Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Plus 12.4” 128GB Android Tablet, Long Battery Life, Powerful Processor, S Pen, 8MP Camera, Lightweight Durable Design, Expandable Storage, US Version, 2023, Gray

Hello, this is my first review on Amazon. This review comes courtesy of a longtime Samsung user. Included is a picture of my S9 FE+ 256GB next to my second S6 Tab Lite (I lost the first one ;( ) shot on a S20 FE 5G. I will be comparing to my S6 Tab Lite. I really like the S6 Lite. I got it for $200 at Walmart (for both S6's). For comparison, I was given a Nexus 7 back in 2012, which was also purchased for $200. The Nexus is now 12 yo, and barely works. Using the S6 has been awesome. It's only chugged during intensive moments in gaming, and it only froze for a second or two. With three times the RAM as the S6, I don't think I'll have any problems for a long time.nThe size of the S6 Tab Lite is a lot more manageable for me. I could use it (the S6) one handed if I was only really using one half of the screen. I definitely can't with this! That being said, as somebody who's working on an engineering undergrad degree, I found the screen of the S6 too small. This screen feels big enough to use on most days. And with 256 GB instead of 64 GB, I can have games and lots of notes. A few notes: the S9 pen is a bit thicker and has a smaller button than the S6 pen. Second, I was getting better rear photos on the S6 than the S9, I don't know why. I hope it's user error. I'll update you on that. Finally, the S6 feels slimmer in my hand even though they're the same thickness, thanks to the S6 having rounded corners versus the sharper/more upright edges on the S9. Conclusion: For relaxation, the S6 is better, assuming you're not playing hard-core games (it ran fine on Honkai ... on the lowest settings). For work, the extra real estate pays dividends and with a good keyboard case, should be good to replace the laptop most of the time. Proper Review: When I wrote this originally, I didn't have the Samsung portfolio case. I left a review there about a month ago. (Short and sweet: It's very expensive, but it's also perfectly suited to what I need from this device. Backlighting would be nice, but I don't find it to be as much of an issue as I did a month ago.) Update on the camera: I think I smudged up the camera when grabbing the first time. I took a picture of an outdoor scene, and although it wasn't sharp, it wasn't really fuzzy either. I haven't done a side-by-side comparrison with the S6 Lite though. I'll update this update if I determine that smudges weren't the cause of the picture quality deficit. I learned about more software features, like RAM+ and wireless mirroring. In options, it gives the ability for up to 8 GB of virtual RAM. However, I also noted that 4 GB of RAM+ was selected and turned on by default. When I turned it off, it still showed up as 12 GB. Hopefully, this means I can have 20 GB of RAM, although I can't possibly imagine I'd need that many. I've noticed that the tablet seems to use at minimum around 4-5 GB of RAM. Makes me wonder how the S6 Lite manages to run Honkai Star Rail. I've seemed to have more performance issues in games than the S6 on higher settings, but the battery life is much better. It feels like this will never die! The S6 could only do 3-4 hours of gaming, but this can do much more, I think atleast twice as much, maybe triple? This also has faster charging speeds. Let me demonstrate the battery life. I have 1hr 15 minute classes. With note-taking almost the entire time, this went down 7%. At that rate, that's probably almost 16 hours of on-screen time! This tablet really is something special, especially with the portfolio case. It's small enough that I feel comfortable walking a mile to class with this in my hands (in a 13' Macbook case lol), and it's big enough that I can get work done on it - as long as I'm not constantly switching tabs. Windows is better for rearranging tabs, although Samsung provides more freedom - I just don't find that freedom useful personally. I still stand by my opinion that gaming is easier on the smaller screen - I accidentally pressed the accelerator in RR3 numerous times on the S9 FE+, but that never happened on the S6 Lite. Anyways, that's it for me. I'd highly recommend getting the extra RAM, especially if you're like me who was raised to use stuff until it falls apart. If you're a student, I couldn't recommend this tablet more strongly.

