Samsung Tab S6 Lite 2022 vs iPad 10 (2022) for drawing

This is my artist and graphic designer comparison of the Samsung Tab S6 Lite (2022) and iPad 10 (2022). If you’re interested in the full review for these two tablets, just see the reviews that I’ve already written with the links provided earlier.

Here are the differences between the two tablets:

Price

In terms of value for money, the Samsung Tab S6 Lite (2022) provides more value for money simply because it’s more affordable. The model with 4GB RAM 64GB storage is US $349 with S Pen included vs iPad with 4GB RAM 64GB storage at $449 with the $99 Apple Pencil 1 sold separately.

To get more storage on the Tab S6 Lite you can buy a $50 Sandisk 400GB MicroSD card to get total storage up to 464GB. That will be a total of $349 + 50 = $399

To get more storage on the iPad 10, you have to get the 256GB model which is $599 + $99 Apple Pencil = $698

I’ve seen the iPad with 64GB and 256GB being discounted $50 – $100 off on Amazon but even so the iPads are significantly more expensive compared to the Samsung tablets.

Products can be expensive and still be worth the money. That doesn’t seem to be the case with the iPad 10 (2022) though because you’ll be better off getting a refurbished iPad Air 4 (2020) direct from Apple at the same price. And that’s if you’ve decided that you want to be in the Apple ecosystem.

Drawing and graphic design apps

There are plenty of high quality drawing apps from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

On iPad platform, these are the drawing apps I can think of:

On Android, these are the drawing apps I can think of:

• Medibang Paint Pro
• Clip Studio Paint
• Krita
• Infinite Painter
• Sketchbook
• Concepts
• Tayasui Sketches
• ArtFlow

Procreate is probably the most popular drawing app on the iPad. But you can’t say there are no high quality drawing apps on Android when there’s Clip Studio Paint, Infinite Painter and more.

The iPad advantage comes down to the larger variety of graphic design apps that are not available on Android.

Some of the graphic design apps on the iPad are:

And by graphic design apps, I mean apps that can be used for layout, handling text and create illustrations. There are graphic design apps on Android, but those apps can’t match the feature set and functionality you can get on the iPad. In other words, to create the same graphic design on Android, you may have to spend more time.

Tablet design

Both are beautiful tablets with solid build quality.

The main difference in design for drawing and graphic design work is the aspect ratio of the display.

Tab S6 Lite uses 16:10 aspect ratio which is more suited for use in landscape orientation.

The iPad aspect ratio is closer to 3:2 than 16:10. This aspect ratio is more usable in both landscape and vertical orientation. There’s also more surface area with the display so the iPad is able to show more content, e.g. palettes and tool bars.

If you are thinking of spending more money to get the larger surface area to draw on, that’s a good idea. But at the $599 + 99 price point, I would ask you to consider the 12.4-inch Samsung Tab S7 FE as well which starts at US $529 with S Pen included.

Pixel density of Tab S6 Lite and iPad is 224PPI and 264PPI respectively. Both displays look sharp with no noticeable pixelation. Colours look good out of the box. Both displays are bright. Both displays do not have anti-reflective coating.

Ports

The USB-C ports on both tablets have USB 2 speeds which is slow for data transfer.

Main difference is iPad can output video while Tab S6 Lite cannot. There is no proper external display support for this iPad though so it’s mostly going to be in mirror mode. And because Tab S6 Lite cannot output video, you cannot use SamsungDex with external displays.

The Tab S6 Lite has a MicroSD card slot so it’s inexpensive to expand storage, and there’s a 3.5mm audio jack.

Tab S6 Lite is only available as a Wifi model while iPad has LTE models too.

You get stereo audio in landscape mode with both tablets. iPad has four speaker grilles but sound comes out from the bottom two sets of grilles that you can cover with your hands. Tab S6 Lite only has two speaker grilles and they are at the top so that your hands are unlikely to cover the grilles.

