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Nov 18, 2023

Samsung's Galaxy Tab S9 accessories betray its e

You can't look forward to a green future without backwards-compatibility More than ever, e-waste is a real concern. While we can all work together to reduce our individual output by using devices

You can't look forward to a green future without backwards-compatibility

More than ever, e-waste is a real concern. While we can all work together to reduce our individual output by using devices longer, opting for battery replacements when possible, and responsibly recycling our old gadgets, companies also need to put in their fair share of effort. We've seen Android manufacturers like Samsung move towards emphasizing a reduction in e-waste through trade-in programs, but frankly, a whole lot more needs to be done by these corporations, even at the risk of affecting their bottom line. And there's nowhere that's more obvious than Samsung's new Galaxy Tab S9 lineup.

The Galaxy Tab S9 is arguably Samsung's 2023 model with the most changes under its belt. Despite being the smallest and cheapest of the company's three new tablets, the Tab S9 finally utilizes an AMOLED panel, which — paired with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and an in-display fingerprint sensor — actually makes for a solid year-over-year upgrade.

As you might expect, many of the editors at Android Police are in the middle of drafting reviews covering all of the hardware unveiled last week, including all three of Samsung's new tablets. I'm currently in the process of using the smallest slate, the Galaxy Tab S9, the successor to the Tab S8 I reviewed at the start of this year. It actually makes me the perfect candidate to compare and contrast the two tablets together, especially because — as with much of Samsung's 2023 lineup — not that much has changed between generations when it comes to hardware design.

Despite eighteen months passing between release dates, the Galaxy Tab S8 and the Galaxy Tab S9 are nearly identical in size and shape. Looking at their respective spec sheets, the Tab S9 is about half a millimeter longer, half a millimeter taller, and less than half a millimeter thicker than its predecessor. Setting aside that changes this small are almost certainly non-essential — I'm sure Samsung could manage to squeeze the Tab S9 specs into the Tab S8's chassis with proper motivation — this should, in theory, make it a perfect candidate to fit into some of last year's accessories — namely, those expensive keyboard docks.

Although they're not included in the box, keyboard docks are a big part of Samsung's continued push to cement the Galaxy Tab S-series as productivity machines first and foremost. There's a reason the S Pen is included by default with all three tablet sizes. Their status as an "optional" accessory doesn't change the fact that, to many, a tablet isn't complete until it has a keyboard dock synced to it — it's why Google's decision to skip out on a compatible keyboard for the Pixel Tablet struck so many as a strange choice.

These first-party keyboard docks don't come cheap. The Book Cover Keyboard Slim for the Tab S9 runs buyers $140, while the touchpad-equipped Book Cover Keyboard is $200. Hell, you could buy an entire Chromebook for that kind of money. Prices also creep up fast alongside the size of the tablet, and while the Tab S9 Ultra's Slim option is $200, the standard Keyboard demands a whopping $350.

If, say, you're the type of person who loves to buy the hottest, newest gadget every generation — perhaps spurred on by an endless hype cycle and a never-ending parade of trade-in deals — you might hope that the accessories you picked up for your near-identical slate in 2022 would still be viable eighteen months later. Sadly, you'd be mistaken.

I have the Tab S8's slim keyboard variant from my review of that product — a keyboard that also worked with the Tab S7 — and despite nearly unchanged dimensions, it no longer works properly with the Tab S9. It's not the extra millimeter in width or height; the tablet actually lines up fine, both along the edges of the cover and where the pogo pins meet to pair the keyboard. Technically, you can even start typing with it, though not without a compatibility warning reminding you these products aren't made for each other.

Instead, the issue actually comes from the redesigned camera bump on the back of the Tab S9. Samsung has a new camera module that is just a touch too large to fit in the keyboard cover's pre-existing slot, and crossed with the off-center S Pen holder and the lifted case corner, the two products have been rendered incompatible.