Very happy with this tablet. I was looking for something fairly small and there are very few Android tablets out there that aren't huge. This one comes in at 6.5 x 10 inches which is pretty good for my needs. The small size means it is also nice and lightweight. The screen quality is fine. It is bright and easily visible in full light situations. The speakers and the bluetooth also both do a fine job of relaying the sound from it. It doesn't have top of the line specs but I haven't found a single way that that hinders my use of it. It browses the web, scrolls social media, and streams tv, movies, and sports with no trouble at all. In my search for a small tablet, I tried some of the off brand options from Amazon and you could definitely tell when they struggled to do what you needed. I never experience that with this Samsung. The Samsung OS and built in software is fine. I don't use much of it. But since it is android, it will run whatever software you need. I'm most happy with the stylus (Samsung S Pen). I didn't even think I needed it, and now I use it every day. With the right software you can write freely and create typed text with no trouble. Very happy with how that performs. Overall, this is a great tablet for the cost. I love the small form factor and the excellent stylus.

I have a Samsung Tab S3, which is 7 years old, works fine, but getting REALLY slow, limited in memory, and no longer getting updates. I had some money, and this one was on sale, so I went for it. I like the size of this (pretty much the same as my S3, just a touch bigger). It doesn't have an AMOLED display like the S3, but it looks fine to me, and can get pretty bright. The sound is good for a tablet. It has the S pen, which I can't live without. This is my 3rd Samsung tablet with one, and I use it all the time. I went for it and spent the extra money for double the storage (256GB), and 2GB more RAM (8GB), so I'll get more years out of it without slowing down or running out of storage. Plus it has a microSD slot and I got a big card for storing ALL of my music and a bunch of movies. I also picked up a 45W quick charge block, since it doesn't come with one, and it charges quickly. I was so happy this was on sale when I actually had the money, and I'm really enjoying it. I use a house design app most of the time, just for fun, and I'm not a gamer, so I didn't need one of the really powerful, really expensive Galaxy Tab S10s for more than twice what this cost. This does everything I need, it's so much quicker, and I hope to have it for as long as I had the old S3. I like the metal back for durability (my S3 had a beautiful glass back, but it scared me), and I usually buy black electronics, but I went with silver, and really like it. I'm really happy with my purchase so far!

I've had this device for a little over a year now and it's been my workhorse for my art journey. I've tried CSP, Sketchbook and Infinite Painter on it and settled on ibisPaint and the S-Pen has been amazing for drawing. The screen and picture quality has been superb. Colors are nice and bright when on high brightness, even if it chugs the battery life, and the SOUND! Wow, the sound is actually really good and loud. Videos, movies, shows and even music sound really good on these speakers. I am always stunned by how good the quality of the audio is whenever I listen to or watch anything on it. I don't use Android for gaming outside of maybe emulation, but this device is powerful enough for some mid-range emulation. Big screen helps with that too. One thing I wish it had was HDMI connectivity through USB-C like my S24 FE does, it's good on its own. Also, it's still getting updates, including Android 16 with OneUI 8, so it's still alive and kicking. If you want a mobile "computer" that also lets you draw on it, grab this. It's affordable for what it is and very high quality!

So I bought this Samsung pad because I like the extra pixels, and versatility to download apps that my Kindel does not. This is what I have noticed after a year of average use. I like to stream programs, light work and gaming, read and listen to music. This should give you some background as to my usage habits. S9FE vs Kindle 10.1 1. Samsung wins the graphics. It is much more clear with Samsung than with Kindle. Images are sharper and crisp with the Samsung. 2. Sound is almost a tie. To my ears I almost can't tell a difference as to the loudness levels of each tablet. The Samsung does sound a bit better but not loud. The Kindle in it's design has the speakers on the bottom which reflects the sound outward which gives it a bit more sound unlike the Samsung with it's speakers on the sides. 3. Storage: Samsung has 128 internal with 6 gb ram, good enough to tackle most any tablet job. Kindle has 32 internal storage and 3 gb ram which is enough to do most light jobs. Both can be expanded with sim card to increase memory to hold more like photo's, movies, books, etc. 4. Connectivity: Surprisingly the Kindle has much better wifi connection than Samsung. Kindle just works, it's wifi is rock solid while Samsung is a little more picky about signal, once Samsung gets signal it's good but it's the initial connection that takes a minute. 5. Battery life: It's a close call on both but I am going to have to go with Samsung. I don't tax the system and stress the pads out so battery life will be subjective to your usage however I have found that Samsung beats out Kindle. 6. Apps: This is where I have to separate them, Samsung works with all the apps I give it, Kindle I have to fiddle and work around some apps to get it to work. (YouTube and YouTube tv would be a good example) 7.AI: I use Kindle with Alexa as it's the most widely used AI, Samsung has google AI and I have not really experienced it so I cannot comment on this aspect. I will say Alexa works for me and if it's not broke, don't fix it. 8. Price: Ouch, yeah, Kindle wins in the price department. Right now 10" Kindles go for about $140 or less depending on screen size and generation. Samsung has so many but close to what I have starts at about $450 at the time of this review. 9. You get what you pay for . . . or do you? I think this all depends on the user and how you want to use this device. If you're a techy person and you have to have the greatest device at this time, go for it. Samsung has extra features that I did not mention. Do your homework, look at the tech specs of each and decide for yourself. In the end I think, for me, I would stick with my Kindle. Reliable connectivity and it does what I need it to do at a price that does not break the bank. That's not to say that Samsung is bad, it's just for the money I spend I don't get the fuzzies.

