Exploring the Eye-Catching Aesthetics of the New Galaxy Tab S9 Series - Are They Worth Their Cost?

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8 series is the company’s top lineup of Android tablets, with large widescreen displays, built-in S Pen styluses, and Samsung’s customed One UI software experience. Today at the Unpacked event, Samsung revealed its next generation of high-end Android tablets: the Galaxy Tab S9 series.

It has been over a year since the Tab S8 series was introduced , and just like that lineup, there are three models in total: the Galaxy Tab S9, the Galaxy Tab S9+, and the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. There will also be a version of the Tab S9+ sold with cellular 5G connectivity, so technically that’s four models.

Let’s start with the Galaxy Tab S9. It’s an 11-inch Android tablet, similar in size to the iPad Air, with an AMOLED screen that supports up to 120Hz. That’s a great upgrade from the LCD panel on last year’s Tab S8, and there’s an in-screen fingerprint sensor as well. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset — the same one found in the Galaxy S23 series. You also get 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, or 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, plus a microSD card slot for up to another 1TB. It also has Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, an 8,400mAh battery, a 13MP camera on the back, a 12MP ultra-wide camera on the front, stereo speakers, and a USB Type-C port for charging and data.

Next up is the Galaxy Tab S9+, which has a larger 12.4-inch AMOLED screen — much closer in size to most laptops than most tablets. It’s available in 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, or 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, with the same microSD card slot for adding additional storage. It also adds an 8MP ultra-wide camera to the back (so two rear cameras in total) and uses a larger 10,090mAh battery. Other than those changes, it’s nearly identical to the base Tab S9.

Finally, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is the top-of-the-line option, with a massive 14.6-inch AMOLED screen. It also has a larger 11,200mAh battery to compensate, and compared to the Tab S9+, there’s another camera on the front. That brings the total to four cameras: two on the back (13MP + 8MP ultra-wide) and two on the front (12MP + 12MP ultra-wide). Samsung will sell the tablet with the same storage and RAM options as the Tab S9+, but with an additional option for 16GB RAM and 1TB storage.

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Just like previous generations, all versions of the Tab S9 will ship with an S Pen stylus in the box, which Apple notably does not do with its iPad lineup. However, all other accessories are sold separately: the S Pen “Creator Edition,” the various keyboard covers, and so on. There’s also no headphone jack on any of the tablets, just like all of Samsung’s other high-end tablets and smartphones. You’ll need USB-C headphones or a trip to dongle town if you want to plug in audio devices. They will also all ship with Samsung’s customized version of Android, and the company is promising 4 major Android OS updates and five years of security updates.

The Galaxy Tab S9 will start at $799.99, the Tab S9+ will start at $999.99, the 5G version of the Tab S9+ starts at $1,149.99, and the Tab S9 Ultra starts at $1,199.99. That’s a lot of money, especially at the low-end, considering the 10th Gen iPad starts at $449 and the iPad Air starts at $599. Those tablets don’t have AMOLED screens and lack some software features present in Samsung’s One UI, but there are far more tablet-optimized apps available for iPads than there are for Android tablets. It seems like Samsung has given up trying to compete with Apple. Google also now sells the Pixel Tablet for $499, but that’s not a great price either , considering it doesn’t have Apple’s better tablet app library, an AMOLED screen like the Galaxy Tabs, or stylus-specific software features found on both Apple and Samsung’s tablets.

You can buy the Galaxy Tab series at Samsung’s online store, and it should show up at other retailers soon.

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