TheGalaxy Tab S9is a fancy, expensive tablet thats meant to compete with theApple iPad Pro.
The most important feature, to me, is IP68 water and dust resistance.
That changed with theTab S9family.
The Tab S9 (Ultra shown) was Samsung’s first water resistant Tab S
by the pool, weather permitting.
Dont let the weird FE badge fool you.
The biggest negative is performance.
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE arrived with the Galaxy S23 FE
It isnt bad it can even handle multitasking well.
You just wont be editing professional video on this tablet.
You get a bigger display, more storage (including microSD!
), more features, and more of almost everything.
It comes in a bigger package, but its worth the extra heft for so much more.
Its priced to match the Apple iPad Air, or a basiciPad 10.9loaded with 5G and more storage.
While Apple gives you a powerful chipset, but relatively few features, Samsung takes the opposite approach.
For the price, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus is loaded with features.
In the UK and Australia, Samsung will sell you a 5G Tab S9 FE Plus directly.
Samsung also unfortunately skimps on RAM for the 128GB model.
The iPad Air has a 10.9-inch display?
Then the FE Plus gets a 12.4-inch screen, with a 90Hz refresh rate.
The Air gives you 64GB of storage to start?
Double that for the Tab S9 FE Plus.
One camera on the iPad Air?
Then the Tab S9 FE Plus will have two, of course.
The most groundbreaking spec on the Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus is its IP68 water- and dust-resistance rating.
Are you likely to drop the Tab S9 FE Plus in a toilet?
The tablet also has respectable speakers, with tuning from Samsung-owned audio house AKG.
Overall, I think Samsung made all the right calls with the specs on this tablet.
You also get a lot more space on the Tab S9 FE Plus compared to the iPad Air.
Even though its only 1.5 inches larger, that equates to 13 square inches of screen real estate.
This tablet is admittedly chunky.
Its not much thicker than the iPad Air, but it is much heavier.
The Tab S9 FE Plus weighs 166g more than the iPad Air thats almost six ounces heavier.
Samsung sent me the Book Cover accessory as well, which is a two-piece cover and stand.
The front cover attaches at the bottom of the tablet, but I hardly used it.
It also has a fancy origami-style stand that folds down.
I kept the back cover attached all the time, mostly to ensure I didnt lose the pen.
Sadly, that meant I rarely saw the gorgeous mint finish, and it also added extra weight.
Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus review: software
Samsung makes the best tablet software for Android.
Everything works intuitively with simple finger gestures, with no need to learn anything fancy.
It looks great in DeX mode for real desktop work, too.
I had to push to find the hiccups, but I found them.
I didnt have these problems on the Tab S9 Ultra, of course.
Playing games with detailed graphics, likeMarvelSnap, worked just fine, even in the top performance modes.
It then also charged up faster than the iPad Air, although only by a few minutes.
It lasted longer than my iPad even in casual use, aside from our formal battery testing.
Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus?
3 / 5
Extra-large display is also extra bright, which helps alleviate the pain of missing OLED.
Hopefully this sets a new tablet standard.
It isnt the fastest, but it gets the job done.
You have a Samsung phone and like to share
Samsung gear works well together, like, really well.
you’re able to also share accessories, passwords, and more between Galaxy devices.
If you need real editing power, you might need an iPad.
If you have an iPhone, youre better off getting an iPad to share features and passwords and such.
Also consider
Not convinced by the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus?
Read our in-depthiPad Air (2022) review.
I used the Tab S9 Ultra with a variety of streaming services, using both download and streaming features.
I downloaded movies toAmazonPrime and let them play nonstop until the tablet died, timing the total playback.
