Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ Review (2024)

The $219.99 Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ succeeds at everything a low-cost tablet should. It sports a large 11-inch screen for all your entertainment needs, offers a refined design, performs smoothly, and has a microSD slot for expandable storage. Our few complaints, such as a low amount of base storage, can be overlooked at this price. For its overall competency, the Galaxy Tab A9+ is our new Editors' Choice winner for affordable Android tablets.

Above-Average Looks

At 10.12 by 6.64 by 0.27 inches (HWD) and 1.06 pounds, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ is slightly shorter and slimmer than the $259.99 Lenovo Tab P11 Plus (10.17 by 6.42 by 0.30 inches, 1.08 pounds). Apple's $449 10th-generation iPad (9.79 by 7.07 by 0.28 inches, 1.05 pounds) is shorter and lighter, but thicker and wider. Overall, the Tab A9+ feels well balanced no matter how you hold it.

As is typical for Samsung, the Tab A9+ uses quality materials. The smooth plastic back and sides feel sturdy and join together in a way befitting a more expensive device. That said, the surprisingly large bezels around the display reveal its budget leanings and the tablet lacks an IP rating like most others in its class. If you want something you can use without worry near water, check out the pricier, IP68-rated Galaxy Tab S9 FE series (starting at $449.99).

(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)

A volume rocker and power button sit on the right side, both of which feel sturdy and provide a good amount of travel. Two small notches flank pogo pin connectors on the bottom to help line up and secure optional accessories. The microSD card tray is positioned near the corner. Four speakers produce sound through two grilles on the short sides of the tablet, one of which also holds a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB-C (2.0) port. The back is bare except for a single-lens camera module that protrudes from the surface by about a millimeter.

(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)

Face recognition via the front-facing camera is your only biometric security option. It's a less secure method than unlocking via a fingerprint scanner, something the A9+ lacks. This omission means that the authentication process for certain apps and purchases might take a little longer or be more cumbersome.

Samsung sells the tablet in Graphite (the version I tested), Navy, or Silver. You can't use an S-Pen stylus with this device, but a case is available for $49.99. In the box, you get the tablet, a pin tool for the microSD card tray, and a USB-C-to-C cable, though no power adapter.

A Comfortable Screen for Streaming

To keep costs low, the A9+ is built with an LCD rather than an OLED panel. It measures 11 inches across the diagonal, has a resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 pixels, and offers an adaptive refresh rate of 90Hz. Small text on the screen can sometimes be hard to read, but most media playback looks smooth and shows vibrant colors. I found the display easy to see indoors, but direct sunlight can cause it to look washed out.

For comparison, both the Tab P11 Plus' 11-inch LCD (2,000 by 1,200 pixels) and the iPad's 10.9-inch LCD (2,360 by 1,640 pixels) are sharper, though slower at 60Hz. Their aspect ratios are an important factor here, however: Samsung uses a 16:10 ratio, Lenovo opts for 5:3, and Apple goes with 4:3. The Tab A9+ is the most suitable for watching videos in landscape orientation.

Performance That Matches the Price

A Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 system on a chip (SoC) with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage powers the standard Galaxy Tab A9+ I tested. There are two other variants that each cost $269.99: One adds 5G connectivity and keeps everything else the same, while the other ups the RAM and storage to 8GB and 128GB, respectively, but doesn't add 5G.

The base model leaves you with only about 48GB of available storage. That might be enough if you mostly plan to stream content, but if you want to load a lot of games, movies, and music onto the tablet, you might want to spring for a microSD card (the expansion slot supports cards up to 1TB). For reference, installing Genshin Impact along with a suite of benchmark apps for testing took up almost all the available storage.

(Credit: Samsung)

Light tasks like browsing the web, scrolling through social media sites, and streaming media worked well in testing. The animations that bring Samsung's default launcher to life run smoothly, though not lightning-fast, and I didn't notice much lag when I switched between multiple open apps. The experience is on-par with the price.

(Credit: Geekbench/PCMark)

I used a series of benchmarks to objectively measure performance. On GeekBench 6, which quantifies raw computing power, the Galaxy Tab A9+ scored 908 on the single-core test and 1,975 on the multi-core test. The Tab S9 FE+ performed in the same ballpark on the single-core test (1,011) but much better on the multi-core test (2,897). Meanwhile, the midrange Google Pixel Tablet ($499), which uses Google's Tensor G2 SoC, beat both with scores of 1,415 and 3,658.

On the PCMark Work 3.0 test, which evaluates general mobile tasks, the A9+ scored 10,243. The Tab S9 FE+ managed a better score of 12,223, though the Pixel Tablet's result of 10,386 just barely eked out a win.

To evaluate gaming performance, I ran the GFXBench Aztec Ruins test at a resolution of 1,920 by 1,180 pixels. The Tab A9+ managed to push out 12fps here. This result matches that of the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+, but the Pixel Tablet came out ahead with a score of 29fps.

Although the Tab A9+'s bechmark results aren't phenomenal, they show that the tablet can at least approach the performance of alternatives that cost significantly more.

(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)

Genshin Impact ran smoothly on default or medium settings at 60fps. The tablet struggled a bit at high settings, however, with some slowdowns impeding gameplay. All this means is that you should keep the settings at a reasonable level with intensive games if you want the best experience. Casual games like Mario Kart Tour and Alto's Odyssey performed flawlessly.

