5 Affordable Android Tablet Alternatives To The Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra

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Samsung's Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra is the latest model from the company's flagship tablet lineup. Under the hood, this tablet is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9500 processor, which promises performance boosts across CPU, GPU, and NPU tasks. It sports an impressive 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with several bells and whistles, including a high 120 Hz refresh rate and 1,600 nits peak brightness. 

The MediaTek chip is paired with 12 or 16 GB of memory and either 256 GB, 512 GB, or 1 TB of storage, which you can expand further with a microSD card of up to 2 TB. Generally, the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra is an impressive tablet, at least on paper. If you were planning to get this tablet, you'd have to spend at least $1,399.99, which is more expensive than some of the best laptops you can buy in 2026. 

That gets you the 256 GB model, while the 512 GB and 1 TB models go for $1,599.99 and $1,999.99, respectively. That's a premium price tag, and not everyone can afford to spend $1,400 on a tablet, let alone $2,000. Fortunately, the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra isn't the only tablet on the market. There are plenty of affordable Android tablets to consider if you don't want to spend that much.

You don't have to look further than Samsung's current Galaxy Tab S12 series to find something cheaper than the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra. The Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra is Samsung's 2026 flagship tablet and hence the most expensive in the lineup. But sitting directly below it is the Galaxy Tab S12+, which is a slightly toned-down version that sells for less. As for the cost, it starts at $1,199.99. 

For that price, you're getting a slightly smaller tablet with a 12.6-inch display. However, with a screen over 12 inches, the Tab S12+ still offers the kind of display space you'd expect from some of the best large tablets. Even better, it comes with some of the goodies found on the larger Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra. The 12.6-inch panel uses AMOLED display tech, has a 120 Hz refresh rate, and 1,600 nits peak brightness. That display has a resolution of 1,752 x 2,800, and since it's smaller, the Tab S12+'s panel has a higher pixel density, so content should appear crisper than on its larger, more expensive sibling. 

Under the hood, the Tab S12+ uses the same 3nm Dimensity 9500 chip; however, it's only paired with 12 GB of memory, and you can only choose between 256 GB and 512 GB of storage. Its storage is expandable up to 2 TB via a microSD card. This tablet has a single 13 MP rear camera and a 12 MP selfie camera, and draws power from a 10,600 mAh battery, which supports 45 W fast charging.

The second affordable tablet that you can consider is the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra's predecessor. Launched in 2025, the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra offers most of the features available on the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra for less. For context, the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is currently listed for $1,085 on Amazon, a savings of just over $300. That makes it a great value-for-money pick, considering how many hardware features it shares with its successor. 

The Tab S11 Ultra has the same 14.6-inch AMOLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate, 1,600-nit peak brightness, and 1,848 by 2,960 pixel resolution. It also has an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance and supports storage expansion via a microSD card. The camera setup is identical and is made up of two lenses on the rear (a 13 MP wide and an 8 MP ultrawide) and a single 12 MP ultrawide on the front. Even the battery capacity is the same, with both devices being powered by an 11,600 mAh cell that supports 45 W fast charging. 

Besides, the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is scheduled to receive seven years of software and security updates. So what gives?  Well, one of the main downgrades here is that it uses an older MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ instead of the 9500 on the Tab S12 Ultra. Other than that, you're getting almost the same tablet as the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra at a lower price.

If you're willing to consider Android tablets from other companies, consider the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro. Chinese tech company Xiaomi doesn't sell its phones in the U.S.; however, it has a handful of products on sale on Amazon. The Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro costs around $640 on Amazon, less than half the price of the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra, and looks really solid on paper. Powering this tablet is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, the same one found in some of the best Android phones of 2025 (like Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra), and it's still a solid performer in 2026. 

The Snapdragon 8 Elite chip is paired with 12 GB of memory and 512 GB of storage, although there's a slightly cheaper variant with 8 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage. Xiaomi equipped the tablet with a 9,200 mAh battery, and charging shouldn't take long, as it supports the company's proprietary 67 W fast-charging technology. This tablet comes with an 11.2-inch display with a 144 Hz refresh rate, 3,200 by 2,136 resolution, DCI-P3 support, and Dolby Vision HDR support. 

For taking pictures, the tablet has a single 50 MP rear camera and a 32 MP selfie camera. Like the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra, the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro is slim, although at 0.23 inches thick, it's slightly thicker than Samsung's flagship tablet. However, it's much lighter, weighing just over 1 pound. You can buy the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro in Gray, Blue, or Pine Green on Amazon.

The RedMagic brand might not be as well-known as Samsung, but the company's Astra 2 is worth considering if you're looking for an affordable Android tablet. It's a 9.06-inch device that starts at $749. The RedMagic Astra 2 is marketed as a gaming tablet, but that doesn't have to stop you from using it for other productivity tasks. It features an OLED display with a 185 Hz refresh rate, which is higher than that of the Tab S12 Ultra. 

That display has a 2,400-by-1,504-pixel resolution, 1,600-nit peak brightness, and DCI-P3 support. The primary selling point that makes this tablet so appealing to gamers is its liquid cooling system, which RedMagic says helps the device maintain peak performance. The company claims this is the first mass-produced gaming tablet with liquid cooling. An 8,300 mAh battery powers the tablet, and it supports 75 W fast charging. Interestingly, the RedMagic Astra 2 has two USB-C ports. 

As a tablet targeted at mobile gaming, it's powered by a flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. The cheapest variant of the RedMagic Astra 2 comes with 12 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage. If you need extra storage and performance, there's a 16/512 GB variant. On the camera side of things, you get a 13 MP rear camera and a 9 MP front camera. As of this writing, you can pre-order the RedMagic Astra 2 directly from the company's website.

If you want an Android tablet that's not only cheaper than the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra but also more budget-friendly than the others on this list, consider the OnePlus Pad Go 2. Even though OnePlus is leaving the U.S. market, that doesn't make its tablets suddenly bad. Launched toward the end of 2025, the OnePlus Pad Go 2 is an affordable Android tablet priced at $499 for the 256 GB version. It features a 12.1-inch screen that uses IPS LCD display tech instead of AMOLED on high-end tablets like the Galaxy Tab S12+ and S12 Ultra. 

That display includes a 120 Hz refresh rate and 1,980-by-2,800-pixel resolution. OnePlus went with MediaTek's Dimensity 7300 Ultra for the processor and chose 8 GB of memory as standard. For storage, there are 128 GB and 256 GB versions, although availability varies by market. The 256 GB 5G version supports microSD expansion, but the 128 GB Wi-Fi model sold in the U.S. doesn't have a microSD slot. 

The OnePlus Pad Go 2 comes with a 10,050 mAh battery, which the company says can deliver up to 15 hours of video playback time. To juice that battery, the tablet supports 33 W wired charging via USB-C. You get a total of two lenses for pictures and videos: an 8 MP rear lens and another 8 MP one on the front. The 256 GB OnePlus Pad Go 2 is available on Amazon for $499, while the 128 GB variant sells for $399.