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Ok but how do you hold it? —

Samsung’s giant 14.6-inch Android tablet has a Macbook-style display notch

It's got super slim bezels, a camera notch, and an S-Pen.

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Promotional image of mammoth computer tablet being used.
Enlarge / The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, with S-Pen and outrageously slim bezels.
Samsung

Android tablets might be showing new signs of life thanks to Google's push with Android 12L, but Samsung never left the Android tablet market. Alongside Samsung's announcement of the Galaxy S22, the company is also revving its tablet line, and it's supersizing Galaxy tablets with the Galaxy S8 Tab Ultra.

The Galaxy S8 Tab Ultra is a monster. Its 14.6-inch (370.8 mm), 120 Hz 2960×1848 OLED display has a 16:10 aspect ratio. The 326.4×208.6×5.5 mm (12.8×8.2×0.2 inch) aluminum body houses an 11,200 mAh battery, and it weighs a whopping 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg). It's bigger than the top half of many laptops.

The keyboard case makes this tablet fully laptop-sized.
Enlarge / The keyboard case makes this tablet fully laptop-sized.

Samsung's choice to build an ultrabig tablet came with the decision to slim down the bezels, which I don't think anyone has ever asked for on a tablet. You can grip a smartphone around the side of it, so the bezel doesn't contribute much. But you need something to hold onto with a tablet. Samsung went all out on the bezel war and added a MacBook Pro-like notch to the S8 Tab Ultra's front display, which houses two 12 MP front-facing cameras (one is a wide-angle lens).

The Ultra model is $1,099.99, the same price as a 12.9-inch iPad Pro. For specs, you get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a MicroSD slot. Two additional configs are available: a 12GB RAM/256GB storage option for $1,199.99, and a 16GB RAM/512GB storage option for $1,399.99. 5G models are also available. There's an in-screen fingerprint reader, USB-C port, Wi-Fi 6E, and two rear cameras: a 13 MP main camera and a 6 MP wide-angle. Samsung could not find room for a headphone jack on the 14.6-inch behemoth.

The keyboard case has a holder for the S-Pen. The top of the cover folds down, allowing you to get at the S-Pen.
Enlarge / The keyboard case has a holder for the S-Pen. The top of the cover folds down, allowing you to get at the S-Pen.
Samsung

The device comes with a stylus that Samsung just calls an "S-Pen," though it is nothing like the small, plastic "S-Pen" that lives in the Galaxy S22 Ultra. This is Apple Pencil-sized and presumably takes a battery. The stylus magnetically attaches to the back of the tablet, in line with the camera bump. This big S-Pen also works on the S22 Ultra, if you happen to buy both devices and don't want to undock your S22 pen.

Samsung also has a keyboard case, turning your massive tablet into a medium-sized laptop. The keyboard connects to the tablet via a set of pogo pins and includes a trackpad and backlit keys. The keyboard is normally $349, but you can get one free with a preorder.

The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is up for preorder now on Samsung.com, and it ships February 25.

Take one last look at that weird notch.
Enlarge / Take one last look at that weird notch.
Samsung

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Update:

I originally called this Samsung's biggest tablet ever, but that was actually the 18.4-inch Galaxy View in 2015.

Listing image by Samsung

Ron Amadeo Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work. He loves to tinker and always seems to be working on a new project.

Channel Ars Technica

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