Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 vs Apple iPad Air 13-inch (M3, 2025) Specs Comparison

Design

Dimensions
10.01 x 6.53 x 0.23 inches (254.3 x 165.8 x 5.9 mm)	11.05 x 8.46 x 0.24 inches (280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1 mm)
Weight
17.57 oz(498.0 g)	21.76 oz(617.0 g)
Materials
Back: Aluminum Frame: Aluminum	Back: Aluminum Frame: Aluminum
Resistance
Yes; IP68
Biometrics
Fingerprint (touch)	Fingerprint (touch)
Colors
Beige, Graphite	Space Gray, Starlight, Purple, Blue

Display

Size
11.0-inch	13.0-inch
Resolution
2560x1600px, 16:10 ratio, 274 PPI	2732x2048px, 4:3 ratio, 263 PPI
Technology
Dynamic AMOLED	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
120Hz	60Hz
Screen-to-body
83.20 %	86.76 %
Peak brightness
	600 cd/m2 (nit)
Features
HDR support, Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 5), Ambient light sensor	Ambient light sensor

Hardware

System chip
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC (4 nm)	Apple M3
Processor
Octa-core 1x 3.36GHz Cortex-X3 + 2x 2.8GHz Cortex-A715 + 2x 2.8GHz Cortex-A710 + 3x 2.0GHz Cortex-A510	Octa-core
GPU
Adreno 740	Apple GPU 9-core
RAM
8GB	8GB
Internal storage
128GB (UFS)	128GB
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 1024 GB	not expandable
OS
Android (14, 13), One UI	iPadOS (18.x)

Battery

Capacity
8400 mAh	9705 mAh
Type
Li - Polymer, Not user replaceable	Not user replaceable
Max charge speed
Wired: 45.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

Untested

Browsing

8h 6min

Video

6h 25min

Gaming

Untested

Battery Life Estimate

Untested

Browsing

Untested

Video

Untested

Gaming

Untested

Find out more details about battery and charging for all phones we have tested on our PhoneArena Battery Score page.

Camera

Rear
Single camera	Single camera
Main camera
13 MP (Autofocus) Aperture size: F2.0 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/3.4" Pixel size: 1.0 μm	12 MP Aperture size: F1.8 Sensor size: 1/3" Pixel size: 1.22 μm
Flash
LED
Video recording
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)	3840x2160 (4K UHD) (60 fps)
Front
12 MP, Video capture: 3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps)	12 MP, Video capture: 1920x1080 (Full HD)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.3	5.3
Wi-Fi
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,ax(Wi-Fi 6),Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi Direct	802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,ax(Wi-Fi 6),Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi Direct
USB
Type-C (reversible), Features: Charging, OTG	Type-C (reversible), USB 3.1, Features: Charging
Location
GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
Sensors
Accelerometer	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer
Other
Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync	Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync

Multimedia

Headphones
No 3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Multiple speakers	Multiple speakers
Features
Dolby Atmos, Album art cover, Background playback	Album art cover, Background playback
Screen mirroring
Wireless screen share	Wireless screen share

Cellular

5G
Bands n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n77, n78	Bands 5G Ready
4G (FDD)
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 28(700 APT), 32(1500 L-band), 66(AWS-3)
4G (TDD)
Bands 38(2600), 40(2300), 41(2600+)
3G
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 5(850), 8(900)
Data Speed
LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s	LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s
SIM type
Nano SIM, eSIM	eSIM

Buyers information

MSRP
$ 800	€ 950
In The Box
Tablet, Type-C cable, paperwork

Availability

Officially announced
Jul 26, 2023	Mar 04, 2025

Alternative variants

With 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage

RAM	12GB
Internal storage	256GB

Wi-Fi Only

With 256GB internal storage

Internal storage	256GB
MSRP	€ 1080

With 512GB internal storage

Internal storage	512GB
MSRP	€ 1329

With 1TB internal storage

Internal storage	1024GB
MSRP	€ 1579

Links

Full specifications
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Specs	Apple iPad Air 13-inch (M3, 2025) Specs
PhoneArena Review
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Review	Apple iPad Air 13-inch (M3, 2025) Review