The 12.4-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ ($599.99) is the larger of Samsung’s two Fan Edition tablets, with a bigger screen and a higher price than the 10.9-inch, $449.99 Galaxy Tab S9 FE. Both are relative bargains compared with the flagship Galaxy Tab S9 line, which starts at $799.99. Thanks in part to its premium materials and design, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ provides a high-end experience that belies its comparatively reasonable price. In addition to solid performance, it features Samsung’s powerful Android productivity tweaks and tight integration across the Samsung ecosystem, and it comes with an S Pen stylus. In this price range, we also like the $499 Google Pixel Tablet, which includes a stand that turns it into a smart display, but the Tab S9 FE+ is our Editors’ Choice pick for Android tablets thanks to its balance of features and price.
A Premium Feel Without a Premium Price
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ comes across as a near equal to the pricier, top-of-the-line Tab S9 series when it comes to the hardware, with high-quality materials and a similar feeling of elegance.
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It measures 11.24 by 7.30 by 0.26 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.38 pounds. The $999 Galaxy Tab S9+ has the same 12.4-inch screen size but measures a slightly smaller 11.23 by 7.30 by 0.22 inches and weighs 1.28 pounds. For further comparison, the Pixel Tablet measures 10.2 by 6.7 by 0.3 inches and weighs 1.09 pounds, and the $599 Apple iPad Air comes in at 9.74 by 7.02 by 0.24 inches and 1.02 pounds. Those latter two tablets have smaller 11-inch screens. If you like the idea of those smaller dimensions, take a look at the 10.9-inch Galaxy Tab S9 FE, which comes in at 10.01 by 6.53 by 0.26 inches and 1.15 pounds. Both the Tab S9 FE and FE+ are available in four colors: gray, lavender, mint, or silver. The Tab S9 FE is available with 5G ($549.99), but only in gray; the FE+ doesn’t have a 5G variant.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Like the regular Tab S9 series, the Tab S9 FE and FE+ have a rating of IP68, meaning they are dustproof and can handle being immersed in water for up to 30 minutes. The Pixel Tablet and the iPad Air don’t have IP ratings, so this is a point of distinction for the Tab S9 FE line and invites scenarios for use poolside or at the beach.
The 12.4-inch LCD of the Tab S9 FE+ has a resolution of 2,560 by 1,600 pixels with a refresh rate of 90Hz. This is one area where Samsung cut costs a bit; the pricier Tab S9 series all feature OLED displays and somewhat higher resolutions. Colors are still good on the Tab S9 FE+, but the LCD can’t produce the contrast of a pricier OLED panel. Animations appear smooth when the system is not under intense load, but the display’s brightness isn’t quite enough to handle intense sunlight. Indoors, the Tab S9 FE+ has no problem with ambient lighting. The bezels around the screen are a little thicker than those of the Tab S9, but it’s a minor drawback.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Going around the device, the wide-angle front-facing camera is centered within the bezel of the long top edge. The combined power button/fingerprint sensor and volume rocker are to the left and the microSD card slot is to the right. The fingerprint sensor worked well when I held the tablet in portrait mode, but I ran into some error messages when using the tablet in landscape orientation. Thankfully it took only a small adjustment of my finger (or the tablet) to unlock the device.
There are two AKG-tuned speakers. The grilles are found on each short side of the tablet. A USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port for power and data transfer is on one short edge as well. The other long edge features two indentations and three pogo connectors to attach optional accessories like a keyboard.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
There’s a big sheet of metal spanning the rear with two cameras with a magnetic strip to hold the included S Pen, the Samsung logo, and antenna lines.
Powerful Samsung Software
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ runs on Android 13 and will get four Android OS updates and five years of security updates. Samsung’s One UI runs atop Android and allows for seamless activities like taking a call or responding to a text if the tablet is linked to a Samsung phone. (iPhones and iPads work together this way, too.) The S9 FE+ can also act as a secondary wireless display for Samsung Galaxy Book laptops.
Stock Android allows you to run two apps on the screen along with a floating video player. Samsung gives you the option to tile three apps on the display along with pop-up apps and a floating video window. You can save app pairs and app trios to the taskbar or the home screen so you can always have your favorite duo or trio launch together. The taskbar on the bottom of the screen makes it easy to bring your favorite or most recent apps to the foreground.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
While some Android apps and features can seem out of place on larger devices like the 14.6-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, they feel more at home on the 12.4-inch display of the Tab S9 FE+. More at home does not mean perfect—some Android apps still look like big phone apps with too much dead space. This is not something that iPad owners have to deal with as much since the platform has many more tablet-optimized apps available.
Sketching with the included S Pen is fun; the experience is responsive and feels natural with minimal lag. Pressing hard on the screen with the S Pen does lead to a rippling effect on the display, so be gentle. The Tab S9 FE+ provides more value than some other tablets by including the stylus. Apple charges $79 to $129 for its Pencil stylus, for instance.
Samsung’s Dex software is also onboard. It lets you use the tablet more like a traditional computer with an open desktop and taskbar, and applications that can be arranged in resizable windows. You can interact with Dex using touch, but it generally works better with an external mouse or trackpad and keyboard. Switching from Android to Dex can take a few seconds and, when open, will show you a desktop with all your open Android apps minimized in the taskbar.
Samsung’s Dex user interface (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
For the most part, Dex can simulate a desktop operating system quite well, but when push comes to shove, it still can’t replace the robustness of a Windows tablet or even iPadOS 17 on the iPad. The Tab S9 FE+ is a good Android tablet that gives you lots of options, but Android still needs some work before it can truly replace a laptop.
