Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 Plus review: Should you buy it?

Samsung’s earlier finances pill, the Galaxy Tab A8, earned a particular place in our hearts as an inexpensive choice for streaming. It paired a big show with 4 stereo audio system and added a headphone jack for good measure — we cherished it. With such an incredible finish product, it’s comprehensible why Samsung selected to attend a full two years earlier than refreshing its entry-level slate, and even then, it has stored the adjustments to a minimal. In actual fact, outdoors of the brand new title (the common Galaxy Tab A9 isn’t accessible within the US on the time of writing), you’d be hard-pressed to inform the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus other than its predecessor until you held them aspect by aspect, and that’s an excellent factor.

The rationale it’s a must to maintain the 2 tablets subsequent to one another to see a distinction is that Samsung bumped its finances slate from a ten.5-inch show to an excellent 11 inches. It’s good to have the additional actual property, however the extra necessary tweak is that the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus now has a 90Hz refresh charge as a substitute of the earlier 60Hz, leading to far smoother UI animations. Outdoors of that, although, the facet ratio continues to be a landscape-loving 16:10, and the decision is unchanged at 1,920 x 1,200, leading to barely fewer pixels per inch, however the untrained eye received’t discover.

Outdoors of the refreshed show, the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus’ construct is a story of the acquainted. It includes a two-piece physique made primarily of metallic with a plastic strip surrounding the digicam cutout, SIM tray, and buttons on the aspect. Although a unibody metallic development would have been good, the continuation of the two-piece design is extra according to the pill’s price ticket. It allowed Samsung to save lots of its upgrades for the show and the processor, the latter of which we’ll get to in a second. Sadly, like its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus forgoes a fingerprint reader, which means you’ll want a dependable PIN, drawn sample, or software-based face unlock for safety. Not like the extra premium Galaxy Tab S collection, the pill additionally doesn’t include an S Pen, neither is there a spot to magnetically connect and cost one in every of your personal.

Like its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus packs a quad-speaker setup that punches effectively above its price ticket. You’ll discover a pair of audio system with Dolby Atmos on every of the slate’s brief sides, they usually ship a clear sound as much as max quantity. I seen no distortion whereas catching up on Netflix’s Avatar: The Final Airbender adaptation (the present was much less spectacular than the pill). The Galaxy Tab A9 Plus hangs onto a headphone jack, too, but it surely’s as soon as once more positioned precariously near the nook of the machine, proper the place it might be ripped out simply.

By hanging onto many of the similar design options, Samsung was additionally in a position to energy its finances pill with an improved Snapdragon 695 chipset. It replaces the little-known Unisoc Tiger T618 processor from the earlier Galaxy Tab A8, bringing a extra environment friendly 6nm course of to the desk and an optionally available 5G information connection. Though the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus nonetheless received’t maintain a candle to Samsung’s Tab S9 collection tablets with their Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processors, it’s extra dependable than its predecessor with increased CPU and GPU clock speeds for barely higher returns whereas gaming.

The Galaxy Tab A9 Plus’s upgraded RAM and storage must also assist with efficiency underneath strain. We felt just like the earlier 3GB of RAM within the base mannequin wasn’t sufficient, because it rapidly pushed background apps out of reminiscence. Neither was the 32GB of onboard storage, so it’s good to see Samsung add an additional gig of RAM and double the storage. You may additional improve to a mannequin with 8GB of RAM for an additional charge, which may be price contemplating if you happen to plan to bounce between video games in your Galaxy Tab.

Personally, I stored the gaming to a minimal with this one, because the 16:10 facet ratio feels a bit too broad to play most titles comfortably on the 11-inch show. It fares higher with slower-paced video games like Railbound or Sweet Crush, however I most well-liked the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus as a streaming and cooking associate. I take advantage of Mealime to information my cooking, and the 11-inch show is straightforward to arrange throughout the kitchen (I like to recommend grabbing an honest stand case just like the one I’ve pictured in a number of of those photographs), the place I don’t have to fret about splashing it with elements of any variety (which is nice since this pill isn’t IP-rated).

