Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Review

Verdict

It might not look that completely different from its predecessor on the floor, however a bunch of upgrades to show tech, processing energy and even water resistance make the Galaxy Tab S9 one of the succesful Android tablets in the marketplace, and in contrast to the extra premium S9 Plus and S9 Extremely, it stays comparatively compact. 

Introduction

Whereas the Android pill market is a bit of hit-and-miss, Samsung delivers persistently high-quality Android tablets within the type of its Tab S collection, and the Galaxy Tab S9 continues that pattern.

The Tab S9 boasts key upgrades over its predecessor together with a bounce from IPS LCD show tech to the way more luxurious Dynamic AMOLED 2X, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processing energy that makes it one of the highly effective Android tablets round.

Plus, the 11-inch show is the candy spot for portability in Samsung’s newest assortment, with a extra compact construct than the 12.4-inch Tab S9 Plus and the frankly large 14.6-inch Tab S9 Extremely. 

The one query is, then, is it value getting the Galaxy Tab S9 over certainly one of Apple’s premium iPads? Listed here are my ideas. 

Design

• Related total look to its predecessor
• New IP68 mud and water resistance
• Comparatively skinny and moveable

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 appears to be like an entire lot just like the Tab S8, which is to say that it’s the identical mix of glass and aluminium that we’ve seen from most tablets over the previous few years. There’s nothing fallacious with that after all – if it ain’t broke, don’t repair it – but it surely’s one much less purpose for Tab S8 house owners to improve. 

To Samsung’s credit score, that is an particularly sleek-looking pill with an aluminium body and rear and angular edges that make it not look too dissimilar to certainly one of Apple’s current premium iPads. It’s additionally fairly light-weight for a pill of this measurement at 498g, and at 5.9mm thick, it’s comparatively skinny too. 

This all interprets to a pill that’s each straightforward to carry and simple to retailer in a rucksack with out taking over an excessive amount of area. 

In portrait orientation, there’s a USB-C port and twin audio system on the backside, together with two extra on the high for a stereo expertise, with the facility button and quantity controls alongside the right-hand aspect. 

Nonetheless, the Tab S9 isn’t designed for portrait use, as evidenced by the selfie digital camera housed inside the longer fringe of the pill. Meaning it’s greatest utilized in a horizontal place, the place it’s centrally positioned and excellent for video calls.

One factor of the Tab S9’s design that’s new is IP68 mud and water resistance, making it the one pill in the marketplace to supply such excessive ranges of safety. The added peace of thoughts is welcome, though you continue to gained’t catch me utilizing the pill on the seashore.

One enormous good thing about the Tab S9 in comparison with Apple’s iPad assortment is that the S Pen stylus comes within the field, fully freed from cost. 

It proves to be a sensible companion too, permitting for doodling and fast note-taking on the 11-inch show, even when it’s turned off. Its compatibility with apps like Goodnotes provides to its versatility, and the built-in pen doubles up as a digital camera shutter for group selfies.

It’s not simply useful both, with a formidable 2.8ms response time that outshines even Apple’s top-end Apple Pencil 2 by fairly a way. It’s nonetheless not the pen-and-paper expertise you’ll discover from the likes of the ReMarkable 2, but it surely comes fairly shut. 

My solely actual criticism is the charging system; the pen is designed to magnetically connect to the rear of the pill for storage and charging. However this implies it’s straightforward for the pen to come back dislodged when put in a rucksack, as occurred a number of instances through the assessment interval, and it means the pill doesn’t sit flat on the desk with the pen docked both. 

Display

• 11-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X show
• Gorgeous HDR efficiency
• Clean 120Hz refresh price

The common Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 sports activities an 11-inch show that I really feel is the candy spot within the Tab S9 assortment, with a extra simply moveable measurement than the likes of the 12.4-inch Tab S9 Plus and the behemoth that’s the 14.6-inch Tab S9 Extremely. It makes it simpler to carry and use, and facilitates snug use mendacity in mattress too. 

That doesn’t make it any much less helpful for the bundled S Pen both; I discovered the 11-inch slate to be greater than sizable sufficient for note-taking, doodling and the like. 

Dimensions apart, you may battle to inform the distinction between the Tab S8 and newer Tab S9 – till you flip the show on, that’s. 

That’s as a result of the Tab S9 boasts Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED 2X display screen tech, an enormous improve from the IPS LCD show of its predecessor. Meaning the Tab S9 is brighter, extra vibrant and boasts inkier blacks than the comparatively gray hues of LCD tech, and that’s just about immediately noticeable.

