Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus: Comprehensive Review
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ is a budget-friendly version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9. It lacks some premium features like the S9's OLED display to reduce costs.
Similar to other FE devices, the FE+ offers fewer fancy features for a more affordable price. While it looks and feels premium, its performance isn't as strong as higher-end tablets.
Although it's not the best Android or Samsung tablet, it's still a solid option for those seeking good performance at a lower price point. It's available in various configurations and colors.
The FE+ has a larger screen compared to the standard FE model with a 10.9-inch display. The standard FE model offers a 5G option, whereas the FE+ is limited to Wi-Fi connectivity.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus: Design
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ may seem like a premium tablet despite being cheaper. It's sleek and slim, resembling pricier models. Measuring 11.24" x 7.3" x 0.26" and weighing 1.38 pounds, it's sizable but not heavy, with a noticeable 12.4-inch display. Its design resembles iPads, with rounded edges and a 16:10 screen. It's water and dust resistant, a useful feature. Sideways, you'll find a camera, power button with a fingerprint sensor, volume buttons, and a memory card slot. The fingerprint sensor is fast, and facial recognition is also an option. Speakers are located on the upper sides, with the charging port on the right. Magnets on the bottom allow for accessory attachment.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus: Display
Samsung replaced AMOLED screens with LCD screens in the Galaxy Tab S9 FE models, including the 12.4” FE+. LCD screens typically don't display colors as boldly or blacks as deeply as OLED screens.
Despite not directly comparing them, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ screen shows bright, vibrant colors, reaching up to 760 nits with adaptive brightness and 637 nits with HDR on. In Vivid screen mode, colors are accurate, covering 152.4% of the sRGB color range and 108% of the DCI-P3 range, with a Delta-E score of 0.15. Compared to the standard Galaxy Tab S9 with its AMOLED screen, the FE+ screen doesn't perform as well.
Overall, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ screen is good, with bright and lively colors. Samsung intentionally made some downgrades compared to the full-priced Galaxy Tab S9 models. While these changes aren't deal-breakers or very noticeable on their own, they affect the tablet's value comparison.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus: Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ falls short in performance, though not everyone may notice. For daily tasks like web browsing, video streaming, and simple gaming, it's okay. It has 8GB of RAM and an Exynos 1380 processor, ensuring smooth operation.
However, compared to other tablets, especially in gaming benchmarks, it lags behind. It scored low on Geekbench 5 tests: 761 for single-core and 2,657 for multi-core—about half of what the full Galaxy Tab S9 scored. It performs worse than the iPad Air from 2022 and even the iPad from 2022, and it's lower than the previous standard iPad from 2021, which is half its price.
While some 3D games ran acceptably, graphics weren't as good. For instance, Fortnite ran at around 30 frames per second (fps) but looked rough. Gaming benchmark tests reveal significantly lower graphics power compared to other options. On 3D Mark’s Wild Life Unlimited test, it scored 2,953, far less than the standard Galaxy Tab S9 and the older iPad Air.
The lower performance raises concerns, especially regarding future updates' impact on its performance over time.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus: Audio
Despite having half the speakers of the full Galaxy Tab S9, the S9 FE+ impresses with its pair of speakers. They deliver loud, clear sound, enhanced by Dolby Atmos support. However, it lacks bass, a similar issue to the Galaxy Tab S9.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus: Software
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ runs on Android 14 with Samsung's One UI 6.0 interface, featuring a sleek design and including Samsung apps like Galaxy Store and Google's Play Store. Other pre-installed apps include Gaming Hub, Health, and SmartThings for home devices management. The tablet's interface is tablet-friendly, with navigation buttons placed conveniently for easy access.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus: Accessories
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ includes an S Pen stylus that magnetically attaches to the tablet's back near the rear camera, requiring no battery. Despite not needing charging, this S Pen performs as well as Samsung's battery-powered ones, feeling just as responsive. Optional accessories include the two-piece Book Cover, with one part staying magnetically attached to the tablet and featuring a stand and stylus holder, and the other covering the screen.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus: Cameras
Samsung equipped the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ with decent cameras, though not as impressive as those found in its flagship phones. Nonetheless, they should suffice for most users. The 12-megapixel front-facing camera captures good selfies and performs well for video calls, even tracking movement. On the back, there are two 8-megapixel cameras: one wide-angle and one ultra-wide (0.5x). They produce decent images in well-lit conditions but struggle in low light. While pictures from the wide-angle camera may appear dull, those from the ultra-wide camera offer more vibrancy, albeit with less detail.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus: Battery Life and Charging
Despite not being as powerful as some competitors, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ compensates with exceptional battery life. Its large 10,090 mAh battery impressively sustains usage, lasting 18 hours and 6 minutes in our web surfing test at moderate brightness. This is nearly twice as long as the standard Galaxy Tab S9 and almost double the battery life of the current iPad Air from 2022, which lasted 10 hours and 9 minutes under similar conditions. While intense activities like gaming may drain the battery quicker, for everyday use, it offers prolonged performance.