Another point of good news: The back of the device never got warm regardless of how far I pushed it. This shouldn't be your first choice for a gaming tablet, but it's still capable in this regard.

Unremarkable Battery Life

The Tab A9+ has a 7,040mAh battery and can charge other devices via USB-C. It supports 15W wired charging. As mentioned, you don't get a charger in the box.

In our battery tests, which involve streaming a 1080p video at full brightness, the Tab A9+ lasted approximately seven hours. Recharging the device from 0 to 100% took about 2 hours and 35 minutes with a 15W charger. A quick 15-minute session got the A9+ to 8%; at 30 minutes, the tablet reached 20%.

For comparison, both the Tab P11 Plus (7 hours and 58 minutes) and the Tab S9 FE+ (7 hours and 23 minutes) outlast the Tab A9+ by a bit. The Pixel Tablet ran for just 5 hours and 25 minutes on the same test.

Competitive Wi-Fi, Loud Speakers

For connectivity, the Tab A9+ supports the older Wi-Fi 5 spec and the older Bluetooth 5.1 spec. The 5G (sub-6GHz only) upgrade is optional and costs an extra $50. The tablet doesn't have NFC for mobile payments and the like.

When I connected it to a Wi-Fi 6 access point, the tablet reached maximum speeds of 440Mbps down and 6.09Mbps up. For comparison, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+, which supports Wi-Fi 6, managed speeds of 382Mbps down and 4.60Mbps up. (The slow upload results are more a function of my internet service provider than the tablets.) After I took the tablets as far away from the access point in my apartment as I could, the Tab A9+ hit download and upload speeds of 173Mbps and 3.72Mbps. The Tab S9 FE+ did a little better here, managing 252Mbps down and 4.21Mbps up.

The tablet's quad-speaker array gets quite loud. When playing Metallica's "Enter Sandman," I recorded a peak volume of 103.8dB, which beats both the Tab S9 FE+ (95.3dB) and the Pixel Tablet (97.5dB). That's all well and good for filling a small room with audio, though the device still struggles to reproduce low-end frequencies. For example, the bass notes on The Knife's "Silent Shout" were barely audible. Plug in a pair of wired headphones or use a set of Bluetooth buds to enjoy better audio quality.

Simple Cameras

In line with its budget price, the tablet has just two basic cameras: an 8MP f/2 shooter on the rear and a 5MP f/2.2 selfie cam on the front. There is no flash module.

Colors in photos captured from the main camera look slightly duller than reality, which is somewhat surprising since Samsung often oversaturates the color produced on its Galaxy phones. Crucially, however, details appear clear.

Main camera (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)

Images from the front-facing camera, which is centered on the long edge, show good color but have softer details. The portrait mode works well overall, though it might blur wispy areas like hair by mistake.

Left to right: Selfie mode, Portrait mode (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)

Both cameras top out at 1080p resolution at 30fps for video capture, and neither offers image stabilization. I see muddy colors even in footage captured with decent light as well as plenty of grain. To ensure the best video call experience, keep the A9+ still and make sure you have plenty of light. Low-light video is quite grainy. At least the camera is positioned well for video chats.

Powerful Android Software

The A9+ ships with Android 13 and Samsung's One UI 6.0 atop it, but I was able to upgrade to Android 14 during my testing period. Samsung plans to offer OS and security updates for the device until the fall of 2027, which means it should be a safe buy for several more years. Lenovo is no longer supporting the Tab P11 Plus with updates, for comparison, though Apple's 10th-gen iPad should still get at least as many years of support as Samsung's slate, as should Google's Pixel Tablet.

Android on large-screen devices can be a hit-or-miss experience since some apps don't scale well. This is true for any Android tablet, not just the A9+. Samsung's One UI helps more than you might think. For example, it offers some productivity boosters like a hidable taskbar, the option to use multiple apps at one time, and the ability to easily connect to other Samsung devices for sharing content. Stock Android allows for three tiled apps and a pop-over video player, but, below, you can see three apps tiled, a pop-up Google Maps window, a pop-up CPU-Z window, and a pop-over video player running at the same time thanks to Samsung's multitasking tweaks.

The Tab A9+ can run more apps than the Google Pixel Tablet (Credit: Samsung)

One UI also comes with Samsung's desktop-like experience mode, DeX, which you can activate in the quick settings. You can use DeX directly on the tablet's screen or while it is connected to another display (via USB-C or wirelessly). Once DeX is active, you see a taskbar at the bottom of the screen and can launch apps in their own windows. If two apps overlap, selecting one brings it into focus. That doesn't happen in the standard Android interface, in which the most recent app is always on top. DeX supports touch input via the tablet itself, but you can also connect a keyboard and mouse over Bluetooth or through the USB-C port.

DeX mod (Credit: Samsung)

I find Samsung's productivity customizations to be truly useful. DeX still can't replace a full-fledged operating system like ChromeOS or Windows, but it does make it easier to get work done.

The Affordable Android Tablet to Beat

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ is a compelling package for the price. It handles daily productivity tasks without any problems thanks to Samsung's software tweaks, performs well when it comes to streaming media, and runs even intensive games moderately well. And if you need cellular support, a 5G-compatible version is available. The battery life and the base storage could both be better, but that doesn't prevent the Tab A9+ from earning our Editors' Choice award for affordable Android tablets.