That’s all a roundabout manner of claiming that the Tab S9’s show is totally gorgeous. It’s vibrant sufficient for snug out of doors use, even with a reflective display screen, with vibrant colors that make David Attenborough’s Life in Color look spectacular, particularly when considered in HDR with HDR10+ assist onboard. 

Different returning options embrace a 120Hz refresh price that makes every thing from swiping and scrolling to gaming really feel that little bit smoother, with the power to drop right down to 60Hz to save lots of battery life at any time when attainable. The flexibility to solely drop right down to 60Hz slightly than 90Hz, 72Hz, and many others is a bit of disappointing, although admittedly it isn’t noticeable in day-to-day use. 

All in all then, it is a spectacularly premium 11-inch show with vibrant colors, loads of element and spectacular HDR efficiency that’ll serve each binge-watching Netflix and gaming properly. 

Cameras

• Single 13MP rear digital camera
• 12MP selfie digital camera
• Superb efficiency however not a spotlight for Samsung

As spectacular because the Tab S9 is, it doesn’t do a lot to additional the digital camera expertise on tablets – and for good purpose. I imply, who truly needs to take pictures on a pill?

Samsung has gone all-in on a single 13MP major digital camera on the rear, full with an LED flash for good measure, together with a single 12MP snapper on the entrance. 

Apparently, selfie digital camera tech is without doubt one of the key areas the place the Tab S9 differs from the top-end S9 Extremely, with Samsung’s top-end choice providing twin most important and ultrawide cameras to raised accommodate giant group video conferences or demonstrations. 

As such, whereas the selfie digital camera of the Tab S9 does an admirable job of delivering detailed selfies for video chats, it doesn’t have the choice to develop the view as a lot because the top-end pill. How a lot this impacts your video calls, nonetheless, will rely upon what you’re doing. For many, it doubtless gained’t be a dealbreaker.

Turning to the rear 13MP digital camera, count on a strong expertise with first rate element and vibrant colors with pictures taken in vibrant daylight, although don’t count on that to translate to low-light environments, missing the broad aperture or pixel-binning tech required to seize gentle in darkness. Nonetheless, it’ll greater than suffice for the occasional snap of a doc for scanning or use in a mixed-reality app. 

Video is equally restricted in comparison with Android smartphone alternate options, capped at 30fps no matter whether or not you’re recording at 1080p or 4K.

Efficiency

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
• 8- or 12GB of RAM
• Unparalleled Android pill efficiency

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, together with the remainder of the Tab S9 assortment, boasts the title of essentially the most highly effective Android pill in the marketplace. 

Why? It’s right down to the inclusion of the identical customized Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset because the flagship Galaxy S23 vary. Coupled with a whopping 8- or 12GB of RAM and as much as 256GB of storage, it’s basically an overclocked 8 Gen 2 with a better CPU clock velocity and an extra GPU core to eke out the easiest efficiency attainable from the chipset.

Consequently, not even common Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Android tablets (of which there aren’t many, admittedly) can maintain a candle to what the Galaxy Tab S9 can supply – one thing backed up by each real-world use and artificial benchmark checks, the latter of which you’ll be able to see the outcomes of right here:

It’s not fairly as quick because the M2-enabled iPad Professional in benchmarks, however then once more, no Android tablets are. 

As for real-world use, the Tab S9 sailed by means of no matter I may suppose to throw at it. Whereas it unsurprisingly dealt with fundamental pill duties like scrolling by means of Instagram and TikTok or shopping the net in Chrome with ease, it was additionally able to high-end gaming. 

I ran each Name of Obligation Cell and Diablo Immortal with top-end graphics enabled and had a strong 60fps expertise throughout each, with no discernable lag or stuttering even after half-hour of gameplay. That top-end graphics efficiency also needs to translate to a speedy enhancing and rendering course of for cell creatives, although with out entry to LumaFusion, it’s not one thing I may personally take a look at. 

The chip is paired with different flagship-level parts together with Wi-Fi 6e and Bluetooth 5.3, and for those who go for the marginally costlier mobile mannequin, you’ll acquire entry to 5G connectivity too. The latter is an actual boon as Apple’s iPads are but to maneuver to 5G, permitting for quick web speeds that allow on-the-go work and even cloud gaming. 

