If you’re in the market for a considerably affordable and compact Android tablet, then there’s not much in the way of quality choices – sure, there’s an obscene amount of obscure off-brand devices out there which sacrifice a lot in the way of hardware and performance to bring down price, but these are often susceptible to a subpar user experience.
With that in mind, Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab A9 (which was announced not too long ago) does offer a set of decent hardware features, at a price that’s much, much lower than other compact devices such as the Apple iPad Mini, for example. Of course there’s a notable difference between the Tab A9 and its more premium Apple rival, but folks looking for a compact tablet for casual use aren’t really on the lookout for an expensive device, making the Tab A9 a nice option to look at. If you’re set on buying the Galaxy Tab A9, here’s what you should know.
External Design and Screen
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 features a relatively slim design, with a metal finish on the rear panel. The top and bottom of the tablet are made of plastic though, although it doesn’t necessarily feel “cheap” in-hand. The sides of the tablet feature the power and volume keys, speaker grille, USB-C port, SD card tray, and even a 3.5mm headphone jack – yes, you’ll be able to use wired headphones with this device in particular. While it doesn’t do anything “groundbreaking” in terms of Android tablet design, the Galaxy Tab A9 comes with a functional look and feel overall, that should be ideal for commutes on the bus, tain, or long flights.
Unlike the Galaxy Tab A9+ which features a much-larger screen, the base model Tab A9 comes with a more compact 8.7-inch display, which is a godsend given that most cheap tablets on the market these days feature 10-inch displays or larger. It should be noted though that the display is a rather modest TFT panel, featuring a 800 x 1340 pixel resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate – no fancy AMOLED or 120Hz display on here, unfotunately. Given that it’s aimed at users after the basics though, we reckon that it should be enough for most tasks such as Netflix binges, social media and web browsing, and even a bit of light gaming.
Internal Specs and Camera
Speaking of “light gaming,” the Galaxy Tab A9 will be enough to run most casual games on the Google Play Store – you know, stuff like puzzle games, arcade runners, and such. This is due to the SoC inside the tablet, a MediaTek Helio G99 chipset. It’s not a terrible chip per se, but it should be said that there’s a reason that the Tab A9 sits at Samsung’s “budget” device bracket. The tablet runs Android 13 and comes in a base RAM + storage configuration of 4GB/64GB, although there’s also an option for up to 4GB/128GB and 8GB/128GB. There’s also an 5,100 mAh battery inside, which should be enough to last most users a day or two.
Camera quality isn’t really a major selling point on most tablet devices, although Samsung has nevertheless included two cameras on the Galaxy Tab A9. The rear of the tablet features a single 8-megapixel sensor, while there’s a 2-megapixel front camera for selfies and video calls. It’s clear that the tablet’s cameras are meant for basic usage, so folks looking to do a bit of mobile photography should stick to their smartphones.
Price in the UK
If you’re determined to get your hands on the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9, the device is priced starting at £169 in the United Kingdom for the base model, which comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage. The tablet is available on Samsung’s official UK website, as well as select retailers such as Amazon, Curry’s and more.
