It’s a great device. It genuinely is. But I’m going to tell you exactly where Samsung left parents hanging, and it’s going to sting a little.
Samsung has officially rolled out the Galaxy Tab A11+ Kids Edition to North America, a purpose-built tablet loaded with software features and parental controls aimed towards the younger ones.
The tablet was first spotted in Southeast Asian markets; however, it’s now officially here and available right now at Samsung.com and Best Buy, with Amazon availability starting from April 23.
The hardware is genuinely solid, considering how it is a kid’s tablet. Let’s look into the core specs:
You get an 11-inch display at 1920×1200 resolution with a 90Hz refresh rate, quad Dolby Atmos speakers, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a 7,040mAh battery with up to 15 hours of video playback, and 25W super-fast charging support.
That’s a real screen, real sound, and a battery that’ll outlast most school days. The specifications are truly impressive.
Interestingly, Samsung is also promising seven years of Android OS upgrades and security updates, which means the tablet you buy for your 5-year-old could still be running updated software when they’re writing essays in middle school. That alone is one of the best features of this device, and I think it’s being massively undersold. Most kids’ tablets become electronic trash within two years. But this one is designed to outlast them all.
The tablet comes with some cute extras, too. You will get a colorful protective Kids Cover with a handle (6mm thick and can withstand drops), stickers, a crayon-style pen with a tether, which Samsung calls “crayo-pen”, and a Samsung Kids setup guide. Every kid would love the stickers, as these would help them personalize their tablet.
Now here’s where I have to be honest with you. The pricing.
The Galaxy Tab A11+ Kids Edition blue color costs $349.99, which is $100 more than the standard model. Under the hood, the hardware is identical. You’re essentially paying a hundred bucks for parental controls software, a rubber case, a pen, and some stickers. Jay Bonggolto at Android Central called it a “parenting tax,” and honestly, I can’t argue with that.
The parental controls let parents manage their kids’ screen time, control which apps and content are accessible, and the whole setup takes just a few minutes. That’s a useful set of features, I won’t pretend it isn’t. But features like screen time management arguably should just be built into every Galaxy device by default at this point.
Still, if you’re a parent who wants a proper, future-proof Android tablet for your kid without the setup headache? This is probably the cleanest option on the market right now, as the tablet is ready for kids right out of the box. Just make sure you know what you’re actually paying for.
