Galaxy Tab A11+ review: What has Samsung been doing all this time?

Finest Costs Right this moment: Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+

After taking a yr off following the launch of the Galaxy Tab A9 and A9+, Samsung is again with one other technology of price range tablets.

The corporate has made the choice to skip the Galaxy Tab A10 sequence altogether and has moved straight to the Galaxy Tab A11 sequence. It’s an comprehensible selection, given the wait, however it brings with it raised expectations.

If we’ve had one criticism of Samsung’s price range gadgets through the years, it’s been the tendency to play it protected with incremental enhancements. With such a spot and a strident method to naming, you may anticipate important generational upgrades, however you’d be improper.

Is the Tab A11+ nonetheless value shopping for, and is it sufficient of an improve in comparison with the common Galaxy Tab A11? After AO kindly supplied us with a pattern, listed below are my in-depth ideas.

Design & Construct

• Clear however acquainted design
• No fingerprint sensor
• Accessible in solely Gray or Silver

What has Samsung’s design division been doing within the two years between price range pill launches? Not an excellent deal, judging from the feel and appear of the Galaxy Tab A11+.

It appears to be like precisely just like the Galaxy Tab A9+ from late 2023, with the identical mostly-metal, flat-edged chassis. The Samsung brand is in the identical location on the again of the system, on the plastic strip that appears to facilitate the pill’s antennas, and reverse a well-recognized round digital camera module.

Wouldn’t it shock you to be taught that the scale are equivalent, proper right down to the fraction of a millimetre? At 257.1 x 168.7 x 6.9mm, it’s a full-sized pill that’s simple sufficient to throw into the pouch of a small bag. Samsung has shaved off a few grams someplace alongside the road, although we’re nonetheless speaking a few pretty substantial 477g.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

It stays a tidy, if wholly unsurprising design. You’ll as soon as once more have to simply accept the dearth of a fingerprint sensor, with a relatively insecure facial recognition system or a tiresome code entry as your solely options. Such an omission isn’t uncommon in a less expensive pill, however that doesn’t make it any much less annoying.

Samsung features a 3.5mm headphone jack on the underside nook of the pill, which is a welcome blast from the previous. The amount and energy buttons are good and clicky, too, if slightly troublesome to tell apart by really feel alone.

If something, Samsung has gotten slightly extra boring with the Galaxy Tab A11+. The place the Galaxy Tab A9+ got here in three colors, right here there are solely two choices: Gray and Silver.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Display screen & Audio system

• Very acquainted 11in FHD+ LCD show
• As much as 90Hz refresh charge
• Quad audio system with Dolby Atmos

For those who had been hoping that Samsung would a minimum of have upgraded its price range pill’s show, you’ll be sorely disenchanted. That is yet one more 11-inch TFT LCD with the identical 1200 x 1920 and 90Hz refresh charge.

Sure, this can be a price range pill. Even so, I discovered this display screen to be a little bit of a letdown. When you couldn’t anticipate AMOLED-like color depth, the image appears to be like considerably washed out.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Brightness ranges are satisfactory, a minimum of when indoors, however tilt the show off-angle slightly and every thing dims and distorts, turning into markedly much less distinct. This isn’t the pill to purchase when you have a tendency to observe plenty of video content material on the go together with a second particular person.

A 16:10 facet ratio makes this display screen well-suited to widescreen video content material, however much less applicable for looking the net and different actions in portrait orientation.

There’s higher information on the audio entrance, the place you as soon as once more get a stable set of 4 audio system. This time round, Samsung has additionally provided Dolby Atmos help for a extra immersive output. They continue to be price range elements, although, so expectations ought to be saved in verify.

Specs & Efficiency

• Mediatek Dimensity 7300
• 6GB RAM
• 128GB or 256GB storage

Samsung has switched up the processor utilized in its newest price range pill, however it’s hardly an enormous advance. The Mediatek Dimensity 7300 is the chip that you simply’ll discover (in a single variation or one other) in a variety of price range telephones, such because the Motorola Moto G86 5G.

