Samsung's newest tablets are almost here. The Galaxy Tab S12 NZ release date is Wednesday 21 October, and that's when the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra and the Galaxy Tab S12+ land in stores across the country. The S12+ starts at $2,299 and the Ultra starts at $2,699, both for the 256GB Wi-Fi model.
Samsung is pitching these as productivity machines rather than big-screen Netflix tablets. Both come with an S Pen in the box, a faster chip than last year and a noticeably bigger bundle of pro apps. Here's what you're getting for your money.
The Galaxy Tab S12+ starts at $2,299 and the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra at $2,699 (256GB, Wi-Fi). Both go on sale in NZ on 21 October with an S Pen in the box.
Model | Starting RRP | Configuration |
|---|---|---|
Galaxy Tab S12+ | $2,299 | 12GB RAM, 256GB, Wi-Fi |
Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra | $2,699 | 12GB RAM, 256GB, Wi-Fi |
That puts $400 between the two, and most of that gap pays for the bigger screen on the Ultra. Both tablets also come in a 512GB version. If you're weighing whether to pay for it, both models take a microSD card of up to 2TB, which is a much cheaper way to add storage later.
There's no getting around it, these aren't cheap tablets. They're priced closer to a decent laptop than a casual couch tablet, so they make the most sense for people who'll actually put the S Pen and the pro apps to work. And if you've ever wondered why tech lands at the price it does here, we've unpacked that before.
Colour choice is a bit limited. You can have Grey or Silver, but Silver only comes in the 256GB Wi-Fi model, so anything else you order will be Grey.
The headline change is how thin the Ultra has got. At 5.1mm, the Tab S12 Ultra is the thinnest Galaxy Tab Samsung has ever made, and the Wi-Fi model weighs 692g. That's under 700 grams for a tablet with a 14.6-inch screen, which is a lot of display to carry around at that weight. The S12+ is barely thicker at 5.3mm and weighs 553g.
Inside, both run MediaTek's Dimensity 9500, a 3nm chip. Samsung says that compared with the Tab S11 Ultra, the CPU is 19 per cent faster, graphics are 17 per cent faster and AI processing is 61 per cent faster. Those are Samsung's own numbers, so I'd treat them as a claim until independent testing is done.
The more interesting change for anyone doing heavy work is cooling. Samsung has fitted a new 3D vapour chamber that pulls heat away faster than the flat one in the previous models. That should help the tablet hold its speed during long sessions of video editing or design work, instead of slowing down once it warms up.
The Ultra gets a 14.6-inch screen and the S12+ a 12.6-inch one. Both are 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels that peak at 1,600 nits, so they should hold up outdoors as well as inside. The S12+ screen is also bigger than its predecessor's, with slimmer bezels around it.
Sound gets a proper upgrade too. Both tablets now have four speakers with 4-channel spatial audio, double the channels of the last generation.
Samsung quotes up to 23 hours of video playback on the Ultra and up to 21 hours on the S12+. Those figures come from lab testing with 720p video stored on the tablet. Both tablets charge at up to 45W.
Both tablets and the S Pen are IP68 rated, tested in fresh water down to 1.5 metres for 30 minutes. There's a catch in the fine print, though. Samsung advises against using them at the beach or the pool, so treat the rating as protection against accidents, not permission for a day at Mount Maunganui.
It does, and Samsung says this is the first time an Android tablet has shipped with Photoshop preinstalled. It's the tablet version of the app, it works with the S Pen, and it includes Adobe's AI tools like Generative Fill. S12 buyers get four months of the Photoshop mobile plan free.
The rest of the app bundle is more generous than usual:
Notability: preinstalled, with six months free and 20% off the first subscription
Goodnotes: one year free
Google AI Pro: a six-month trial, with Gemini
LumaFusion: 66% off until 30 November 2026
Clip Studio Paint: a six-month trial, then 20% off the first subscription
Notion: one month of the Plus plan free
Before you get too excited, most of these are trials that roll into paid subscriptions when they finish. They're a good way to try the apps, but set a reminder for anything you don't plan to keep. Samsung also notes that app availability varies by country.
The S Pen comes in the box with both models, although it doesn't support Bluetooth.
The keyboards are sold separately. The Pro Keyboard has an aluminium finish and a dedicated Galaxy AI key that opens an AI assistant. Pressing Alt with that key lets you switch between Gemini, Bixby and Perplexity. If you'd rather have something lighter, there's the Book Cover Keyboard Slim, and there's also a standard Book Cover, an anti-reflecting screen protector and a Frame Cover that only fits the Ultra.
Both tablets launch with Android 17 and One UI 9, and Samsung promises up to seven OS upgrades and security updates. For a tablet at this price, that matters. It's the difference between a device that's out of date in a few years and one that still gets updates for a long time.
If this is what finally gets an old tablet out of the drawer, trading it in can take some of the sting out of the price. Samsung Care+ is also available if you want cover for accidental damage and an extended warranty.
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