Yes, this keyboard dock did support two generations before being left behind, so credit where credit's due — but let's compare this to Apple, inarguably Samsung's closest competition when it comes to tablets. It's no secret Apple dominates this space, with the Tab S series aimed squarely at the iPad Pro lineup. Whether or not you think one product trounces the other doesn't matter; in this case, all I want to look at is their respective cases.

Apple makes a handful of keyboard docks for its iPads. Some of these only work with certain products; the tenth-gen iPad, for example, necessitates you buy a specific keyboard folio, though its entry-level status suggests most people aren't jumping from an iPad Pro to this. Meanwhile, all four generations of 11-inch iPad Pros — plus the fourth and fifth generations of iPad Air — all fit this single (albeit expensive) keyboard dock, while every 12.9" iPad Pro since the introduction of the third-gen model in 2018 fit this dock.

Say what you will about Apple's pricing, or even its static, boring designs. Ensuring this level of cross-generational support is decidedly pro-consumer. If I replaced my fourth-gen iPad Air with a fifth-gen model tomorrow, or even picked up the most recent 11-inch iPad Pro, I could keep the Magic Keyboard I bought more than a year ago. You can't say the same about Samsung's products, despite a similar lack of changes year-over-year.

Truly, the gold standard. What every tech company should be aiming for with accessories.

When I had some hands-on time with the entire Unpacked lineup prior to launch, representatives for Samsung really emphasized how improved the company's new accessories are supposed to be, compared to previous models. For example, the slim keyboard cover I've highlighted here is, allegedly, far more rigid and resistant to flexing, a common problem on the Tab S8 variant (the company didn't have many accessories available to try out for ourselves, just the ones displayed on walls or behind glass). It's possible that the Tab S9 keyboard is good enough to warrant buying alongside the slate when upgrading from older hardware. The problem here, of course, is the lack of consumer choice in the matter, bringing us back to the e-waste problem.

This isn't the first time Galaxy Unpacked has us thinking about how the company is addressing e-waste. When the company announced the Galaxy S23 series earlier this year, my colleague Ara Wagoner wrote an excellent piece worth revisiting about how Galaxy S22 Ultra cases should fit on its successor. The general thesis holds up: if Samsung is serious about becoming an eco-conscious company, it needs to do more than celebrate itself for relying on recycled ocean plastic for some of the materials in its products.

With this year's smartphone lineup, it makes some sense that Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 cases don't fit this year's products. The Fold 5 has an all-new hinge and, as a result, a thinner chassis, resulting in a different fit for cases. The Flip 5's problem is obvious — that new screen would be covered up by older accessories. The tablets, however, don't earn the same benefit of the doubt.

Can you even tell me which is which?

It is entirely possible that, under the hood, some unseen change necessitated Samsung to leave behind its last-gen accessories by tweaking just enough of the design to force buyers to adopt new hardware — or at least made doing so the most cost-effective choice. But when the competition is capable of keeping keyboard docks and other tools supported for generation after generation, it's difficult not to feel frustrated with this year's Tab S series. If Samsung wants us to take its e-waste promises seriously, it needs to work harder to cater to consumers by retaining legacy accessories, even if that means fewer products sold alongside new tablets at checkout. Otherwise, it's hard to see how the brand's environmental focus benefits anyone beyond its own bottom line.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 is a significant improvement over the previous generation, upgrading the display (now a proper AMOLED screen in place of the S8's underwhelming LCD), the processor, and the battery, to deliver a competitive Android tablet in the 11-inch range.

Will is the Phones Editor at Android Police, which means he usually has a dozen different smartphones on his desk at any given time. He covers everything from leaks of your next phone to the components that'll power it. He's got plenty of opinions about the current state of Android phones — thoughts you'll read in his reviews, editorials, and more. You'll also find him writing up our buyer's guides, where he hopes to help shoppers make the right choice in their next phone. Will appears on the Android Police podcast, where he occasionally taunts his co-hosts with bad opinions about smartwatches and charging cables, and writes AP's weekend polls. In his spare time, he produces podcasts, rewatches the same 37 films, and pretends not to have a never-ending backlog of video games. He lives in Buffalo, NY and is willing to give you chicken wing recommendations at any time. Just ask.