Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) review: Should you buy it?

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024)?

Samsung just can’t quit the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. This marks the third time Samsung has released a tablet by that name, with the first iteration arriving in 2020 and a refresh coming in 2022. Now, the third generation S6 Lite has arrived looking identical to the last version, and there’s good reason for that — it’s the same tablet with a slightly upgraded processor. The battery, the display, and even the measurements of the body are identical this time around. Despite that, Samsung does not offer an official keyboard case for this device.

Samsung didn’t include a fingerprint sensor on this tablet; not even a cheap one in the power button. So, the only biometric option is software-based face unlock (read: not very secure) with the front-facing camera, but it works poorly. When it works, it’s so slow you could have typed in a password already, but more often than not, it fails to recognize me at all. It’s only reliable in extremely bright settings.

The 10.4-inch LCD has a respectable 2,000 x 1,200 resolution. This is a good size, and the tablet is very comfortable to hold — it’s got nice, rounded edges that have somewhat fallen out of favor in newer Samsung designs. However, the display colors look somewhat flat and dingy, and there’s slight backlight bleed along the top and bottom edges. It looks like the same middling LCD that Samsung used in 2020, but it does have a digitizer inside that allows you to use the S Pen.

The S Pen that comes bundled with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) isn’t the fancy battery-powered version you get with more expensive Samsung devices. It still offers pressure-sensitive input, but you won’t be able to use gestures or button shortcuts, not that those features are of much use. If your main use case for a tablet is to take notes or draw, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is the cheapest way to get the S Pen.

The pen attaches magnetically to the side of the tablet. It’s not powered, so the device doesn’t know when it’s removed. Once you start using the stylus, you’ll have most of the same options as Samsung’s more expensive tablets. You can jot down notes, draw, color, and crop screenshots with the S Pen. However, the 60Hz screen means the latency is noticeably worse than it is on the Galaxy Tab S9 family, with their 120Hz screens. Even the sub-flagship level Tab S9 FE has a more responsive S Pen with its 90Hz screen.

A slower display isn’t the only problem. The Exynos 1280 chip is newer than the Snapdragon 720G/732G in the 2022 refresh. Both have the same eight-core CPU configuration, but the Exynos 1280 has newer performance cores. Unfortunately, that speed boost wasn’t enough — the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) is a painfully slow device. The middling Arm chip, combined with meager RAM and the bulk of Samsung’s One UI software adds up to a disappointing experience.

There’s hardly anything on the tablet that doesn’t become sluggish at times. Apps generally take too long to open, and multitasking of any sort causes the system to lag and hang often. It’s actually faster to just use apps one at a time. Simple games run fine, but the Exynos chip’s GPU becomes bogged down fast with 3D games. For instance, Fortnite can usually maintain 30 fps if you lower the settings, but even then, you’ll see occasional framerate drops that can make the game hard to play. As we see from the GPU benchmarks, this isn’t a stability issue; it’s a peak output issue. Likewise, 4GB of RAM is simply not enough in 2024. Even apps that you’ve allowed to run in the background will regularly exit due to a lack of memory, forcing you to wait through another prolonged app startup.

The upshot of the underpowered hardware is that the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) has excellent battery life. You should have no trouble using it on and off for the better part of a week. The 7,040mAh cell does take a long time to charge, though. The Tab S6 Lite still only supports 15W wired charging. There’s also no wall adapter in the box, only a USB-C cable, so you’ll need to grab a decent charger.

Despite the innate advantages of the S Pen, the poor system performance makes this tool less useful. For example, handwriting input with the S Pen is inconsistent, working fine one minute and freezing for multiple seconds the next. Other times, the system just seems to lose track of the tip while it is moving across the screen.

As mentioned above, One UI feels a little too chunky for the modest hardware powering the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024). The tablet comes with One UI 6.1 based on Android 14, but unlike even some of its devices that go for less money than the Tab S6 Lite, Samsung hasn’t yet confirmed how many updates it will get. We usually like to see long update support on budget devices, but the 2024 Tab S6 Lite handles Android 14 so poorly that it might be totally unusable for future versions of Android that require more power.

The new Tab S6 Lite has the same camera setup as the last version: a 5MP selfie camera, and an 8MP shooter on the rear. They are both predictably poor quality, producing grainy, dim photos that get blurry when there’s even a little movement. That’s not surprising, as these same imaging modules were bottom-of-the-barrel when they appeared in the 2020 version of the Tab S6 Lite. If you need to do a video call, the selfie camera will be passable for that — just make sure there’s ample light. We wouldn’t recommend photographing anything you care about with the rear camera.

If you are dead set on having an S Pen and refuse to spend more than $329.99, then by all means, buy the 2024 Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. However, if you don’t need the S Pen or are willing to spend a bit more, there are better options, like the Galaxy Tab S9 FE, which is often on sale for under $400. If you just want a cheap Samsung tablet and don’t care about the stylus, there’s the ever-reliable Galaxy Tab A9 Plus, which has similar specs and a lower $220 MSRP (and often goes for below $200). And there’s always Apple, which will sell you an iPad and Apple Pencil for around $400. Any of those options will be worlds better than the Tab S6 Lite.

What are the best Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) alternatives?

• Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE ($449 at Amazon): Samsung’s step-up tablet offers a much better screen, a faster processor, more RAM, has an optional keyboard cover accessory, and it still includes an S Pen. It’s a little more expensive at $449.99, but you’ll like using this device much more.
• Apple iPad ($413 at Amazon): If you’re not married to the Android ecosystem, Apple’s cheapest iPad could be an option at $349. This tablet is much faster than the 2024 Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, has a better screen, and offers many more tablet-optimized apps. However, it doesn’t come with a stylus. Apple’s basic Pencil add-on costs another $79, but it has more capabilities than the S Pen.
• Pixel Tablet ($499 at Amazon): Google’s $399 Pixel Tablet has solid build quality and performance, and the software is much more refined and responsive than One UI on the Tab S6 Lite. The Pixel Tablet doesn’t have a stylus, but it’s compatible with USI 2.0 pointers, and there’s a neat optional speaker dock that turns your tablet into a smart display.
• Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 Plus ($219.99 at Amazon): This tablet doesn’t have an S Pen, but the performance is similar, and you get the same Samsung One UI software. While it costs $110 less than the Tab S6 Lite, it’s often on sale for even cheaper. The 11-inch 1920 x 1200 LCD also supports a faster 90Hz refresh, and the design looks more modern than the rereleased Tab S6 Lite.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) specs

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) review: FAQ