That is backed by 6GB of RAM, which all the time leaves me a tad uneasy. Android all the time appears to me to be extra comfy working with a minimal of 8GB. The OnePlus Pad Go 2 – a price range pill modern – pairs a variant of the identical processor with 8GB of RAM, which appears to be the candy spot right here.

With that stated, I can’t complain about efficiency on the Galaxy Tab A11+ – it’s one of many pill’s most important strengths. All the pieces runs moderately effectively, and I used to be in a position to leap between a number of open apps by means of the app switcher with solely a slight stutter to betray the pill’s price range standing.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Our Geekbench 6 outcomes are completely fantastic and supply a 50% (ish) enchancment over the Galaxy Tab A9+ within the multi-core division.

GFXBench wouldn’t run for me right here, so I can’t touch upon the Tab A11+’s GPU efficiency. Based mostly on the outcomes we captured with the aforementioned OnePlus Pad Go 2, although, you shouldn’t anticipate a graphical showcase.

Suffice to say, solely mild gaming is really useful. I used to be in a position to play Future: Rising at an appropriate body charge on the pill, however solely with low graphical settings that appeared fairly ugly blown as much as 11 inches.

You’ve a selection of both 128 or 256GB of inside storage, which represents a welcome (if anticipated) doubling over the A9+. There’s a devoted Micro-SD slot must you want to develop that additional.

Whereas Samsung does seem to have made a mobile possibility, the mannequin accessible right here within the UK is Wi-Fi-only, which is one other disappointment.

Cameras

• 8Mp rear digital camera
• 5Mp entrance digital camera

There’s the very same pair of cameras right here as earlier than, which is neither stunning nor notably troubling.

It’s true that the brutally primary 8Mp most important digital camera shouldn’t be used for something however emergency, impromptu snaps and doc scans, although. The identical will be stated for capturing footage, the place the mix of a tiny sensor dimension, lack of OIS (optical picture stabilisation) and restricted decision help (as much as 1080p at 30fps) ought to be sufficient to dissuade anybody from making an attempt to document something of which means.

In the meantime, even a bog-standard smartphone will take superior selfies to the Galaxy Tab A11+’s 5Mp unit. We’re speaking fuzzy, flat, and missing in dynamic vary.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

However that’s type of the norm for reasonable tablets – and even mid-range tablets, for that matter. These unwieldy slabs should not constructed for such a goal, and these cameras ought to solely actually be put to make use of for the odd video name.

The few snaps I took with these two cameras, purely within the identify {of professional} due diligence, had been actually horrible. And that’s OK.

Battery Life & Charging

• 7040mAh battery
• 25W charging
• No brick within the field

As you might need gathered, given the nigh-on equivalent dimensions, Samsung has caught with precisely the identical 7,040mAh battery because the A9+. It’d sound large by smartphone requirements, however it’s really smaller than most tablets round this dimension.

It’ll nonetheless stand as much as a very good day of pretty lively blended utilization. That is mirrored in a PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Check rating (which simulates a blended workload of productiveness duties like internet looking, video enhancing, and typing) of virtually 10 hours, which is an effective hour and a half higher than its predecessor.

I’d argue that even that is going above and past what the pill is meant for, although. With out a lot as a bundled stylus (in contrast to the Galaxy Tab S10 FE), and with such modest specs, this can be a pill that’s supposed for informal media consumption and internet looking on the go.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

On that entrance, the Galaxy Tab A11+’s battery will comfortably final you thru a full day. You’ll be able to go away the charger at residence for weekends away, although contemplating it’s USB-C, you’ll most likely have one with you anyway.

Samsung has additionally bolstered the charging provision. It’s up from 15W to 25W, although you’ll want to supply an applicable charger.

With such an adjunct at hand, I used to be in a position to get the Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ from empty to 40% in half-hour, whereas a full cost took simply over 90 minutes.

Software program & AI

• Android 16
• One UI 8
• Seven years of software program help

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ runs Android 16 out of the field, along with the corporate’s personal One UI 8 interface. In different phrases, it’s bang updated on the time of writing.

What’s extra, Samsung guarantees to maintain the price range pill updated till a minimum of November 2032. That’s a powerful seven years of main Android OS upgrades and safety patches.

