Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Series

There's no disputing it: Samsung's newest Galaxy Tabs are easily the best Android tablets you can buy right now. In terms of raw power, display quality, and battery life, all three entries in the Tab S9 series are excellent slates that don't have much competition (assuming you don't want an iPad). However, after using the Tab S9, Tab S9+, and Tab S9 Ultra for the past few weeks, I can't stop thinking about their prices.

The cheapest one, the Tab S9, starts at $800. The Tab S9+ is $1,000, and the Tab S9 Ultra is a crazy $1,200. If you want to use the tablets for laptop-style work, you'll need to shell out extra for a keyboard cover, though Samsung does include an S Pen stylus with each model. To my eyes, such high prices sap the Tab S9 series of any mainstream appeal they might otherwise be entitled to. A few Android tablets I've tested recently, like the Pixel Tablet and the OnePlus Pad, cost less than $500, and they feel like smarter buys. (You can also occasionally find the excellent iPad Air on sale for $500.) Samsung makes great hardware and offers extended software support, but it's really hard not to balk at the high cost.

Photograph: Samsung

The Tab S9 series includes three tablets: the Tab S9, S9+, and S9 Ultra. They share nearly the same guts, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that powers them, but there are some minor differences between the models. Like how the Tab S9 comes with 8 gigabytes of RAM and the S9+ and S9 Ultra have 12 GB. Or how the S9 Ultra has an extra front camera for sharper video calls. The main differentiating feature across the line is size. The Tab S9's screen is 11 inches, the Tab S9+ is 12.4 inches, and the Tab S9 Ultra is 14.6 inches. Choosing one largely comes down to what you want to do on that screen.

Let's get one thing out of the way first. You can absolutely get some work done on any of these tablets. (I'm currently writing this review on the Tab S9 Ultra.) The recent improvements in Android for tablets have made it easier to use two apps side by side in split-screen mode, and Samsung lets you have a third app as a floating window in between them. You can collapse this app into a floating bubble or move it to the edge of the screen until you need it again. (This is great for messaging or music streaming apps.) You can even have two Chrome tabs up and running side by side.

Even better, I'm currently using Samsung's DeX with a Bluetooth keyboard. This is a mode available on Galaxy mobile devices that enables a more desktop-like interface, with a taskbar at the bottom and resizable app windows that resemble the experience on a Windows or macOS machine. You can also connect the Tab S9 series wirelessly as a second screen with Windows PCs, or pair the tablet with an external monitor via a cable for a dual-screen experience.

However, none of this functionality is free of quirks. When paired with a portable monitor, I noticed that the monitor enters DeX mode, but the main tablet screen retains the normal Android interface. I'm not able to use my mouse to move the cursor from the monitor back to the tablet's screen—it just stays on the portable monitor's screen, and I can only control the tablet's screen with my fingers. Everything feels disconnected. (Update: After troubleshooting with Samsung, it looks like you can move the cursor between tablet and monitor—you have to access DeX's settings on the portable monitor first and head to the mouse and trackpad section to have the cursor flow from one screen to the other.)

I also hate that opening a new Chrome tab doesn't automatically put the cursor in the URL search bar, so I always have to manually tap there before I start typing. And sometimes, my Chrome tab refreshes when I come back to it after using another app, which can mean potentially losing any work that's not saved on that page. I've also noticed that some apps (like Telegram) don't show their multipane design in DeX mode, despite it being available in the normal Android tablet mode.

I've run into more issues like this, and they do end up having an impact on the overall experience of using the Tab S9 series as a computer replacement. So while I got work done, I still needed my desktop machine to get work done fast. That said, I still enjoy the flexibility of turning off DeX and using these Tabs as normal, fun tablets.

The 120-Hz AMOLED screens on the Tab S9 series are wonderfully colorful, bright, and sharp. I just wish Samsung would add an always-on display mode to make the screen more useful when in standby mode. Instead, you just get a blank void until you tap the screen. The quad speakers push out an impressive amount of audio, though I found some songs sounded a bit flat compared to how they sound on the iPad Pro. Battery life, thankfully, has been pretty great all around. I worked for six hours straight on the Ultra while plugged into a portable monitor, and it only dipped to 40 percent.

There's a microSD card slot in case you want to add more space, and each Tab S9 comes with an IP68-rated S Pen stylus. (The tablets are also IP68-rated for the first time ever.) I quite like using the stylus to write down my tasks in apps like Goodnotes (which comes free for one year) and Samsung Notes, and it worked well for drawing, though I don't sketch as much as I used to.

Photograph: Samsung

You can now place the S Pen on the back of the tablet in either direction to store and recharge it, but I still think Apple's approach is superior, with the second-gen Apple Pencil sitting on the edge of the slate. You can place the S Pen on the tablet's edge, but it won't recharge. When I move to put the S Pen back in its rightful place while facing the screen, too often I spend a few seconds hunting to find the precise spot, because I can't see how the stylus is positioned.

It's great that Samsung includes a stylus with the tablet, and the company should now do the same with the keyboard. It's crazy to me that even after spending $1,200 on the Tab S9 Ultra, you need to spend another $350 (!) on the keyboard cover attachment.

If you plan on using the Tab S9 series as a work-and-play machine, I suggest sticking with the Tab S9+ or the Tab S9 Ultra. There aren't a ton of large-screen Android tablets on the market; the Ultra, with its massive size, is particularly unique. Go big or go home, right? Just know that the Ultra weirdly doesn't support 5G connectivity (only the S9+ does). The smaller Tab S9 is ideal for play. I caught up on some shows before bed and comfortably browsed social media, but when I tried this with the larger models, my wife said I looked like a grandpa, staring at the stupidly gigantic Instagram app on a nearly 15-inch screen. (Sorry, grandpas.)

The Tab S9 to me is the weakest of the lot because of its price. The OnePlus Pad costs $479, and the must-have keyboard attachment is an additional $149 (though the company is running a promotion right now that includes the keyboard cover for free). That's a total of $628, roughly $311 less than the Tab S9 with its keyboard cover. Sure, the OnePlus has an LCD screen, and overall there are more perks on the Samsung, but the OnePlus tablet felt sufficient. Save your money!

I know. The first thing I usually hear when I complain about the price is, “But Apple's iPads are just as expensive!” Well, sort of. What makes Apple's tablets enticing is that no matter how much you pay, you're getting a really powerful machine. The 9th-gen iPad, which routinely sells for less than $300, can handle most tasks with ease. If you ramp your budget up to $600, the iPad Air nets you laptop-grade power.

Samsung, however, almost never gives its sub-$800 tablets the same first-class treatment. The Tab S7 FE, which costs a little less than $600, delivered a somewhat choppy performance when I tested it. Samsung's cheaper tablets are even laggier. If the new Tab S9 came in at $500 or even $600, I think it'd shine pretty bright. I don't think most people need the $1,100 iPad Pro, and the same applies to the Tab S9 Ultra, though I do think that the Ultra moniker is well deserved; it feels like it offers a more “Pro” experience than Apple's slate.

Ultimately, if money is no object and you want all the bells and whistles, from the 120-Hz screen and the AMOLED panel to the in-display fingerprint sensor and included stylus, then you'll have no regrets with the Tab S9 series. I think the best move is to buy a model from last year's Tab S8 series at a discounted price. Barring that, wait for a really great sale on the latest models. If you just want a powerful enough Android tablet for both work and play, I think the OnePlus Pad with the keyboard cover is the best way to go. At least you won't feel like you just set fire to your wallet.