Samsung Galaxy Tab 11" A9+ Gray 2023

The Galaxy Tab A9+ is a budget 11-inch Android tablet that gets the basics right: a smooth 90Hz screen, all-day battery, and surprisingly good speakers. Performance is fine for streaming and browsing, but the 4GB of RAM and slow storage make multitasking a chore. Pricing is all over the map, so hunt for deals around $150 to get real value. Skip it if you need a work tablet or want to play games, but for casual media consumption, it's a solid pick.

The Snapdragon 695 is a known quantity at this point, and it lands in the 68th percentile for CPU performance among tablets. That's solid, not spectacular. For everyday tasks like scrolling through social feeds, firing up YouTube, or jumping between a few browser tabs, it keeps things moving without much stutter. The 90Hz refresh rate on the display helps the whole experience feel smoother than the raw specs suggest. But when you start multitasking or loading heavier apps, that 4GB of RAM becomes a bottleneck fast. Our database puts the RAM at the 32nd percentile, and you'll notice it when apps start refreshing after you've only had three or four open.

The real weak spot is the GPU, which sits at a dismal 2nd percentile. This is not a gaming tablet, period. Light games like Candy Crush or 2D indie titles run fine, but anything with 3D graphics will chug. The eMMC storage is also a drag, sitting at the 30th percentile. App installs and file transfers take longer than you'd expect in 2024. On the flip side, the 7040mAh battery is a bright spot at the 74th percentile, easily delivering 10+ hours of video playback. And the connectivity package, including 5G and Wi-Fi 5, ranks at the 89th percentile, which is genuinely impressive for a budget slate.

The elephant in the room is the Apple iPad A16. For not much more money, you get a far more powerful chip, a better app ecosystem, and double the base storage. The iPad's screen is also sharper and brighter. But you lose the 90Hz refresh rate, and you're locked into iPadOS, which some people just don't want. If you're already in the Android camp and want to stay there, the Xiaomi Pad 7 is a strong alternative with a faster processor and more RAM, though it's often pricier and harder to find with US warranty support.

The Lenovo Idea Tab Pro is another competitor worth mentioning. It typically comes with a better display and a more capable GPU, making it a better pick if you want to do any light gaming or drawing. The Tab A9+ does have one advantage over both of those: 5G connectivity. If you need a tablet with cellular data for travel or commuting, the Samsung is one of the few budget options that offers it. The UMIDIGI Active T1 is a rugged alternative if durability is your main concern, but its screen and performance are a step down.

Pricing on the Tab A9+ is all over the place depending on where you look. We've seen it range from $132 to $550 across vendors, which is a wild spread. The sweet spot is clearly on the lower end of that range. At around $150 to $180, this tablet is a steal for a secondary device or a kid's first tablet. At $300 or above, you're getting into refurbished iPad or Lenovo Tab territory, and those are simply better tablets with more RAM and faster storage.

If you're hunting for the best deal, the renewed and Grade A units are worth a look. They're often priced near that $132 floor and come in like-new condition according to the refurbisher notes. Just make sure you're buying from a seller with a solid return policy, because the touchscreen complaints we've seen in user reviews tend to show up right out of the box. For what it's worth, the social proof on this model is strong at the 86th percentile, so a lot of people are buying and mostly liking it.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ is one of those tablets that makes you wonder why you'd spend twice as much on something fancier. For streaming Netflix, reading comics, or handing off to a kid for some Roblox time, this 11-inch slate nails the basics at a price that doesn't make you wince. It's not trying to replace your laptop, and honestly, that's refreshing. Samsung focused on the stuff that actually matters for casual use: a big, smooth screen, decent speakers, and battery life that gets through a full day of couch surfing.

Under the hood, you're getting a Snapdragon 695 5G chip and 4GB of RAM. That's a pairing we see in a lot of budget phones, and it handles Android 13 without too much fuss. The 64GB of storage is tight, but the microSD slot means you can toss in a cheap card and load up movies for a long flight. The 5G option is a nice touch if you grab a data plan, though most folks will stick to Wi-Fi. At 480 grams, it's light enough to hold in one hand for a while, which is more than we can say for some heavier premium tablets.

But here's the catch: this is a budget tablet through and through, and you'll feel it in a few places. The eMMC storage is slow, the LCD screen isn't winning any brightness contests, and that 4GB of RAM means you'll see apps reload if you push it too hard. The user sentiment score sits at a middling 55th percentile, and digging into owner feedback reveals a split between people who love the value and people who got a unit with touchscreen issues. If you're willing to play the panel lottery, there's a lot to like here for the money.

If you need a tablet for work, school, or any kind of serious multitasking, the Tab A9+ will drive you nuts. That 4GB of RAM means apps constantly reload when you switch between them, and the slow eMMC storage makes everything from booting up to installing updates feel sluggish. Students who need to run split-screen notes and research, or anyone who wants to use a keyboard for document editing, should look at the base iPad or a Lenovo Idea Tab Pro instead. Those have the RAM and processing power to handle real productivity without constant frustration.

Gamers should also steer clear. The GPU performance is genuinely bad, sitting near the absolute bottom of our database. Even older 3D titles will struggle, and you'll be stuck with low settings and choppy framerates. If mobile gaming is a priority, save up for something with a Snapdragon 8-series chip or grab a refurbished iPad Mini. And if you're picky about build quality, be aware that some units ship with touchscreen issues. Buy from a retailer with easy returns so you're not stuck with a dud.

For a kitchen tablet, a kid's YouTube machine, or a travel companion that you won't cry over if it gets lost, the Galaxy Tab A9+ is a fantastic buy at the right price. The big screen and quad speakers make it a joy for video, and the battery keeps going long after your phone has died. Just keep your expectations in check: this is a consumption device, not a creation tool. Don't buy it expecting to edit photos, play demanding games, or run split-screen apps without some lag.

If you need a tablet for school or work, look elsewhere. The 4GB of RAM and slow storage will frustrate you within a week of trying to use it for research, document editing, or anything that involves jumping between apps. In that case, spend a bit more on a base iPad or a Lenovo Idea Tab Pro. But if your tablet use is mostly Netflix, ebooks, and casual browsing, the Tab A9+ delivers where it counts and leaves enough cash in your pocket for a nice case and a big SD card.