Home > Tablet comparison > Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 vs Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) – which one to choose?

Galaxy Tab A9 vs iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)

44 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9
VS
60 out of 100
Apple iPad 10.2
Galaxy Tab A9
iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)

Here we compared two tablets: the 8.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 (with MediaTek Helio G99) that was released on October 5, 2023, against the Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021), which is powered by Apple A13 Bionic and came out 2 years and 1 month 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
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each tablet
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
  • Has 33% more RAM: 4GB versus 3GB
  • Thinner bezels – 8.1% more screen real estate
  • Much smaller footprint: 40% more compact case (40.8 vs 67.6 square inches)
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
  • Weighs 154 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
  • Comes with 3457 mAh larger battery capacity: 8557 vs 5100 mAh
  • 2.1x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1087K versus 508K)
  • Has a 1.5 inches larger screen size
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • 48% higher pixel density (265 vs 179 PPI)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 15W)
  • 2.5x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1792 and 729 points

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 and Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 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
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
πŸ“± Primary usage:

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
3 / 64 GB
88.0
(Very good)
Value Index
118.6
(Excellent)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Tablet:
Galaxy Tab A9
vs
iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)

Display

Type TFT LCD IPS LCD
Size 8.7 inches 10.2 inches
Resolution 800 x 1340 pixels 1620 x 2160 pixels
Aspect ratio 5:3 4:3
PPI 179 ppi 265 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 500 nits 500 nits
HDR support No No
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 81.9% 73.8%
Display features - - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 81.2% 97.9%
PWM Not detected 40000 Hz
Response time 44 ms 27 ms
Contrast 1389:1 1014:1
Screen space comparison
iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
10.2β€³ (4:3 ratio) = 49.9 in2
Galaxy Tab A9
8.7β€³ (5:3 ratio) = 33.4 in2
~49% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 211 mm (8.31 inches) 250.6 mm (9.87 inches)
Width 124.7 mm (4.91 inches) 174.1 mm (6.85 inches)
Thickness 8 mm (0.31 inches) 7.5 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 333 g (11.75 oz) 487 g (17.18 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Metal Metal
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Gray, Blue Silver, Gray
Fingerprint scanner No Yes, in-button
Area 263 cm2 (40.8 inches2) 436 cm2 (67.6 inches2)
Visual size comparison
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (136th and 96th place)
Android Tablet Ranking (#106th place)
iPad Ranking (#25th place)

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 and Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
SoC
Chipset MediaTek Helio G99 Apple A13 Bionic
Max clock 2200 MHz 2650 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A76		 - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Thunder
- 2 cores at 2.65 GHz: Lightning
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 6 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Mali-G57 MP2 Apple GPU 4-core
GPU shading units 64 256
GPU clock 1000 MHz 1230 MHz
FLOPS ~128 GFLOPS ~629.8 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 and Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 1294 -
Single-core score 729 1792
Multi-core score 1943 4214
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
CPU 214958 272419
GPU 35695 317618
Memory 119172 149125
UX 138729 347946
Total score 508554 1087108
Samples [3 tests] [17 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Graphics test 1 FPS -
Graphics score 130 -
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability - 85%
Graphics test - 10 FPS
Section 1 - 12 FPS
Section 2 - 10 FPS
Section 3 - 7 FPS
Graphics score - 2552
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability - 86%
Graphics test - 11 FPS
Graphics score - 1961
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Web score 8547 -
Video editing 5137 -
Photo editing 15786 -
Data manipulation 7328 -
Writing score 11901 -
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-04-09 (Ji-Su 8090)AnTuTu409449
πŸ“˜ 2025-10-30 (Trung)AnTuTu508554
πŸ“˜ 2025-09-20 (ZION)GeekBench GPU1294
πŸ“˜ 2025-09-20 (ZION)GeekBench CPU729 / 1943
πŸ“˜ 2025-09-20 (ZION)AnTuTu511895
Add View all (5)
Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
No benchmark results yet
Add

Memory

Configuration
RAM
RAM size 4 GB 3 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 64 GB
Storage type UFS 2.2 NVMe
Memory card MicroSD No
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB -

Software

Operating system Android 13 iPadOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5)
ROM One UI 5.1 -

Battery

Capacity 5100 mAh 8557 mAh
Max charge power 15 W 30 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 (24% in 30 min)
Full charging time 2:30 hr 2:45 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:04 hr -
Watching video 13:21 hr -
Gaming 05:24 hr -
Standby 143 hr -
General battery life
Add your 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 120 FPS (720p)
Lenses 1) Standard: 8 MP
1) Standard: 8 MP
Camera features - -
Standard lens
Image resolution 8 MP 8 MP
Aperture - f/2.4
Focal length - 31 mm
Pixel size - 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 2 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution - 4032 x 3024
Aperture - f/2.4
Sensor CMOS -
Autofocus No No
Stabilization No Digital
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 MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 4.2
Bluetooth features LE -
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort No No
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS
NFC* No No
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 13 -
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack Yes Yes
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Budget Mid-range
Announced October 2023 September 2021
Release date October 2023 September 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $159 $329
Successor - Samsung Galaxy Tab A11 - Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025)
SAR (body) 0.51 W/kg -
Sensors - Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass		 - Barometer
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Keyboard weight - 293 g
Bundled charger Not included Yes, 20 W
Further details
Notes on Galaxy Tab A9:
    - Doesn't have S Pen support.
Notes on iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021):
    - Supports 1st generation of Apple Pencil.
*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 Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which tablet would you choose?
3 (42.9%)
4 (57.1%)
Total votes: 7

Related comparisons

1. Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 vs Lenovo Tab M11
2. Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S9
3. Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus)
4. Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024)
5. Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 vs Lenovo Tab M9
6. Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) vs Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus)
7. Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE
8. Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) vs Apple iPad 10.9" (10th Gen, 2022)
9. Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024)
Compare other tablets (80+)

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
🌐 Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!
EnglishРусский