S Pen vs Apple Pencil 1

Samsung S Pen is included at no extra cost. This pen supports tilt and 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity. There’s one side button for right click but can function differently when used with drawing apps. The pen is not powered by battery so no charging is required. No Bluetooth pairing is required to use the pen for drawing and writing.

S Pen has hover mode so there is a cursor beneath the pen tip. That cursor is a circle and does not usually show the brush size or brush design.

Apple Pencil 1 is sold separately for US $99. It supports tilt and pressure sensitivity (number of levels not mentioned by Apple). This pen is powered by battery. The charging and Bluetooth pairing process is via a cable and USB-C to lightning adapter. The way it charges and pairs with the iPad looks silly because it is silly, more so compared to the earlier models where you can insert the Apple Pencil to the lightning port. There is no shortcut button.

S Pen can attached magnetically to the side of the tablet while Apple Pencil 1 cannot.

Drawing experience

Both S Pen and Apple Pencil are accurate and sensitive digital pens with consistent and predictable drawing and writing performance. The cursor or origin point is always directly underneath the pen regardless of how you hold the pen.

The drawing experience differs slightly in some areas.

The S Pen has a rubberised tip that provides slightly more friction when writing or drawing. Tapping the pen tip on the display barely makes any noise.

Using a matte screen protector will wear out the S Pen tip very fast unless you use those full plastic tips.

Tab S6 Lite display is laminated so there’s no gap between the glass and LCD. When drawing or writing, the line will look like it’s appearing beneath the pen tip.

This iPad does not have the anti-reflective and oleophobic coating you can find on more expensive iPads. That coating actually provides slightly more friction with the Apple Pencil. Due to the lack of that coating, Apple Pencil’s hard tip glides more easily on the glass surface. Tapping the pen tip on the display makes a loud noise, and it’s a hollow noise because the display is not laminated. That hollow sound doesn’t give you the premium feel that you can get with laminated displays.

There is a gap between the pen tip and line due to the non-laminated display but it’s not really a big deal although it would be nicer if there’s no gap. There’s no parallax issue due to the gap as parallax usually does not affect small size displays.

It is possible to use a matte screen protector on the iPad to get a more tactile drawing experience. Using a matte screen protector will affect the image quality of the display though. There are companies that make leather tip covers and rubber tips (expensive) for those who want more friction for drawing.

Replacement tips for S Pens can be found for $5 (five pieces) and for Apple Pencil it’s $20 (four pieces) if you go with the original ones.

Ecosystem

If you already have a Mac, it may make more sense to get the iPad since there are many collaborative or shared features:

• Apple Sidecar allows you to use the iPad as an external display.
• Pressure sensitivity works with desktop apps when used with Apple SideCar but there’s considerable lag
• Movies you purchased from iTunes can be watched on Mac, iPad and iPhone
• AirDrop lets you transfer files wirelessly across all Apple devices on local network

If you get a Samsung tablet to use with a Mac or Windows, you can still have access to similar functionality by installing third party apps. Main difference is Apple “pre-installed” those features for Apple devices. You can’t watch movies purchased on iTunes on Samsung tables though because iTunes is not available from Google Play Store.

Conclusion

If you’re into drawing, you can either get Tab S6 Lite or iPad.

If you’re into graphic design, the deal breaker for the Tab S6 Lite is the lack of high quality graphic design apps. But there are limitations to graphic design work even on the iPad.

64GB internal storage is definitely not enough on the iPad as iPadOS takes up 15GB so you’re actually left with 49GB storage. The 256GB iPad 10 is $599 and does not include Apple Pencil. If you want to spend that much, as mentioned earlier, consider the Samsung Tab S7 FE too if you’re just drawing and not into graphic design work.

Availability

If you have intention to buy any of the tablets, consider using the affiliate links I’ve provided to support my blog and Youtube channel. I earn some commission at no extra cost to you.

Here are direct links to Samsung Tab S6 Lite (2022):
Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | ES | IT | JP)

Make sure you’re getting the 2022 or refreshed model and not the 2020 model.

And these are links to iPad 10 (2022) on Amazon:
US | CA | UK | DE | FR | ES | JP