Samsung also launched the Galaxy Tab S9 series alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Watch 6 line-up during its Unpacked event in Seoul today. You get a choice of three screen sizes starting with the 11-inch Galaxy Tab S9, followed by the 12.4-inch Galaxy Tab S9 Plus, and the 14.6-inch flagship Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. For those unaware, these are high-end Android tablets, sort of like Samsung’s equivalent to the iPad Pro models, with high-end specs and pricing to match.
The big new update, this year, is that all the three tablets offer the same key core screen essentials. The Tab S9, Tab S9 Plus and Tab S9 Ultra all come with Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays, whereas in the past iteration, it was reserved for the plus and ultra models (the Tab S8 came with an LTPS TFT). So, that’s nice. The Tab S9 also has a slightly bigger battery than last year’s version (8,400mAh versus 8,000mAh) Considering the premium that Samsung usually charges for these tablets, it’s only fair the spec-sheet walks the talk, too.
The Tab S9, Tab S9 Plus, and Tab S9 Ultra all have an IP68-rated body as well, a feature that’s rare to find among tablets. Even the S-Pen that Samsung bundles with these tablets for free has the same rating. Samsung seems very proud of this achievement too as it showed off the capability to select media before launch, dunking one of its new tablets in an aquarium full of water and then casually going on to write something on it with the S-Pen (which was submerged, too, by the way) and even erasing it, as if like second nature. You’re probably never going to use it, but it is always nice when gadgets you spend so much money on surprise you like this. Not to mention, the bragging rights are priceless.
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Together with Qualcomm’s specially curated Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processor, the Tab S9, Tab S9 Plus and Tab S9 Ultra stand to –once again— be the undisputed king of Android tablets and a no-brainer for those who can afford them (Samsung hasn’t announced India pricing at the time of writing) even if everything else, including design and aspect ratio, battery capacity and fast charging stats remain largely identical to the last models. So, let’s get that out of the way quickly.
All the Galaxy Tab S9 series tablets boast of sleek all-metal unibody and up to 120Hz fast refresh rate AMOLED displays with in-screen fingerprint readers for biometric authentication. The ultra comes with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. The plus tops out at 512GB whereas the Tab S9 at 256GB. A notable thing about these tablets is that Samsung lets you expand the storage through micro-SD which is becoming another rarity among tablets (the iPad in fact never gave you that option). You can get the ultra with 5G, if you want to.
Battery capacity stands at 10,090mAh for the Tab S9 Plus and 11,200mAh for the Tab S9 Ultra.
The Tab S9 Ultra has two 12MP front-facing camera (inside a notch that is) while on the back, it has a 13MP wide and 8MP ultrawide. The Tab S9 Plus and Tab S9 have a 12MP front and 13MP rear camera.
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With all the great work that Samsung has put in software, One UI is a big differentiator for these tablets and even as brands like OnePlus start to venture into the category, the first-mover advantage that Samsung has cannot be overstated. Features like split screen, DeX and multi control continue to grow stronger even if there are no big new features to talk about this year, the foundation is rock solid, one that will –hopefully—only get better with time. Like the last generation, the Tab S9 series is guaranteed to get 4 major OS and up to 5 years of security updates. Be sure to watch this space for more on Samsung’s Tab S9 series and also the Fold 5, Flip 5, and the new Galaxy Watch 6 line-up.
Disclaimer: The reporter’s travel and stay for this event in Seoul have been arranged by Samsung.
