Black Friday: UK deals for Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, iPad Air and various smartwatches

While they’re only celebrating Thanksgiving across the pond, Black Friday deals are for everyone. Here we’ve collected the best tablet offers along with the best smartwatch deals. Starting with the tablets, we picked out Android, iOS and even Windows models.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra has been replaced by the S9 generation, but tablets don’t age as quickly as phones do. This one is still highly capable and a rare 14+ inch slate (most Android and iOS slates are smaller). This is the 5G model, so it has its own data connection.

The 14.6” 2,960 x 1,848px 120Hz Super AMOLED display is guarded by Gorilla Glass 5. A Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with 8GB of RAM runs the show and unlike the S-phones, this one has a microSD slot, so you can add extra storage later. It supports DeX on its own display as well as external displays over the USB-C 3.2 port. The tablet is powered by an 11,200mAh battery with 45W fast wired charging.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ is smaller, but with a 12.4” 120Hz Super AMOLED display (2,800 x 1,752px), it is still larger than most. This one also has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, 8GB of RAM, microSD slot and DeX. The battery is a tad smaller at 10,090mAh and also supports 45W charging. Both tablets come bundled with an S Pen and have 3 years of manufacturer warranty.

The Google Pixel Tablet comes (as it often does) bundled with the Charging Speaker Dock. It does what it says on the tin, using pogo pins instead of wireless charging. The dock enables “Hub Mode”, which essentially turns the tablet into a smart display/photo frame/smart home controller/etc. The built-in speak lets you listen to music too. And since this the tablet is held in place by magnets (and there are no wires attached), you can just snatch it up when you need it then stick it back on when you’re done.

Windows tablets may be the better choice, depending on what kind of software you need to run. And with Windows 11, they can run Android apps too.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is powered by a 12th gen Intel Evo Core i7-1255U processor (2P+8E cores) with Iris Xe graphics. It is paired with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 256GB SSD. The 13” PixelSense display has 2,880 x 1,920px resolution (267ppi) in a 3:2 aspect ratio and runs at 120Hz. This slate has two USB-C 4.0/Thunderbolt 4 ports, so you can attach external displays and fast storage. You can optionally get a Type Cover keyboard.

The Dell XPS 9315 is a more affordable slate. This one is powered by a 12th gen Core i5-1230U processor (2P+8E cores) and is configured with 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and a 256GB SSD. The 13” display has the same 2,880 x 1,920px resolution (3:2), however, it only runs at 60Hz. It’s less capable than the Surface, but it is cheaper – especially since it comes with the keyboard cover included, which is an extra purchase for the Microsoft slate.

Moving over to the iOS side of things, the Apple iPad Air (2022) is powered by the Apple M1 chipset and has StageManager for proper multitasking on an external display (which runs over the USB-C port). It has a 10.9” IPS LCD (2,360 x 1,640px), which runs at 60Hz and supports the 2nd gen Pencil.

If you’re not going to be doing quite so much multitasking, consider the base iPad (2022). It has the same display (except it only supports the 1st gen Pencil) but uses the Apple A14 chipset instead. This one is a bit thicker and heavier, but that’s still only 7mm and 477g.

Like the Windows slates, these can be paired with keyboard covers to improve productivity. The Magic Keyboard can hold the tablet up at an angle, just like a laptop. It has backlight keys and a USB-C port. The Folio keyboard for the regular iPad uses a kickstand instead (and skips the niceties like the extra USB port and the backlighting).

Going back to Android – well, Amazon’s Android – we see basically the whole Fire family. The Amazon Fire Max 11 is by far the best with a high quality 11” IPS LCD (2,000 x 1,200px, 15:9) and stereo speakers, making it great for streaming and light gaming. Or not so light, the chipset in this one is more powerful than previous models and you get 4GB RAM. Note that this one is offered without ads and there is a microSD slot, so you can have hundreds of gigabytes of storage for a few quid.

Slipping under the £100 mark is the 2023 Fire HD 10 tablet. It has a 10.1” 1,920 x 1,200px LCD and a decent chipset, though not as powerful as the Max (and it only has 3 gigs of RAM). Still, can’t complain too much given the price. Note that this one does have ads, which will cost you £10 to remove.

You can even go as low as £50 and get a brand new tablet. Well, the model dates back to late 2022, but it’s not second-hand is what we mean. The Amazon Fire HD 8 has 2GB of RAM as standard, but you can pay extra for the Plus model and get 3GB. The Plus also adds 10W wireless charging, so it can be used with docks similar to the Pixel Tablet (though at fifth of the price).

Also check out the Kids versions of these tablets. First, they drop the ads. Second, they come with a sturdy, colorful case that will help them survive a lot of play in young hands (there is a2-year “worry-free guarantee”, so Amazon will replace the tablet for free if it breaks). Third, they come with a year of Kids+, which is sort of like a streaming service and offers access to kid-friendly books, videos, songs and even games for free.

That’s enough for tablets, let’s have a look at the smartwatches. The Samsung Galaxy Watch6 is a Wear OS watch with Samsung’s one One UI on top. It uses the efficient 5nm Exynos W930 and has advanced health tracking features like ECG and blood-pressure monitoring. The watch is rated for 50m water resistance and has a sapphire crystal display on the front. We’ve linked both 40mm and 44mm in both Bluetooth and LTE flavors.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is still technically the current model in its series (the Classic isn't really a sequel to this). It has a 1.4” display (a tenth smaller than the 44mm Watch6), but it also has the largest battery of the Galaxy Watches at 590mAh. Plus, it has 10W fast wireless charging so it’s quick to fill back up. This one uses another 5nm Samsung chip, the Exynos W920. It has sapphire glass and a titanium frame (rated to 50m water resistance) along with the ECG and blood-pressure monitoring features.

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 is still waiting on the Wear OS 4 update. The TicWatches are known for their dual display setups – there is a 1.43” OLED but on top of that is a low power LCD with backlight. It only manages to provide basic information, but it sips power. And the Pro 5 has a battery that’s bigger than even the Samsung Pro with a capacity of 628mAh and fast charging that gets to 65% in 30 minutes. The Smart Essential Mode (which uses the low power display) promises up to 80 hours of battery life.

Apple released a sequel to its Ultra watch, but it was a fairly minor upgrade. The Apple Watch Ultra is a thrill-seeker with 100m water resistance (you can dive up to 40m with it) and a built-in depth gauge. It has an always-on altimeter, a body temperature sensor, ECG, fall detection with a loud alarm and more.

If you’re more comfortable in the city, the Apple Watch Series 8 is available at a lower price. It has a 1.9” OLED display, almost exactly as big as the Ultra, so it fits plenty of information. It too has ECG and with a 50m water resistance, you can still go to the pool.

The Apple Watch Series 9 was a similarly minor upgrade, so current Series 8 owners can happily skip it. But if you don’t already have a watch, the 2023 model is just £40 more than its year old predecessor. It comes with the new Apple S9 chipset (like the Ultra 2), which has on-board smarts that allow Siri to handle certain tasks on its own without a data connection. You can get an LTE version of the watch too, if you like.

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