Every year, Samsung comes out with its Galaxy products which range from smartphones to tablets and earbuds.
In the tablet space, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is the company’s top dog but Samsung also has their Fan Edition (FE) variants, which are made based on the feedback from their fans on what they want to be included in their Samsung Galaxy device.
This year, Samsung has rolled out the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE and FE+, two tablets for digital creators, entrepreneurs, busy students, artists, and gamers with improved device speeds and even better performance compared to the previous FE Series.
Both of these tablets come in two different sizes—the 10.9-inch Tab S9 FE and the 12.4-inch Tab S9 FE+—with both sharing the same specs such as the colours of the devices, a 90Hz screen, IP68 rating (for both the tablet and the S Pen) but the FE+ has a bigger screen, larger battery and an extra camera at the back.
We’ve received the larger sibling of the two (the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+) for review and here are the first impressions of this huge tablet.
What’s in the box
The box is pretty slim considering the size of the tablet and housed inside is the device, the S Pen and a USB C cable – but no charging brick – besides the usual documents and such.
Although the charging brick omission was a bit disappointing, I do have to commend them for including the stylus in the box which is great because you don’t have to fork out some extra cash if you really need one and it’s sold separately.
The design
First off, I just have to say that this device is huge, or as ex-US President Donald Trump once said, “bigly”.
On the front of the device is the massive and vibrant 12.4-inch screen with quad speakers flanking the sides that can get pretty loud with the front camera positioned on the longer side of the screen, meaning that it will sit on the top if you position the tab in landscape mode. Rounding that off is the fingerprint reader, volume rocker and USB-C port.
At the back, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ has an aluminium body that feels premium to hold and the device does have a pretty slim profile.
Also on the back are the two cameras mentioned previously—an 8MP wide and an 8MP ultra-wide— the magnetic slot where you can charge your S Pen, which is located nearby, and the “Sound by AKG” engraving.
You also have connector pins if you decide to get their keyboard cover to make Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ a productivity powerhouse.
First impressions
Trying out the device for the first time, I did feel that the tablet is pretty heavy and one-handed operation might need some getting used to, especially when it’s in landscape mode.
That’s not surprising considering the size of the tablet (12.4 inches with a 16:10 aspect ratio) which is massive but with that large screen, what you get is a great content consumption device especially if you’re into watching videos.
What it’s also great at is multitasking, meaning you can open multiple supported apps simultaneously – something like opening multiple windows on a computer – which is pretty helpful if your workflow involves switching between multiple apps.
The S Pen is great too, I’m not good at drawing but I do appreciate the sensitivity of the pen for writing and Samsung has made it possible to use the stylus to write on Google search bars which is neat.
Samsung has also included the Pen-UP app if you wanna tap into your inner Picasso, or are just interested in some colouring and for note-taking, they have the Samsung Notes app.
But considering the price tag which starts from RM2,799 (WiFi – 8GB+128GB) all the way to RM3,699 (Cellular 12GB+256GB) does it have what it takes to be your next tablet? Stay tuned for our full review soon to find out.
