Most of us already use AI in bits and pieces: a chatbot in one tab, a translator in another, a notes app that talks to neither. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra puts the AI in the same place as the pen, the screen and the keyboard, so less gets carried between apps. The plainer question is what actually changes in a student's day, or a working person's day, when the tablet has AI built in.
Our team spent time with the tablet, the S Pen and the Pro Keyboard. Below we follow a simple loop that covers most study and office work: capture, understand, produce.
Contents
Capture: the pen is still the fastest way in
Lectures, meetings and client calls start the same way: get it down before you lose it. The Tab S12 Ultra has a 14.6-inch screen, so there is room for a full page of handwriting, and the S Pen comes in the box and attaches magnetically to the edge.
Samsung Notes is where Galaxy AI shows up here. We gave it a page of study notes on Hofstede's cultural dimensions and asked for a summary. It returned five short points in a panel beside the notes, marked as generated using AI. That is the point of it: long notes become something you can reread in a minute, instead of a page you dread opening before an exam or a follow-up call.
Samsung also lists free-access periods for Notability and Goodnotes, so if you already live in one of those apps, you are not forced to switch.
Understand: ask the screen, not a search engine
This is the step that changes most for students. You hit a word, a diagram or a formula you do not understand. The old routine is to leave the page, open a browser, describe it and hope. Circle to Search, one of the best-known Galaxy AI features, flips that: you mark the thing on screen and search for exactly that, without leaving what you are reading.
Gemini is the second half. Samsung bundles six months of Google AI Pro, which covers Gemini and Gemini Notebook. Use it when a search result is not enough and you want something explained, a long reading summarised, or a rough draft to react to. Below is Gemini's image template screen on our tablet.
A fair warning: an AI summary is a starting point, not a source. If it goes into an assignment or a client document, check it against the original.
Produce: three apps, a keyboard and a real workspace
Understanding is half the job. Then you have to write the report, build the slides or fix the design. The tablet runs up to three apps on screen at once, and on a 14.6-inch panel that is genuinely usable. In our setup below, notes sit on the left, Samsung's Galaxy S26 FE page on the top right and our own S26 FE camera review on YouTube below it: research, source and writing in one view.
Typing is where the Pro Keyboard (EF-DX935, RM1,599) comes in. It has a dedicated AI Key, which Samsung says calls up Galaxy AI, and a DeX key, which Samsung says switches the tablet into its desktop mode. The sparkle-icon AI key sits next to the DeX key in our photo. For the hardware in full, see our [Pro Keyboard review](https://productnation.co/my/32195/samsung-pro-keyboard-ef-dx935-review-MX6T/).
For design and image work, Samsung pre-loads Adobe Photoshop and says it is a first for an Android tablet. The photo below shows Adobe's website open on our tablet with the keyboard attached; it is the site, not the Photoshop app.
What our tester said
We would rather be straight about the rough edges.
- Battery: normal. It is not super long lasting, but it does last. Samsung rates the Ultra at up to 23 hours, but a rating is not a result, so plan around your own use.
- Keyboard: comfortable to type on.
- S Pen: it sometimes did not register a touch, depending on the angle it was held at while writing. If you take notes by hand all day, try it in a store first.
More detail is in our [Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra review](https://productnation.co/my/32194/samsung-galaxy-tab-s12-ultra-review-ilgZ/).
Who it suits
- University and college students who handwrite notes, read a lot and turn it into written work. The loop above is made for them.
- Working people who sit in meetings and then write follow-ups, decks or briefs, and like switching between pen and keyboard.
- Creators and freelancers who sketch or retouch and also write.
It is less convincing if you mostly watch video and browse. You would be paying for a pen, a big screen and AI tools you may not use.
Price and offers
The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra is RM5,999 for Wi-Fi 256GB and RM6,649 for 5G 256GB. The Pro Keyboard is RM1,599 on top.
For students and educators, the education offer is the one to look at: at least 20% off with a valid education email, plus a complimentary S Pen and Book Cover Keyboard Slim, through Samsung.com, the Shop app and selected Samsung Experience Stores. The Book Cover Keyboard Slim is a different, cheaper accessory from the Pro Keyboard above.
Samsung's launch offer (app subscriptions valued at RM1,123.58, accessories worth up to RM1,208, up to RM500 in instant rebates, instalments from RM127.75 a month) ends on 8 Nov 2026. After that date, check Samsung Malaysia for what is running.
The takeaway
An AI companion does not do your learning or your job for you. It removes small stops: leaving the page to search, retyping notes, juggling windows. On the Tab S12 Ultra the pen, the screen, Galaxy AI and the keyboard sit in one place. Our tester found it comfortable to type on, the battery fine if unremarkable, and the pen worth testing for angle. For students who can claim the education offer, it is a sensible package. For everyone else it is laptop money, so make sure capture, understand and produce is how you really work.
