Galaxy Tab S9 FE vs Huawei MatePad 11.5 S
Here we compared two mid-range tablets: the 10.9-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE (with Exynos 1380) that was released on October 4, 2023, against the Huawei MatePad 11.5 S, which is powered by HiSilicon Kirin 9000WL and came out 8 months after. 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
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Delivers 55% higher peak brightness (693 against 447 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 22.5W)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Ability to record video in 4K resolution
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
Reasons to consider the Huawei MatePad 11.5 S
- Higher display refresh rate – 144 Hz
- Comes with 800 mAh larger battery capacity: 8800 vs 8000 mAh
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- 17% higher pixel density (291 vs 249 PPI)
- Reverse charging feature
- 22% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1241 and 1014 points
Review
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.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | TFT LCD | TFT LCD |
| Size | 10.9 inches | 11.5 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2304 pixels | 1840 x 2800 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 3:2 |
| PPI | 249 ppi | 291 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 90 Hz | 144 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | - |
| Max rated brightness | 750 nits | 500 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | No |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 81.7% | 85.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - |
| RGB color space | 96.7% | 97.4% |
| PWM | 84400 Hz | Not detected |
| Response time | 27 ms | 23 ms |
| Contrast | 1052:1 | 516:1 |
Screen space comparison
MatePad 11.5 S
11.5″ (3:2 ratio) = 61 in2
Galaxy Tab S9 FE
10.9″ (16:10 ratio) = 53.4 in2
~14% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 254.3 mm (10.01 inches) | 261 mm (10.28 inches) |
| Width | 165.8 mm (6.53 inches) | 177.2 mm (6.98 inches) |
| Thickness | 6.5 mm (0.26 inches) | 6.2 mm (0.24 inches) |
| Weight | 523 g (18.45 oz) | 510 g (17.99 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | No |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Silver, Gray, Green, Purple | Silver, Gray, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | No |
| Area | 422 cm2 (65.4 inches2) | 462 cm2 (71.8 inches2) |
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (108th and 96th place)
Android Tablet Ranking (83rd and 72nd place)
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 1380 | HiSilicon Kirin 9000WL |
| Max clock | 2400 MHz | 2490 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | - |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
- |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | - |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | - |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | - |
| Graphics | Mali-G68 MP5 | Maleoon 910 |
| GPU shading units | 160 | - |
| GPU clock | 949 MHz | - |
| FLOPS | ~303.7 GFLOPS | - |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 3076 | 2591 |
| Single-core score | 1014 | 1241 |
| Multi-core score | 2910 | 3882 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 306773 | 263131 |
| GPU | 92101 | 96927 |
| Memory | 125803 | 186235 |
| UX | 216534 | 205089 |
| Total score | 741211 | 751382 |
| Samples | [2 tests] | Less than 3 |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 97% | - |
| Graphics test | 2 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 295 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10094 | - |
| Video editing | 6776 | - |
| Photo editing | 25266 | - |
| Data manipulation | 10377 | - |
| Writing score | 14346 | - |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-15 -> AzuNoBel | AnTuTu 11 | 741211 |
| 📘 2026-03-27 (DanielDuca12) | AnTuTu 11 | 696034 |
Huawei MatePad 11.5 S
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-12 (LilHartod) | AnTuTu 11 | 751382 |
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 6 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.2 | - |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1024 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) | HarmonyOS 4.2 |
| ROM | One UI 6.1 | - |
| OS size | 29 GB | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 8000 mAh | 8800 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 22.5 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 30 min) | Yes (50% in 60 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:30 hr | 2:00 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:42 hr | - |
| Watching video | 12:33 hr | - |
| Gaming | 05:38 hr | - |
| Standby | 145 hr | - |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 8 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | - | 4160 x 3120 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | No | LED |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 8 MP |
1) Standard: 13 MP |
| Camera features | - | - Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 8 MP | 13 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.8 |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4608 x 3456 |
| Aperture | - | f/2.0 |
| Sensor | CMOS | CMOS |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | 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 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - 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 | 5.2 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 3.0 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | - |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | No |
| eSIM support* | Yes | - |
| Hybrid slot | No | - |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | - |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | 4.0 |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Announced | October 2023 | May 2024 |
| Release date | October 2023 | May 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $449 | $399 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE | - Huawei MatePad 11.5 S (2025) |
| SAR (body) | 0.59 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor |
| Keyboard weight | 345 g | - |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Yes, 22 W |
*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 Huawei MatePad 11.5 S is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 61