As you may have heard, assuming you haven't steered clear from Galaxy Tab S10 leaks, the latest Samsung flagship tablets have an AI ace up their sleeves. Namely, Samsung slightly redesigned the latest Galaxy Tab S10 series Book Cover Keyboard accessories to meet the increasing demand for easy access to Generative AI. Here's how it works.
The Galaxy Tab S10+ and Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra can be attached to one of two optional keyboard accessories, predictably called Book Cover Keyboard (including a touchpad) and Book Cover Keyboard Slim (sans the touchpad).
All the Galaxy Tab S10 Keyboard Cover variants have a new Galaxy AI button. And to make room for it, Samsung abandoned the ‘lang' (language) key found on older models.
Although the latest Galaxy Tab S10 lineup is full of Galaxy AI features, this new AI button has somewhat limited functionality. Namely, when pressed, it summons Google Gemini or Samsung Bixby.
Users can choose one AI assistant or the other in the Settings app. However, there doesn't seem to be an option for assigning the AI key to a specific Galaxy AI tool.
Old Keyboard Covers work with new Tabs, but there's a catch
Here's more good news. We can confirm that at least the Galaxy Tab S9 Book Cover Keyboard is compatible with the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. In fact, most accessories are cross-compatible.
As some Galaxy Tab S users might know, the older Galaxy Tab S8 keyboard accessories were incompatible with the Galaxy Tab S9 because of mismatched camera cutouts and S Pen location. It was a bit of a letdown, as it meant that Tab S9 users had to pay extra, again, for new accessories.
So, the fact that Galaxy Tab S9 Book Cover Keyboards works with the newer Galaxy Tab S10 tablets is something new and most welcomed. But what about this new Galaxy AI button? How does that fit in with backward compatibility?
Leading up to our Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra hands-on video, which you can watch below, we were able to test the tablet with the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra's Book Cover Keyboard. And surprise! It works, save for one feature.
There is no Galaxy AI button functionality on the older keyboard accessories, which means that pressing the language ‘lang' key doesn't summon Google Gemini or Samsung Bixby. You'll have to access these assistants the old-fashioned way when using the older keyboards.
Perhaps that is why it is even possible to pair the previous Keyboard Cover with the new tablet. Samsung might be betting on people wanting the new Galaxy AI button for their Tab S10 tablets. Either way, this is fantastic news for Tab S9+ or Tab S9 Ultra users who want to repurpose their keyboards for the newer tablets. In fact, all other accessories are cross-compatible between the 2023 and 2024 tablet lineups.
