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There's a fine line between being a fan and maintaining objectivity. In the smartphone segment, I think Samsung's done a great job keeping up with Apple over the years. And in 2025, picking an iPhone over a Galaxy S, or the other way around, boils down to personal preferences more than ever.
However, while Samsung is winning in some cases, such as AI, I must admit that Apple is way ahead of Samsung in others. Sometimes, our favorite brand isn't trying hard enough. This is one of those examples.
Samsung is losing to Apple in the budget tablet game!
I think most of you will agree that the majority of people who buy sub-$500 tablets aren't looking for laptop replacements but for solid entertainment devices.
For the most part, these customers value the following characteristics over everything else:
- A decent screen and good speakers for watching video content.
- Good performance for mobile games.
- Great app support for the large screen format.
- A smooth and well-optimized UI without annoying hiccups and lag.
You'd think that Samsung has the entire budget and mid-range tablet segment all by itself. But you'd be wrong. In fact, I think that Samsung is losing to Apple in an embarrassing way.
It's surprising, isn't it? Samsung was supposed to be the brand that offered budget tablets for people who couldn't afford or wouldn't want to buy an expensive, premium iPad.
In reality, Apple now offers one of the best budget tablets around, and Samsung isn't even close. Want proof? Look no further than this model.
Galaxy Tab S10 Lite looks simply foolish
Samsung recently launched the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite as a budget, mid-range tablet with a lower price tag than the Galaxy Tab S10 FE. And if you ask me, it's abysmal. Here's why.
Galaxy Tab S10 Lite specs include:
- A 10.9-inch TFT LCD.
- Stereo speakers.
- An Exynos 1380 chip.
- 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM.
- 8MP main + 5MP selfie camera combo.
- 25W charging.
- S Pen included.
- No fingerprint sensor.
So, okay, the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite is unmistakably a budget-oriented tablet. What's the issue? Well, the price. This tablet costs $429 and up!
Meanwhile, Apple's 2025 iPad, released in March, is not only more powerful and better in many areas, but it is, in fact, cheaper! You read that right. The 2025 iPad costs $349. Apple beat Samsung at its own game. And if you think the 2025 iPad must be a worse tablet, check out the list below.
The 2025 iPad boasts the following:
- 11-inch IPS LCD Liquid Retina display with a higher resolution than the Tab S10 Lite.
- Stereo speakers.
- A much more competent Apple A16 Bionic chip.
- 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM.
- Better 12MP primary + 12MP selfie cameras.
- 45W charging.
- Optional Apple Pencil support.
- Top-mounted fingerprint scanner.
- World-renowned tablet app support and a much smoother UI.
“But the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite comes with an S Pen in the box,” you might say. Fine, but that S Pen is not worth the extra $80, especially when the tablet fails in front of the 2025 iPad in so many other ways.
And, funnily enough, if you want a stylus for the 2025 iPad, you can buy the optional USB-C Apple Pencil for $79.
In total, the 2025 iPad with the optional Apple Pencil included would set you back $428 — or $1 less than the abysmal Galaxy Tab S10 Lite.
And dare I say it, the USB-C Apple Pencil probably offers a superior experience than the low-cost S Pen version paired with a TFT screen and an Exynos 1380.
Other budget Samsung tablets aren't doing that much better
Unfortunately for Samsung and tablet fans, the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite isn't just a fluke. Samsung's tablet game just isn't all that strong outside the premium niche anymore.
Sure, the Galaxy Tab S11 flagships are good options for fans of Samsung DeX, people who want laptop replacements, or users who want a Galaxy tablet linked up to a Galaxy laptop.
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However, anything below the flagship line loses to Apple and makes little sense.
The Galaxy Tab S10 FE, which is equipped with an LCD and an Exynos 1580 chip, is another arguably worse option to the 2025 iPad. Yet somehow, it costs $499.
Then there's the ultra-cheap Galaxy Tab A9+, which is the kind of tablet you'd give to your child in exchange for 5 minutes of silence before they get bored with it and throw it across the room. It costs $219.
Sure enough, the Tab A9+ is cheaper than the iPad, but given how poorly equipped it is, it might still be too much. The 2025 iPad offers a vastly superior experience for $130 extra, and your kid will love it instead of hating you for it.
What's the solution for Samsung?
It saddens me to say this, but the only reason why anyone would pick a tablet like the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite over the iPad is if they truly hate Apple or don't know any better. Or perhaps they truly need a little bit of integration between a tablet and their other Samsung devices.
But anyone who wants a strong entertainment tablet with good support, good performance, and a decent price, will pick the 2025 iPad.
Apple has thrown a spanner in Samsung's works. But I'm thankful for it. Samsung's budget tablets have been sub-far for far too long. Now, the company has to rethink its low and mid-range tablet strategy.
Samsung may have gotten too comfortable thinking that it's the only sub-$500 tablet vendor worth supporting, but that's simply not the case anymore. Samsung's only chance to survive and compete with Apple is to go back to the drawing board. My suggestions?
- Eliminate the Galaxy Tab A-series.
- Eliminate the Galaxy Tab FE tablets, which, oddly enough, come with mid-range chips — unlike FE phones.
- Eliminate abysmal Tab S Lite tablets.
- Stop focusing on the cheap S Pen experience so much.
- Instead, build one (or two at most) decent sub-$500 tablets with fantastic value for money and great performance — enough to compete with Apple's $349 iPad.
Generally speaking, I think Apple rarely beats Samsung. Oftentimes, it's a matter of perspective. But there are times when I have to admit that Apple is objectively doing a better job.
For example, I think that the 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops are objectively better than 16-inch Galaxy Book laptops in at least a couple of areas: their keyboard layout and trackpad design.
Similarly, I think Samsung is losing the budget tablet game badly, and the company needs to do better. Cheap Galaxy tablets with low-end chips and laggy One UI just don't cut it anymore. And the sooner Samsung realizes this, the better off Samsung and its fans will be.
The post Apple’s iPad crushes Samsung budget tablets, and it’s embarrassing appeared first on SamMobile.
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