Galaxy Tab S9 FE vs Tab S6 Lite: Did someone say 'perfect upgrade'?

Samsung's first Fan Edition tablet was the Galaxy Tab S7 FE. Now, the company has announced two new entries to the FE lineup. The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ is the direct sequel to the original model, based on size alone, but the series now offers a smaller FE alternative with a 10.9-inch display. It's called the Galaxy Tab S9 FE (sans the Plus), and it's not hard to view it as a tablet designed purposefully as a potential upgrade for Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2020) owners. Let's see how they compare.

The Galaxy Tab S9 FE is better than the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite in virtually every way. For one, it's dust and water-resistant thanks to an IP68 rating. It also looks slightly more modern and has an upgraded S Pen, featuring a side button that's not as easy to press accidentally.

More importantly, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE ships with newer software — Android 13 and One UI 5.1.1 — and will receive four major OS upgrades to Android 17. It also boasts a considerably more powerful Exynos 1380 chipset, which beats the Exynos 9611 across the board. And it features 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB / 256GB of storage instead of 4GB+64GB/128GB.

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Better battery life with faster charging; improved cameras and display

The new Fan Edition tablet has a slightly bigger battery than the 2020 Lite model (by about 960mAh). Combined with more energy-efficient components, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE should deliver nearly twice the battery life of the Tab S6 Lite on a single charge, with Samsung giving it a 20 hour rating for video content. And it supports 45W charging, up from 15W.

The 10.9-inch panel is a TFT LCD. Although it is unfortunate that we didn't get an AMOLED display, the new panel supports Vision Booster technology for better color accuracy and has a refresh rate of up to 90Hz instead of 60Hz.

The cameras have also seen a significant upgrade, particularly the front-facing one, which has a 12MP resolution, an ultra-wide field of view, and supports modern features like auto-framing — great for video calls.

You can check the spec sheet below for a closer look at how the Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Tab S6 Lite (2020) differ at a hardware level. But from where we're looking at these two tablets, the 2023 Fan Edition model seems like the perfect upgrade over the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite.

[modelcompare model1=SM-X510 model2=”SM-P610″]

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Mihai Matei - Senior Editor

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First Samsung device: SGH-A800

Mihai is a blogger and column writer at SamMobile. His first Samsung phone was an A800 which took a lot of beating, and a part of him still misses the novelty of the clamshell design. In his free time, he enjoys watching shows, documentaries, and stand-up comedy; listening to music, taking walks, and occasionally playing old(er) video games.

Tablet Galaxy Tab S6 Lite Galaxy Tab S9 FE