Is it NFL material or did it peak in high school? Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE Review

Can the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE impress Samsung fans? We think so. For $499 to $649, Samsung delivers a device with a high-quality aluminium chassis, pen support, a good range of accessories and a very long update timeline. 

The screen impresses with good colours, and connectivity now includes WiFi 6E, although this does not result in a very noticeable increase in speed. A 5G-enabled model is also available and can also be used as a GPS device in cars.

The tablet also offers decent cameras, more powerful storage than its predecessor and barely noticeable temperature development. The speakers are great and the battery lasts quite a long time, too.

Taken on its own, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE is a decent option, but one look at the competition quickly paints a different picture: even the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro, which is available for less than $400, offers noticeably better performance.

We never thought we'd be naming Apple as the winner in terms of value for money, but an iPad Air 11 costs only slightly more than the Galaxy Tab S10 FE and is in a completely different league in terms of performance. It also comes with a pen with Bluetooth features and significantly more premium specs.

Given the extremely high prices for the Galaxy Tab S10+ and Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, the Tab S10 FE may seem inexpensive within Samsung's portfolio, but you will have to put up with significant cost-cutting measures in return. And if you check out the competition, there are significantly better deals available.

Thanks to Samsung's long update pledges, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE is also a strong competitor and is already available for a significantly lower price.

Our test unit was provided by notebooksbilliger.de. 

The 5G version with 128 GB of storage is available for $550 on Amazon.com. The WiFi model with 256 GB of storage is selling for $570 on Amazon. To save $70, you can also choose the 128 GB version, which is currently available for $499.

Samsung now issues "Fan Editions" of high-end Samsung devices for smartphones, headphones and tablets. The aim is also to make high-quality devices available to people with smaller budgets.

The compromises that came with these devices in the past were usually acceptable. The only thing that doesn't really go down well with fans is that Samsung often uses its own Exynos SoCs.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE is the most affordable tablet in Samsung's Tab S10 family and was designed to bridge the gap between mid-range and high-end.

The following models are available:

• Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE WiFi 8 GB RAM / 128 GB storage: $499
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE WiFi 12 GB RAM / 256 GB storage: $569
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE 5G 8 GB RAM / 128 GB storage: $552

Prices have increased significantly compared to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE. For this review, we tested a European 5G model, which is also available with 256 GB of storage.

The chassis is milled from a single piece of aluminium. The tablet has a very clean finish and the material transitions are barely noticeable. The only design details on the back are the shiny Samsung logo in the upper left corner and the colour-contrasting printed antennas. Overall, it has a modern look without any frills.

Samsung offers its tablet in either dark grey or silver. A subtle blue colour variant is supposed to be available exclusively in Samsung's online store, but it also seems to be available from other online retailers.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE is very sturdy and only creaks softly when you try to flex it. Even when pressed harder, there is hardly any visible distortion in the liquid crystal display.

At around 500 grams, it weighs about the same as similar tablets and is significantly lighter than its predecessor. Samsung has also slimmed its tablet down to just 6 millimeters, putting it on par with the iPad Air.

Conveniently, the tablet is IP68-rated for water and dust resistance, so it can be used in harsher environments.

We tested the card reader with our reference microSD card, Angelbird V60. Like its predecessor, the tablet transfers data to and from the microSD card pretty quickly, so you can use it to store files as needed.

The tablet produces 124.9 kg of CO₂ equivalents during production and use. That is fairly high for a tablet. And while Samsung claims to upcycle discarded fishing nets to plastic parts for devices starting with the Samsung Galaxy S24, this cannot be specifically verified for a particular device. There is no further information on the materials used in the test unit, nor on the share of recycled materials. 

Samsung offers a lot of help for repairing minor problems yourself on its website. You can also buy replacement parts and download repair manuals for some devices. At the time of testing, this was not yet possible for the Galaxy Tab S10 FE in Germany, but since all other current Samsung devices are already listed, we assume that it should soon be available.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE now also supports WiFi 6E, giving users access to the lesser-used 6-GHz band.

