Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 vs Apple iPad Air 13-inch (M4, 2026) Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Jul 26, 2023	Mar 02, 2026
Scheduled release
	(Official) Mar 11, 2026
Prices (MSRP)
8GB/128GB - $800	12GB/128GB - $799 12GB/256GB - $899 12GB/512GB - $1099 12GB/1024GB - $1299

Design

Dimensions
10.01 x 6.53 x 0.23 inches 254.3 x 165.8 x 5.9 mm	11.04 x 8.46 x 0.24 inches 280.4 x 214.9 x 6.1 mm
Weight
17.57 oz / 498.0 g	21.76 oz / 617.0 g Wi-Fi only - 616 g
Materials
Back: Aluminum Frame: Aluminum	Back: Aluminum Frame: Aluminum
Resistance
Yes; IP68
Biometrics
Fingerprint (touch)	Fingerprint (touch)
Keys
	Right: Volume control
Colors
Beige, Graphite	Blue, Purple, Starlight, Space Gray

Display

Size
11.0-inch, 83.20% screen-to-body	13.0-inch, 86.84% screen-to-body
Type
Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR	IPS LCD, 60Hz, 600 nits
Resolution
2560x1600px, 16:10 ratio, 274 PPI	2732x2048px, 4:3 ratio, 263 PPI
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Features
HDR support, Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor	Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass

PhoneArena Display Test

Bright Max (20% APL)
Untested	Untested
Bright Min
1.6 (Good)	Untested

Learn more on our PhoneArena Display Test Results page.

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC (4 nm)	Apple M4
Processor
Octa-core 1x3.36GHz Cortex-X3 2x2.8GH​z Cortex-A715 2x2.8​GHz Cortex-A710 3x2.0​GHz Cortex-A510	Octa-core
GPU
Adreno 740	Apple 9-core GPU
Memory
8GB/128GB (UFS) 12GB/256GB	12GB (LPDDR5X)/128GB 12GB/256GB 12GB/512GB 12GB/1024GB
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 1024 GB	not expandable
OS
Android (14, 13)	iOS (26.x)

PhoneArena Performance Test

GeekBench 6 Single
2128	Untested
GeekBench 6 Multi
5657	Untested
3D Mark High
3853	Untested
3D Mark Low
3033	Untested

Learn more on our PhoneArena Performance Test Results page.

Battery

Type
8400 mAh, Li - Polymer	9705 mAh, Li - Polymer
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

Learn more on our PhoneArena Battery Test Results 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 (Sapphire crystal lens cover, Autofocus, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 Sensor size: 1/3" Pixel size: 1.22 μm
Flash
LED
Video recording
4K UHD (30 fps), 1080p (30 fps)	4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (30 fps) Time-lapse video, Continuous autofocus, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing, Cinematic mode
Front
12 MP Video capture: 4K UHD (30 fps)	12 MP (Autofocus, HDR, Slow-motion videos) Video capture: 1080p (60 fps)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.3	6.0
WLAN
a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6,Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi Direct 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax	Wi-Fi 7,dual-band MIMO, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax
USB
Type-C	Type-C, USB 3.1
Sensors
Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, Ambient light sensor
Location
GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou	GPS, GNSS
Other
Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync

Multimedia

Headphones
No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Multiple speakers	Multiple speakers
Features
Dolby Atmos, Album art cover, Background playback

Cellular

5G Bands
n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n77, n78	n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n14, n20, n25, n26, n28, n29, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n70, n71, n75, n77, n78, n79
LTE Bands
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 66	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66, 71
TDD Bands
38, 40, 41	34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48
3G Bands
1, 2, 5, 8
Data Speed
LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s	LTE-A, HSPA, HSUPA
SIM type
Nano SIM, eSIM	eSIM
HD Voice
	Yes
VoLTE
	Yes

Alternative variants

With 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage

Memory	12GB/256GB

Discover more

Full Specs Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Specs PA Review Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Review

Full Specs Apple iPad Air 13-inch (M4, 2026) Specs