Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra review – a huge tablet that’s big on power and performance

85%

• VERDICT

Samsung has produced a winner with the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. The huge 14.6-inch device is both a huge and fun playground and a productive workspace with the power and features to deliver a memorable experience.

This is the “go big or go home” tablet. The 14.6-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is a tablet on steroids and it has the power and features to back it up as well.

Tablets have become a lot more powerful in recent years – so powerful they can take the place of your laptop or step in as an alternative.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is one of those tablets.

It is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 3.36Ghz octa-core processor and 12GB RAM which makes it quite a capable device.

On the design side, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is remarkable with a thickness of just 5.5mm.

This makes it thin enough to slide under a door.

And it weighs in at 732g.

It is made of aluminium with flat edges and a matte finish on the back so you can get a better grip when you’re holding it.

Another key feature is the durability. The tablet has an IP68 dust and water rating so it’s as tough as your smartphone. That will give potential users peace of mind.

It is available in graphite or beige – that’s it. We would have liked to see some other strong colours.

We had the beige model for our review. Not a colour we would have chosen but it grew on us.

The first thing you notice about the tablet is the stunning 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display which makes whatever you’re watching or playing or whatever app you’re using just pop.

Samsung has always excelled with their displays and the 14.6-inch screen on the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is gorgeous.

It also has 120Hz adaptive refresh rate so the colours and brightness that already knocks your socks off is also backed by a smoothness that tops everything off when watching movies, playing games and scrolling around.

Throw in HDR10+ and the already excellent viewing experience gets even better when watching 4K content on streaming services.

Having a screen of this size can supersize things like apps and games you would normally play in portrait mode on your smartphone.

On the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra it’s on a much grander scale.

The screen real estate also lends itself to easy multitasking so you can spread out your work. It’s possible to run three apps at the same time.

The tablet also comes with the S Pen so you’re able to write and draw on the screen or jot down some notes.

The responsiveness is excellent and not far off using a real pencil on paper.

It can attach magnetically on the back of the Tab S9 Ultra when you’re not using it, but it will come loose if you put the tablet in a backpack.

We would have preferred a top magnet to hold the S Pen on the edge but that would have it made it just like the iPad Pro and the second generation Apple Pencil.

Users can purchase a keyboard case and cover ($359) to really transform the tablet to a laptop. We didn’t receive this accessory to use with the tablet for our review.

And not only does the Tab S9 Ultra look amazing it also sounds amazing as well with Dolby Atmos and the AKG Harman tuned quad speakers. Turn it up to full volume at night and you’ll wake people up in your house.

There are two rear cameras – a 13-megapixel wide and 8-megapixel ultrawide and two on the front – both 12-megapixel – one primary and one ultrawide so you can easily snap a quality selfie.

Being a larger tablet means Samsung can also fit in a larger battery – and that’s exactly what it did.

The battery aboard the 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S9 is a colossal 11,200mAh which lasted us more than two days with steady use.

The smaller tablets in the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 range have 10,090mAh (12.4-inch) and 8,400mAh (11-inch) and the battery is consistently relevant with the screen size it is powering.

In other words, the larger screens have larger batteries and deliver similar battery life.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra tablet isn’t cheap – it starts at $1,999 for the wi-fi model with 256GB storage and 12GB RAM.

Move up to 512GB storage and 12GB RAM and the price goes up to $2,199.

And this moves up to $2,449 when you opt for the 5G model.

The smaller tablets start at $1,299 (11-inch Galaxy Tab S9) and $1,699 (12.4-inch Galaxy Tab S9+).

VERDICT

Samsung has produced a winner with the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. The huge 14.6-inch device is both a huge and fun playground and a productive workspace with the power and features to deliver a memorable experience.