I Replaced My Windows Laptop With a Samsung Tablet for a Week — Here's What Actually Happened

TESTED ON: Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra · Samsung Book Cover Keyboard Slim · One UI 6.1 · Samsung DeX mode
Testing ran across a full seven-day period covering writing, video calls, email, light photo editing, and general web browsing.

TL;DR

A Samsung tablet can genuinely replace a Windows laptop for most everyday users, especially with DeX mode active and a keyboard attached. Battery life and portability are legitimately better. The gaps are real but manageable: a handful of apps don’t have proper tablet versions, and multitasking hits a ceiling that power users will notice. If your work lives mostly in a browser, email, and productivity apps, you can make the switch today. If you depend on specialized Windows software, you’re not there yet.

Why I Decided to Try This (And Why You Might Too)

My Windows laptop was fine. That was the problem. Fine meant charging it every few hours, fine meant lugging it through airports in a bag that wrecked my shoulder, and fine meant paying for a machine that was doing far more than I needed most days.

Samsung tablets, specifically the Tab S9 series, had been sitting in my peripheral vision for a while. The specs had caught up. DeX mode had matured. People on Reddit’s r/SamsungDex were posting setups that looked indistinguishable from a regular desktop. I decided to find out whether any of it held up in real life.

The Case Against Carrying a Laptop Everywhere

A mid-range Windows laptop weighs somewhere between 1.5 kg and 2 kg with the charger. A Samsung Tab S9 Ultra with a keyboard case comes in under 900 g total. Over a week of commuting, that difference adds up in ways your back will notice before your brain does.

There is also the cost angle. A capable Android tablet setup — tablet, keyboard, and hub — can come in well under what a comparable Windows laptop costs, which matters whether you are buying for yourself or outfitting a team.

Why Samsung Tablets Are the Most Credible Laptop Replacements Right Now

Not all Android tablets are equal for this. Samsung’s advantage is DeX mode, which transforms the tablet interface into something that looks and behaves like a desktop OS. Add the maturity of One UI, Samsung’s developer relationships, and the availability of proper keyboard accessories, and you have an ecosystem that has genuinely thought through the laptop replacement use case. Other tablets are catching up. Samsung is currently ahead.

My Setup for This Experiment

Getting the setup right before the week started saved a lot of frustration. Here is exactly what I used.

The Tablet I Chose and Why

The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. The 14.6-inch screen was the main reason. When a tablet is your only machine, screen real estate matters more than it does when it is a secondary device. The larger display also means DeX mode gives you genuinely usable window sizes rather than cramped panels.

The Keyboard and Case That Made It Feel Like a Real Laptop

Samsung’s own Book Cover Keyboard Slim was the obvious starting point for compatibility, and it held up well. The keys have reasonable travel for a slim keyboard, the trackpad is small but accurate, and the whole thing attaches without any pairing process. If you want more key travel, the Logitech MX Keys Mini for Android is worth considering as an alternative.

The Mouse, Hub, and Accessories That Filled the Gaps

A Bluetooth mouse made DeX mode dramatically more comfortable. For the hub, a basic USB-C dock with HDMI, USB-A, and SD card slots handled everything. Nothing expensive is needed here — a $30–$40 hub covers all the bases.

My DeX Mode Configuration From Day One

DeX activates automatically when you connect a keyboard on newer Samsung tablets, or you can trigger it manually from the quick settings panel. My starting configuration:

• Launch DeX automatically when keyboard is connected
• Display scaling dropped one notch (Settings > Display > Screen zoom)
• Taskbar set to always visible
• Recent apps behaviour set to show windowed previews

That single scaling adjustment, dropping it one step below default, made an immediate and noticeable difference to how much content fit on screen comfortably.

Day-by-Day Breakdown of the Week

Days 1 and 2 — The Adjustment Period

The first two days were the hardest, not because things were broken but because muscle memory kept looking for things in the wrong places. Right-clicking worked fine in DeX. Keyboard shortcuts were mostly familiar but not identical.

The biggest early friction was browser behaviour: some sites kept defaulting to mobile versions even inside DeX. I fixed this by switching to Samsung Internet and enabling permanent desktop mode in settings (more on this below). File management was the other early speed bump. Android’s file system is less exposed than Windows, and moving files between apps took some adjustment. Once I installed Solid Explorer as a file manager, that friction disappeared.

Days 3 and 4 — Finding a Rhythm

By midweek I had stopped consciously thinking about the operating system. Email, calendar, Slack, and writing in Google Docs all worked without any meaningful difference from Windows. Video calls in Google Meet and Zoom were clean. The battery lasting a full day without a charge started to feel normal rather than remarkable.

The one workflow that needed active workarounds was annotating PDFs that required form fills. Samsung Notes handled most of it, but it took longer than it would have in Adobe Acrobat on Windows.

Days 5 Through 7 — Stopped Noticing What Was Missing

By the end of the week, I was only reaching for my Windows laptop in my head, not in practice. The things I expected to miss — a full desktop browser, fast alt-tabbing between many windows, complex file operations — had either not come up or had been covered well enough that I did not feel the loss.

What the Samsung Tablet Does Better Than My Laptop

Portability and Battery Life Are Not Even Close

The Tab S9 Ultra ran a full workday without charging, regularly hitting 10 to 12 hours of mixed use. My laptop needed a charge by early afternoon. The weight difference showed up from the first day and never stopped being noticeable.

