Samsung has officially revived its compact flagship tablet line with the Galaxy Tab S11. After skipping the base model in the Tab S10 generation, the company is back with an 11-inch tablet that takes on Apple’s iPad Air M3.
Samsung’s out with its brightest 11-inch AMOLED tablet yet, complete with a redesigned S Pen in the box, but Apple offers the super-powerful iPad Air for $200 less. Which one offers better value, then?
Well, it's not like you'd pick the Galaxy if you're deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem or vice versa, because it would make little sense, but nevertheless, let’s break things down.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 vs Apple iPad Air M3 differences explained:
Both have premium build quality, but very different screens
Samsung didn't aim to reinvent the wheel, and it didn't. Thus, the Galaxy Tab S11 utilizes the same tried-and-tested design language with the Galaxy Tab S11, which sticks to the flat-side look with slim uniform bezels and an Armor Aluminum frame. It measures 253.8 × 165.3 × 5.5 mm and weighs 482 g.
The same situation is true about the iPad Air M3 as well. It's an aluminum slab as well, but is slightly thicker at 6.1 mm yet lighter at 460 g. It has noticeably thicker bezels and lacks water resistance, while the Galaxy Tab S9 enjoys an IP68 rating.
Image by PhoneArena
But the screen is the area in which Samsung truly dominates. The Tab S11’s 11-inch AMOLED reaches 1,600 nits peak brightness and has a 60-120Hz refresh rate, making it smooth and vibrant.
Yet, despite the fact that this is arguably the most important part of a tablet, the iPad Air M3 rocks a rather outdated 11-inch IPS LCD panel that's limited to 60Hz and about 500 nits of peak brightness, which is hardly enough even for indoor usage. All of that brings down the overall user experience.
Color saturation and contrast are where the Galaxy easily beats its iPad reveal.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
The Tab S11 comes in Gray and Silver, while the iPad Air offers more playful shades — Space Gray, Starlight, Purple, and Blue.
Keyboard and Stylus
Samsung still includes the S Pen in the box, which now has a cone-shaped tip and a hexagonal body for a more pencil-like feel, making the stylus more comfortable.
The iPad Air M3, on the other hand, supports two separate styluses, but both are sold separately:
Apple Pencil (USB-C) — $79: good for notes and simple sketching, but without pressure sensitivity.
Apple Pencil Pro — $129: comes with squeeze gestures, barrel rotation, haptics, and full pressure/tilt sensitivity. It can be charged magnetically to the iPad, snapping right onto it.
That means while the Galaxy Tab S11 gives you everything you need for creative or productivity work out of the box, iPad Air buyers need to add at least $79 — and realistically $129 — to unlock the same kind of stylus experience.
Performance & Benchmarks
M3 vs. Dimensity
The iPad Air’s Apple M3 chip is still unmatched for raw power — it’s essentially a MacBook chip inside a tablet. Heavy creative apps like Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro run with ease, though it is somewhat of an overkill as only a few apps are able to utilize it properly.
The Galaxy Tab S11’s MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ (3nm) is no slouch either.
In Geekbench 6, the Galaxy Tab S11 scores 2,776 points in the single-core and 8,811 points in the multi-core tests, which is subpar to what the iPad delivers (3,017/11,728). That's to be expected when you go against a tablet with a decidedly desktop-grade chipset on board.
However, when it comes to graphics, it's the other way around, and the Galaxy Tab S11 dominates its Apple competitor. It beats it in both peak and sustained graphics performance.
Memory and storage are also rather different between the two, as one would imagine. Samsung puts 12 GB of RAM as standard across all its models, either 128, 256, or 512GB of storage, and it also adds a microSDXC card slot on board that accepts cards of up to 2 TB, a real rarity these days. Apple offers less, just 8 GB of RAM and fixed storage up to 1 TB, but no expansion.
Software
The Galaxy Tab S11 launches with Android 16 and One UI 8, backed by seven years of updates. Samsung adds DeX Extended Mode, which finally treats an external display as a second screen (just like the iPad), and Galaxy AI features like Writing Assist, Drawing Assist, and Gemini Live.
The iPad Air M3 runs iPadOS 18, moving toward iPadOS 26 with the new Liquid Glass redesign. It also supports Apple Intelligence, Apple’s new AI suite that is still severely behind the competition. Apple generally supports iPads for 6–7 years as well.
Battery and Charging
Image by PhoneArena
The Tab S11 carries an 8,400 mAh battery with 45W wired charging. The iPad Air M3 has a smaller 7,606 mAh battery with 20W charging, meaning it will recharge up significantly slower. Both should last a full day, but Samsung has the advantage in charging speed, which is a major plus when it comes to tablet-sized batteries. No adapter is included in the box with either.
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How do these two fare in our custom battery tests?
It's the Galaxy that lasts longer in all of our three tests, beating the iPad by a little in web browsing and video playback, but etching out a large gap in the 3D gaming test. Nice one, Samsung!
Charging is yet another area in which the inconspicuous Galaxy beats the iPad with a charging speed of 97 minutes versus the 140-minute on of Apple's mid-range tablet.
Camera
Nothing too spectacular
Image by PhoneArena
Neither tablet is great for photography. The Tab S11 has a 13 MP rear camera and a 12 MP ultrawide front camera with reliable auto-exposure for video calls. The iPad Air M3 sports a 12 MP rear and 12MP ultrawide front as well. Both will do just fine for FaceTime, Zoom, or quick snaps.
Which one should you buy?
Image by PhoneArena
The iPad Air M3 wins on raw performance and ecosystem perks. If you’re already invested in Apple gear and want the power of the M3 chip, it’s the easy choice — just be ready to spend extra on the Pencil.
But the Galaxy Tab S11 comes with a couple of major benefits that define a great mobile device: great battery life, faster charging, excellent screen quality, better graphics performance, and a stylus.
The smoother and brighter screen elevates every experience on the tablet, especially when it comes to movies or other video content. The included S Pen immediately lets you use the tablet in creative ways. It's also awesome to have expandable storage, especially if you don't want to spend too much of your cash upfront for more on-device storage.
For most people who value display quality and productivity, the Tab S11 feels like the more balanced package. The iPad Air M3 is the better fit only if you specifically need Apple apps or that M3 muscle.
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Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.
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