Galaxy Tab S12 Plus vs iPad Air 13" (3th Gen, 2026)
94
out of 100
VS
89
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship tablets: the 12.6-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Plus (with MediaTek Dimensity 9500) that was released on September 30, 2026, against the Apple iPad Air 13" (3th Gen, 2026), which is powered by Apple M4 (iPad) and came out 7 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Plus
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 2048GB
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 20W)
- Dynamic AMOLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
- Smaller footprint: 10% more compact case (84.3 vs 93.5 square inches)
- Weighs 63 grams less
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Air 13" (3th Gen, 2026)
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3738 and 3304 points
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | IPS LCD |
| Size | 12.6 inches | 13 inches |
| Resolution | 1752 x 2800 pixels | 2048 x 2732 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 4:3 |
| PPI | 262 ppi | 264 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1000 nits | 600 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1600 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | No |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84.7% | 86.8% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | - | 99.8% |
| PWM | - | Not detected |
| Response time | - | 19 ms |
| Contrast | - | 1563:1 |
Screen space comparison
iPad Air 13" (3th Gen, 2026)
13″ (4:3 ratio) = 81.1 in2
Galaxy Tab S12 Plus
12.6″ (16:10 ratio) = 71.4 in2
~13% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 289.5 mm (11.4 inches) | 280.6 mm (11.05 inches) |
| Width | 187.8 mm (7.39 inches) | 214.9 mm (8.46 inches) |
| Thickness | 5.3 mm (0.21 inches) | 6.1 mm (0.24 inches) |
| Weight | 553 g (19.51 oz) | 616 g (21.73 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | No |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Silver, Gray | Gold, Gray, Blue, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-button |
| Area | 544 cm2 (84.2 inches2) | 603 cm2 (93.5 inches2) |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.84/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Bad (E) · 16 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (1st and 11th place)
Android Tablet Ranking (#1st place)
iPad Ranking (#4th place)
Performance
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 9500 | Apple M4 (iPad) |
| Max clock | 4210 MHz | 4410 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 10 (4 + 6) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.7 GHz: C1-Pro - 3 cores at 3.5 GHz: C1-Premium - 1 core at 4.21 GHz: C1-Ultra |
- 6 cores at 2.85 GHz: - 4 cores at 4.41 GHz: |
| L3 cache | 16 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | MediaTek NPU 990 | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Mali-G1 Ultra MP12 | 9 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | - |
| GPU clock | 1716 MHz | 1470 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~5271.5 GFLOPS | ~3763.2 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 22109 | - |
| Single-core score | 3304 | 3738 |
| Multi-core score | 10143 | 13702 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1161677 | 1732068 |
| GPU | 1444320 | 945613 |
| Memory | 343287 | 349993 |
| UX | 842916 | 590286 |
| Total score | 3792200 | 3617960 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | Less than 3 |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Graphics test | - | 22 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 3027 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 49 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 59 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 49 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 38 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 12850 |
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 5333 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | - | NVMe |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 2048 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 17 | iPadOS 26.3 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) |
| ROM | One UI 9 | - |
| OS size | - | 26 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 0 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 10600 mAh | 10340 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | No | - |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 45 min) | Yes (51% in 70 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:35 hr | 2:28 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
Main camera
| Matrix | 13 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4128 x 3096 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | - | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 13 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - | - Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 13 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| Sensor | CMOS | CMOS |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | eSIM |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 4.0 | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2026 | March 2026 |
| Release date | October 2026 | March 2026 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1199 | $799 |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Yes, 20 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display is more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Plus. But if the camera, connectivity, software, and design are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPad Air 13" (3th Gen, 2026).
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