The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra (starting at $1,199) is now available for those who absolutely need a bigger tablet. This year's model is not radically different from last year's Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, but that's not a bad thing.

Like its predecessor, this tablet has a gorgeous 14.6-inch OLED display with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. And its sturdy build and thin profile make it comfortable to hold despite its size.

Powered by the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip as Samsung's Galaxy S23 phone, the Tab S9 Ultra should have more than enough power to surf the web and play the best Android games.

When paired with the Book Cover Keyboard, the Tab S9 Ultra can also replace a laptop thanks to its Windows 11-like DeX mode.

I have touched the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 a bit and found it to be just as impressive as the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra. It will be one of the best tablets to come out of the Samsung ecosystem, if not a revolutionary product.

Below are my thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 and a general overview of what this tablet has to offer.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is currently available for pre-order starting at $1,199 and will be available on August 11. The entry-level model comes with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM, but you can pay more to configure the tablet with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. All configurations come in your choice of beige or graphite.

Samsung is offering up to $650 off the Galaxy Tab S9 tablet with a qualified trade-in. Also, pre-order any of the Tab S9 tablets and receive 50% off the purchase of the Book Cover Keyboard Slim. In addition, pre-order any of the Galaxy Tab S9 tablets on Samsung's website or the Shop Samsung app and receive $40 off a pair of Galaxy Buds2 Pro.

Price-wise, the new tablet is $100 more expensive than last year's Tab S8 Ultra. (For more ways to save at Samsung, check out our guide to the best Samsung promo codes.)

Design-wise, the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is indistinguishable from the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra. It has the lightweight, slim chassis that Samsung tablets are known for. It is larger at 12.85 x 8.21 x 0.22 inches, but feels comfortable in the hand. It also weighs only 1.6 pounds and should be easy to use for extended periods of time.

As with previous Tab S8 Ultra models, the power and volume buttons are located along the right side of the slate. There is also a microSD card slot near the bottom right. On the back are two rear-facing cameras and a magnetic strip to hold the included S Pen. A quad speaker is located on the side of the tablet, along with a single USB-C port. Unfortunately, there is no headphone jack.

When watching a 4K YouTube video showing cities around the world, we found the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra's 14.6-inch OLED display to be bright and colorful enough. Black levels were also excellent, making colors stand out and pop. The fantastic environment of the Phantom Impact was also pleasing to the eye, thanks to all the hues displayed.

We'll have to put the Galaxy Tab S9's display through our lab tests to see how it fares, but from what I saw, the display was just as impressive and amazing as the previous model.

The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has a 20% larger speaker according to Samsung. Not only does this make the overall audio output from the speaker louder, but it also adds more punch to the bass, which is important on this last point given that we found the bass on the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra to be thin-sounding.

To really evaluate this tablet's speakers, we'll need to test them in a real-world environment, but from what I've heard, the audio is a welcome improvement over the previous generation Ultra.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and runs on Android 13. Since phones like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra have the same chip and operating system, we expect the Tab S9 Ultra to do well in our lab tests.

In my own experience, I found the Tab S9 Ultra responsive enough when cycling through apps and opening windows; "Genshin Impact" (one of the most graphically demanding mobile games available for Android) ran smoothly and frame rates seemed stable to my eyes.

I thought Samsung's answer to the Windows interface, DeX mode, ran much better on the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra than on last year's Tab S8 Ultra. It still doesn't respond as snappily as Windows, but it is a marked improvement from the previous generation. I look forward to trying DeX mode on this tablet to see how it really stacks up.

The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra comes with Samsung's S Pen, an essential tool for anyone who writes or draws on a tablet. The updated S Pen has a latency of 2.8ms and a higher pressure sensitive button.

When docked to the magnetic strip on the back of the tablet, the pen charges either face up or face down. Those who want to use the tablet at the pool or beach will be happy to know that the S Pen is IP68 waterproof, as is the tablet itself. According to Samsung, the tablet and pen can be used in 3 feet of water for 30 minutes.

The updated S Pen feels as comfortable to hold as the previous model, thanks to its thickness and sturdy construction. Writing with the pen feels intuitive enough, but we need more time to see if it is more user-friendly than on the Tab S8 Ultra.

Like its predecessor, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has an 11,200 mAh battery.

The Tab S8 Ultra lasted 9 hours and 22 minutes in our battery test. If the new tablet can match or exceed this, we will have little to complain about. Aside from an updated processor, the Tab S9 Ultra is not that different from its predecessor, so we don't expect to see a dramatic difference in battery life, but we'll see how our tests turn out.

Based on my experience and everything we now know about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, this new tablet seems like a solid, if not impressive, update to the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra. It should have a vibrant OLED display, a sleek design, and plenty of power for what you need.

As it stands, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra would have no trouble finding a place on our list of the best tablets on the market. Stay tuned to our full review to find out.