Recently, Samsung sent over the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+, a value-for-money 12.4-inch behemoth mid-ranger encased within an aluminium body that has all the bells and whistles that you would expect from a great tablet.
Priced from RM2,799 for the WiFi 8GB+128GB variant all the way up to RM3,699 for the 5G 12GB + 256GB version, these tablets are geared towards digital creators, entrepreneurs, busy students, artists, gamers, and more with its improved speed and performance compared to the previous generation.
Does the mid-range tab have what it takes to be your next tablet? Read on to find out.
Design and build
As mentioned earlier, the tablet is a 12.4-inch tablet with an aluminium frame which is a great material to hold in the hand as it gives that “premium” feel to the device.
In terms of the construction of the device, it feels solid and a bit hefty, mainly due to the size of the thing and two-handed operation is recommended to comfortably handle to tablet for long periods.
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ also has quad speakers which can be pretty loud and is a nice thing to have if you want to watch movies but you don’t have your earbuds or speakers with you.
At the back is where you’ll find the dual camera setup and magnets which allows you to place your S-Pen.
Display
One feature that stood out is the screen, not because of its resolution but size. The 12.4-inch 90Hz screen has serious screen real estate and that’s what makes it great.
First off, the screen helps with multitasking, because of its large size, opening up multiple apps on one go doesn’t feel too cramped.
Next is for consuming content, with the large 19:10 screen, it’s a great tablet if you want to watch movies or play games on the device.
Another thing that I found surprising was that it’s actually a great ebook reader as well, because it has reduced blue light emissions which doesn’t strain the eyes as much if you’re trying to read in a dimly lit room.
Performance
Day-to-day performance has been pretty stable even when I open up a bunch of apps for multitasking such as YouTube on one side, a browser on the other and maybe X, (or Twitter), and it can handle those things without hiccups.
If you’re just browsing the web, consuming content, with a bit of multitasking here and there, this tablet should be able to keep up.
When it comes to gaming, the mid-range processor can handle graphic-intensive games like Call of Duty Mobile, but you can’t max out the settings, at most you’ll get “medium” with a very high frame rate, but if you prefer to max out the frame rate, it’ll readjust the graphics to “low” instead of medium.
However, another way to game that doesn’t tax the tablet as much would be downloading the PS App if you have a PS5. Once you get it connected, it becomes (sort-of) like your portable monitor that you can play your PlayStation games on without a problem (provided that you have good internet).
Battery Life
The battery life has been, pretty good to be honest with a full charge lasting for 1-3 days depending on how heavily you use the tablet.
As mentioned in the first impressions article, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ doesn’t come with a brick charger so you’ll have to get one yourself if you don’t have one.
To be honest, I just use my 10th-generation iPad USB-C charger to charge the device and it takes around 2 hours or so to get a full charge.
Should you get the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+?
You should if you want a good entertainment tablet that you want to have around the household or if you have a child who is going to college and might need it for their studies.
The inclusion of the S-Pen is a great addition, especially for students who like to jot down notes on their tablets and the 12.4-inch screen does provide a good amount of space to write on or you just like to doodle/colour stuff.
What’s great about the S-Pen is that it can also do some other nifty tricks such as the ability to write on the Google search bar and it’s actually a pretty capable “physical” mouse for web browsing.
As for the tablet itself, with the value that you get at the price point, it’s a pretty compelling product, if you’re looking at the 12-inch tablet market space which doesn’t really have that many competitors and cost way more than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+.
