Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 vs. S9 Plus vs. S9 Ultra: Which Should You Choose?

Samsung's Galaxy Tab S9 series has three Android tablets that offer something for everyone. But how do they compare, and which is right for you?

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab S9 series at its Unpacked event in July 2023. The series has three devices: the Tab S9, the Tab S9 Plus, and the Tab S9 Ultra. They have a number of both subtle and significant differences, and depending on your needs, you may want one over the other two.

Here's a comparison of Samsung's Galaxy Tab S9 series tablets to help you choose wisely.

Though it's not easily noticeable, the Tab S9 Ultra is the slimmest of all three despite being the biggest overall. But the size makes it the heaviest tablet on the lineup. Samsung uses an aluminum frame, aluminum back, and a glass front with Gorilla Glass protection. The three are water and dust-resistant, thanks to the IP68 rating.

The S9 Ultra includes a notch that houses its dual selfie camera setup, while the other two hide their camera in the bezel. There's a magnetic connector on the back for charging the S Pen (included on all models). The fingerprint display lives under the display, and there's a USB-C port for charging. The tablets ship in two colors, Beige and Graphite.

The S9 Ultra has the largest display (14.6 inches), followed by the Plus (12.4 inches), and then the S9 at 11 inches. The Ultra offers a higher screen-to-body ratio with its slim bezels because Samsung's opted to use a notch to house the dual selfie camera setup. The Plus and base models have slighter bigger bezels.

All Tab S9 series tablets use AMOLED display technology with a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate (ranges between 60 and 120Hz). This gives the tablets a key advantage over the iPad, which doesn't have any OLED options.

Across the three models, there is a standard 13MP rear primary shooter. The Tab S9 Plus and Ultra include an extra 8MP ultrawide shooter for versatility. For selfies, the three have a 12MP f/2.4 ultrawide lens with a 120-degree field of view, which is excellent when taking group selfies.

Additionally, the Ultra includes a secondary 12MP wide lens on the front if you don't need a wider angle. It's a bummer that Samsung didn't include a telephoto lens on any, which could have provided better quality when you zoom in on pictures.

For videos, the trio can shoot up to 4K videos at either 30 or 60fps, but you can downgrade to 1080p at 30fps, depending on your needs.

As expected, Samsung doesn't compromise when it comes to performance. On the Tab S9 series, the company went with the highest variant of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, the flagship processor from the American chipmaker.

It boasts increased performance on all major fronts—according to Qualcomm, a 34%, 41%, and 49% boost in CPU, GPU, and NPU performance. This is the same chip you'll find on Samsung's flagship S23 Ultra phone.

Qualcomm's latest and greatest chip guarantees impeccable performance across the range, irrespective of the task. The chip will also ensure that you get better performance in the future even as time goes by and apps get more hungry for power.

There are various options across the three tablets, depending on how much storage you need on your device. The Galaxy Tab S9 has two options, a base model with 8GB RAM paired with 128GB of storage and a 12GB model with 256GB of storage. The S9 Plus has 12GB as standard paired with 256GB or 512GB of storage. The Ultra has a base model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB.

Additionally, there's a variant with 512GB of storage if you need more. And if you'd like more power and storage, the highest variant has 16GB of RAM with 1TB of storage.

The best part is that Samsung also included a microSD expansion slot (which supports up to 1TB), so you can always add more if needed. If you decide to take this route, make sure you're aware of these mistakes to avoid when buying a microSD card.

The S9 Ultra packs the largest battery compared to its smaller siblings, with a whopping 11200mAh capacity. The base S9 has the smallest battery, but screen time should not be a big concern because of the 11-inch display. Samsung hasn't provided any figures as far as battery life is concerned.

The trio supports up to 45W fast charging via USB-C. There's no wireless charging across the series, just like on the previous Galaxy Tab tablets. This might come as a surprise in 2023, but you'll be amazed to realize that even Apple doesn't offer wireless charging support on any of its iPads, some of the best tablets you can buy for your money.

For many, the base Tab S9 should be enough. The 11-inch 120Hz AMOLED display is large enough for a tablet and has the same primary and selfie cameras and the same processor as the bigger siblings, and identical fast charging speeds. At just $799, you can get the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. If storage is the limiting factor, you can drop in a microSD card, and you're good to go.

The S9 Plus is excellent if you need a slightly bigger display and more built-in storage, but the extra $200 may not be worth spending. Neither is the additional $400 you'll need to top up to get the Ultra. Only pick the Plus or Ultra if you need a larger display.

Alvin Wanjala is a Senior Writer for Android at MakeUseOf and a software developer. As an avid Android user who fell in love with the ecosystem after getting his first device in 2013, he focuses on helping users get the most out of their devices. But being a tech enthusiast who uses multiple platforms daily, he also covers iOS, Mac, Social Media, and other topics in the wide spectrum of consumer technology.Alvin started writing in 2018 on his personal tech blog and professionally in 2019 at TechTrendsKE, where he covered general technology news and product reviews. Since then, his work has been featured on XDA Developers and several other technology websites.Aside from writing, he's pursuing a second degree in IT, focusing on software development.