Galaxy Tab S9 FE could cost almost as much as the high-end model

Last updated: August 4th, 2023 at 14:09 UTC+02:00

The first alleged pricing details for the upcoming Galaxy Tab S9 FE have cropped up, and it doesn’t look too promising for fans of mid-range Android tablets. This new data suggests that the Fan Edition tablet for 2023 will hit the market for a higher price than the Galaxy Tab S7 FE did a few years ago.

If the information is accurate, the Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab S9 FE with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will go on sale in India for INR 63,000, which is the rough equivalent of $760. This places the Fan Edition tablet in a similar price bracket as the base Galaxy Tab S9 announced last week at Galaxy Unpacked, which, unlike the upper-mid-range FE model, is a high-end device.

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The FE model costing about the same as the high-end one is nothing new

It sounds implausible for the Galaxy Tab S9 FE to cost ~40 less than the base Galaxy Tab S9. However, it’s not impossible, given Samsung’s recent price restructuring, which led to price hikes for some of its Galaxy products in certain markets.

Nevertheless, it’s unclear if this pricing information obtained by @rquandt originates from sources close to Samsung or from third-party retailers. If it’s the latter, the INR 63,000 ($760) price is likely inflated (as it usually is by third-party retailers pre-release), and the Galaxy Tab S9 FE won’t cost as much. That might be wishful thinking, so, time will tell.

For comparison, the Galaxy Tab S7 FE with 4GB of RAM (not 6GB), 64GB of storage (rather than 128GB), and Wi-Fi connectivity went on sale in the summer of 2021 for $530. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Tab S8, which Samsung released nine months later, debuted for $700. It rocked 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. And clearly, there was a more substantial price difference between it and the FE model.

This supposed price increase of the Galaxy Tab S9 FE also raises question marks regarding the larger Tab S9 FE+ variant. And although pricing details for the Plus model are missing, in light of this new information, it could cost close to $999, considering that’s how much the Galaxy Tab S9+ (non-FE) goes for.