Conclusion
If you’re looking for a tablet to use for a variety of activities such as gaming, note-taking, graphic design, art, or simply browsing, don’t waste your money on Samsung or other Android tablets. Even if the prices of the Samsung Tab S9 series and the iPad Air or Pro, depending on the version, are comparable, choose the iPad.
Why, you might ask? Because the iPad has a more user-friendly interface, a larger app library, and the best processor for heavy usage such as games, multitasking, and other tasks. Furthermore, if you own an iPhone, a Mac, AirPods, or other Apple products, the Apple ecosystem works seamlessly, which you cannot expect from Samsung even if you own all of their products.
However, if you prefer Android over Apple and iOS, go with Samsung.
If you’re serious about getting your hands on a tablet, I recommend reading the entire blog. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or reach me via social media. I will respond within 24 hours. My social media inbox is fairly empty, so don’t be hesitant to ask a question and make my day!
However, if you’re in a hurry and only interested in one topic, go ahead and skip to that section. I have a lot of blogs in my catalog that you might find useful, so save some time and look through them.
Intro
Hello, Hello Namaste 🙏🏻. Welcome to Corta News.
Are you thinking about getting yourself a tablet for work, school, or binging your favorite movies? This blog post is just what you need!
Let’s dive into the two major tablet brands in the market: Samsung and Apple. They both cost a pretty penny, but they’re worth it! In fact, they’re the best in the market for the price.
Hardware
The Samsung S9 Ultra and all other S9 Series come with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, which is currently the most powerful chip in the market.
Build Quality
These tablets are not the cheaper version; the base price for the Samsung S9 with 128GB storage is around $700. The build quality is top-notch and feels premium. Even when compared to the Apple iPad, the build quality looks the same for both.
Display and Multimedia
Thanks to Samsung for making all the tablets AMOLED this time. Whether you pick the base S9 or the S9 Ultra, all the tablets come with AMOLED displays with 120Hz refresh rate. Compared to the iPad, which comes with a 60Hz Air and low-price ones, the display quality is top-notch. Additionally, these tablets come with Dolby Atmos, which provides immersive and quality audio output.
Cameras
I’m not talking about professional camera setups in Samsung tablets. These are helpful when you are taking video calls or scanning any documents. You can’t expect even a budget camera experience here. However, when compared with any iPad in the market, the tab S9 cameras are far better.
Here are the specs for the Tab S9 and iPad:
Accessories
Samsung Tab has very few accessories available, such as a pen holder for improved comfort, tab covers, and keyboards even from third party sellers. Even screen protectors are limited, as I was unable to find a matte finish protector for my Tab S8 and had to order a normal one instead.
Software
Everything looks great until it comes to software. I can’t say it’s the worst, but at the same time, I can’t say it’s the best and works as great as iPads.
Apps and Libraries
When you go to the tablet market in the USA, Apple has captured over 70%. Therefore, developers focus more on app software and the App Library in iPad OS than Android.
In the iPad, you can see many apps that are specially made for iPad and work only for Apple. For instance, note-taking, which is why most people buy iPads or tablets. There are apps like GoodNotes, Notability, Bear, Draft, and many more that work fantastically on the iPad.
When it comes to Android, there are very few, like Evernote, Google Keep, OneNote, and Samsung Notes (only for Samsung). These apps are also available on the iPad.
When it comes to digital art, the iPad has Fantastical, whereas Android has Clip Studio, Sketchbook, Infinite Painter, and a few others. These apps are also available for the iPad, but among all of these, Infinite Painter looks better but compared to the iOS app Fantastical, it was not good. And in every category, Apple dominates the App Library.
Recently Samsung has bought some of the apps from Apple to their Galaxy Store like Lumafusion for those who are looking for video editing, and GoodNotes for Handwritten ✍🏻 note taking.
But these apps has worst ration on PlayStore and optimization on these tabs are not good.
If you are searching for the best note-taking app for your iPad or Samsung Tab, stay tuned and turn on the notification bell icon below. Having tried over 30 note-taking apps 📝, I will provide an unbiased review and recommend what is best for you.
Among all the note-taking apps mentioned above, Samsung Notes was the best, even better than iPad-only apps like Apple Notes. However, there was a catch: it only works on Galaxy devices. While buying a Samsung Tab and Samsung Galaxy phone was not a big deal, buying a Samsung Galaxy laptop was necessary if you wanted to use Notes on PC, which is not recommendable.
Recently, Samsung has started pre-installing the GoodNotes app on the Tab S9 series and providing a one-year premium subscription for free. However, the GoodNotes app was worse on Android, with just a 1.9 rating on PlayStore. Moreover, many features were missing on GoodNotes Android compared to its iPad version.
I have tried more than 20 note taking apps on my Samsung Tab and spend around $50 total to test the features. Don’t waste your money and time trying to use different apps. I am writing the best note taking app on Samsung Tab. Wait for it.
