Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 Vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra
The tablet segment may not be as popular as it used to be, but that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of cool devices on the market. And if you don't want to enter the Apple ecosystem, chances are you'll end up buying a Samsung or Huawei tablet. And today we're going to pit the latest and greatest tablets from these two manufacturers against each other.
Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 is a competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. Two large tablets with premium stylus support and optional keyboard covers. The two will be remembered for their strong performances that would surely have sparked controversy among fans.
Contents:
Let's start by comparing the full technical specifications.
Size comparison
The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is the largest tablet yet, with a significantly larger screen. It also looks more premium as it is made entirely of aluminum. In addition, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, while the Huawei tablet lacks intrusion resistance.
The included S-Pen charging stylus is on the back of the Galaxy, but there's also a magnetic holder on the frame. The optional Huawei M-Pencil has only one charging and storage stand and fits into the frame.
Overall, Samsung fared better in terms of design and usability.
Screen comparison
Both tablets have premium displays that will amaze you with their contrast and colors. The Galaxy is larger, but with a slightly lower resolution and refresh rate. The MatePad is slightly smaller but sharper, with a higher refresh rate and deeper colors (10-bit vs. 8-bit). Both screens support HDR10, although Huawei support is unofficial.
The display of Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 has the highest brightness - 770 nits against 642 nits in automatic mode and 353 nits against 626 nits in manual mode.
Both displays offer accurate color reproduction.
Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 offers the highest refresh rate, but in our testing we could not confirm the maximum refresh rate or dynamic switching. So we have to take him at his word and trust that he is dynamic. On the other hand, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra supports 30Hz, 60Hz and 120Hz steps depending on the content.
Finally, both tablets support HDR10 and are known for their success on Netflix and other platforms. However, to do this on the MatePad Pro, you'll need to use the Gmail versions of these apps.
Battery life
The MatePad Pro 13.2 has a 10,100 mAh battery, while the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has an 11,200 mAh battery.
Thanks to a more energy-efficient chip and a powerful screen, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra fared significantly better under heavy use in our battery life test. It performed better in all tests: calls, internet, streaming and gaming.
Loading speed
There is a big difference in charging speed between the two tablets. The MatePad Pro 13.2 supports 88W fast charging and comes with this charger, while the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has a maximum power of 45W and comes without a charger.
So it's no surprise that the MatePad Pro 13.2 is twice as fast in charging speed.
Speaker test
The MatePad Pro 13.2 uses a 6-speaker system with 4 woofers and 2 tweeters, just like the MatePad Pro 11. It also has Huawei Sound, which is not listed in the official specifications, but the sound is excellent. The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has four speakers with Dolby Atmos support, and they're pretty loud.
The MatePad Pro 13.2 got an excellent score in our sound test, and it sounds very loud indeed, even when the volume is set to 50%. The best part is that the sound quality is excellent. it has deep bass, great vocals and well-defined treble.
The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra also achieved excellent marks in our sound test, offering excellent sound quality with rich bass and treble.
In short, both tablets outperform speaker systems. We listened to both devices side by side and can conclude that the Huawei tablet has a slightly more powerful, bassier and richer sound system.
performance
The Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 is the first device we've come across that uses the Kirin 9000S chip. Inside is an 8-core processor: a Taishan Prime core clocked at 2.65 GHz, three Taishan cores clocked at 2.15 GHz, and four power-efficient Cortex-A510 cores clocked at 1.5 GHz. Taishan cores support multi-threading, so some hardware applications detect the CPU as 12-core. The GPU is a custom Maleon 910 MP4, which means it has four processing cores. It is set to 750 MHz.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is powered by the Galaxy's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. This chip contains 1x 3.36GHz Cortex-X3 main core, 2x 2.8GHz heavyweight Cortex-A715 cores, 2x 2.8GHz mid-range Cortex-A710 cores, and 3x power-saving Cortex units -A510 with a frequency of 2 GHz. Adreno 740 - 719 GPU. This model has faster UFS4.0 storage (50% or more) compared to the MatePad's UFS 3.1 and offers up to 5G cellular capabilities, unlike the Huawei MatePad Pro's Wi-Fi only. 13.2. Oh, and there's a microSD slot too.
As expected, the Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 is still strong, but is inferior to the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra and its flagship Snapdragon device. Galaxy Tab has around 40% faster CPU and almost 3 times faster GPU.
The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is equipped with advanced hardware and a more advanced processor, superior graphics with ray tracing and a better AI engine. Best suited for high-end gaming, it has proven itself as a tablet with excellent, consistent performance.
The device from Huawei is not bad at all, just not of the highest quality, but it will still handle most tasks without tiring.
Camera comparison
Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 has two cameras on the back and two more cameras on the front at the same level. On the back, there is a primary 13 MP camera with a 27 mm f/1.8 lens and autofocus, and an 8 MP ultra-wide angle lens with a 13 mm f/2.2 lens and a fixed focus at infinity. The front setup features a 16MP camera (quad sensor, fixed focus) with a 27mm f/2.2 lens and ToF 3D module for secure face lock.
The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has two cameras on the back and two more on the front, also with a notch. The rear cameras are the usual: a 13-megapixel main camera with a 23mm f/2.0 lens and autofocus, and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera with a 13mm f/2.2 lens and autofocus set to infinity. Front cameras - two 12 megapixels. The former has a 25mm f/2.2 lens, while the latter has a 15mm f/2.4 lens for ultra-wide-angle viewing. Focus is fixed for both front cameras.
Photos from the MatePad's main camera have a stronger center, but worse corners and poor white balance with a noticeable red tint.
