There is nothing subtle about this super-sized tablet
Tablet | £1199 | whf.cm/GalaxyTabS9Ultra
“That tablet is massive,” or “What on earth is that?”; the typical responses of anyone first laying eyes on the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. And we can’t blame them – it’s quite the sight.
This is Samsung’s take on the tablet formula dialled up to 11, as its flagship specs and extensive list of features attest. Apple: prepare to do battle.
Serving as the crown jewel in Samsung’s current trio of Tab S9 tablets, the S9 Ultra sits above the standard and Plus model variants. The base model Ultra (256GB of storage, 12GB of RAM) will set you back £1199 while, if you need extra storage, the 512GB/12GB is £1299. Then there is the top end 1TB/16GB version (£1549) for serious creative tasks.
Your S9 Ultra comes equipped with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processor as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. You also get the S Pen included in the box, which is a very nice touch, given that Apple makes you spend an additional £139 for a stylus. What you don’t get in the box, however, is a USB wall adapter for charging.
Premium look and feel
This Samsung, which is available in two finishes – Graphite and Beige (ie silver) – feels premium, and its razor-thin edges, just 5.5mm, help the tablet to remain slender and lightweight, despite its size.
The huge 14.6in display is a Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 1848 x 2960 resolution panel with a pixel density of 239ppi, a variable refresh rate of 48Hz to 120Hz, and HDR10+ support. Four Dolby Atmos-certified speakers surround it.
There are four cameras: a 13MP main lens and an 8MP ultrawide on the rear, and wide and ultrawide front-facing cameras – both 12MP. They all produce sharp and clear images.
S9 Ultra owners have the opportunity to convert their tablet into a full laptop-style set-up too, with access to wireless DeX (Samsung’s desktop user interface experience) and a keyboard case that is sold separately for the rather steep price of £339.
The big screen
As we watch Dune on Amazon Prime Video in HDR10+, we find Samsung’s AMOLED panel is as punchy as ever and blacks are impressively authentic. And yet it does seem to struggle when it comes to subtlety and authenticity.
Switching the display’s colour profile from Vivid to Natural in the settings menu helps make the colours look less overdone, bu
