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We all know Samsung as the Android tablet king and as the company that makes about 1,000 of them each year. This year, the Korean tech giant released eight tablets under three different series, which is impressive even for Samsung. I was given the opportunity to review the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+.
This is the large version of Samsung’s premium mid-range FE (Fan Edition) tablets. Hitting right below the Galaxy Tab S series proper, these promise to give you a similar experience for less money. Is this tablet worth a purchase, or will it leave all of the “Fans” disappointed? Let’s dive in and find out.
Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Review: Design
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ has one of the best-looking designs of the year, in my opinion. It heavily takes after the main Galaxy Tab S9 tablets, which should come as no surprise. You’re meant to have a similar experience to the more expensive models.
For starters, it’s rather thick compared to most other tablets on the market. Coming at 6.5mm, you’ll definitely feel the difference when you pick it up if you’ve used other tablets. On the sides of the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+, you’ll see the dual speaker with the USB-C charging port on the right side.
Moving onto the back, you see this extremely sleek design. The back is made from matte metal, and it’s just metallic enough to give off a little bit of a sheen. On the upper right, we see the two cameras jutting from the chassis separately, which is the design language that Samsung has adapted across all of its premium phones. The Samsung logo sits in the upper-left corner.
One notable thing about the design is the shape of the antenna lines. They run up the left and right edges of the tablet and curve to accommodate the rounded corner.
Bezels
Moving onto the front, the bezels are always a debatable subject when it comes to tablets. In the case of this tablet, the bezels are rather thick. This offsets that sleek and premium look of the tablet a bit. However, there are two things I have to counter that argument.
Firstly, this is a BIG tablet, and you’ll need something to hold on to that isn’t the screen. For as large and heavy as this device is, those bezels are just big enough for me to grip it without dropping it.
Secondly, when I’m using the tablet- watching videos, doing work, or anything else- I’m looking at the screen, not the bezel. So, a larger bezel doesn’t impact the usability of the device. So, thicker bezels aren’t a big issue.
Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Review: Build quality
It’s not only important that this tablet looks good, it’s also important that it be well-built. Well, this is Samsung we’re talking about. Say what you want about the company, but it really goes the extra mile to make its cheaper devices feel quality-made.
In the case of the FE devices, these are meant to make you feel like you’re holding the premium model, so it should come as no surprise that this device feels like its more expensive sibling. The second I picked this device up, I couldn’t believe that Samsung wanted less than $1,000 for it. It’s clad in a metal unibody that’s been thoughtfully crafted.
Weight
One thing adding to the quality feeling is the heft. The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ is a beefy guy, and it’s pretty heavy. This could be an issue if you’re using this on your lap. Don’t expect to binge-watch Netflix with this tablet on your lap. When I try watching content on my lap, I could feel my hands getting tired immediately.
But, it’s okay
However, that’s a small price to pay for such a well-built device. It extends further than the chassis and the weight. While using this tablet, there aren’t any creaks or signs that anything’s loose. Also, the buttons are all really clicky.
Every aspect of this device has been put together with thought and precision, and that’s something that I appreciate. Each device is put out with a purpose other than just being used. The purpose of this and the other FE devices is to make you think that you’re using a more premium tablet; It accomplished its mission.
Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Review: Display
Now, this is a Samsung device, so you know that the display experience is going to be strong. As I’ve said, this device is masquerading as a premium device, so there are a bunch of premium features. However, Samsung couldn’t make this tablet 1-to-1 with its Galaxy Tab S9+. There had to be some cutbacks to make it better for Samsung’s less-endowed fans. The display is one of the areas where it had to take a few steps back.
However, I think that the cutbacks are mostly felt on paper. In terms of raw specs, you can tell that there had to be some compromises. It’s rocking an LCD display instead of an AMOLED display. It’s running at 90Hz, not 120Hz. When you hear those specs, you’d naturally assume that the experience will be mediocre. It’s definitely diminished compared to the Galaxy Tab S series, but it’s far from mediocre.
