It’s clearly highly unusual for any tablet vendor to release two new Android-based models mere weeks after another three such jumbo-sized devices, but believe it or not, that’s precisely what Samsung is gearing up to do with the gargantuan Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Tab S9 FE Plus mid-rangers.
Still, it’s definitely a little weird to see the aforementioned Tab S9 Fan Edition duo leaked in great detail (yet again) with an extremely similar design to that of the existing “regular” Tab S9 trio.
Two more metal-made beauties with slightly humbler specs
Just in case the factory CAD-based renders from a couple of months ago didn’t make it abundantly clear, today’s “marketing” images leave absolutely no room for doubt. The Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Tab S9 FE+ will look pretty much identical to the Tab S9 and Tab S9 Plus, at least at first glance, “borrowing” everything from their cousins’ 10.9 and 12.4-inch screen sizes to those reasonably thin and largely symmetrical bezels and that super-premium aluminum construction.
Like their 2021-released Tab S7 FE forerunner, these bad boys will rock a metal rear cover and metal sides, at least according to a WinFuture journalist and frequent X leaker who is almost never wrong about this type of stuff.
Although a number of question marks continue to hover over the Tab S9 FE and Tab S9 FE+ spec sheets, it’s obvious that the smaller model will come with just one rear-facing camera (like the Tab S9), while the larger variant is virtually guaranteed to accomodate a dual shooter system on its back (like the Tab S9+).
The Tab S9 FE and Tab S9 FE+ are of course unlikely to share a state-of-the-art Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor with the undoubtedly costlier Tab S9 and Tab S9 Plus, instead looking set to pack the same middling Exynos 1380 chipset as the Galaxy A54 5G handset. That should provide an adequate level of raw power for most fans of budget tablets, especially if Samsung manages to price the fourth and fifth members of the Galaxy Tab S9 family aggressively enough.
Things are looking up on the pricing front
Remember that alleged European retail leak from earlier this month calling for a €549.99 Tab S9 FE starting price around those parts? As it turns out, that figure might not be entirely accurate, with the mid-end 10.9-incher now predicted to cost as little as €529 on the old continent in an entry-level 128GB storage configuration with 6GB RAM also on deck.
That technically equates to around $565, but with local taxes removed from the equation, we believe the base Galaxy Tab S9 FE could go for less than 500 bucks stateside. The Tab S7 FE, in case you’re wondering, used to start at $530 with a measly 64 gigs of internal storage space, which means that Samsung may have learned from its past mistakes, understanding that it needs a better value proposition to give Apple’s 10.9-inch iPad Air (2022), for instance, a healthy run for its money.
The Tab S9 FE Plus is similarly tipped to cost a little less than previously anticipated, at €699 in major European markets with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. The 12.4-inch giant could therefore start at $600 or so in the US, with optional 5G connectivity and a memory upgrade to 12 gigs of the good stuff setting you back more and making the oversized Android mid-ranger feel like a less-than-stellar bargain.
