Keeping everyone happy and entertained in the car on a journey can be a challenge, and while in-car entertainment has improved vastly in the digital age, portable devices still often offer a better and more flexible alternative.
Instead of investing vast sums of money on rear-seat entertainment systems to keep the smaller passengers entertained on a trip, portable devices like phones and tablets offer a flexible, more cost-effective alternative. But while phones are fine for media consumption on the go, a bigger screen is always better when it come to this. But how big do you need?
As a Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra user, I can tell you firsthand that the 14.6-inch, 732-gram monster is a fantastic powerhouse of a tablet, but just too big for convenient daily use - it is basically a laptop, making it not terribly convenient for keeping the peace in the back seat of the car on a long journey...
However, Samsung’s latest entry into its “FE” range may be the solution to the delicate balancing act of size versus portability, with the first large format entry into the more affordable line up, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+
FE stands for “Fan Edition” and a line of devices that Samsung has packed the most popular features from their flagship series phones and tablets, but at more affordable and family-friendly price-points.
As such the Tab S10 FE+ takes features from the S10+ and S10 Ultra tablets and splits the difference in terms of screen size, boasting a 13.1-inch LCD display (the S10+ and S10 Ultra use a 12.4-inch and 14.6-inch AMOLED displays respectively) and shaves the weight down to 664g for the Wi-Fi version and 668g for the 5G model.
More importantly it also shaves the cost back to less than both flagship tablets.
Where the S10+ starts around the $1500 mark (and the Ultra clocks in at a hefty $2329), the FE+ offers an entry into Samsung’s large format tablet range at $1249 for the 128GB model that packs 8GB of RAM, while the 256GB model costs $1349 and comes with 12GB of RAM.
The S10 FE+ is super responsive which makes using it while the car is in motion relatively effortless, while the bright screen makes perfect for in-car viewing.
The lighter and slightly smaller form factor immediately makes the S10 FE+ far easier to live with in a car than the bulky Ultra, while its nice balance and smooth edges make it a pleasure to handle too.
The S10 FE+ features an aluminium frame and a metal rear panel that is only interrupted by two antenna lines on each side and a single rear camera lens. It makes the S10 FE+ a delightfully tactile experience to hold and use, and almost a shame to put a protective cover on. But you know you should, particularly if it is going to be used in the car - although the S10 FE+ is actually IP68 rated, offering protection against water splashes and dust.
Performance-wise, the S10 FE+ features a bright and legible LCD screen that packs a refresh rate of up to 90Hz, which is good for in-car use (lower refresh rates can often make motion sickness worse), but is noticeably less slick and buttery-smooth as the Ultra’s 120Hz refresh rate, while the LCD screen isn’t quite as vivid as the bigger tablet's OLED one.
More importantly, however, the S10 FE+ is super responsive which makes using it while the car is in motion relatively effortless, while the bright screen makes perfect for in-car viewing, with only direct sunlight proving any real challenge to it in terms of outdoor visibility.
While the S10 FE+ is genuinely powerful for a mid-spec tablet (it runs graphically demanding games like Wreckfest and Grid Autosport smoothly and with only minimal softness to graphics at their highest settings), it also boasts excellent battery life from its 10,090mAh battery, with a full day of relatively heavy usage being do-able without the need to charge.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 FE+ is a decently powerful large format tablet that feels solidly built yet is impressively light and portable for its size.
The S10 FE+’s weakest feature would have to be its 13-megapixel rear camera. With its single lens and minimal zoom capabilities, the camera returns soft, slightly washed-out images compared to the photos from a Galaxy S24 Ultra and an 11th-gen iPad A16 and is perfectly acceptable for showing someone your surroundings in video calls, but not much else.
But then no one sensible will be planning on using a massive tablet as their main camera, so it serves its purpose in that regard.
The S10 FE+ comes with an S Pen stylus in the box, which is a nice addition, but it does feel quite plasticky and low quality compared to the S Pens included with Samsung’s flagship tabs. It is also something that is likely to get lost almost immediately if you take it out of the house, as it only connects to the side of the S10 magnetically. Probably best to store that safely at home.
The S10 FE+ lacks Samsung’s Galaxy AI suite of AI tools, some of which can be handy, but are far from essential, particularly in an in-car entertainment use case.
All up, the Samsung Galaxy S10 FE+ is a decently powerful large format tablet that feels solidly built yet is impressively light and portable for its size. Its bright screen makes it perfect for in-car use, while its powerful and responsive Exynos processor and big battery life make it a delight to use all day.
While $1200 is still a lot of money for a tablet, you do get a lot of tablet for that money and for light daily use and media consumption I genuinely preferred it over my big Galaxy S9 Ultra. Getting deeper into demanding gaming or proper work, the Ultra is a clearly superior device, but for a do-it-all in-car entertainment option, the S10 FE+ holds its head high.
Samsung also offers a S10 FE (no +) that packs similar specs (but no 5G option) into a smaller 10.9-inch screen form factor. This starts at $949 and offers an even wallet-friendlier and more portable option, but runs smack into the 11-inch Apple iPad A16 that starts at a considerably lower price (it starts at $699) and is a truly superb device.
But if you want that big screen size, the S10 FE+ undercuts the equivalent 13-inch iPad Air and is an impressively versatile option for rear seat entertainment on long car journeys.
