Can you believe I bought this Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 for only PHP 4,300? You heard right!
The suggested retail price (SRP) of this Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 is PHP 10,990 and I only bought it for 4,300 Pesos last April 4, during the 4.4 sale on Shopee. Its price dropped by PHP 5,495 when I used Shopee’s voucher, so it was reduced by an additional PHP 1,200.
If you also want to buy it for PHP 4,300, just wait for the sale on Shopee, because it has been on sale several times in the past months.
This Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 was just released last October 2023 so it’s a very good deal for that price. But is it still worth buying even though many new affordable tablets have come out?
Therefore, I will share with you my initial experience with this tablet since I have been using it for how many days already.
Unboxing
Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 is very straightforward, it comes with a thin white box with the product image and Galaxy Tab branding at the front. Inside this box is the tablet itself, some documentation, and the USB-C to USB C cable. Yes, that’s all, it doesn’t come with a power adapter and free case.
On its left side, we can see its SIM tray that supports one microSD card and one nano SIM card, while we can locate its power button and volume rockers in the right side. At the bottom, there’s the 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C port, microphone, and main stereo speaker, then the secondary speaker is located at the top.
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 has a MediaTek Helio G99 octa-core processor that is also decent for the apps we use regularly. Just like the phones we previously reviewed, the Helio G99 chipset is still acceptable for today’s standard because it still provides us with good performance.
Unfortunately, it only has 4GB of RAM so expect some lag or hiccups here. But for me, its performance is just ok. Just make sure that its operating system and apps are updated, especially Samsung’s built-in apps. At first, it was very laggy until I updated the apps on the Galaxy Store.
This budget tablet is not very fast, but I can do all my tasks here without any problems. I also tried playing Mobile Legends here and our gaming experience was smooth. However, you can only install a few apps here because it only has 64GB storage.
But you can use up to 1TB microSD card to expand the storage for files, photos, and videos. Besides, you can also plug in a flash drive or other storage devices because it supports OTG.
The good thing about the Galaxy Tab A9 is that it has a SIM slot so you can use it for communication or mobile data purposes. Just a tip, the GOMO SIM with no expiry data is a perfect pair.
Display
For those who love watching, it’s also decent to watch YouTube or Netflix here because it has an 8.7-inch TFT display, although the resolution is only 800 x 1340 pixels so don’t expect a super sharp display.
Besides the beautiful colors produced on its display, your watching experience is also immersive because of its dual stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos feature, and it also has a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Its bezels are quite thin compared to other budget tablets out there. Just in case someone asks, it doesn’t have a high refresh rate because it’s just a budget tablet.
Samsung did not mention its maximum brightness, but it is bright enough for you to view the display clearly when outdoors.
Battery
One of the cons of this tablet is its battery because it only has a 5,100mAh battery capacity and only 15W charging is supported. It’s common for tablets today to have a 6,000mAh or 8,000mAh battery. But so far, it also lasts me the whole day before I charge it again. But if you don’t have a phone and it’s your main driver, it is not enough.
It will also take almost two hours to charge it because only 15W charging is supported. It is common for Samsung to have quite slow charging support, but if you bought this device for only PHP 4,300, what else can you complain about?
Camera
The next thing we will talk about is the camera, it has an 8MP rear camera and a 2MP selfie camera. Well, it’s not really great for photography, but it’s fine for our video conferencing and just capturing something.
Its camera modes are photo, video, portrait, pro, panorama, food, night mode, and hyperlapse.
Here are our Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 sample photos:
Conclusion
I can recommend this Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 to students there because this tablet is already good for productivity, especially if it is only used for school work. It is also good for entertainment because its display is decent and it has dual speakers. Lastly, it is also a big thing that it has a SIM slot, so it can also be used for communication and mobile data.
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 Specifications
- Display: 8.7-inch TFT LCD, WXGA+ resolution, 90Hz refresh rate, 5:3 ratio
- CPU: 2.2GHz 6nm MediaTek Helio G99 octa-core processor
- GPU: Mali-G57 MC2
- RAM: 4GB + 4GB RAM Plus
- ROM: 64GB
- Rear Camera: 8MP
- Front Camera: 2MP
- Battery: 5,100mAh, 15W wired charging
- OS: OneUI 6, Android 14
- Connectivity: 2.4GHz & 5GHz WiFi, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, Dual SIM (nano)
- Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope
- Colors: Graphite, Silver
- Weight: 332g
- Dimensions: 211mm × 124.7mm x 8mm
- Others: AI face unlock, USB-C, Dolby Atmos, Dual speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack
Price and availability
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 – PHP 10,990 (SRP) – Shopee link | Lazada link
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 is currently available on Shopee and Lazada with a price ranging from PHP 8,000 to 10,990 depending on the store. Just as I have mentioned above, just wait for it to be on sale to buy it at a very low price.