Colors
Again, don’t let the fact that this is an LCD display put you off. If you’re a fan of super punchy and saturated colors, this panel will more than satisfy you. Samsung is one of those companies, along with companies like OnePlus and LG, that can make LCD displays with colors that rival those of OLED panels.
The colors on this panel are incredible. No kidding, when I started watching content on this tablet, I had a hard time believing that I was looking at an LCD display. Every color just pops. It didn’t matter if I was looking at icy blues, spicy reds, lush greens, or any color combination, everything was just a spectacle to watch.
I watched some examples of high-quality 4K HDR videos that are meant to showcase how nice your screens are. Along with those, I watched examples of newer Disney movies (because we know how they do with their visuals). It didn’t matter what I watched, the bold and saturated colors just made everything I looked at a treat.
Again, other companies can make LCDs with mind-blowing colors, but I haven’t seen any pack this much power behind every pixel. Samsung did a stellar job with the colors on the display.
Color temperature
In terms of overall color temperature, it seems that Samsung strived for a more neutral tone for the colors. I compared the color temperature of the pure white that the display can project to professionally calibrated studio lights. These lights are designed to produce a neutral scientific white light. I also compared it to the screen of the Tecno Phantom Flip which also has a very neutral tone.
Overall, I think that Samsung got about as close as you could get to a pure scientific white. It doesn’t run particularly warm or cool compared to other displays.
Contrast
The contrast is another feature of this display that redefines what an LCD panel can do. The other large thing letting you know that you’re looking at an LCD panel is the grayish tone you see when the screen is supposed to be black. Companies try to get them as dark as they can, but they can never go completely black.
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE has great contrast compared to other devices sporting an LCD display. The grayish color isn’t gone completely, but the screen actually gets pretty dark where it needs to be.
Brightness
In terms of brightness, let’s just say that if you want to watch some movies while relaxing outside, you won’t have much of an issue. There are phone displays with around 2000 nits of brightness that are meant to negate the sunlight hitting them. The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ doesn’t have one of those displays. When you walk outside, you’ll definitely see your reflection a bit.
However, I found that watching content on this display while outside was still a treat. The display is bright enough that text was perfectly legible, pictures were perfectly viewable, and I could watch content without needing to cover the display. And, this was while viewing it in direct sunlight.
You’re more likely to take your tablet to a brightly lit coffee shop than out to the beach. If you’re in any bright indoor location, the ambient light may as well not exist, as it won’t do anything to deaden the viewing experience. If you find yourself outside in the direct sunlight with this tablet, you’ll still have a great experience with it.
Resolution/refresh rate
In terms of resolution, this tablet comes with a pixel-packed 2560 x 1600 resolution. This means that you’ll be able to watch content at 1440p resolution. Most tablets come with a 1080p display which is still nice. However, the added resolution means that details on videos will pop.
As for the refresh rate, it will all depend on what kinds of displays you’re used to looking at. 90Hz is a bit uncommon compared to 60Hz and 120Hz, so you’re likely to have used one of those screens. If you’re used to looking at 60Hz displays, then this will be an upgrade for you.
Everything from the interface to scrolling feeds to playing certain apps will look notably smoother. It will be a visual treat for you as everything is moving at 30Hz more per second.
However, if you’re used to 120Hz displays, then you won’t really be impressed with the display. The refresh rate will look rather mundane to you. The animations and apps will all still look really nice to you. Just know that you won’t be blown away by how everything looks. I’m used to using 120Hz displays, so the fluidity just didn’t pop to me.
Overall
The display is one of the main reasons to get this tablet. The combination of spectacular colors, excellent contrast, great details, and a smooth refresh rate all add up to a fantastic viewing experience. If you had your eyes on the Galaxy Tab S9+, but you don’t quite have the cash, you won’t regret picking up the FE version.
Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Review: Speakers
A major part of the tablet experience is the set of speakers. You’re likely going to be watching movies on this slab, so why not have a great set of speakers to immerse you in the experience?
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ comes with a set of dual-speakers which is a downgrade from the quad-speakers that we got with the Galaxy Tab S9 series. However, just like with the display, on-paper downgrades don’t equate to real-world downgrades. Let’s dive into the speaker performance of this tablet.
