Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra proves that the S Pen isn't dead

Hands-on with Samsung's Tab S11 and Tab S11 Ultra on the ground at IFA 2025

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 at IFA 2025 (Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

• 📱 Galaxy Tab S11 and Tab S11 Ultra have launched today at IFA 2025

• 🤖 Samsung is touting OneUI 8, Galaxy AI, and Gemini Live, but the real news is…

• 🖋️ …The S Pen stylus has returned! It attaches magnetically to the frame

• 📐 The 11-inch and 14.6-inch sizes have the same chipset and similar specs

• 💰 It’s cheaper than Apple’s iPad Pro, and Samsung’s 14.6-inch size is larger

The S Pen lives on, thanks to today’s launch of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 and Tab S11 Ultra, and I had the opportunity to go hands-on with both at IFA 2025 in Berlin, Germany.

Me using the S Pen in Samsung Notes (Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

As noted in our Galaxy Z Fold 7 review, Samsung’s handy stylus is a missing component to the ultra-thin foldable smartphone despite the fact that it’s been around since the original Galaxy Note series launched in 2011 and the original Fold in 2019. In my mind, the omission of the screen digitizer was the right call to finally make foldables feel less chunky. That needed to happen for the form factor to go mainstream. But I still miss having a good stylus.

It’s Samsung’s slimmest tablet yet (Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

The Tab S11 Ultra remains slim – the frame is just 5.1mm – and it's Samsung’s thinnest tablet yet. The S Pen is on the larger size, akin to a pencil, compared to the toothpick-like stylus you may have experienced with a Fold or Note smartphone.

The S Pen mangetically attaches to the frame of the tablet (Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

So how does it work? Like an iPad and more recent Samsung tablets, this stylus attaches magnetically to the frame or can be holstered in a folio case. Samsung is selling a Book Cover Keyboard Slim and a Book Cover Folio separately, while the S Pen comes included.

Here are the two sizes – 11 inches and 14.6 inches – next to each other(Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra specs

The Galaxy Tab S11 series comes in two sizes: 14.6 inches and 11 inches. You’ll get more from the larger Ultra tablet: an anti-reflective screen, an additional 8 MP Ultra Wide camera on the back, WiFi 7 instead of WiFi 6, and a top configuration of 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Of course, the Ultra has a larger capacity battery, which DeX power users will like.

Holding the tablet in portrait mode (Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

But Tab S11 sizes run the same MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ chipset and include the S Pen in the box. They both feature a 120Hz AMOLED screen with a peak brightness of 1,600 nits, a quad-speaker system, an IP68 dust- and water-resistant rating, an in-display fingerprint sensor, and color options of gray and silver. The Galaxy S25 FE, also launching today at IFA 2025, has a wider variety of colors.

The back of the 11-inch tablet (Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra price

The Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra feels big, like the Tab S10 Ultra before it. It’s noticeably larger than Apple’s “big” iPad Pro 12.9. There’s plenty of room for OneUI 8 to spread its wings with true multitasking and AI, including the latest version of Galaxy AI and Google’s Gemini AI Live.

You’ll pay $100 less for Samsung’s larger tablet than you would for an iPad Pro 12.9. The Galaxy S11 Ultra starts at $1,199 (Apple charges $1,299 these days), while the standard Galaxy Tab S11 starts at $799 (Apple’s 11-inch costs $999). We’ll call both sizes in for a full review on The Shortcut as soon as we’re done with the impending iPhone 17 launch event.