Aside from the flagship Galaxy S series, Samsung also sells mid-range phablets that are relatively cheaper but with more than decent specs and functionalities. The Asian tech giant's latest offering in the segment is the Galaxy C9 Pro, which is an option to consider when one is unwilling to pay the high price required by the Galaxy S8, for instance.

But really the default rival for the C9 Pro is the 2016 refresh of the Galaxy A9 Pro. Like the former, the latter has a screaming 6-inch display so phablet shoppers will naturally take a hard look between the two before making the buy decision.

As the C9 Pro is the newer model, it's expected that the device will boast of better specifications and indeed it is. In the processing department alone, the C9 Pro is powered by Snapdragon 653 that Qualcomm said is 10 percent more optimal than the Snapdragon 652 that is found on the A9 Pro 2016. This means that the C9 Pro will prove faster and more efficient than the A9 Pro.

And when the RAM provision is further considered, one will find that the A9 Pro has more than sufficient at 4GB RAM, which by all accounts is within the flagship realm. However, Samsung has decided to make the C9 Pro its first mobile device to get 6GB RAM, which is something that skipped even the Galaxy S8.

With such generous RAM coming out of the box, the Galaxy C9 Pro is more than able to handle multitasking on top of its already impressive processing chops. All things considered in terms of inside components specs, it's clear that the C9 Pro will get the better of the A9 Pro nearly in all hardware aspects save for one thing.

That would be on the battery side as for some reason Samsung provided the C9 Pro a 4000mAh battery, which seems massive enough. But when pitted against the A9 Pro's 5000mAh battery pack, the former will surely lag behind when the competition is about extended battery life. With some bits of tweaks though, this advantage that the A9 Pro enjoys over the C9 Pro will in the long run prove negligible.

Now for the pricing concern, which for many is what matters most, Samsung is selling the unlocked Galaxy C9 Pro at more than $500 in select Asian markets while the soon-to-exit Galaxy A9 Pro now sells for only around $400.

It's true that one will realize savings of $100 when the choice is the A9 Pro but it's the C9 Pro that definitely is future-proof, which is something that many are willing to pay extra.