Galaxy Tab S9 FE vs Huawei MatePad 11.5 S

55 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE
VS
60 out of 100
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
Memory
8 / 256 GB

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each tablet
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

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Huawei MatePad 11.5 S 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
📱 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
6 / 128 GB
VS
8 / 256 GB
34.2
(Mediocre)
Value Index
25.5
(Mediocre)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

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 -
Display tests
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)
693 nits
447 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

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 specifications of Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Huawei MatePad 11.5 S
SoC
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 -
GPU
Graphics Mali-G68 MP5 Maleoon 910
GPU shading units 160 -
GPU clock 949 MHz -
FLOPS ~303.7 GFLOPS -

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Huawei MatePad 11.5 S
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
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
751382
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 -
Sources: 3DMark [5]
PCMark 3.0
Web score 10094 -
Video editing 6776 -
Photo editing 25266 -
Data manipulation 10377 -
Writing score 14346 -

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-15 -> AzuNoBelAnTuTu 11741211
📘 2026-03-27 (DanielDuca12)AnTuTu 11696034
Huawei MatePad 11.5 S
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-12 (LilHartod)AnTuTu 11751382

Memory

Configuration
RAM
RAM size 6 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
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
Battery life tests
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
Standard lens
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
Network
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
90.3 dB

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

So, which tablet would you choose?
13 (21.3%)
48 (78.7%)
Total votes: 61

User opinions

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