Galaxy Tab S9 vs iPad Air 10.9" (5th Gen, 2022)
71
out of 100
VS
74
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship tablets: the 11-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2) that was released on July 26, 2023, against the Apple iPad Air 10.9" (5th Gen, 2022), which is powered by Apple M1 (iPad) and came out 1 year and 5 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Higher display refresh rate β 120 Hz
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
- Delivers 19% higher peak brightness (583 against 491 nits)
- Dynamic AMOLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 30W)
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Air 10.9" (5th Gen, 2022)
- Shows 39% longer battery life (32:09 vs 23:10 hours)
- 20% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2123K versus 1771K)
- 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2361 and 2093 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
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | IPS LCD |
| Size | 11 inches | 10.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1600 x 2560 pixels | 1640 x 2360 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 3:2 |
| PPI | 274 ppi | 264 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (30-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 600 nits | 500 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | No |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 83.2% | 80.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.3% | 99.5% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | Not detected |
| Response time | 2 ms | 28 ms |
| Contrast | β Infinity | 1430:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 254.3 mm (10.01 inches) | 247.6 mm (9.75 inches) |
| Width | 165.8 mm (6.53 inches) | 178.5 mm (7.03 inches) |
| Thickness | 5.9 mm (0.23 inches) | 6.1 mm (0.24 inches) |
| Weight | 498 g (17.57 oz) | 461 g (16.26 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | No |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Gray, Yellow | Gray, Blue, Pink, Purple, Rose gold |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-button |
| Area | 422 cm2 (65.4 inches2) | 442 cm2 (68.5 inches2) |
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (62nd and 55th place)
Android Tablet Ranking (#45th place)
iPad Ranking (#15th place)
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Apple M1 (iPad) |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
- 4 cores at 2.1 GHz: Icestorm - 4 cores at 3.2 GHz: Firestorm |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | Apple GPU 8-core |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | - |
| GPU clock | 680 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2089 GFLOPS | ~2617 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 9692 | 33168 |
| Single-core score | 2093 | 2361 |
| Multi-core score | 5838 | 8704 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 623980 | 663743 |
| GPU | 451553 | 683537 |
| Memory | 275042 | 247744 |
| UX | 420840 | 528742 |
| Total score | 1771415 | 2123766 |
| Samples | [3 tests] | [2 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 97% | 75% |
| Graphics test | 9 FPS | 14 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1156 | 1872 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | 94% | 73% |
| Graphics test | 21 FPS | 24 FPS |
| Section 1 | 24 FPS | 30 FPS |
| Section 2 | 22 FPS | 24 FPS |
| Section 3 | 18 FPS | 17 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5635 | 6277 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 89% | 72% |
| Graphics test | 23 FPS | 29 FPS |
| Graphics score | 3917 | 4924 |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-06-11 (Mohammad Abu Sayeed) | AnTuTu | 1749561 |
| π 2026-04-30 (Vulpes) | CPU Throttle | 87% |
| π 2026-04-30 (Vulpes) | AnTuTu | 1777999 |
| π 2026-03-03 -> Lello75 | GeekBench CPU | 2093 / 5838 |
| π 2025-10-12 (niko) | AnTuTu | 1771415 |
Apple iPad Air 10.9" (5th Gen, 2022)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-04-08 (AL10) | AnTuTu | 2123766 |
| π 2026-03-09 (Arcia) | AnTuTu | 2008514 |
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 4200 MHz | 4266 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1024 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) | iPadOS 15.4 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) |
| ROM | One UI 6.1 | - |
| OS size | 40 GB | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 8400 mAh | 8827 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 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 40 min) | Yes (50% in 60 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:30 hr | 2:15 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:39 hr | 08:29 hr |
| Watching video | 12:06 hr | 11:52 hr |
| Gaming | 06:18 hr | 06:24 hr |
| Standby | 133 hr | 233 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 13 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4128 x 3096 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | - | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 13 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - | - Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 13 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.0" (β 0.33 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (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 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 4.0 | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | July 2023 | March 2022 |
| Release date | August 2023 | March 2022 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $799 | $599 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPad Air 11" (7th Gen, 2025) |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Keyboard weight | 423 g | 609 g |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Yes, 20 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, gaming, battery life, and software are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPad Air 10.9" (5th Gen, 2022). But if the display and design are more of a priority β go for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 72
