Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus) vs Galaxy Tab A8 10.5 (2021)

Here we compared two tablets: the 11-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus) (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 695) that was released on October 5, 2023, against the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 10.5 (2021), which is powered by Unisoc Tiger T618 and came out 1 year and 10 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each tablet
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus)
  • 89% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (582K versus 308K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 695
  • Has 2x more RAM: 4GB versus 2GB
  • Faster storage type - UFS 2.2 versus eMMC 5.1
  • 2x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 908 and 445 points
  • Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 10.5 (2021)
  • More recent OS version: Android 14 versus 13

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus) and Tab A8 10.5 (2021) crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
4 / 64 GB
VS
2 / 32 GB
108.5
(Excellent)
Value Index
48.3
(Average)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type TFT LCD TFT LCD
Size 11 inches 10.5 inches
Resolution 1200 x 1920 pixels 1200 x 1920 pixels
Aspect ratio 8:5 16:10
PPI 206 ppi 216 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 500 nits 350 nits
HDR support No No
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 80.9% 80%
Display tests
RGB color space 94.2% -
PWM Not detected -
Response time 42 ms -
Contrast 1409:1 -
Screen space comparison
Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus)
11″ (8:5 ratio) = 54.4 in2
Galaxy Tab A8 10.5 (2021)
10.5″ (16:10 ratio) = 49.6 in2
~9% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 257.1 mm (10.12 inches) 246.8 mm (9.72 inches)
Width 168.7 mm (6.64 inches) 161.9 mm (6.37 inches)
Thickness 6.9 mm (0.27 inches) 6.9 mm (0.27 inches)
Weight 480 g (16.93 oz) 508 g (17.92 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Metal Metal
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Gray, Blue Silver, Gold, Gray, Pink
Fingerprint scanner No No
Area 434 cm2 (67.2 inches2) 400 cm2 (61.9 inches2)
Repairability Average (2.81/5) -
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (125th and 137th place)
Android Tablet Ranking (97th and 107th place)

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus) and Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 10.5 (2021)
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 Unisoc Tiger T618
Max clock 2200 MHz 2000 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 660 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 2 cores at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 660 Gold (Cortex-A78)
- 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A75
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 6 nanometers 12 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 686 No
GPU
Graphics Adreno 619 Mali G52 MP2
GPU shading units 256 48
GPU clock 840 MHz 850 MHz
FLOPS ~430.1 GFLOPS ~81.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus) and Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 10.5 (2021)
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 1405 1016
Single-core score 908 445
Multi-core score 2072 1419
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
CPU 245267 131035
GPU 57538 30005
Memory 108723 66964
UX 170923 80204
Total score 582451 308208
Samples [14 tests] Less than 3
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability - 98%
Graphics test - 1 FPS
Graphics score - 185
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
Web score 10572 7085
Video editing 4298 3913
Photo editing 22564 15223
Data manipulation 8881 6203
Writing score 13360 9356

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig)GeekBench GPU1246
📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig)GeekBench CPU917 / 1939
📘 2026-07-31 (Samsung galaxy tab A9+)GeekBench CPU907 / 2014
📘 2026-07-31 (Samsung galaxy tab A9+)AnTuTu582451
📘 2026-07-26 (Abolfazl)AnTuTu601154
Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 10.5 (2021)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-05-02 (ken)AnTuTu308208

Memory

Configuration
RAM
RAM size 4 GB 2 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 1866 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 32 GB
Storage type UFS 2.2 eMMC 5.1
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 13 Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 14)
ROM One UI 5.1 One UI 6.1
OS size 22.9 GB -
OS updates 5 years -

Battery

Capacity 7040 mAh 7040 mAh
Max charge power 15 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 60 min) Yes (20% in 45 min)
Full charging time 2:58 hr 2:30 hr
Battery cycles 1200 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:57 hr -
Watching video 11:07 hr -
Gaming 05:44 hr -
Standby 155 hr -
General battery life

Main camera

Matrix 8 megapixels 8 megapixels
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording No No
1080p video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion No No
Lenses 1) Standard: 8 MP
1) Standard: 8 MP
Camera features - -
Standard lens
Image resolution 8 MP 8 MP
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 5 megapixels 5 megapixels
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Autofocus No No
Stabilization No No
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.1 5
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
DisplayPort No No
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* No No
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
eSIM support* Yes No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 18 7
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers 4.0 4.0
Headphone audio jack Yes Yes
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test

Other

Category Mid-range Budget
Announced October 2023 December 2021
Release date October 2023 January 2022
Launch price (MSRP) $219 $189
Successor - Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ (Plus) -
Sensors - Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
Bundled charger Not included Yes, 8 W
Further details
Notes on Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus):
    - Doesn't have S Pen support.
Notes on Galaxy Tab A8 10.5 (2021):
    - Doesn't have S Pen support.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus) is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which tablet would you choose?
44 (86.3%)
7 (13.7%)
Total votes: 51

User opinions

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