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Google Nexus 9 vs iPad Air vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4: specs comparison

By Nick Todorov

Published: Oct 15, 2014, 12:59 PM

22comments

Google Nexus 9 vs iPad Air vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4: specs comparison

The announcement of the HTC-made Nexus 9 tablet came as no surprise to anyone who had been following our news feed. Leaks and rumors did a good job at spoiling the surprise by throwing its specs on the table, along with a candid image.

Yet this doesn't make Google's Android 5.0-powered slate any less exciting. Quite the contrary – it is a slate we can't wait to get our hands on. But we'll have to wait for a few more weeks until that happens as the tablet is projected to ship in early November.

In the meantime, we suppose it seems right to stack up the Google Nexus 9 against some of its potential rivals, at least on paper. Here's how Google's new tab compares against the Apple iPad Air and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 in terms of specs.


Google Nexus 9	Apple iPad Air	Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4

Design

Dimensions
8.99 x 6.05 x 0.31 inches 228.25 x 153.68 x 7.95 mm	9.45 x 6.67 x 0.30 inches 240 x 169.5 x 7.5 mm	8.38 x 4.94 x 0.26 inches 212.8 x 125.6 x 6.6 mm
Weight
15.38 oz (436.0 g)	16.86 oz (478.0 g)	10.51 oz (298.0 g)
Materials
Back: Plastic	Back: Aluminum
Biometrics
		Fingerprint (swipe)
Features
Notification light		Touch sensitive control keys
Keys
Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key	Right: Volume control, Other	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Black, Brown, White	Black, Gray, Silver, White	Black, White
Phone functionality
		Yes

Display

Size
8.9-inch	9.7-inch	8.4-inch
Resolution
2048x1536px, 288 PPI	1536x2048px, 264 PPI	2560x1600px, 359 PPI
Technology
IPS LCD	IPS LCD	Super AMOLED
Screen-to-body
69.90 %	71.65 %	76.61 %
Colors
16 777 216	16 777 216	16 777 216
Features
Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 3), Ambient light sensor	Oleophobic coating, Ambient light sensor	Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
NVIDIA Tegra K1 (28 nm)	Apple A7	Samsung Exynos 5 Octa 5420
Processor
Dual-core 2300 MHz Denve	Dual-core 1400 MHz Cyclone	Octa-core 1900 MHz ARM Cortex-A15 and ARM Cortex-A7
GPU
Kepler	PowerVR G6430	Mali-T628 MP6
RAM
2GB (DDR3)	1GB (LPDDR3)	3GB (LPDDR3)
Internal storage
32GB	128GB	32GB
Storage expansion
		microSDXC up to 128 GB
OS
Android (7.1 Nougat, 7.0 Nougat, 5.0 Lollipop)	iOS (12.x, 11.x, 10.x, 9.x, 8.x, 7.x)	Android (6.0 Marshmallow, 5.0 Lollipop, 4.4.2), Samsung TouchWiz UI

Battery

Capacity
6700 mAh	8820 mAh	4900 mAh
Type
Li - Polymer	Li - Polymer

Camera

Rear
Single camera	Single camera	Single camera
Main camera
8 MP (Autofocus, BSI sensor) Aperture size: F2.4 Focal length: 29.2 mm Sensor size: 1/4" Pixel size: 1.12 μm	5 MP (Autofocus, BSI sensor) Aperture size: F2.4 Focal length: 33 mm	8 MP (Autofocus, CMOS image sensor)
Flash
LED		LED
Video recording
1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)	1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps) Time-lapse video, EIS, Video calling	1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)
Front
1.6 MP, Video capture: 1280x720 (HD)	1.2 MP, Video capture: 1280x720 (HD) (30 fps)	2.1 MP

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
4.1	4.0	4.0
WLAN
802.11 b,g,n,ac,dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot	802.11 a,b,g,n,dual-band Multiple antennas, MIMO, Hotspot	802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band MIMO, Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
USB
microUSB, USB 2.0	Lightning	microUSB, USB 2.0
HDMI
		Yes
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BeiDou	A-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers)
Other
NFC, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync	Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync, AirDrop	Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync

Multimedia

Headphones
3.5mm jack	3.5mm jack	3.5mm jack
Speakers
Multiple speakers	Multiple speakers	Multiple speakers
Features
Album art cover, Background playback	Album art cover, Background playback	Album art cover, Background playback
Screen mirroring
DLNA	TV-out	MHL
Additional microphone(s)
Yes	Yes

Cellular

4G (FDD)
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800 DD)	Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+)	Bands 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800 DD)
3G
Bands 5(850), 8(900), 4(1700/2100), 2(1900), 1(2100)	Bands 5(850), 8(900), 2(1900), 1(2100)	Bands 5(850), 8(900), 2(1900), 1(2100)
Data Speed
LTE Cat 3 (100/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS	LTE, HSPA, UMTS	LTE, HSPA, UMTS
SIM type
Nano SIM	Nano SIM	Micro SIM

Phone Features

Notifications
Flight mode, Silent mode	Flight mode, Silent mode	Flight mode, Silent mode
Other features
Voice commands, Voice recording	Voice commands, Voice recording	Voice commands, Voice recording

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
	Date approved: Oct 22, 2013 FCC ID value: BCGA1475	Date approved: May 16, 2014 FCC ID value: A3LSMT705
Measured SAR
	Body: 1.19 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.33 W/kg	Head: 0.19 W/kg Body: 1.01 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.56 W/kg