This tablet is very well done for the segment it targets, and the fact that it comes with the s-pen makes it almost perfect for students, artists, or anyone looking to take virtual notes. I don't use it as often as I expected in the beginning (as I use my phone and laptop more), however, it's nice to use it from time to time to watch youtube, netflix, take notes from courses or anything, and more. Battery is good, but not amazing, however, it will last more than a day with a single charge (unless you play on it). It received One UI 7 at the end of May 2025, and the user experience got even better, is smoother, and more enjoyable to use than the previous version. The processor is not powerful, and it can lag sometimes if you have a lot of apps open, or if you didn't use it for a long time, but once it loads everything, the speed is very usable, but for the price and everything you get, I wouldn't ask for more. I really recommend it, even the base model with 6gb of ram and 128gb of storage. But if you want to future proof a little more, maybe go with the next version with 8gb of ram and 256gb of storage, or even the tab s10 fe if price is not a concern to you.

I bought the Galaxy Tab S9 FE about eight months ago, mainly for traveling and indoor cycling sessions, and it’s been a fantastic all-around tablet. It’s lightweight, feels premium in the hand, and has more than enough power for casual use, streaming, and light gaming. The battery life is solid, easily lasting through long days of travel or multiple workouts without needing a charge. The only real downside is the lack of display output—a feature reserved for the higher-end models. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, but worth knowing if you plan to use it for more serious productivity or need external display support. For my needs—media, browsing, cycling apps, and light gaming—it’s the perfect balance of performance, portability, and price. If you’re not planning to push it with heavy workloads, this tablet delivers excellent value.

Like any mobile device from Samsung, this tablet is well built and will last a few years if not abused. I'm not over fond of the Samsung special apps loaded and I tend to squash any I can. This is one reason I wish I could get a Pixel tablet with the same features, I do not like bloat. Aside from the unneeded software, it's pleasing to use. Some things are different from my old Tab S-3, but it's quite a few years newer so that's expected. Of note, the included S-pen will magnetically attach to the back of your tablet. This is a nice feature but also I don't trust it to keep my pen in place. I purchased a case which takes advantage of the magnet but uses an elastic strap to ensure it stays where its supposed to be. The fingerprint reader is on the power button and I've found it both natural to use and accurate. You can adjust the navigation controls to be either a three button configuration or a gesture type. I prefer the three button. Unlike the S3, these buttons are not a part of the physical devie and instead are onscreen. This gives you the ability to both change the position of the buttons (mine are right of center) you can also change the order so the back button is on the left like most other Android devices. Oddly, I am so used to having my tablet with back button on the right instead of left that I just left it there. When I activated the mobile connection, Verizon downloaded an e-sim to it instead of using the included nano-sim. It also didn't activate immediately and I don't know why. Eventually I successfully activated it and conclude the range is just as good as my phone. I'm not 100% sure buying with the 5G mobile connection was wise, but that's a personal decision. Outside of the question of whether getting 5G was a good idea, there's no question this is a good product and worth buying.