Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra review

Two dual-camera setups

The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is a peculiar tablet. It has two cameras on its back, and there are another two front cameras, inside a notch at that.

The rear cameras are the usual - a 13MP primary one with a 23mm f/2.0 lens and autofocus and an 8MP ultrawide shooter with a 13mm f/2.2 lens and fixed focus at infinity.

The front cameras are two 12MP imagers. The first has a 25mm f/2.2 lens, while the second uses a 15mm f/2.4 lens for ultrawide-angle view. The focus is fixed for both cameras.

The 13MP rear and the two supposedly 12MP front cameras use the 13MP Hynix Hi-1337 sensor with 1.0µm pixels. The 8MP rear ultrawide camera relies on an 8MP Hynix Hi-847 sensor.

The camera app is the same you'd find on every Samsung. It supports Auto HDR and Scene Optimizer, there is Night Mode for the main camera, and even a Pro mode, though the latter has no shutter speed option. Portrait mode is supported on the main and standard front cameras, too.

Camera app

Photo quality

The 13MP standard camera on the back of the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra saves excellent daylight photos with a lot of fine detail, balanced sharpness, wide dynamic range, and punchy colors. The noise is low enough, and the contrast is likable.

Main camera, 13MP

The 8MP ultrawide camera offers a much wider field of view. The detail is adequate, the dynamic range is again wide, and the colors are less saturated and truer to life.

Ultrawide camera, 8MP

The main camera saves good low-light photos, detailed, sharp, and with a wide dynamic range. The colors are realistic. The Night Mode further widens the dynamic range, makes for more saturated colors, but lowers the contrast. We are not sure if we prefer these over the standard ones.

Low-light • Night Mode • Low-light • Night Mode

The 8MP ultrawide cam photos are alright at night, though we doubt anyone would really use it. There is no Night Mode here.

Ultrawide camera, low-light

The photos from the standard front camera are excellent - the subject is well-exposed, incredibly detailed, and noise-free. The dynamic range is adequate, and the colors are accurate.

Front camera, wide-angle

The front ultrawide camera also saves superb photos with a super wide field of view. Their quality is similar to the photos from the other front cam.

Front camera, ultrawide-angle

Video recording

All but the rear ultrawide camera can capture 4K videos at 30fps. The 8MP UW rear cam maxes out at 1080p at 30fps.

Electronic stabilization is available across all resolutions for the rear camera, while it works only at 1080p@30fps on the front cameras. When active, the stabilization does an excellent job with a minimal toll on the video quality and minor loss of FoV.

Here are some snapshots from the videos from all cameras. They all do rather well.

Rear wide camera 4K • Rear ultrawide cam 1080p

This batch of frame grabs is from videos taken by the front cameras.

Front camera, wide-angle

Front camera, ultrawide-angle

Our verdict

The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is the largest and the most powerful Android tablet right now. It employs everything Samsung can offer in a tablet right now and does it right. The AMOLED screen is gorgeous, the Vision booster is a great addition, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy does impressively well under pressure.

The Tab S9 Ultra is an IP68-rated tablet with an incredibly thin metal unibody. Its bundled S-Pen is water-resistant as well, and of the most premium quality at that - the active stylus with low latency input. We do appreciate having it in the retail box.

We can argue all those cameras were an unnecessary marketing trick, and we believe the people wanting it for its large size would have bought it either way. But maybe Samsung knew better.

There is no Android tablet to rival the latest Galaxy Tab S9. They are truly the most powerful, premium and versatile offers in their segment right now.

The iPad Pro models are the real threat to the Galaxies, of course. But what the Tab S9 Ultra has that no iPad can offer?

DeX! While Apple users must go through various hoops and loops so their iPad may become something that vaguely resembles desktop, Samsung needs only a compatible mouse and keyboard. It's that easy.

And maybe that is the biggest difference between the iPads and the Galaxies - the first was never intended or designed as a laptop replacement but more like a niche product of its own, while the Galaxy was made for both. And the Tab S9 Ultra is successful at both.

The S-Pen is bundled, which is yet another big difference between iPad and Galaxy. While Apple will happily charge you for the slightest hint of accessory, you do get the pen here. And it's of the good kind - the active one with the capacitor and wireless connectivity.

Overall, if you are looking for a powerful and versatile tablet right now, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is a great option at a starting price of about €1,100 for the 256GB Wi-Fi model. It can replace your laptop in almost all cases, and that should be enough for many users. But its sweet all-round hardware and software features would definitely seal the deal.

Pros

• Superb Dynamic AMOLED, bright, HDR10+.
• The fastest chip on the market with very good stability.
• Excellent loudness and sound quality from the four speakers.
• 5G connectivity, microSD slot, UD fingerprint scanner.
• The active S-Pen is great, low-latency mode, remote control with Air Actions.
• One UI 5.1 in its tablet and desktop modes is brilliant for play and work.
• Wireless DeX mode is quite powerful.

Cons

• No audio jack.
• No charger in the box.
• That screen notch was unnecessary.