The Pixel 9 family is currently 14% off at Amazon Canada (the non-foldable members). We also have a look at what’s going on with Samsung tablets.
The Google Pixel 9 is the baseline model – it’s more capable than the 9a, not as pricey as the 9 Pro. Check out our Pixel 9 vs. 9 Pro article for a detailed comparison, you can also watch the video above.
In short, the Google Pixel 9 Pro’s key advantage is the 48MP 5x (113mm) periscope camera. The 42MP ultra-wide selfie camera is a nice perk too. Both phones use the Tensor G4, but the Pro has more RAM (16GB vs. 12GB), which should help. The Pro also has extra connectivity features like UWB (for tracking tags) and Satellite SOS (for emergencies outside of cell coverage).
The Pixel 9 and 9 Pro are equal in one respect – size. If you want a bigger screen, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL offers a 6.8” panel. The battery life is about the same on both phones, but the Pro XL has a slight advantage in charging. More details in our Pixel 9 Pro vs. 9 Pro XL article and in the video above.
One non-Pixel phone on offer this week is the Samsung Galaxy A36. Even without a metal frame, we found its build quality to be great. The screen is bright and the stereo speakers are loud, but certain features like HDR are missing. Still, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 offers adequate performance and sustains it well after prolonged use and battery life is pretty decent.
Next up, Samsung tablets. Going in ascending order means that we start with the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024), the third iteration. It has a big 40% discount on the 128GB model (the 64GB model is the same price due to a smaller discount). The Exynos 1280 is okay and there is a microSD slot, but the 4GB of RAM is quite limiting.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 is from mid-2023 but still has a couple of OS updates left (it just got One UI 7). It has a more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and 8GB of RAM, which helps performance (there’s a microSD slot too). The screen is an 11” 120Hz OLED panel and you get full DeX support (the Tab S6 Lite has DeX, but it’s limited to the tablet’s own screen).
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ and Tab S10 Ultra are the current models (there is no vanilla model in this generation). They have 12.4” and 14.6” displays, respectively, with 10,090mAh and 11,200mAh batteries. Both are powered by the Dimensity 9300+ chipset. Note that the Tab S9 launched with Android 13 and is only promised 4 OS updates, while the Tab S10 series came with Android 14 and is getting 7 OS updates.
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