Performance, Connectivity, and Sound
We tested the base model of the tablet, which has 8GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. An upgraded model features 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $699.99. Both have a microSD card slot so you can add an additional 1TB or storage if you choose. All of the Tab S9 FE models are powered by the Samsung Exynos 1380 system on a chip (SoC).
Performance is one area where the Tab S9 FE+ feels less like a flagship model than the standard line. Sometimes apps are slow to load and animations can stutter if multiple apps are running at the same time. These issues happened occasionally in testing, but didn’t occur to the point where it was problematic. The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, which uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy and has 12GB of RAM, loaded up Dex in about two seconds compared with anywhere from five to nine seconds on the Tab S9 FE+. It’s possible the 12GB model will offer smoother performance.
On Geekbench 6, a suite of benchmarks that quantifies raw computing power, the Tab S9 FE+ scored 1,011 on the single-core test and 2,897 on the multi-core test. For comparison, the Pixel Tablet, which runs on Google’s Tensor G2 chip, scored 1,415 and 3,658. The top-of-the-line Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra blows them both out of the water with scores of 2,069 and 5,408, while the iPad Air scored 1,712 and 6,743.
On the PCMark Work 3.0 test, which evaluates general mobile tasks, the Tab S9 FE+ reached a score of 12,223, which is a little better than the Pixel Tablet’s 10,386, but not as good as the Tab S9 Ultra’s 15,606
(Credit: Samsung)
Gaming performance was pretty good in testing. The resource-intensive Genshin Impact played well even when settings were set to high and 60fps, but there was the occasional slowdown. During gameplay, the tablet felt cool to the touch when tested for 20 minutes. Less-intensive games like Alto’s Odyssey and Mario Kart Tour played perfectly well.
In our battery test, in which we stream HD video over Wi-Fi with the display at full brightness, the tablet’s 10,090mAh battery lasted 7 hours and 23 minutes. In comparison, the Pixel Tablet’s 7,020mAh battery lasted 5 hours and 25 minutes, the Tab S9 Ultra’s 11,200mAh battery lasted 9 hours and 30 minutes, and the iPad Air only reached 5 hours and 11 minutes.
There is no charger provided in the box, but the Tab S9 FE+ can fast charge at up to 45W. We found that it took 1 hour and 40 minutes to charge from 0% to 100% at that charging speed. A 15-minute charge brought the battery up to 19% in testing.
The tablet features Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, and as mentioned, 5G is available on the smaller Tab S9 FE.
When connected to a Wi-Fi 6 access point in testing, peak download speeds on the Tab S9 FE+ hit 463Mbps and uploads topped out at 17.1Mbps (that slow upload speed is more a function of the ISP than the tablet). For comparison, the Pixel Tablet reached 388Mbps down and 12.2Mbps up when tested in the same spot. Taking the Tab S9 FE+ as far away as possible from the access point in my apartment saw speeds drop to 163Mbps down and 13.2Mbps up, while the Pixel Tablet reached 156Mbps down and 13.7Mbps up. In other words, Wi-Fi performance is more or less comparable between the two Android slates, with Samsung doing slightly better at the network’s edge.
The speakers are quite loud and clear, but the bass is a bit on the weak side. Testing the speakers with The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” we found the bass to be OK, but a pair of Bluetooth headphones or a Bluetooth speaker will ultimately provide you with a better experience. The speakers reached a maximum volume of 95.3dB and didn’t distort even with the volume maxed out. The Google Pixel Tablet meanwhile, reached a peak loudness of 97.5dB.
One Good Camera, Two Competent Ones
The two 8MP rear cameras are average shooters that produce images that are a little oversaturated in color, which is standard across Samsung devices. Pictures are relatively clear, but zooming in you can see that fine details are lost. When using the 8MP ultra-wide camera, images appear distorted in the viewfinder, but the resulting pictures have lens correction applied to remove that fish-eye look so that straight lines appear straight and not warped. However, there is still warping evident when the subject is a person at the edge of the frame.
Main camera (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Ultra-wide camera (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The 12MP front-facing camera can produce better images than the two rear cameras. This isn’t a surprise, as you are more likely to use the tablet for video calls than taking snapshots.
Left to right: Front-facing camera on ultra-wide setting, standard setting (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
For video conferencing, the front-facing camera does a good job. It provides a sharp image with plenty of detail and the microphones capture clear audio. Unlike the iPad Air, Samsung places the front-facing camera on the long edge of the bezel, which makes it much more natural to use when the tablet is in landscape mode. Currently, the only iPad with a front-facing camera in the same orientation is the $449 Apple iPad.
A High-Value Android Tablet
If you’re a fan of Samsung’s Android customizations and you have other Samsung devices you can connect it with, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ is the Android tablet to get, offering similar functionality to the flagship Tab S9 for a lot less money. It isn’t quite as powerful as the standard Tab S9, but the Tab S9+ FE has an appealing, high-quality build and more than enough performance for sending emails, playing games, and watching videos. Like most Android tablets, the Tab S9 FE+ is still not a laptop replacement, but considering its price, that’s easy to forgive. Furthermore, Samsung’s Dex mode and additional multitasking software make it a better productivity pick than the Pixel Tablet, and that earns it our Editors’ Choice award for Android tablets. If you find the Tab S9+ FE too big or expensive, however, we recommend the slightly smaller and cheaper Tab S9 FE in equal measure.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+
4.0
Editors’ Choice
See It
$599.99 at Amazon
Starts at $599.99
Pros
Good performance
Long battery life
High-quality, waterproof build
Includes S Pen stylus
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Cons
Occasional performance stutters
Finicky fingerprint sensor
The Bottom Line
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ is a high-value tablet thanks to its classy design, excellent build quality, and powerful software, making it the Android slate to beat.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
