The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series has been out and about for a little while now, which means that I’ve had a proper amount of time to mess around with this model, the Tab S9 or as some would call it, the baby S9. Of the three variants, it’s the one I have actually been looking forward to playing with and using as my daily driver.
With the internal hardware and specifications more or less standardised across all Tab S9 models, I guess the question of this review would be: does its “smaller” size make it any less capable?
Specifications
Looks and Functionality
I won’t touch too much on the aesthetics and exterior of the Tab S9, primarily because I’ve already covered this angle with my initial hands-on of it. As a quick recap, the tablet measures 11-inches from corner to corner, sports a Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, complete with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 120Hz refresh rate.
That display of the Tab S9, by the way, makes for an absolutely stunning and gorgeous viewing experience every single time I whip out Netflix and YouTube, or when I need to write up an article on the fly or respond to my email by using it as an impromptu laptop.
Speaking of laptops, let’s talk about one of the keyboard cover that Samsung graciously provides with every unit of the tablet. As with all keyboard covers, the base weight is always going to be with the tablet itself, so doing some actual typing with the device on your lap is always going to be an awkward experience. Believe me, I know – at most times, when I am denied or absent from a proper table, I find myself typing on the tablet in a limp fashion, the keyboard flopping around within the hollow of my folded legs.
Dex remains intuitive and a pleasant desktop alternative, in a pinch at least.
There is also the subject of Samsung Dex, in which the Korean brand’s “desktop” mode does simplify certain functions and make apps work more seamlessly on the Tab S9, than if I try doing the same in its tablet mode. Case in point, I actually typed out the majority of this review in Dex instead of tablet mode, primarily because Google Chrome displays all the tabs that I have open, in the same way you’d see them open in – wait for it – your desktop PC. Of course, this is only possible because of the extra screen real estate, albeit not being as big as the Plus or Ultra variant.
Another aesthetic plus point that I wholeheartedly appreciate about the Tab S9 is the absence of a notch that you’d see with the Ultra model in the series. I genuinely do appreciate that this model has the selfie camera simply built into the top of the tablet’s bezels and not eat into the display space.
Moving on, there’s also the S Pen that comes with the Tab S9. This accessory and writing tool is and still feels as tight and sharp an experience as when I first laid hands on it when I reviewed the Tab S7 Plus several years before. It is one of the more accurate stylus that I have used in my career and before you say it: yes, I know there is the Apple Pencil and in spite of how good I’ve been told it is, I still haven’t used the stylus produced by the fruit company, to date.
On a sidebar, the Tab S9 unit that I have is the Wi-Fi SKU, and not a 5G model. Further, the official Samsung Galaxy store only lists the 128GB+8GB variant that is currently retailing at RM3,699, while the 5G variant with the same storage and RAM capacity retails for RM4,349. At the time of writing, there is still no pricing for either the Wi-Fi or 5G SKUs of the 256GB+12GB option.
Performance And Battery
As I said, there isn’t much I can say about the Samsung-tweaked Snapdragon 8 Gen2 SoC that powers the Tab S9 series of tablets that I haven’t already sung praises about in my review of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The chipset makes for a smooth experience across the board; apps snap open instantly, while the transition between multiple open apps are seamless. Any form or trace of lag is practically non-existent, while its performance on a synthetic level, for that matter, yields high scores all around.
One of my gripes with the Tab S9, thus far, is one that I’ve talked about for years. Its 11-inch form factor, coupled with its rather hefty weight, makes it a tad unwieldy, at least to my standards and personal preference. I genuinely, honestly believe that if Samsung were to revert back to making an 8.9-inch form factor, this would be perfect but alas, the current sizes available are basically carry-forwards from the previous Tab generation.
The Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel is still gorgeous to look at but is an absolute fingerprint magnet.
Another issue I have with the Tab S9 is that the display panel is an absolute fingerprint magnet, seriously. Even with the barebones of usage and with a pair of cleanly washed hands, I still somehow manage to pollute the entire surface with my palm and digits in record time. So, if you consider purchasing any of the tablets of this series, you’ll need to keep this in mind and resign yourself to having to wipe down the screen from time to time.
There is also the weight of the tablet. As useful as the Tab S9 in a pinch, it is far from being a lightweight experience. In a naked state, it’s not so bad. However, once you attach the rear kickstand and S Pen nook, plus the keyboard cover at the front, I actually start to feel the heft of it. For starters, it becomes that much harder to hold in one hand, and that weight is even more prominent when I chuck it into my backpack. It sounds like I am exaggerating but believe me, even with it weighing less than a kilogram, those extra grams add up to the overall weight of my backpack, which is already heavy enough with the other electronics I carry inside it.
But enough about the weight. Once again, as I mentioned in my hands on, the colour output and picture quality of the Tab S9 is both sublime and bright, all at the same time. As it typically is with Samsung devices, the colours are punchy and vivid: if you’re watching anime on it, that quality really highlights the outlines of characters and subjects, and if you’re watching live-action films or series, those same colours and contrast levels really draw you in.
In addition to being an excellent media player, the Tab S9’s speakers are, in one word, sublime. When I’m not on Netflix or YouTube, I often find myself having the Tab S9 running in the background, playing music from either Spotify or Tidal. It’s one of the few occasions that that AKG tuning that Samsung is so proud of actually shines through and Gods above, the speakers sound full and deep, with no distortions or cracking at any volume level.
Regarding the camera performance of the Tab S9, suffice to say that if you’re purchasing this tablet, you’re obviously not doing it for the 13MP main camera. It’s still serviceable but honestly, even with the AI post-processing, there’s still a lot of noise that is visible in the final image. To that end, I recommend you stick to the camera on your quite obviously premium smartphone, especially if you’re purchasing a tablet of this calibre.
One word to describe battery life: fantastic.
Lastly, there is the battery of the Tab S9 and boy, does it have the legs. Again, I am not a power user and throughout my use of it as my daily driver, it would take me anywhere between two and four days to completely drain the battery.
When made to run Netflix on loop at 50% brightness and 40% volume, the tablet can yield an average of nine hours of continuous use before it enters into single-digit battery life.
Conclusion
The start of my conclusion is one you’ve no doubt heard over and over, especially when it is in reference to a Samsung product: at RM3,699, the Galaxy Tab S9 is by no means cheap nor is it affordable, but I am hardly exaggerating when I say that this is a premium, high-end tablet that really makes its pedigree shine through. My contention with its already smaller form factor notwithstanding, 11-inches is still a lot easier to whip out in the middle of an airport terminal or coffee shop, be it to casually binge on a series you’ve been dying to catch up on, or to simply reply to emails quickly. The latter task made simpler, thanks in no small part to the keyboard cover that it comes bundled with.
At the end of the day, the Tab S9 is, quite sincerely, the very definition of the phrase “You get what you pay for”. Given the hardware, power, and performance, it is, in my eyes, worth every red sen that Samsung is asking for.
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