The release of Samsung's Galaxy S9 has been shrouded in mystery. The S8 was released on February 9, 2022, shipping on the 25th. Many speculated that the S9 would follow the same trajectory in 2023. However, that did not come to pass, leading to rumors of a delay until 2024. Speculation about the delay was fueled by Samsung's lack of communication and the perception that the S8 would be superior to planned Android tablets. It also was competitive against Apple's iPads.

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Nothing stands still in the world of technology. Competitors are beginning to show their wares with Lenovo and OnePlus announcing premium tablets and the likelihood of a Google tablet announcement at Google IO in May.

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Galaxy Tab S9 model numbers

• Galaxy Tab S9: SM-X710 (Wi-Fi), SM-X716B (5G Global), SM-X718U (5G US)
• Galaxy Tab S9+: SM-X810 (Wi-Fi), SM-X816B (5G Global), SM-X818U (5G US)
• Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra: SM-X910 (Wi-Fi), SM-X916B (5G Global), SM-X918U (5G US)

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Updated Processor

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that will be used in the S9 has been customized to have higher clock speeds than the regular version. The Prime CPU core of the chipset runs at 3.36GHz, which is 0.16GHz faster than the standard version. The Adreno 740 GPU is clocked at 719MHz, which is 39MHz faster.

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The higher clock speeds of the CPU and GPU translate into faster performance in opening apps, multitasking, gaming, and booting up the device. Together with the faster LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage, the Galaxy S23 boasts a 34% increase in CPU workloads, 41% in gaming, and 49% in machine learning tasks. Samsung claims that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy is the world's fastest Snapdragon chipset. Furthermore, the chipset is equipped with an improved ISP for better camera performance.

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During the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event, Samsung announced that they have teamed up with Qualcomm to create special features and improvements for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. This chipset is the first in the Snapdragon series to utilize Qualcomm's new Cognitive ISP. This component performs real-time Semantic Segmentation, which Samsung calls the AI Object-Aware Engine, to enhance camera images. By using AI and ML, the chipset can identify objects, subjects, and backgrounds in a scene, and process each of them separately to make the image appear more realistic.

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Stylus

It is rumored Samsung will add features to the stylus that mimic those found on the iPad.

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Software

It is very likely Android 14 will be available and if this is the case the S9 should ship with it.

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Other

It is anticipated Samsung will introduce or upgrade a range of enhancements to the Galaxy Tab S9 series, including upgraded camera capabilities, a quad-speaker system tuned by AKG, a fingerprint reader, and advanced software features.

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Samsung’s tablets have so far lacked IP67 water and dust resistance but this could change. The rumor is upcoming premium tablets will have an IP67 rating for water resistance.