Before I dive in, there are options available to edit the sound, and this review would be about 10,000 words long if I tried to cover the sound using every one of the settings. So, I’ll be reviewing the speakers with the EQ set to normal and the Dolby Atmos setting set to corresponding content.
Loudness
Starting off with the loudness, these speakers get plenty loud to fill the room with sound. These are the kind of speakers that will make you put away your Bluetooth speaker. The drivers do a fantastic job of pushing a powerful sound throughout the room. If need be, you could use this as a speaker during a friendly get-together.
In terms of distortion, you won’t start to hear a degradation in the sound until you get to one level below the highest. They’re loud enough that you won’t really need to have to turn them up that high in order to hear them. My living room, dining room, and kitchen are connected in one large area, and I can have the tablet on the far end of it and still listen comfortably.
The sound isn’t only loud, but it’s also full. The audio sounds full and well-rounded at any volume. You’d hear speakers that are loud, but the sound is thin and tinny. That’s not an issue with these speakers. You won’t really notice that there are only two speakers on this tablet.
Low-end
Having good low-end performance is an important part of the speaker experience. I listened to different genres of music from different time periods, and I was impressed no matter what I listened to.
The low-end performance might be the weakest with classical music, but that’s to be expected. Classical isn’t a bass-heavy genre. While that’s the case, that’s not to say that the performance is bad. The low-end instruments still sing through pretty nicely in classical music.
I get more punch when listening to epic orchestral music. Both epic and classical music use similar music, but epic puts more emphasis on the low end.
Moving onto non-orchestral music from different decades, these speakers strike a great balance with the bass and the other parts of the music. The bass fits in while getting a pleasant boost. It’s enough to support the sound and bring it all together.
What’s more important is that it doesn’t overwhelm the sound. Balance is key, and these speakers give me a well-balanced sound.
High-end
The high-end performance of speakers is something that’s often overlooked. We need the high-end to help emphasize voices and percussion. Also, if you like listening to 80s music, then you’ll appreciate the high-end because a lot of music from the 80s has a lot of higher tones that need to sing through.
The high-end performance of these speakers is just like the low-end. They do a great job of offering a balanced sound. High hats, higher synths, and voice sound crisp and amazing and fit in perfectly with the rest of the music.
Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Review: Performance
Performance is a large part of the tablet experience, especially if you plan on using it for work. While Android tablets aren’t known for being hardcore business machines, people can still get some decent work done. In the case of the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+, the performance is definitely smooth.
Navigating the interface and going through and using apps is as smooth as silk. I didn’t have any issues with stutters or slowdown. In terms of actually using the tablet to perform tasks, the story is much the same. I really had to struggle to get this tablet to slow down. I literally had to have 10 apps open in the background, 2 apps in split-screen mode, and 2 apps as floating windows in order to get it to drop a few frames.
The Exynos 1380 is well-optimized for this tablet. Naturally, you’re not going to have 10 apps open in the background in your usual usage, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much about slowdown with average usage.
App load times
Navigating the interface is one thing, but actually using the device is another. We’re all used to seeing videos of people opening and closing an app at lightning speed, but that doesn’t accurately represent a device’s abilities. We have to actually let the apps load.
I tested the loading times of some apps on this tablet. By that, I mean that I timed from the moment I tapped on the app to the moment that I can start interacting with it. Some games have lengthy screens that show the developer names and the tile. I skipped those screens and timed how long it took to load the actual game data.
Loading Asphalt 9 only took 7.87 seconds. Getting into Sky: Children of The Light took longer at 18 seconds in total. However, the time it took to load the actual game data was only 12 seconds.
Moving onto more intense games, it took 23 seconds to load Honkai Star Rail, which is good for a graphically intensive game. Moving onto Genshin Impact, loading that game took a lengthy 44 seconds. That’s not too bad, seeing as it’s a pretty hardy game.
Heat management
When it comes to heat management, I never found that the tablet became too hot to use. It’d heat up while I was using it, of course, and the fact that it has a metal body didn’t help, but it never really got hot. I think that, because of the size, the heat dissipation is much more effective than on a phone.
Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Review: Gaming
When it comes to gaming, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ falls just short of greatness. Don’t get me wrong, it can handle the mass majority of games with no sweat.
2D games
When talking about 2D games, you’re covered. Any 2D game that you run on this tablet will run smoothly. I loaded games like Streets of Rage 4, Alto’s Odyssey, and others, and there weren’t any games that caused me any trouble.
Low-end to mid-range 3D games
Kicking up the graphics a bit, the main 3D titles that you’ll find on the Google Play Store will also run like butter on this tablet. Asphalt 9 gets intense with its action, and it runs at a fluid 60fps. Sky: Children of The Light is no different. This is one of the prettier games on the Google Play Store, and it runs like a dream.
High-end 3D games
It wouldn’t be a graphic comparison without mentioning some of the games that have been cooking GPUs across the mobile tech space. Starting off with Honkei Star Rail, this is where we start to see this tablet struggle, but it’s not too bad. For starters, I’m able to consistently get a good frame rate. It’s not quite at 60fps, but it fell just short of it. I only see stutters and dropped frames during intense battles. Even then, they’re slight. The performance is, in no way, bad, and this is with the graphics on their highest settings.
Next up, and you saw this coming, we have Genshin Impact. If there’s a game to push this tablet to its limits, it’s Genshin Impact. Again, I had the graphics turned up to their highest settings. Even with everything turned up, I was able to get really smooth gameplay. I didn’t hit 60fps consistently, but it was still definitely over 30fps.
While playing the game, I had the occasional dropped frame and stutter, but it didn’t get to the point where I’d say it was bad. The stutters only happen during intense battle sequences. Even then, they’re few and far between.
I’d say that this is a gaming tablet. It can handle all of the most intense games that you can get on the Play Store without much issue. I’d highly recommend that you download all of your favorite games.
Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Review: Battery
The battery life of this tablet is really good for a tablet. You’re less likely to use it as consistently throughout the day as your phone, so each hour of screen-on-time goes that much further.
Using this tablet for gaming, video-watching, and work, I was able to get just north of seven hours of screen-on-time. That’s impressive for a screent his big and pixel-dense. Your mileage will vary depending on what you’re doing, but seven hours is still nothing to sneeze at. I’m able to get a few days of light tablet usage before having to reach for a charger. However, when I had to use it for more work, then I’d get about two days.
Charging
When it comes to charging, this is the only bummer that I have. Samsung is not known for delivering fast charging, and this tablet doesn’t flip the script. It takes about three hours to charge this tablet from 0% to 100%. That’s while using a fast charger. I had to use one of mine because Samsung didn’t offer one in the box.
Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Review: Cameras
The camera section of the review shouldn’t discourage you from getting this tablet. We all know that companies don’t typically put much effort into their tablets’ cameras. The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ is no exception.
The images on the rear camera are nothing to write home about. They lack color, contrast, and overall detail. If you’re in a pinch, it could get the job done, but you’d be better off with the camera in your pocket.
As for the front-facing camera, this one is a better performer. You can guess that Samsung put more heart and soul into this sensor, as you’re more likely to use it for video calls. This sensor does a nice job of exposing me and my background. Also, there are good details all around.
The cameras on this tablet aren’t a major talking point. The rear cameras are… well, they’re there. The front-facing camera is a nice performer, however.
Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Review: Final verdict
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ is meant to be the “everything tablet”. It does just about everything you would on a tablet with great proficiency. Do you want to watch content? Well, it has a gorgeous display and a powerful set of speakers. Are you going to use it for work? This tablet has great performance. Perhaps, you want to use it for gaming. Go ahead! It flies through whatever games you throw at it.
Nothing about it sticks out as particularly bad. The rear cameras aren’t great, but they’re still good compared to other tablet cameras.
The thing that strikes me about this tablet is just how much of a consistently good experience it gives me. Remember, this is the cheaper version of the Galaxy Tab S9+. For the price you’re paying, you’re getting a tablet that does it all, and it does it all well. If you’re not willing to pay $999 for the Galaxy Tab S9+, you won’t be sorry getting the FE edition. I highly recommend that you pick up this tablet.