Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra, Tab S12+ Land in India From ₹1.3 Lakh

Samsung just priced its new flagship tablet above what a lot of entry-level laptops cost in India — and from October 7, you'll be able to walk into a store and actually buy one.

The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra and Galaxy Tab S12+ are Samsung's latest attempt to make the case that a tablet can replace a laptop for serious work, not just video calls and Netflix. Both go on sale in India the same day they launch in the US, Korea, the UK, Germany and Japan — a rare case of Indian buyers not waiting months for a global flagship.

What's actually different this time

The headline spec is the chipset. Both tablets run on MediaTek's Dimensity 9500, a flagship mobile processor built to handle heavy multitasking and on-device AI tasks without needing to send everything to the cloud. Samsung says the jump from last year's Tab S11 Ultra is real: roughly 61% better NPU performance (the NPU, or neural processing unit, is the chip component that handles AI features like live translation or image generation locally), about 19% faster CPU, and 17% better graphics.

The two models differ mainly in size and stamina. The Ultra gets a 14.6-inch 120Hz AMOLED display and an 11,600mAh battery; the S12+ steps down to a 12.6-inch screen and a 10,600mAh cell. Both support 45W fast charging, come IP68-rated for dust and water resistance, pack quad speakers, and let you expand storage by up to 2TB via microSD — something no iPad has offered in years.

The bigger shift is software. For the first time on any Android tablet, Adobe Photoshop comes pre-installed, with an interface rebuilt around the S Pen and the larger screen rather than a stretched phone app. Pair that with Samsung's Galaxy AI tools and the pitch is clear: this is aimed at people who'd otherwise reach for an iPad Pro or a laptop to get real work done.

What it costs in India

• Galaxy Tab S12+ (Wi-Fi, 12GB/256GB): ₹1,29,999
• Galaxy Tab S12+ (5G, 12GB/512GB): ₹1,64,999
• Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (Wi-Fi, entry variant): ₹1,49,999
• Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (5G, 12GB/512GB): ₹1,84,999

That top-end Ultra configuration costs more than many mid-range laptops sold in India, including several Windows machines with comparable or better raw CPU power. Samsung is betting that battery life, portability and the S Pen justify the premium for its target buyer.

"Packing breakthrough performance, long-lasting battery life, and the latest Galaxy AI into Galaxy Tab's signature ultra-thin design, the new lineup turns complex workflows into effortless, everyday achievements" — Samsung, in its global Galaxy Tab S12 launch announcement.

Why this matters for Indian buyers specifically

India's tablet market has historically been split between cheap Android slates used mostly for streaming and kids' schoolwork, and the iPad, which still dominates the premium end almost by default. A tablet priced near ₹1.5-1.85 lakh is a direct shot at that iPad Pro territory, aimed at design students, architects, consultants and anyone who sketches, annotates PDFs or edits photos for a living.

It also lands at a moment when premium devices are arriving in India faster than they used to. Apple's first foldable, the iPhone Duo, launched here at ₹2,99,900 just weeks ago — a sign that global device makers increasingly treat India as a launch-day market for flagship hardware, not an afterthought that gets last year's model six months late. For students and freelancers, though, the real question isn't whether the hardware is impressive — it's whether ₹1.3 lakh-plus makes sense next to a capable Windows laptop that can run full desktop software without compromise.

There's also a practical angle: with microSD support up to 2TB, Indian buyers who've learned to distrust cloud storage pricing and patchy rural connectivity get an easy way around both, something Apple still won't offer on any iPad.

The real test starts after launch day

Specs and press photos are one thing; whether creative professionals actually swap a laptop for a tablet is another. Samsung has made this pitch before with earlier Tab S Ultra models, and the honest answer is that most buyers still keep a laptop around for anything beyond light editing. Photoshop pre-installed is a genuine first, but it's the kind of feature that needs a few months of real-world reviews — not a launch keynote — before anyone can say whether it changes how people actually work. Expect the louder verdict to come from design studios and college campuses, not spec sheets.