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When it comes to Android tablets, Samsung rules the roost - and has done for a while now.

By combining powerful, late model chips with Samsung's renowned display panel technology and the streamlined One UI operating system, the flagship Galaxy Tabs are hard to beat.

All that high-end tech comes at a price, of course.

So - just as Samsung has recognised with it's Fan Edition handsets, there's probably a market for an FE tablet too...

The key to a successful FE device is finding the balance between including enough of the latest features to meet your requirements while compromising on certain nice-to-haves in order to keep the price down.

And just as it has done with its FE handsets, Samsung seems to have nailed it again with the Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE+.

I've been fortunate enough to trial both devices simultaneously and the first thing I can report is there's no real difference between them, other than screen size.

The base model has a 10.9-inch display while the plus version scales things up to a hefty 13.1-inches. Other than that, the only disparity is battery size, although I'm not sure you get much of a bump in time between charges as a bigger screen takes more power to run, obviously.

In saying that, I was impressed by the battery life of both devices and I've literally used them for several days without having to charge them, depending on how I've been using them. With the right charger, you'll also juice up pretty fast - at 45W - just like the flagship Tab S10 machines.

Both Fan Editions have identical processors and storage options and although the in-house Exynos 1580 chip is described as merely "mid-range," I've certainly had no issues when it comes to gaming, multi-tasking or anything really.

You also get plenty of AI features bundled in here and I won't go into all of them as I've spent plenty of time explaining these in my recent Samsung phone reviews. Rest assured you can do things like Circle to Search, either with your finger or S-Pen. The stylus is also a great way take notes, especially when the on-device AI can tidy up your handwriting and even solve any maths problems you scribble down.

I'm not sure you'd choose the 13MP rear camera instead of the one on your phone but it's certainly an improvement over the 8MP sensor on previous generations. The 12MP front-facing cam is excellent though and will serve you well for any online meetings or social-media vids.

Interestingly, even at this more affordable price, the Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE+ are both IP68-rated against dust and water. That kind of durability is still rare with tablets and gives good peace of mind if you're using one for your travel computing or holiday poolside entertainment.

As I've admitted many times before, I'm not really a regular tablet user but recent updates to Samsung's DeX mode mean using these Tab S10 FEs as laptops is not only possible but in many cases, practical too. By simply pairing a bluetooth mouse and keyboard, I suddenly have a very slim and portable computer at my fingertips; one I'm using to type this review with, in fact.

DeX mode transforms the One UI home screen from the giant phone-like experience any Samsung user would be familiar with, to a more PC-like desktop display. You can open multiple apps in multiple windows and there's even a taskbar at the bottom of the screen. The larger Tab S10 FE+ is more suited to be used this way but there's nothing stopping you doing the same thing with the 10.9-inch model.

When it comes to using these tablets as a streaming solution, I'm torn.

There's definitely a noticeable difference between the display quality of the FE versions and the sublime viewing experience on offer from the much more expensive Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. This is no surprise - after all, you're comparing a TFT LCD panel with a full Dynamic AMOLED one and Samsung's widely-lauded anti-reflective technology hasn't quite made it this far down the Tab S10 range. The refresh rate also tops out at 90Hz which might be an issue for super-serious gamers and creatives.

On the other hand, at up to 800nits, the screen gets pretty bright. What's more, the audio quality is sensational. As far as I can tell, there are only two speakers, one one each side, but the result is quite room-filling. The first time I dialled up an episode of the latest season of Andor, I couldn't believe what I was hearing; music and sound effects flying all around me. I don't know how Samsung has achieved this but colour me impressed.

Ironically, I probably wouldn't choose either of these devices for eReading. Not because of any display quality issues - quite the opposite - my books have never looked so good. It's a size thing; I've found even the smaller Tab S10 FE is too big to comfortably hold in bed.

At NZ$949.00, you can't argue the Tab S10 FE isn't great value - especially given the S-Pen stylus is included in the box. Meanwhile, the FE+ starts at NZ$1,249.00 which I guess is about what you'd expect for the jump in display size. While the pen is included, there's no keyboard case or charger but as I've explained, there's nothing stopping you pairing any bluetooth mouse and keyboard you may already own.

Compare those prices to the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra at NZ$2,449.00 and you'd have agree, there's a reason they call these Fan Editions. Obviously the Ultra has ALL the extras and an even larger display again, but unless you were using one of the FE devices right beside it, I think you might struggle to come up with too many shortfalls.