Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 5G tablet review: Powerful all-rounder with OLED

Samsung has created a really good Android tablet in the Galaxy Pad S9. There is hardly anything to complain about, especially with the 5G version. The materials are high quality and well made. The device is compact, comfortable to hold and the screen bezels are nice and small. For the first time, Samsung is offering IP68 certification for the Galaxy S tablets. The active S-Pen stylus is still on board.

Even if the changes compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy Pad S8, are minor, they are there. One upgrade is the current Snapdragon processor. This means that the Galaxy Pad S9 is extremely fast and the performance increase is particularly noticeable in demanding tasks such as gaming. The device simply flies through different applications and multitasking poses no issue.

The new OLED panel also impresses with increased brightness; outdoor use is possible with the Galaxy Tab S9. Only the display’s viewing angle flexibility is not as good. The fantastic stereo speakers in tandem with the display ensure a great audio-visual experience.

Camera photos are also solid, at least in good lighting conditions. Snapshots and video conferences work well. The audio recording quality is particularly good.

5G with dual SIM and Wi-Fi 6E ensures fast data transfers. Although the Wi-Fi transfer rates are good, we would like to see an update because the Galaxy Pad S9 does not work in the 6GHz band with our router.

The Samsung Galaxy Pad S9 is a great piece of hardware with sophisticated software. It leaves little room for criticism and is impressive in productive use, gaming and streaming.

There is little to fault about the Samsung Galaxy Pad S9. The software and hardware are sophisticated and impress with high working speed. Productivity can be further expanded via Samsung’s DeX mode. However, the question of what can be done with such a powerful tablet remains. We have to criticize the battery runtimes, as comparison devices are far better here.

Depending on the application scenario, the limits are not restricted to the built-in hardware of the Galaxy Tab S9 – it depends on the required programs and the working environment. Some programs are available for Apple’s iPad Pro 11, for example, which are lacking in the Android cosmos.

Other alternatives include Windows tablets with even more software, such as the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 or the Asus ROG Flow Z13, both of which are significantly more expensive. If the focus is less on productivity and more on entertainment, then the Google Pixel Tablet with the speaker stand might be an interesting alternative.