DeX Mode Genuinely Changes the Game

Without DeX, asking an Android tablet to replace a laptop is a stretch. With it, you get a windowed desktop environment, a taskbar, right-click menus, and keyboard shortcut support. It is not Windows, but it is close enough that the learning curve is measured in days, not weeks.

Touch and Stylus Workflows You Did Not Expect to Love

Annotating documents with the S Pen, sketching quick diagrams in meetings, and navigating certain apps by touch turned out to be faster than doing the same things with a mouse and keyboard. The hybrid input model — touch when it is faster, keyboard and mouse when that is faster — is something a Windows laptop simply cannot match.

Where the Samsung Tablet Still Falls Short

The Apps That Are Not There Yet

A handful of professional tools either do not exist on Android or exist in versions that will not work for serious use. If your work depends on the full desktop versions of Adobe Creative Suite, AutoCAD, or any niche Windows-only software, the tablet is not a replacement.

Browser Limitations That Will Frustrate Power Users

Chrome and Samsung Internet on Android support extensions, but the library is smaller than desktop Chrome. If your workflow depends on specific browser extensions, check compatibility before committing to the switch.

The Multitasking Ceiling

DeX handles three or four windows comfortably. Push past that and things start to feel cramped. Windows 11’s snap layouts and virtual desktop system is still more flexible for anyone who routinely keeps many applications open at once.

The Practical Stuff: How to Make It Actually Work

Set Desktop Site Mode Permanently in Your Browser

In Samsung Internet:

1. Open the browser and tap the menu (three lines)
2. Go to Settings > Sites and Downloads
3. Toggle on “Default to desktop site”

In Chrome, you have to do this site by site via the three-dot menu, which is why Samsung Internet wins for tablet use.

Dial In Your Scaling and UI Settings

Settings > Display > Screen zoom

Drop it one or two notches. Then, if you need text size adjusted separately:

Settings > Accessibility > Visibility enhancements > Font size and style

Getting this right makes the whole experience feel intentional rather than like a stretched phone screen.

Enable Developer Options

1. Go to Settings > About Tablet > Software information
2. Tap Build number seven times
3. Return to Settings — Developer options now appears

Recommended settings to enable once inside:

Keyboard Shortcuts Worth Knowing

Is a Samsung Tablet a Realistic Laptop Replacement?

Who This Works Perfectly For

• Students and writers
• Remote workers whose stack is browser-based
• Anyone working primarily in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
• People who travel frequently and care about weight and battery life

If your day is email, documents, video calls, and web research, a Samsung tablet with DeX covers it without asking you to compromise much.

Who Should Stick With a Windows Laptop

• Developers who need a local coding environment
• Creatives relying on the full Adobe Creative Suite
• Anyone running industry-specific Windows-only software
• Heavy multitaskers who regularly keep eight or more applications open

What Samsung Needs to Fix Before This Goes Mainstream

App optimization for large screens is still inconsistent. Some Android apps clearly were not designed with a 14-inch display in mind, and it shows. A more consistent file management experience and better external monitor support at higher refresh rates would push this closer to a complete solution. Samsung is moving in the right direction, but not uniformly across the app ecosystem yet.

The Verdict After One Week

I did not miss my Windows laptop as much as I expected to. The gaps are real but specific, and they mostly affect a type of work I was not doing that week. The advantages — battery life, weight, the S Pen, and the convenience of a device that becomes a tablet the moment you unclip the keyboard — showed up every single day without being asked to.

Would I make the permanent switch? For my current workload, yes, with the right accessories. For someone with more complex software needs, not yet. The honest answer is that this depends almost entirely on what your actual work looks like, not on the tablet.

Alternatives Worth Considering

OnePlus Pad 3

The closest competitor on price-to-performance. No DeX equivalent, but the hardware is strong and stock Android is clean. Good for media and light productivity; less suited to a full laptop replacement use case.

Google Pixel Tablet

Runs the purest version of Android and receives the fastest updates. The smaller screen and absence of a stylus limit it for productivity. Best for someone already deep in the Google ecosystem who wants a simple, reliable device rather than a laptop stand-in.

Amazon Fire HD 10

The budget entry point. It runs a forked version of Android without the Google Play Store by default, which significantly limits app availability. Fine for media consumption, not a serious laptop replacement candidate.

FAQ

Can a Samsung tablet fully replace a Windows laptop?
For most everyday users, yes. For those who depend on specific Windows software or complex developer environments, no. The practical test: check whether your five most-used apps exist in full-featured Android versions first.

Do you need DeX mode for a Samsung tablet to work as a laptop?
Technically no, practically yes. Without DeX, you are working in a phone-style interface on a large screen. DeX is what makes the whole experience feel like a real computer rather than an oversized phone.

Which Samsung tablet is best for replacing a laptop?
The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra or Tab S9+ for the larger screen, which makes windowed multitasking in DeX genuinely comfortable. The standard Tab S9 works but feels cramped once you have more than two windows open.

Is Samsung DeX free?
Yes. DeX is built into compatible Samsung tablets and phones. There is no subscription or additional cost involved.

Can you use Microsoft Office on a Samsung tablet?
Yes. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams all have Android versions and work well in DeX mode. For heavy spreadsheet work involving complex macros, the full desktop version of Excel is still more capable.

What accessories do you actually need?
At minimum: a keyboard case and a USB-C hub. A Bluetooth mouse makes DeX significantly more comfortable. Everything else is optional.

How does battery life compare to a Windows laptop?
Considerably better. The Tab S9 Ultra regularly hit 10 to 12 hours of real mixed use. Most Windows laptops in a comparable price range deliver 6 to 8 hours under real-world conditions.