Software program

• Android 13 with OneUI 5.2
• Notable pill performance
• Three OS upgrades on supply

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 comes with Android 13 operating Samsung’s closely customised OneUI 5.2 on high. The replace to Android 14 is certainly deliberate, however on the time of writing, it’s but to materialise on the flagship pill.

So, with that stated, what’s the OneUI 5.2 expertise like on the Tab S9? It’ll doubtless rely upon how acquainted you might be with Samsung smartphones and tablets, as a result of it’s fairly removed from the inventory Android expertise you’ll discover on the Google Pixel Pill. 

That’s evident in various methods, from the stylised notification shade to the sheer variety of Samsung-branded app equivalents pre-loaded on the pill, from Samsung Browser to Samsung Well being, going so far as to take away some Google equivalents throughout a knowledge switch from one other pill. That’s a little bit of a cheeky transfer there, Samsung. 

It’ll doubtless take some getting used to for those who’re not an avid Samsung fan, although it isn’t as painful as different skins like Honor’s MagicUI and Xiaomi’s EMUI. Every little thing nonetheless is smart; it’s simply laid out a bit of in another way. 

Fortunately, Samsung takes the pill expertise extra severely than different Android makers, with a handful of tablet-specific options on the Tab S9. That features an iPad-esque toolbar on the backside of the pill that shows shortcuts to lately used apps, in addition to the power to launch the app launcher from wherever inside the OS – excellent for split-screen multitasking. 

The split-screen multitasking capabilities can run two apps side-by-side with a 3rd current in a floating window, taking your content material consumption to the following degree. However whereas the Snapdragon chipset can deal with this with absolute ease, simply how properly an 11-inch panel handles displaying that many apps on display screen in comparison with the 12.4-inch and 14.6-inch shows of the Tab S9 Plus and Tab S9 Extremely is debatable. 

It hasn’t mounted one of many core points with Android tablets on the whole, nonetheless. App assist continues to be hit-and-miss amongst some fashionable Android apps, significantly in terms of panorama side ratio assist. Consequently, some apps will look a bit of odd or outright refuse for use in panorama mode.

Samsung needs to be praised for its long-term software program promise. Whereas its smartphone assortment has lately been outdone by Google’s upgraded dedication to 7 OS upgrades with the Pixel 8, there’s no such promise within the land of tablets. That signifies that Samsung’s promise of 4 OS upgrades and 5 years of safety patches are nonetheless among the many greatest you’ll discover on the Android market, taking the pill by means of to Android 17. 

Battery life

• 8400mAh battery
• Wonderful battery life
• Pretty fast 45W charging

As you may count on from a big-screen pill that may home a decently sized 8400mAh battery inside its skinny chassis, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 affords very good battery life that gained’t depart many individuals wanting extra. 

Coupled with an energy-efficient show that may modify its refresh price relying on what you’re doing and the power-friendly Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset, I discovered that I’d squeeze a couple of week’s value of use out of the pill earlier than scrambling for a charger. 

For context, that’s round 1-2 hours of each day use on apps like Instagram, Fb, TikTok, Netflix and the occasional e mail in Gmail, with fairly strong standby instances between every use.

To assist visualise issues, the Tab S9 drained 7% cost over an hour of Netflix HDR playback, whereas a 30-minute gaming session noticed an analogous drain of 6%. 

When it does ultimately want a top-up, the Galaxy Tab S9 can cost at a slightly speedy 45W – the catch is that the charging brick doesn’t come within the field, so that you’ll have to provide your personal 45W (or larger) charging brick to get essentially the most out of the charging expertise.

Whereas I didn’t have an official Samsung 45W charger handy, I did have a 100W GaN charger that ought to ship the utmost cost on supply from the pill. Utilizing that third-party charger, I noticed first rate positive factors of 52% in half-hour, with a full cost following in a good 1 hour and 27 minutes. 

It’s not fairly the speedy charging of the mid-range OnePlus Pad and its 67W quick cost capabilities, however slightly surprisingly, it’s not that far off both.

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Trusted Opinions take a look at information

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Geekbench 6 single core

Geekbench 6 multi core

1 hour video playback (Netflix, HDR)

30 minute gaming (gentle)

Time from 0-100% cost

Time from 0-50% cost

30-min recharge (no charger included)

15-min recharge (no charger included)

3D Mark – Wild Life

GFXBench – Aztec Ruins

GFXBench – Automobile Chase

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9

2060

5508

7 %

6 %

87 min

28 Min

52 %

28 %

3936

60 fps

76 fps

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