The speeds we measured in our test with our reference router, Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000, are rather low compared to the rest of the field and were between 540 and 770 MBit/s. This is not quite enough to fully utilize a gigabit internet connection, but at least the transfers are fairly stable.

Our 5G model supports sufficient 5G and 4G frequencies to usually allow the tablet to connect to the mobile network when traveling. Still, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE cannot be considered a fully global device.

The tablet can also be used to make phone calls: via the loudspeaker and built-in microphones or via a connected headset.

The call quality is good and the person on the other end can hear us very clearly.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE comes with a pen that doesn't support a Bluetooth connection to the device. Some apps are programmed to be used with the pen, including notes or the drawing app.

The device does not come with a charger but includes a USB cable and a SIM tool.

Several keyboard covers are available from the Samsung online store. They are the same ones as for the Galaxy Tab S9 FE. The normal keyboard cover is available for $200 and also includes a touchpad. It comes in black or white. The slim version is only available in black and costs $140. It does not include a touchpad.

If you just want a book cover to protect your tablet, it will cost you $90 directly from Samsung; a replacement pen costs $55.

Various care and warranty packages can be purchased on the Samsung website. 

We have said it before: The Samsung Exynos SoCs aren't really a "fan favourite", especially on the more expensive Samsung devices. This is because they often offer lower performance than comparable SoCs from Qualcomm or Snapdragon and have had to deal with significant temperature increases in the past.

The Galaxy Tab S10 FE features the Samsung Exynos 1580. The SoC is also used in the bestselling Samsung Galaxy A56 5G smartphone, so it promises mid-range power rather than luxury feel.

Indeed, the much more affordable Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro turns out to be far superior in terms of performance. The Galaxy tablet has to settle for a middle-of-the-road ranking among the devices tested.

Everyday performance is good enough for smooth operation, though, and many apps also run smoothly. More demanding users who want to use the device for cutting or working with large image files will see a noticeable difference compared to more powerful tablets, with slightly delayed processes and occasional lagging.

Things get even worse when it comes to graphics performance, where the Tab S10 FE is often slower than all comparable devices from other manufacturers, even those that are significantly cheaper.

The rendering performance in 4K is too low for smooth display, and this also applies to complex graphics in the screen's native resolution. At 1080p, the performance is usually sufficient for smooth playback.

When browsing the internet, our test device ranked in the middle of the comparison field. Websites load quickly and images are available after minimal delays when scrolling.

4K videos on YouTube play smoothly.

Samsung has upgraded the storage compared to its predecessor and now uses UFS 3.1 storage, which enables significantly faster access and shorter waits. When compared to its Android competitors, however, Samsung is not at the forefront in terms of storage speed.

Did we say that Exynos chips often have a problem with overheating? Well, temperature control is easier with a large tablet and the Galaxy Tab S10 FE manages to stay cool even after long periods under load: We measured a maximum surface temperature of 40.3 °C.

Throttling is no problem either, as the 3DMark stress tests show. Instead, they reveal something else: The graphics unit doesn't support some of the more modern features such as Ray Tracing, which means that the 3DMark Solar Bay cannot be executed, despite working on all comparison devices (except for the predecessor). 

Samsung seems to have a good grip on the Galaxy Tab S10 FE's energy demand. That said, the model also offers significantly lower performance than some other tablets, so it's important to take this into account, especially when evaluating the load values.

The tablet can be charged with a maximum of 25 watts; no charger is included with the tablet. 

Even when using chargers with the appropriate power output, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE did not always charge at full speed in our test lab. It appears that chargers have to support USB Power Delivery in order to enable fast charging. Even then, it takes almost 3 hours to fully charge the device.

The 8000-mAh battery managed to keep the tablet going for 14:47 hours in our practical WiFi test. This should get you through a day on the couch, but if you use your tablet regularly you might need to recharge it every night.

Under load, the battery lasts about 4 hours.