Gaming
The Apple iPad comes with the best chips ever made for tablets on the planet. The Apple Silicon M2 is inside these devices, and they outperform Samsung and other tablets in the market. This is why games prefer the iPad over Samsung or other Android tablets.
Even game optimization was very good on the iPad. I have been playing PUBG on my Samsung Tab S8, and it was just good and cost me around $700. And for the same price, if I go for an iPad Air, it comes with an Apple M1 chip, and I have also played there. The game optimization was amazing, and the games load very fast there.
If you are a casual gamer and looking for Android, then you can choose the Samsung Tab S9 series. But if you are open to any brand, then go for Apple.
UI
Samsung has the best Tab OS compared to other Android brands, better than Xiaomi, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Google. The animation, when opening or closing apps, feels very nice and smooth.
The 120Hz refresh rate made this possible. Even I think the tab can be used one-handed for seeing notifications or the control panel, unlike the iPad, where you only need to use the top right corner to open the control panel.
DeX Mode
The One UI was one of the reasons why people prefer Samsung over other Androids. The DeX mode makes the tab more useful. It gives the Windows experience. I recommend watching this video from XXX to get the visual experience.
But who uses it? Honestly, I have only used it once, and that is also when I bought the tab, just to experience how it works. Maybe because the app optimization was not great and it didn’t feel like a desktop experience. It’s also the same with the iPad stage manager, which is cool for multitasking on paper, but there will be no room available on the tab to use it. Maybe it’s possible on the Samsung S9 Ultra, which has a huge 12.9-inch display.
Keyboard
So, I got the official Samsung keyboard with a trackpad for my Samsung Tab. Just so you know, my tab has the latest version of OneUI. The keyboard cursor lags a bit; sometimes it takes up to a second to start. But hey, when I tried it on the Samsung S9 Ultra, I didn’t find this issue. Maybe you’ll notice it if you use it for a while.
The keyboard quality wasn’t great for the price, but the S9 Ultra option did have a backlit keyboard available. The keyboard comes in two pieces: one attaches at the back and covers the SPen, and the other is detachable.
For the S9 and S9 Plus, the keyboard layout was a little hard to get used to because the keys are closer together on an 8-inch keyboard. But on the S9 Ultra, it was better.
The trackpad has many different gestures, like three-finger and two-finger swipes. However, on 8-inch tablets, these gestures may feel a bit crowded.
Lap Test 🧑🏻💻
Unlike the iPad keyboard, which comes as one piece, the Samsung keyboard comes in two pieces and isn’t comfy on laps. It’s best if you have a desk set up; even on a bed, it’s not great compared to the iPad keyboard.
In my opinion, Samsung should launch new keyboards.
Compared to the iPad keyboard, it didn’t feel as good. The cursor on the iPad was unique, and when the cursor comes near the apps, it disappears, making the experience more pleasant.
OneUI vs. iPad OS
If I had to choose, I’d go with iPad OS all the way because the animations are way smoother, the Home Screen widgets are on point, the new notification panels are fire, and the modes are just plain dope. And even when I’m using apps like note-taking or Sketch or just doing some basic stuff, the haptics are super cool.
The only thing that bugs me is the dimensions of the iPad. It’s like a big square box, you know? And when I’m watching YouTube or some Prime or Netflix, there’s just too much black screen on top and bottom. Not cool.
Ecosystem
Samsung’s Android ecosystem is the best, and I’m a huge fan. I’ve used Samsung phones, Tabs, Watches, Buds, and more, and they all sync seamlessly over your Samsung Cloud account. But, let’s be real, nothing’s perfect, and there’s a catch.
Even though I can easily sync my calls, messages, Samsung Notes, and Buds across all devices, there are some issues. The Quick Share feature is great for transferring files from phone to tab, and it’s faster than Nearby Share. The ecosystem works great if you have all the products, but the Samsung Galaxy Book (Samsung Windows PC) is expensive and not good. It makes me think twice about buying any other piece in the Samsung ecosystem.
I usually use my tab for hand-written notes, and I love using Samsung Notes because it’s the best and only option I have. But when I want to research and work on my computer, it feels complicated. Samsung Notes don’t work on PC unless you have a Galaxy book, and I use a Mac and Dell computer. Even Apple allows you to use the web version of iCloud to access photos, notes, and other data. But Samsung doesn’t offer that option.
I’ll share more about the Samsung Ecosystem in my upcoming blog and compare it with other Android ecosystems like Pixel and Apple.
Pricing
In pricing I was just going to talk about the Tablet not the extra accessories and not also different storage variants. I also compare the prices with iPads in the market.
What do you think about the Samsung Tab S9? Drop your thoughts in the comments below. And hey, if you share your comments, follow us, and tag us on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook, you might get lucky and win an Amazon gift card worth $30! It only takes 2 minutes to win some moolah. 😉
