Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 5G: The “Free” Deal That’s Just a Costly Trap

Hello everyone. Let’s sit down and have a little talk about the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 5G and this so-called “amazing” Metro deal that’s fluttering about on the internet right now-like a questionable loot chest in a bargain-bin MMO, promising legendary gear but conveniently forgetting to tell you about the boss fight waiting around the corner.

The Bait: A Free Tablet… Kind Of

First off, let’s dissect the magic trick here: Existing Metro customers get a “free” Galaxy Tab A9+ 5G if they sign up for a $20/month tablet line. No contract chains shackling your wallet like a raid party in a toxic guild. Sounds fair, right? Except after one month, you’re staring at that $20 bill thinking, “Wow, I just paid twenty bucks for a thing they told me was free.” That, my friends, is the retail version of “Press F to Pay Respects.”

The cynical lobes of my doctor’s brain (yes, they exist) suspect the business model here is very much in the “hook them with shinies, bleed them with services” category-which, incidentally, is how MMOs keep you grinding for that armor set nobody cares about but you.

Spec Sheet Autopsy

• Storage: 64GB or 128GB, expandable via microSD up to 1TB. Good luck filling that with just selfies and mobile games.
• OS: Android 14 with One UI 6. Seven years of updates-because nothing says “future-proof” like optimistically thinking you’ll still want this slab of plastic in 2031.
• Battery: 7,040mAh, allegedly a “full day” of life. Translation: half a day if you decide to use 5G and actually do things.
• Display: 11-inch TFT LCD, 90Hz. Smooth enough, but saying “TFT” in 2024 is like proudly wearing chainmail at a Star Wars convention-it works, but have you heard of OLED?
• Processor: Snapdragon 695 5G-brisk enough for everyday tasks and maybe even some light gaming, provided you’re not expecting ray tracing.
• Cameras: 8MP rear, 5MP front. Shockingly… not terrible, but also unlikely to make you the next TikTok sensation.
• Price: $280 retail, or “free” if you believe in marketing fairytales.

Performance Reality Check

Under the hood, you’ve got respectable performance for browsing, streaming, and pretending you’ll finally beat that puzzle game you downloaded in 2019. The 90Hz refresh rate is nifty until you start comparing it to higher-end panels, at which point it’s like stepping from an RTX 4090 to integrated graphics-still works, but you’ll notice the downgrade. The battery life? “Full day with moderate use.” The trick there is defining “moderate.” Apparently, it means “Instagram and nothing else.”

Charging speed maxes out at 15W. Now look, as someone who likes to heal people and not just batteries, let’s say this is more “slow recovery ward” than “emergency triage.” You’ll be waiting a while for it to fill up.

The Update Promise: 7 Years of Hope

Seven years of software updates is Samsung’s way of saying: “We’re committed, trust us!” Which is adorable, because by year three the hardware will be gasping like an old NPC you forgot to rescue, but still technically alive.

Should You Take the Deal?

If you’re already a Metro customer, have $20 to burn, and need a secondary screen for YouTube, doomscrolling, or playing Stardew Valley in bed, sure, this deal isn’t terrible. For everyone else, it’s a bait-and-switch disguised as generosity-kind of like loot boxes that give you an “epic” but it’s just another skin for a weapon you never use.

The Galaxy Tab A9+ 5G is decent hardware strangled only by the reality of its own budget-tier compromises. It’s not bad value if you exploit the deal and cancel after a month, but as a stand-alone purchase at $280? There are far better weekly quests you could complete with that gold.

Conclusion

Overall impression? The hardware is mid-tier but fine for casual use. The deal is dressed up like a freebie but comes with those inevitable strings attached. I’d call it a stealth DLC you didn’t agree to but will still end up installing because-hey-it was “free.”

Verdict: Good if you’re a deal hunter willing to play the system. Forgettable if you’re not.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.

Source: Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A9+ 5G is now free from Metro, https://www.androidpolice.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-a9-plus-5g-20-deal/