The MatePad's ultra-wide-angle camera takes worse photos than the Galaxy's, with less detail, blurry corners and an often noticeable reddish tint.
Selfies on the MatePad aren't very good. It has a 16-megapixel Quad-Bayer camera that captures 4-megapixel photos with little detail. The Galaxy Tab, on the other hand, has a very realistic 12-megapixel sensor that takes detailed photos with accurate colors.
Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra: Base • Ultrawide • Selfie • Ultrawide selfie
Matepad Pro 13.2. Basic • Ultra Wide • Selfie
The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra supports 4K video recording on all devices except the UW camera, while the MatePad only supports 4K video with the rear camera.
Videos shot on the Galaxy Tab generally look better. They have consistently accurate colors and more visible details.
Tab S9 Ultra Video: Main (4K) • Ultraline (1080p) • Selfie (4K) • Ultrawide Selfie (4K)
MatePad Pro 13.2 Video: Main (4K) • Ultrawide (1080p) • Selfie (1080p)
Software comparison
MatePad Pro 13.2 runs HarmonyOS 4.0, a native operating system with Android API 31 (Android 12). This latest 4.0 version is newer than the 3.0 version we've seen on previous MatePads, but looks and feels very similar. It's also similar to the company's EMUI-branded variants.
HarmonyOS 4 offers improved system widgets on the home screen, improved super device connections, and improved privacy and security. The OS still supports installing APKs via Huawei's AppGallery, APK Pure or similar, and Gbox works great if you want to use Google apps.
You can open apps using the split-screen side menu, which can be accessed by swiping from one side of the screen and holding it briefly to replace the back gesture. Clicking on an application from here opens a floating window, and you can open two of these windows at once, each one starts, then the previous one turns into a separate icon next to it, which again opens a separate icon . window. task selector
Home screen • Task switcher • Open applications • Multiple windows
The MatePad doesn't have a DeX-like mode, although its user interface works like a desktop, and the only thing it doesn't do is put files on the home screen, i.e. the real office. It would be great if Huawei adds this option in the future.
Oh, and with split screen you can also have up to two pop-ups on top, bringing the number of apps active at once to four.
You can also copy and paste photos and text between windows by simply dragging and dropping them.
Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra comes with Android 13 with One UI 5.1. The interface supports tablet and DeX modes, and you can easily switch between them at any time.
The S9 Ultra uses standard tablet view. Unless you manually switch to desktop mode (DeX), this is how you'll use Slate. There are big differences between watching on a tablet and on a computer. scale the interface and icons; how the home screen looks and behaves and how multitasking works.
Multitasking in tablet form is accomplished, as in the latest Galaxy smartphones, through the task switcher. In the task switcher, simply tap the app icon and you can choose between split screen and popup window. Not all apps support popup mode, but most can use split screen.
Home Screen • Task Switcher • In-Place View • Split View • Mixed View
DeX Mode, not to be confused with the wireless DeX option, is a desktop interface for the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. You can enable DeX viewing in Settings or Notification Center.
Once activated, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra locks into landscape mode with a Windows-style desktop where you place your apps. All apps open in windowed mode, and you'll see the familiar dash/square/X trio at the top. Most app windows support fullscreen in DeX mode, but even if they don't, One UI will render correctly and make the app fullscreen. it might just update. We've had no issues with the full-screen version in any app, and it's compatible (doesn't need an update) and isn't optimized (requires a restart). You can place a large number of windows, as usual in Windows and macOS. You can also split windows with Split View, just like in Windows.
DeX Desktop • Windows • Window Capture
The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra offers much more mature software and multitasking capabilities, even the S-Pen, and we've found that users with more laptop-centric needs will definitely prefer it over a Huawei device.
pronunciation
The price of Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 starts from 1000 euros for the 256 GB Wi-Fi model. For exactly the same price, you can buy the Wi-Fi version of the Galaxy Tab S9 with 256 GB of memory. Ultra. The MatePad has its own 88W power adapter, while the Galaxy uses an S-Pen instead. We think Huawei's proposal is a little more complete: there is no need to start anything right after opening the box.
Huawei is one of the few companies that continues to release new products in the premium tablet segment. The Matepad Pro 13.2 continues the line with one of the best OLED screens for tablets, speaker systems, a powerful operating system, super fast charging and incredibly well-designed original hardware. A potential problem, of course, is the lack of Google mobile services. And while Gbox offers functional Play Store apps that require GMS, including Google Maps, Gmail, and YouTube, it may not be enough for everyone.
The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is the largest and most powerful Android tablet yet. It takes advantage of everything Samsung has to offer in a tablet and does it well. The AMOLED screen is great, Vision Booster is a great addition, and the Galaxy's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 performs very well under load. And with DeX mode, it's a true laptop replacement.
The Tab S9 Ultra is an IP68 rated tablet with an ultra-thin metal body. The included S-Pen is also waterproof and of the highest quality. We appreciate it in retail packaging.
In short, you can opt for Huawei's bright and fast OLED screen, or even better, the optional keyboard cover. Or you buy the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra because it's simply a better deal: IP68-rated, more powerful, with DeX mode and better battery life. And you can even have it with a SIM card slot for 5G cellular service. Not a hard choice, right?
- An increasingly brighter screen with a higher refresh rate.
- Charge faster with the included AC adapter.
- The best speakers.
- Face ID.
Buy MatePad Pro 13.2 for the following reasons:
- The most powerful device with 5G connectivity.
- Best battery life.
- Aluminum monocoque with IP68 degree of protection.
- Full Android OS with GMS and DeX support.
- The best cameras.
- S-Pen included.
