found its way in the recently announced Galaxy A56, which, according to a leak, doesn’t perform nearly as well as Apple’s M3 chip. But again, do you need Apple’s wild performance? Unless you’re doing some heavy video editing or intense gaming on your tablet, I don’t think you’ll find much use out of Apple’s offering.
If you wait a little bit for the Galaxy Tab S10 FE to launch, you might be able to save a few hundred dollars on a new tablet. The M3 iPad is currently available for pre-order at $599. And if you want to get the Apple Pencil you’ll need to add $79 on top of that. With a keyboard, that’s $269.
We don’t know the price of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE debuted at $449 and is currently on sale for $299. If the Tab S10 FE comes in at the same MSRP, that’s $229 in savings with the stylus included. When adding the keyboard, Samsung’s Book Cover costs $159 currently. So that’d be a total of $339 in savings.
Again, don’t expect the world out of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE. It is a budget tablet, but it is enough for most people. However, if you are a power user (and if leaks are accurate), you’ll get ~3.3x more performance from the M3 iPad Air.
And to reiterate, these are rumors, so we won’t know anything official about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE until Samsung announces it. So stay tuned to Laptop Mag for updates on the new Samsung tablets, and maybe the MacBook Air M4.
