Photoshop on a S$1,698 Android Tablet: the Galaxy Tab S12 Maths

Adobe Photoshop now comes pre-loaded on an Android tablet, and that tablet has been on shelves in Singapore since 1 October 2026. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Series starts at a recommended retail price (RRP) of S$1,698, with four months of Photoshop’s premium mobile plan thrown in for free.

That’s good news for any design student or freelancer building a portfolio on a budget, though S$1,698 is nobody’s idea of pocket money. Whether it’s a smart buy depends on which model you pick, which day you pay, and how many of Samsung’s launch offers you can line up.

What “First” Means Here

Samsung calls the pre-loaded Photoshop a first for Android tablets. The app sits in the Galaxy Picks folder with an interface built for tablets, and it works with the S Pen that comes in the box. Generative Fill and Image to Video, both powered by Adobe Firefly, are in there too, alongside an AI Assistant that the fine print labels a beta.

The exclusivity is narrower than it sounds. Samsung’s footnote dates Photoshop for Tablet’s Galaxy Store launch to 7 October 2026 and keeps it exclusive there for at least six months, after which Adobe may release it in other app stores. Anyone happy with their current Android tablet could simply wait it out.

Then there’s the bill. Tab S12 buyers get four months of the premium mobile plan with 100 generative credits a month, so it’s a trial with an end date.

Plus or Ultra?

Both tablets run the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage, expandable by microSD up to 2TB. Both have 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X screens that Samsung rates at 1,600 nits of peak brightness. The real difference is size: the spec sheet lists 12.6 inches and 553g for the Galaxy Tab S12+, against 14.6 inches and 692g for the Wi-Fi Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra.

The Ultra’s screen measures the same 14.6 inches as the Tab S9 Ultra of 2023, which is lovely on a desk and rather less so on a seat in the MRT, Singapore’s metro. The Gadgeteer recommends the S12+ for anyone who carries their tablet daily, while Tom’s Guide found the Ultra cumbersome to hold for long stretches and Samsung’s DeX desktop mode still short of Windows 11. Engadget’s review flags that the Ultra has a single USB-C port.

The price gap settles it for most students. The Tab S12+ Wi-Fi is S$1,698 and the Ultra Wi-Fi is S$1,998, so going big costs S$300 more for the same chip and the same Photoshop. Adding 5G costs S$170 on the Plus (S$1,868) and S$150 on the Ultra (S$2,148), which is hard to justify when your phone already hotspots.

Take the speed claims with some salt. Samsung quotes a 61% faster neural processing unit (NPU, the part that handles AI tasks), a 19% faster processor, and 17% more graphics power than the Tab S11 Ultra. The Gadgeteer points out that these are Samsung’s own figures, and CNET’s hands-on found the gains modest outside AI processing, so don’t upgrade for speed alone.

The Launch Deals, Worked Out

Samsung has piled eight offers onto this launch, and they open on different days at different shops. This is the whole lot in one place.

The Samsung Registration+ e-voucher is the easy win: pay S$20, take S$100 off the tablet, and pocket a net S$80. The bundles then add an accessory and a year of Samsung Care+ Lite for S$12, and this is what each one is worth at Samsung’s own listed prices.

Power Mover wins on listed value at both sizes, and a keyboard is what turns a tablet into something you can write essays on. The one argument for Culture Chaser is the charger, since the footnotes list the 45W adapter as sold separately.

Samsung doesn’t say whether the voucher and a bundle can go on the same purchase. If they can, the four models work out like this.

If the two do stack, the bottom of the range is a Tab S12+ Wi-Fi with a keyboard and a year of cover for S$1,630, which is S$68 under the tablet’s RRP on its own!

Samsung’s headline for accessories is “up to 30% off”, and up to is a ceiling, because the footnote covers only “selected” Galaxy Tab accessories. If the Pro Keyboard qualifies, 30% of S$348 is S$104.40, bringing the Plus version down to S$243.60. On the Keyboard Slim, 30% off S$218 still leaves S$152.60 to pay, so the S$12 bundle is the far cheaper route.

Three smaller perks round things out. The 15% off covers any Galaxy Watch and Buds, so every S$100 of watch saves S$15, which is the one to use if a wearable was on your list anyway. SPayLater’s 0% instalments make the cheapest model S$1,698 ÷ 12, or S$141.50 a month. Samsung Rewards Points redeem at 12 times their usual value up to S$100, so points normally worth about S$8.33 (S$100 ÷ 12) already hit the cap.

The Apps Worth Claiming

Samsung lists more than ten app offers, and the note-taking pair is the most generous. Tab S12 buyers get a year of the Goodnotes Essential plan and six months of Notability, which is newly pre-loaded in the Galaxy Picks folder next to Photoshop.

For creators, two offers sit alongside Photoshop. Clip Studio Paint comes with a six-month trial for first-time users plus 20% off the first subscription, and LumaFusion is 66% off through the Galaxy Store until 30 November 2026. That’s drawing, video, and photo editing covered for a first semester!

Samsung’s own Note Assist summarises typed or handwritten notes once they pass 200 characters, and it needs a Samsung Account login to work. It costs nothing extra, which is more than can be said for most of the trials once they lapse.

Traps in the Fine Print

The date to remember is 7 October. The e-voucher has been on sale since 1 October, but it only comes off a tablet between 7 October and 6 November 2026, and the bundles start that same day. It works at the Samsung Online Store, Samsung Shop App, and Samsung Experience Stores only, so buyers on Lazada or Shopee can take a bundle but not the S$100 off.

The voucher is non-refundable and non-transferable. Left unused, it shrinks to S$30 off another Samsung product, online only, from 7 to 30 November 2026. The points multiplier ends even sooner, which leaves 7 October as the single day when it overlaps with the voucher.

Free trials are the other thing to diarise. The six-month Google AI Pro trial is for ages 18 and up and rolls into a Google One charge that Samsung’s footnote lists at $19.99 a month unless cancelled, while Goodnotes and Notability need a purchase to keep going once their free periods end.

💰 RRP (including Goods and Services Tax, or GST): Galaxy Tab S12+ Wi-Fi S$1,698, Galaxy Tab S12+ 5G S$1,868, Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra Wi-Fi S$1,998, Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra 5G S$2,148
🎨 Colours: Grey and Silver
🛒 On sale since 1 October 2026: Samsung Experience Stores, Samsung Official Stores on Lazada, Shopee, TikTok, iShopChangi and KrisShop, and selected electronics stores
🗓️ From 7 October 2026, per Samsung: Samsung Online Store, Samsung Shop App, and local telcos
🎁 Launch offers: Until 6 November 2026, with bundles for an extra S$12 from 7 October 2026
🖌️ Tab skin: Redeem on Saturdays and Sundays, 10 to 31 October 2026, at the Junction 8, Jurong Point, VivoCity, and Tampines Mall stores, while stocks last

For a young designer, the smart buy is the Galaxy Tab S12+ Wi-Fi with the e-voucher and the Power Mover Bundle, paid for on or after 7 October 2026. That’s a 12.6-inch Photoshop machine with a keyboard for about S$1,630 if the offers combine, and four months to decide whether the subscription earns its keep. Compare the models on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Series page before you head to the till!

Photos and Visuals courtesy of Samsung Singapore.

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