There are many reasons why the iPhone is dominating flagship smartphone sales, and if I may be blunt, some are just inane, like the color of a text message bubble or the Apple logo as a status symbol. But there are indeed valid reasons why most casual users in developed countries choose Apple phones over Androids, including, most importantly, the iPhone's unmatched ecosystem of hardware and software. If Android phones want to compete with the iPhone, they can't just make a better phone. They also need to build an ecosystem of products that play nicely together.
Samsung is probably the closest competitively in the Android space, especially with the Galaxy Tab S9 series, which aims to connect to Samsung phones and laptops the way iPads do iPhones and MacBooks. We'll focus on Samsung's two mobile device lines today to see how the Galaxy Tab S9+ connects with a Galaxy Z Fold 5. While I'm using these two specific devices because they're the ones I currently own, this process will work with just about any new Samsung tablet or flagship phone. The key to the connectivity is OneUI and an app named Samsung Flow.
How to connect the Galaxy Tab S9+ with Galaxy Z Fold 5
To connect your two devices, you need to do three things:
- Make sure both devices are signed in to the same Samsung account.
- Download Samsung Flow onto both the phone and tablet from the Google Play Store.
- Make sure Bluetooth is turned on for both devices.
Behaving as one single device
Can mirror screens
Once a connection has been established, the two devices will become tethered and try to behave as one. The coolest part is you'll be able to mirror one screen to the other. When testing this, the mirrored Fold 5 screen was entirely interactive and fully functional on the tablet. You can scroll through your phone's homescreen, open apps, dig into files, and even control its cameras entirely from the tablet.
Just about anything I could do on the actual Fold 5 was possible on the mirrored screen, including responding to text messages on the phone with the tablet's input device. This is especially great if you have a keyboard paired with the Tab S9+ since writing long WhatsApp or texts is easier than pecking away on the Fold 5's touchscreen.
These input tools also include the S Pen. Both the Fold 5 and the Tab S9 series support Samsung's stylus, but the tablet includes the stylus for free, while it costs extra with the Fold 5. When the two devices are connected, you essentially can use the Tab S9's S Pen on the Fold 5 — not directly, of course. You still have to draw or write on the tablet screen, but the digital pen strokes show up on the Fold 5. This means you can even draw on the Fold 5's outside display, which normally doesn't have any stylus support.
Move files and text easily
As mentioned, once connected, you can access almost anything in the Fold 5 on the tablet. That includes files and text, which you can move from one device to the other easily. If you copy a text or an image on the Fold 5, for example, the Tab S9+ will have the option to paste it. This works on Samsung Notes and third-party apps like Google Keep as well.
Take phone calls on the Tab S9+
You can also answer phone calls going to the Fold 5 directly on the Tab S9+. This is useful for times when you're in the middle of a task on the tablet, and you want to take a quick call without breaking your flow. You can also, conversely, reject calls on the Tab S9+.
Free up the Tab S9+ screen in Samsung apps
The Fold 5 can also act as an extension of the Tab S9+ screen, but only in first-party Samsung apps like Samsung Notes. For example, you can shove the S Pen toolbar over to the phone, freeing up the tablet screen to show just the input canvas. You can also combine the Fold 5 and Tab S9+ together to multitask, running up to six apps in a grid: two on the Fold 5 and four on the Tab S9+.
The Tab S9 Plus and Fold 5 play even nicer with Samsung's Windows laptops
While the synergy on display here is nice, there's a bit of redundancy and feature overlap since the Tab S9+ and Fold 5 run on the exact same software. For example, why do I need to draw in the Fold 5's Notes app when the Tab S9+ has its own Notes app? Instead, Samsung's Galaxy ecosystem is more useful when either (or both) of these mobile devices are paired with Samsung's laptops. The ability to run Android apps on a Samsung Windows laptop or use the Fold 5's capable cameras to snap photos for a Windows machine can be quite useful.
Whatever the case, this is a good start at building a connected ecosystem, and it's absolutely necessary for anybody trying to remotely keep up with Apple.
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Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus
- Brand
- Samsung
- Storage
- 256GB, 512GB, microSD up to 1TB
- CPU
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
- Memory
- 12GB
- Operating System
- Android 13.0
- Battery
- 10,090 mAh
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9+ is the latest middle device in the premium Galaxy Tab range. It's got a 12.4-inch AMOLED X2 screen running at 60-120Hz, the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy SoC, and up to 512GB of storage.
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
- Brand
- Samsung
- SoC
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (4nm)
- Display
- 7.6-inch AMOLED main screen, 6.2-inch AMOLED cover screen, both with 120Hz adaptative refresh rate
- RAM
- 12GB
- Storage
- 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
- Battery
- 4,400mAh dual battery
Samsung's latest Galaxy Z Fold 5 is a further refinement of the Z Fold lineup. The smartphone looks similar to past Z Fold iterations, featuring a 7.6-inch main screen and a tall cover screen. On the inside, it's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and a 4,400mAh battery.
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Samsung Galaxy Book 3
The standard Samsung Galaxy Book 3 is a great option if you're a fan of the more classic 16:9 aspect ratio. It still has a Full HD pane, but it makes some compromises to get a lower price tag.