Google Nexus 9 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 Comparison: Specs, Features Review

By Virnelli Mercader, Christian Post Contributor Monday, December 29, 2014

Many tech sites have declared that the Google Nexus 9 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 are among the best tablets of 2014, but when pitted against one another, which of these devices will emerge as the winner?

Here's a closer look at the surface and beneath the exteriors of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and the Google Nexus 9.

Design:
The Galaxy Tab S borrows its design elements from the Galaxy S5. It features a dimpled design at the back of the device and a mock metal frame. The device measures 8.37 x 4.94 x 0.26 inches and weighs 10.5 ounces.

Meanwhile, the HTC-built Nexus 9 comes with a soft touch plastic back and a metal band around the edges of the device. It measures 8.98 x 6.05 x 0.31 inches, making this a tad larger than the Samsung tablet, and its heavier too as it weighs almost 15 ounces.

Features:
The Nexus 9 has an 8.9 inch LCD screen with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels at 281 ppi, while the Tab S has a smaller display at 8.4 inches, but its Super AMOLED has a better resolution at 2560 x 1600 pixels at 359 ppi. When viewing the same image on both tablets, one will find that colors are more vivid on the Samsung tablet.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S comes with an Exynos 5 Octacore chipset backed by 3GB of RAM, while the Nexus 9 is powered by the NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor with 2 GB of RAM. The Nexus tablet comes in two variants, the 16GB and 32GB storage, and the device does not have a microSD slot. As for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, it also comes in the 16GB and 32GB versions, but can be expanded up to 128GB. When playing games, the Nexus 9 is just a little bit faster than the Galaxy Tab S, but for anything else, both tablets perform equally well.

Both tablets have 8MP rear-facing cameras. However, the Galaxy Tab S has a 2.1MP front shooter, while the Nexus tablet's front-facing camera has a resolution of 1.6MP

Overall, the Samsung tablet wins for its design and features. The tablet's superb display, coupled with its design, and its powerful processor puts it above the Nexus 9.

Price:
The Nexus 9 starts at $350 while the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 starts at $400.