As a largely home-centric pill, I haven’t needed to fear an excessive amount of concerning the battery lifetime of the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus. I packed it for a snowboarding weekend with mates, figuring I’d use it to stream an episode or two of one thing right here and there, and I got here residence with some cost left within the 7,040mAh cell. If you happen to maintain your utilization mild and sporadic, you may in all probability go between three and 4 days earlier than reaching for a charger, particularly if you happen to keep on with streaming music and exhibits over Wi-Fi. After all, you’ll in all probability worsen returns from the 5G-ready model, however such is the worth of comfort.

Sadly, while you drain the decently sized battery — which is smaller than that of the extra premium Galaxy Tab S9 FE — you’ll must spend some time subsequent to an outlet. The Galaxy Tab A9 Plus solely helps 15W wired speeds and takes round 4 hours to trickle from empty to full. This was, sadly, anticipated based mostly on our expertise with the earlier pill, but it surely doesn’t make tethering your self to a wall any simpler to abdomen. Oh, and there’s no charger within the field, however we have now a number of Galaxy-compatible chargers that we suggest.

Fortunately, although, Samsung noticed match to improve the software program replace dedication on its inexpensive pill lineup, including a 3rd 12 months of Android model help and an additional 12 months of safety patches in addition. That ought to carry the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus to Android 16 and 2027 earlier than it reaches the tip of its life — although it received’t be first in line for any of the updates that do come alongside.

Our Galaxy Tab A9 Plus is working Android 13, although we count on the Android 14 replace and One UI 6 to reach within the first quarter of 2024 based mostly on earlier generations and their respective software program replace rollouts. Within the meantime, Samsung’s large-scale Android expertise stays among the best, with a handy taskbar and easy multitasking controls. It doesn’t have any of the Galaxy AI options that Samsung launched with its Galaxy S24 collection, nor does it appear doubtless it is going to get them, however the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus feels well-matched to cowl the fundamentals in your on a regular basis life.

I’ll additionally point out the cameras as they’re, effectively, there, however they continue to be unchanged from the Galaxy Tab A8. Which means you’re working with a front-facing 5MP sensor within the prime bezel and a single 8MP shooter on the again. Each cameras are extremely smooth when used indoors, handing over photos that look extra such as you tried to pause a video and take a screenshot relatively than deliberately seize stills. The selfie digicam is suitable for the occasional video name, particularly if you wish to use wired headphones, however you in all probability received’t be sharing any photos from this pill when you have a remotely succesful smartphone readily available.

All instructed, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 Plus is a wonderful worth if you happen to’re looking for a budget-friendly pill. It picks up proper the place its predecessor left off, but picks up key upgrades to the show, processor, and software program outlook whereas sinking to an much more approachable value. Although it lacks among the finer options of its premium cousins, it’s simple to suggest the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus as a do-almost-everything slate you don’t have to fret about.

The finances pill scene is crowded, and whereas the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus positively stands on the prime of the pack, chances are you’ll finally resolve that it isn’t for you. If that’s the case, we suggest a number of others at comparable value factors. Listed below are just some:

• Amazon Hearth Max 11 ($229 at Amazon): Amazon’s top-end Hearth pill is about as near the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus as you will get with out buying from Samsung itself. It provides an identical 11-inch show, similar storage, and a slim aluminum design for a comparable value. After all, you’ll must undertake Hearth OS, but it surely’s an excellent choice if Alexa is your go-to voice assistant.
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE ($449 at Amazon): Samsung’s Fan Version pill takes the Galaxy Tab A9 Plus’ base expertise and kicks it up a notch. It provides a sharper show, a extra highly effective processor, S Pen help, and an IP68 ranking in opposition to water and mud — although you’ll wind up paying twice as a lot to deliver it residence.
• Apple iPad (Ninth Era) ($269.99 at Amazon): Apple is already onto its tenth technology of the bottom iPad, however we nonetheless suggest the earlier mannequin for most individuals. Though it doesn’t have a contemporary design with even bezels, the Ninth-generation iPad is considerably extra inexpensive than its successor and nonetheless holds onto comforts like a house button with TouchID. Apple’s software program help is pretty much as good because it will get, too, so that you’ll be capable of maintain onto the iPad for years to come back.