Samsung Galaxy Tab S9: latest news, leaks, and everything we know so far

It’s been over a year since the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series launched, so we’re due new models. Though Samsung has yet to mention anything about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series, rumors and leaks have trickled out over the internet to paint a picture of what looks to be a subtle upgrade to an already competent series of devices.

These include talk of similar designs and screen specs to their predecessors, but with a substantial amount more power.

Below then you’ll find everything we’ve heard so far about the upcoming Galaxy Tab S9 series, and we’ll be updating this article whenever we hear something new.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? The next top-end Samsung tablets
• When is it out? Possibly July 26
• How much will it cost? Likely upwards of $699.99 / £649 / AU$1,099

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 release date and price

• Might launch on July 26
• Likely to cost upwards of $699.99 / £649 / AU$1,099

We might not be waiting too much longer for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series to launch, as Samsung has revealed that the next Galaxy Unpacked event will happen in late July, and we expect these slates might make an appearance.

That said, MySmartPrice claims that while Samsung will hold an Unpacked event in South Korea in late July, there will be a separate US event on August 11 where the various devices will get a global launch. Though we’d take this with a pinch of salt.

Beyond that, an early leak suggested that Samsung was pushing back the launch, but as we’re now over a year on from the release of the Tab S8 series, that doesn’t tell us much that isn’t already evident.

More recently though (at the end of May 2023) the Galaxy Tab S9 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra received TUV certification. This sort of certification tends to happen within two or three months of release, so that lines up with a late July launch.

That would also line up with when we’re expecting to see the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, both of which are rumored to be getting unveiled on July 26, so the Tab S9 series might land alongside them.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 starts at $699.99 / £649 / AU$1,099, so expect the starting price to be in line with or upwards of that. A recent leak listing some of the prices in Euros suggests that these tablets will be slightly more expensive than their precedessors.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 design and display

• Similar designs rumored to the Tab S8 series
• Three models expected – standard, Plus, and Ultra
• The standard Tab S9 might get upgraded to OLED

Before we talk about the design and display of these tablets, it’s worth noting that Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Tab S9 with the same line-up as the Galaxy Tab S8. 

That would mean a Galaxy Tab S9, a Galaxy Tab S9 Plus, and a Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. Samsung doesn’t always keep the same models for its tablets from year to year, but a report from the Netherlands-based Galaxy Club claims it will be doing this year. 

This means we expect a Galaxy Tab S8 that’s 10 inches or so, a Galaxy Tab S9 Plus that’s about 12 inches, and a mega-sized 14-inch Tab S8 Ultra intended to replace your laptop.

Though we don’t have leaks of the entire lineup,  reputable leaker @OnLeaks has shared details of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus with WolfofTablet, and this leak includes not just specs, but also high-quality renders.

From those renders (some of which you can see above), it appears that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus will look a lot like the Galaxy Tab S8 Plus, with the main difference just being a slightly different camera design, that’s more in line with the Samsung Galaxy S23 series.

Beyond that, this looks to be the same shape as the Tab S8 Plus, and apparently has almost identical dimensions of 285.4 x 185.4 x 5.64mm. It’s also shown to have a magnetic silo for the S Pen stylus on the back, just like its predecessor, and the same USB-C port and quad-speaker positioning.

As for the screen, this will apparently be a 12.4-inch one, with a resolution of 1752 x 2800, granting it around 266ppi (pixels per inch). That again is the same as the Galaxy Tab S8 Plus.

Other than a slight tweak to the design of the rear cameras then, this leak suggests the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus could be near identical to the Galaxy Tab S8 Plus. But there are plenty of details we don’t yet know, and if nothing else, this new slate is sure to get a power boost.

It’s a similar story with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, which will apparently have a 14.6-inch AMOLED screen, with a resolution of 1848 x 2960, much like its predecessor.

The design also looks similar, complete with a notch again, as you can see in the leaked render below (from the same source as the screen specs above). Though the rear camera design looks a bit different here.

The source additionally claims that the Tab S9 Ultra is the same size as its predecessor at 326 x 208 x 5.5mm, and weighs slightly more at 737g.

There could be more changes on the standard Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 though, as this apparently has an OLED display and not the LCD that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 has.

This rumor comes from reputable display analyst Ross Young, and this is an advantage over the base iPad with which this competes. Apple still equips that iPad with LCDs which leaves it without the higher contrast and more pleasing image quality of OLEDs. In the same tweet, Young also claimed that the base Galaxy Tab S9 will have an 11-inch display, which is the same as last year.

As for colors, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 is expected to come in beige and gray finishes, according to Young. Young also claims there would be a Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Tab S9 FE, and they would sport gray, light green, light pink, and silver finishes. 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 cameras and battery

• Tab S9 Plus could have a dual-lens rear camera
• The Plus and Ultra might both charge at 45W

The WolfOfTablet leak mentioned above also included some Galaxy Tab S9 Plus specs, with talk of a dual-lens rear camera and a single-lens front-facing one.

The specs of those cameras aren’t yet known, but for reference the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus has a 13MP wide snapper, a 6MP ultrawide, and a 12MP selfie camera, so we may see the same on the Galaxy Tab S9 Plus.

The selfie camera is shown to be on one of the long edges of the tablet, making it ideal for landscape use, but the report also mentions an unknown sensor on the top edge. However, @OnLeaks later tweeted that this is also found on the Galaxy Tab S8 series, so it’s actually nothing new, and likely just handles adaptive brightness.

As for the battery, the same source points to 45W charging for the Tab S9 Plus, and a certification also suggests that both the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra will support 45W charging.

We’ve additionally heard that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra will have an 11,200mAh battery, which is the same size as its predecessor.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 specs and features

• A powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset is expected
• The Ultra could have up to 16GB of RAM
• The standard model might top out at 12GB of RAM

The Galaxy Tab S8 Plus has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, so for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus we’d expect the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, just like the Galaxy S23 series has. 

A Twitter tipster meanwhile shared that the Galaxy S9 Ultra will apparently come with 8GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage variants, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and a 16GB of RAM paired with a 512GB of RAM variant.

These are powerful internals, and definitely fitting of a device that’s intended to be a laptop replacement. As for the regular Tab S9, it’s rumored to have an 8GB of RAM and 12GB of RAM variant. No storage specs have been leaked, but we expect at least 128GB and 256GB models.

A thorough specs leak covering just about every aspect of the tablet has confirmed some of these details, including the RAM and internal storage options.

Finally, according to WolfOfTablet leak above, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus will have an under-display fingerprint sensor and Samsung DeX support (so you can wirelessly connect your tablet to a larger screen).