Samsung Tab S9 Ultra vs. the Competition: How Does It Stack Up?

So, I made a Short on this already, and I’ve talked about these massive tablets in the past. Every time I do, people get really into them—and honestly, I’m right there with you. But the one question I always see is: Are these actually iPad killers? Is that even a real thing? Let’s talk about it.

This is Samsung’s latest high-end Android tablet, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. And honestly, it’s even more ridiculous than last year’s already wild Ultra, and I’m here for it.

I’ve done videos on the Tab S7+ and the Tab S8 Ultra from last year. If you haven’t seen those, I’ll drop a link below. So, what’s new with this one? Well, it’s mostly similar to last year’s model in terms of design, but all the updates are focused on making it even more powerful and capable.

You’ve got this huge 14.6-inch display that honestly feels like holding a small TV. It’s razor-thin, but somehow packs a massive battery inside. It looks like it could snap in half, but surprisingly, it holds up really well. If you don’t believe me, check out Zack’s video on it—it’s more durable than you might think.

This year, they’ve thrown in a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip, plus a new vapor chamber cooling system. So now it’s not only faster, but it can handle even more demanding tasks, whether it’s multitasking, gaming, or video editing. And with that giant 11,200 mAh battery, it could even last longer than before—bigger than any iPad battery out there.

This year, the quad speakers have been upgraded with 20% larger drivers, which is a noticeable improvement. I’m not ready to say these are the best sounding speakers on any tablet just yet—that title still goes to the iPad Pro—but they do get loud with minimal distortion. And if you turn on Dolby Atmos, you get some seriously impressive surround sound effects for music, videos, or games.

For the first time, the tablet is also IP68 water- and dust-resistant. That means it’s not just splash-proof—it can actually be fully submerged underwater without any issues. I can’t think of many times you’d need to dunk a tablet in water, but if you happen to be watching Netflix by the pool and drop it in (no judgment), it’ll be totally fine.

The S Pen is also back in the box, and it now comes with its own IP68 rating. It also supports bi-directional charging, but not in the way you might think. Instead of charging other devices, it just means the pen will charge no matter which way it’s facing when you magnetize it to the back of the tablet, which is a nice improvement over last year.

What’s a bit disappointing, though, is that there’s no charging brick included. This tablet supports 45-watt fast charging, but you’ll have to buy the charger separately. If you’re looking for a good one, I’d recommend the Anker Prime desktop charger. It’s smaller and more efficient (thanks to gallium nitride), plus it has multi-port charging up to 240 watts. That means you could charge both a laptop and the tablet at full speed at the same time.

Anker also has a really convenient 250-watt battery bank that’s worth checking out. It has two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and even a built-in wireless charging pad that lets you charge up to 100 watts. There’s an app that lets you customize the display and optimize charging, or even play a sound to help you find it. It’s way more advanced than any charger that comes with Samsung’s tablet, so shout out to Anker for sponsoring this video. You can check it out through the link in the description below the like button.

The thing is, you’ve seen the specs—everything about this tablet is massive. It’s got a 14.5-inch screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate, an 11,200 mAh battery, quad speakers, at least 12 GB of RAM, and a terabyte of storage, plus another terabyte of microSD card space. Those numbers are great, but what really blows me away is just using the tablet. Holding it in your hands, it’s even more fun than you’d think.

Personally, I’m all about media consumption on devices like this. I’d love to watch YouTube videos on this huge screen, download them for offline viewing, and watch them on a plane. It’s already amazing for that kind of stuff, and honestly, I think that’s what most people do with tablets anyway.

But for the power users, there’s so much more this thing can do. It’s basically at the top of the tablet game right now. You get all of Samsung’s multi-window features and popup modes, plus the 16:10 display that makes everything look great. And if you’re into using a stylus, Samsung and Apple are pretty much the only companies that take it seriously. I use it to sign documents every now and then, but there are people who get their whole workflow done on this thing.

And then there’s DeX. I don’t have the keyboard folio case for this one, but I had it for the S8 Ultra, and it really changes things. DeX Mode turns it into a desktop-like experience, with independent windows, and you can even hook it up to a bigger display if you need to.

Honestly, this tablet is more powerful than anything Apple’s done with the iPad. And that’s not even getting into the camera. It’s probably the biggest viewfinder anyone’s ever used on a tablet. Oh, and there’s that little notch on the front with two selfie cameras—one regular and one ultra-wide. The ultra-wide camera even does auto-framing in video calls, kind of like Apple’s Center Stage, but the cameras are actually placed correctly on the long side of the tablet.

So, the big question is: can this device actually replace the iPad? It’s definitely competing with the iPad Pro — the most powerful model Apple offers — but it’s packing some serious features. Bigger screen, better speakers, expandable storage, and a fingerprint reader that the iPad Pro doesn’t have. And all of this costs just $100 more than the comparable iPad Pro.

It kind of reminds me of the whole Sony phone situation. Sony makes these amazing, high-end Android phones with tons of cool features that other brands don’t offer — like expandable memory and manual controls. But those phones are expensive, and while they’ve got all these extra perks, most people don’t really care enough to pay the premium. They’re impressive, sure, but when it comes down to it, people usually end up going with something more standard.

I feel like the same thing could happen here. There’s a ton of hype around these tablets, and they get great views on YouTube — people love watching videos about them. I enjoy talking about them too. But when it comes to actually buying one, the iPad ecosystem is tough to beat. People stick with the iPad for things like iMessage, FaceTime, and the whole Apple experience.

Let me break it down with an example: people love bigger screens, but only if the rest of the device still works well. Take the 13-inch MacBook Air. It was Apple’s top seller for years. But when people wanted something bigger, they had to go all the way up to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which was way too expensive and overkill for most people. So, they started looking at other brands that offered bigger screens for less money. Eventually, Apple came out with the 15-inch MacBook Air, which was exactly what people were looking for: a bigger screen without all the extra stuff they didn’t need.

On the flip side, Apple tried launching a mini iPhone for two years, which seemed like a great idea if you only listened to online comments. But the reality was that most people still wanted a bigger screen. The mini didn’t sell well, got discontinued, and now we have the Plus model instead.

Now, about this tablet—it’s got a bigger screen than the iPad Pro, which is why it’s so impressive to hold and use. But it’s also a totally different device. It’s a hundred bucks more, it runs on Android, and it has a completely different set of features. For some, that’s too much of a trade-off, and they’ll stick with iPads. But if you’re not tied into the Apple ecosystem and don’t need all the extra features, this tablet is actually pretty great.