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

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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, 69.90% screen-to-body 9.7-inch, 71.65% screen-to-body 8.4-inch, 76.61% screen-to-body
Type
IPS LCD IPS LCD Super AMOLED
Resolution
2048x1536px, 288 PPI 1536x2048px, 264 PPI 2560x1600px, 359 PPI
Colors
16 777 216 16 777 216 16 777 216
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Features
Oleophobic coating, Ambient light 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
Memory
2GB (DDR3)/32GB 1GB (LPDDR3)/128GB
1GB/16GB
1GB/32GB
1GB/64GB
1GB/128GB
3GB (LPDDR3)/32GB
3GB/16GB
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)
Battery
Type
6700 mAh, Li - Polymer 8820 mAh, Li - Polymer 4900 mAh
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
1080p (30 fps) 1080p (30 fps)
Time-lapse video, EIS, Video calling
1080p (30 fps)
Front
1.6 MP
Video capture: 720p
1.2 MP
Video capture: 720p (30 fps)
2.1 MP
Connectivity & Features
Bluetooth
4.1 4.0 4.0
WLAN
b,g,n,ac,dual-band
MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot
802.11 b, g, n, ac
a,b,g,n,dual-band
Multiple antennas, MIMO, Hotspot
802.11 a, b, g, n
a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
MIMO, Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
802.11 a, b, g, n, ac
USB
microUSB, USB 2.0 Lightning microUSB, USB 2.0
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient light sensor Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient light sensor Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
HDMI
Yes
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BeiDou A-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
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
LTE Bands
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20
3G Bands
5, 8, 4, 2, 1 5, 8, 2, 1 5, 8, 2, 1
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
Availability
Officially announced
Oct 15, 2014 Oct 22, 2013 Jun 12, 2014
Prices (MSRP)
$929


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