That is above and past for an inexpensive pill, and Samsung’s UI is without doubt one of the extra nice to make use of everyday. True, when you’re accustomed to a cleaner UI that’s nearer to Google’s inventory Android, then you definately’ll possible discover it slightly busy.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Such pill UIs are few and much between, nevertheless – much more so than on smartphones. Samsung’s icons are sharp and vibrant, whereas its widgets are as simple on the attention as they’re helpful. I proceed to seek out its Settings menus slightly troublesome to navigate, nevertheless.

The preponderance of Samsung apps generally is a little irritating for somebody accustomed to utilizing Google’s personal provisions with their Android gadgets, too. We actually didn’t want a second internet browser, nor certainly a second app retailer for that matter.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

I’m not an enormous fan of Samsung’s personal Calendar app both, and accessing Google’s Password Supervisor feels trickier on Samsung gadgets than on these from different Android producers.

On the optimistic facet, Samsung’s Notes app is without doubt one of the extra highly effective and helpful examples on the market, and it comes pre-installed right here. With that stated, the dearth of S Pen compatibility on the Tab A11+ robs this multi-functional app of a few of its enchantment. You’ll be able to scrawl notes and sketches together with your finger, however it’s not the identical.

DeX compatibility is current, basically remodeling into a light-weight desktop OS, full with a discrete desktop setting and windowed apps. Accessing this can be a little buried, nevertheless, and the pill’s inherent limitations (to not point out the dearth of an accessible keyboard case) make it a much less viable laptop computer alternative than a few of its extra succesful siblings.

Value & Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ begins from £249. From a sure perspective, that’s a £10 worth enhance over the launch worth of the Galaxy Tab A9+.

Nevertheless, as talked about above, Samsung has doubled the storage provision for its price range pill this time. You get 128GB as customary, quite than 64GB.

There’s additionally a step-up mannequin with 256GB of storage, which prices £309. There are not any mobile fashions accessible within the UK, which is a little bit of a disgrace, however you should purchase the common model immediately from Samsung and through Amazon, AO or Currys.

There’s no phrase on US availability in the mean time, however on condition that the Tab A9+ is offered there, we’d anticipate the Tab A11+ to go stateside sooner or later.

At this finish of the market, it will probably depend the brand new(ish) Redmi Pad 2 Professional and the Honor Pad 10 as rivals – two price range tablets that outgun Samsung’s mannequin on virtually each key specification.

The wonderful Xiaomi Pad 7, too, has dropped to a worth that makes it a direct (and much superior) competitor, whereas you can too stir the OnePlus Pad Go 2 into the combo – albeit with a better beginning worth of £319.

One other unflattering comparability is the stylish iPad (A16) – yours for simply £20 greater than the 256GB mannequin of the Tab A11+.

See extra options in our guides to the very best tablets and finest price range tablets you should purchase.

Do you have to purchase the Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+?

We’ve waited a while for the Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+, after the corporate skipped a refresh of its price range pill in 2024. It could be a stretch to say that the wait has been value it.

The pill’s design is just about equivalent to its two-year-old predecessor, whereas the identical previous show continues to underwhelm with its poor viewing expertise at something aside from head-on. Efficiency has a minimum of taken a step ahead, battery life has improved, and the storage state of affairs can also be higher – however solely to the extent that you simply’d anticipate from a 2025 pill.

Maybe the one shining mild in an in any other case mediocre package deal is Samsung’s software program, which is arguably extra interesting inside a pill context than it’s in a smartphone. With an exemplary help interval, sharp presentation, and loads of energy options, it’s a fantastic instance of a contemporary pill UI.

Whereas it’s a stable price range pill, although, I’d wrestle to advocate the Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+. Rivals are transferring the sport on in virtually each respect, making it really feel caught previously.

Specs

• Android 16 with One UI 8
• 11in, 1200 x 1920, TFT LCD, 90Hz, flat show
• Mediatek Dimensity 7300
• 6GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB storage
• 8Mp most important digital camera
• As much as 1080p @ 30fps rear video
• 5Mp front-facing digital camera
• Quad stereo audio system
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• Bluetooth 5.3
• 7040mAh battery
• 25W charging
• 257.1 x 168.7 x 6.9mm
• 477g
• Launch colors: Gray, Silver