SamsungGalaxy Tab A9+, Android Tablet, Wifi, 64GB Storage Grey (Non-UK version)

My wife’s generic Chinese tablet was getting a bit long in the tooth and was frustratingly slow, particularly on the internet, so the time had come for a replacement. I changed my phone from a cheap generic one to a Samsung A22 a few years ago and I’ve not regretted the decision so a Samsung tablet seemed the obvious choice. I also ordered a screen protector and a case, both of which are first-rate.Screen protector: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CGM5Z65BCase: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CD7HNF38Setup was not especially straightforward. Despite comments on other reviews, the region options did not include UK, just South-East Asia, Australia & New Zealand. I chose Australia as I had to choose something but it doesn’t seem to matter – the date and time zone are correct. Transferring apps and data from the old tablet wasn’t seamless as the old tablet had no QR scan facility and SmartSwitch was unable to connect via Wi-Fi and the supplied data transfer cable was USB-C on both ends (the old tablet has a micro-USB connection) so I had to do the transfer old-school via backups to the Google account. It worked Ok though but took a while with much messing about with WhatsApp and some older apps were not compatible.Once all setup this is a lovely tablet. Battery life is good, it feels robust and well made and has a large & responsive crystal-clear screen. It is very fast doing internet things which was the whole point so my Good Lady is well happy. On the whole excellent value for money and a most pleasing purchase.

Like a lot of others who have reviewed this tablet, I was a little apprehensive about the fact it was a non-UK version but I was tempted by the price.I was also a little concerned by some reviews that said the security sticker had been opened/removed when the tablet arrived (I would have just returned it on the spot).And yes, I was a bit bothered by the reviews that said you had to pick a region such as Australia or South Africa when setting up the tablet because that was the market it was intended for.None of that applied in my case.The box still had its shrink wrap and the security sticker was in place. When you start the set up process, you have to wait for English to scroll through but once that happened, I was able to chose the UK as my region and UK English as my language there was no messing around with Google trying to translate from Chinese.Setup was absolutely fine.It happily copied over all my files from my old Samsung Tab A7 and away I went, including seamlessly connecting to Wifi without me having to input passwords.Yes, there's some bloatware but you get that from almost all manufacturers now. Just delete what you can and park up what you can't.Some have said the A9 plus is heavy, but it's certainly lighter than the A7 it's replacing. It looks sleek and well made and the 64gb storage is more than enough for my purposes.Once everything was up and running, I checked the model number and it appears the tablet I have bought is the 'International' version - no mention of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South East Asia etc.Makes me wonder whether the retailer has had different versions for sale.Anyway, I'm delighted with it. Yes, it's not going to blow an £800 tab out of the water but this is pretty hard to beat at the price.

As usual this tablet has all the usual strengths and weaknesses of every Samsung tablet and phone. Ease of use and an excellent crisp display Vs Samsung bloatware and Google's prurient interest in its users. The speakers are OK by tablet standards (I use Bluetooth headphones) and access to the Google Playstore AND the Samsung version is easy. The difference though, is that this one was built for Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. Samsung have notably been a little awkward with regional locations in recent months, but this has given me no trouble in Southern England.I am very glad that I read the 1* and 2* reviews for this as carefully as I did. They seem legitimate but I could guess where they had issues setting this up, and that these were surmountable. The rest of this review has been written to reflect my experience and to reassure potential fellow users.Setting upSet up is easy but you need a tad more patience than usual. Mine arrived completely discharged and took a very long time to charge to a level that let me get started. The box itself contains no charger - just a data and charging cable which is usb-c to usb-c (i.e., not the usb-a to usb-c I would have expected in UK and that I need to use my own existing chargers). The lack of speed might be well lie with my charger or the older cables that I had to use. Nevertheless it got there. If you wait long enough the on/off button does function but you do have to wait. And wait.Language issueSeveral people in the reviews seem concerned that the start up menu is not in English. BUT IT IS! Again, if you pause and wait, the English menu comes around - how else would you sell this in Australia or New Zealand, or to all those ex-pats? Patience! If you just press it too quickly the English language may be less accessible, in which case just turn it off and start again.My language menu even included English variants new to me - see the picture. Make sure you choose the one that suits you.Apart from having to fib about where I live, once the above is done it is just another Samsung tablet similar to my two previous, but a bit faster with Android 14. It's "secured by Knox" just like all current Samsung phones. I'm not much of a fan of this, but my intended use for this device is as an entertainment tablet around the home, so it's all tolerable.My next step will be to get a micro SD card to increase the memory and a silicone sleeve, though I do wonder if a better charger is available intended for this device.Final point - this was dispatched from Amazon but sent via Royal Mail who claimed tracking was unavailable. The package arrived with a panel requiring a signature (and yet it wasn't signed for) but this implies that it was being tracked. A day later and it is still listed as untrackable. This seems to reflect the precipitous decline of Royal Mail but might be an unnecessary source of anxiety for customers. I can reassure you that, even if untrackable, delivery was by first class post and very quick.This is decent value and certainly worth considering.Addendum.1. Bought a decent 512gb Samsung SD card from Amazon. Enough for my needs. But getting the card tray out of the side of the tablet took far more fiddling than I expected. Very happy with my purchase though and its performance once installed.2. Maybe the language issues that others had is connected to earlier use? A number of reviews claim that their box had been opened already "to check" and that this both voided the warranty and led to issues with an initial Chinese language menu. Mine was factory fresh.I would advise that, if the seal has been broken, you send it straight back. It's been used ... And so have you.