Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE: Must you improve?

Excluding Google’s Pixel Pill, there may as effectively be one title on the town on the subject of high quality Android tablets, and that’s Samsung. When you’ve got Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A8 from 2022, you could be contemplating a step as much as the brand new Galaxy Tab S9 FE, which is costlier however not as costly as a full-fledged Tab S9. Is it well worth the leap?

As you may count on leaping from an early 2022 price range pill to a late 2023 mid-range choice, there’s lots to realize right here. For starters the show expands from 10.5 to 10.9 inches, and also you get a sharper 2304 x 1440 decision paired with a smoother 90Hz refresh price. The A8’s display screen is okay, however you’ll discover the distinction.

The Tab S9 FE additionally combines Samsung’s Exynos 1380 processor with not less than 6GB of RAM, and 8GB on some fashions. The A8 performs effectively sufficient with its Unisoc Tiger T618 chip, however that and not more than 4GB of RAM places a low ceiling on what the pill can do — the S9 FE is a significantly better system for issues like gaming or picture and video modifying.

Storage choices on the S9 FE swap to 128 or 256GB, utterly ditching 32 and 64GB, which is okay contemplating that these are too small to do a lot with. There’s nonetheless a microSD slot with help for playing cards as much as 1TB, which is sweet information you probably have a big app or media assortment.

Different upgrades on the S9 FE value mentioning are a fingerprint scanner on the facility button — there are not any biometrics in any respect on the A8 — and improved wi-fi tech together with Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, and (on mobile fashions) 5G as a substitute of simply 4G. There’s additionally a sharper 12-megapixel entrance digicam for video calls, and also you get an S Pen within the field as a substitute of getting to purchase one.

Battery tech has additionally been improved, however we’ll cowl that in a later part. We’ll finish this one by noting a few downsides — there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack on the S9 FE, and no bundled charger, so you might want to purchase some equipment.

There isn’t a lot to speak about right here, however that’s truly a very good factor. A pill ought to be little greater than a window into your apps and media, and that’s what you get with each merchandise. There isn’t a lot aesthetic distinction between the 2, and a few individuals may even favor the A8.

The S9 FE (above) is a bit wider, taller, and heavier, however not in any significant manner. The A8 (under) was already 508g (about 1.1 kilos), so neither pill is one thing you need to maintain one-handed for various minutes.

We have now but to completely overview the S9 FE, so we don’t but have many specs on battery life past Samsung’s declare of 18 to twenty hours of video playback. It does nevertheless have an 8,000mAh battery pack, considerably bigger than the one on the A8, which may already final two days below a mixture of streaming, net shopping, and social media. The S9 FE may doubtlessly be extra power-hungry owing to superior show and processor expertise, however we’ll see.

Whereas the brand new pill doesn’t ship with a charger, it does supply a lot sooner charging capability, topping out at 45W versus the A8’s meager 15W. You must be capable of absolutely recharge the S9 FE in as little as 90 minutes — assuming in fact you might have a USB-C adapter able to 45W or increased.

Samsung continues to be promoting the A8, and it’s even cheaper than it was at launch, sliding below $200 when you get can get away with a 32GB Wi-Fi mannequin. There’s a very good purpose why — an A9 is already on the horizon, if nonetheless with no agency launch date. The corporate is presumably attempting to filter out as a lot stock as it may.

The Galaxy Tab S9 FE began transport to some retailers on October 5, 2023, with plans for wider distribution on October 10. Samsung has been cagey on US pricing and the roster of nations it’s concentrating on, however chances are high that if Samsung sells electronics someplace, the S9 FE ought to arrive ultimately.

Maybe. You’re vaulting from a price range pill to a mid-range one, and also you’ll undoubtedly benefit from the enhancements in show, efficiency, and charging expertise. It’s a disgrace that the S9 FE doesn’t have a 3.5mm jack, however that’s par for the course as of late, and also you do get a bundled S Pen. That permits you to dive straight into notetaking and drawing, or not less than leaving fewer fingerprints in your display screen.

In fact, the impediment right here is that the S9 FE can simply be twice as costly, regardless of being comparatively low cost subsequent to an iPad Air, an iPad Professional, or a daily S9. If you wish to keep inside price range territory it could be higher to attend for the A9, which could possibly be transport inside a matter of days or perhaps weeks. Simply don’t count on any radical enhancements — actually, it’d be wiser to attend for an A10 or A11 if you wish to see significant characteristic advances within the price range realm.