Samsung's Galaxy TabPro S is thin, powerful and ready to work

Galaxytabprosthumb
Image: Mashable, Lance Ulanoff


Cyntexfones highlights the products and services we've tested and would recommend to others. Consider it Liked, Favorited, +1'ed and Pinned.

If you look at Samsung’s new TabPro S and think, “a Surface pro knock-off,” you’re not looking in the right direction. Samsung modeled this tablet/PC hybrid on Apple’s brand new, giant iPad Pro.
Sure the TabPro S runs Windows 10 and has a detachable keyboard/screen cover, but the core chassis has more in common with the iPad Pro than it does Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4. Both have exactly two ports. The Surface Pro has a display Port, USB, a mini display port and a micro SD card slot. And while the Surface Pro 4 uses a built in, fully adjustable kickstand, the iPad Pro and TabPro S both use folding keyboard covers to prop them up.
I am, admittedly a big fan of the Surface Pro 4 and I really like the iPad Pro. Now I realize that I like almost anything that can offer me true laptop-level productivity in an ultralight form factor. The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S fits that bill.
The Intel Core M3-sporting, $899.99 system is not as attractive as the iPad Pro and the included (!) keyboard doesn’t have the same great chicklet keys, as large a trackpad or type feel as the Surface Type cover, but it generally acquits itself nicely in all areas.

Good Looks and lapability

The 12-inch tablet is slightly smaller than the iPad Pro, but roughly equal to the Surface Pro 4. It weighs a pound and a half without the screen cover, which means it has some heft, but is also roughly equivalent to the iPad Pro (1.53 lbs., for the TabPro S and 1.57 lbs. for the iPad Pro). The TabPro S can feel a little heavier because that weight is squeezed into a smaller frame. That feeling becomes more pronounced when you attach the keyboard cover which wraps around both sides of the device. Apple iPad Pro folds the keyboard under one side of the cover.
Galaxy TabPro S with cover
The Galaxy TabPro S comes with a cover that converts into a stand and full-sized keyboard with touch pad.
Screen wise, the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S features the first Super AMOLED on a Windows 10 tablet. At 2160 X 1440, it’s super sharp and impressively bright, though, both the Surface Pro 4 (2736 x 1824) and iPad Pro (2732 x 2048) offer higher resolutions. That screen technology let Samsung make the TabPro S even thinner than the Surface Pro 4, which uses LCD technology, and slightly thinner (less than a millimeter) than the iPad Pro. For better or worse that means there is no standard USB port. Instead, it has a USB-C port that you’ll use for charging and data. If you’re like virtually everyone I know, you’ll have to buy a USB-C-to-USB adapter. I found one from Satechi and even though the system said it didn't recognize the USB device, it worked just fine.
Galaxy TabPro S
Galaxy TabPro S's USB-C port.
Image: Mashable, Lance Ulanoff
Like most other systems of its class, the TabPro S includes a visible set of copper connectors along one long edge that are paired with powerful hidden magnets. When aligned with a channel in the keyboard cover, the TabPro S snaps smartly into place and the remainder of the cover snaps onto the back of the tablet. There’s a cutout in the cover for the camera (despite being just 5 MP, it still sticks out of the tablet). That combo of the cutout and the camera add extra support for the screen.
The cover affords two adjustment settings: roughly 60-degrees, which is what you’ll use most often and around 20 degrees. I used the first setting most of the day (I tried 20-degrees, but that’s best for drawing). It was good on the desk and in my lap, but I really prefer more adjustment options. Even the iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard’s roughly 45-degree is more comfortable.
Samsung Galaxy TabPro S
Samsung's Galaxy TabPro S has two recline settings. This one is best for drawing.
Image: Mashable, Lance Ulanoff

Windows 10

If you’ve been using Windows 10 on any touchscreen device, the experience on the TabPro S will feel familiar. Windows 10 is Microsoft’s best operating system in nearly a decade. As a Windows device, the Galaxy TabPro S doesn’t necessarily bring anything fresh to the table, but that’s primarily because a couple of key features were not ready to test.
There’s no Intel RealSense camera in the TabPro S, which means using Windows Hello to log-in with your face is a no-go. However, Samsung came up with a nifty substitute: Flow. The app uses the TabPro S’s built-in Bluetooth to connect to a Samsung Galaxy S7 phone. With the Flow app running on the TabPro S and the device paired with the phone, you can log into the PC simply by unlocking the phone (with your fingerprint or whatever other method you choose).
Too bad Flow wasn’t ready for me to test. Also, not a lot of people own the Galaxy S7. So maybe this isn’t such an awesome feature, at least not yet.
In addition, the TabPro S is pen-enabled and Samsung is working on a decent Bluetooth pen accessory for the device. I tried it during Samsung’s TabPro S unveiling and it worked fine, though I didn’t like the triangular body or too-sensitive buttons. Unfortunately, the actual pen wasn’t ready for review. You can, obviously, draw with your finger.

Performance and battery

The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S runs Intel’s new Core M3 CPU, the same chip you’ll find in the Surface Pro 4 (base model). It has solid benchmark numbers, but Apple’s A9X CPU far outstrips it.
Samsung Galaxy TabPro S
At left, you can see the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S's performance numbers. At right, some real world tests that included multiple browser windows, a 3D game and streaming video,
Image: Screenshots
In the real world, though, Core M3 held up surprisingly well. I opened over a dozen browser windows across two different Web browsers (Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome), let a Netflix movie stream in the background (which also gave me a chance to try out the excellent stereo speakers) and then played 3D Chess. The TabPro S didn’t lose a step. I did not try to run Adobe Photoshop CC (it is a mobile CPU, after all).
The TabPro S is rated for 10.5 hours of battery life, but like most battery estimates, that’s probably for video and nothing else. My mixed-usage day resulted in 6.5 hours, which is actually quite good.

Value

At $899.99, the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S is one of the better values in the ultraportable space. In additional to the excellent screen and pleasing performance, the device is packed with 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD (it is, however, one of the rare Samsung mobile devices without an expandable storage slot). The price also includes the keyboard. This is more or less comparable to the Surface Pro 4, which starts at $799 for the128 GB Intel Core M3 model (the Type Cover costs $129). The base iPad Pro, which has just 32 GB of storage, costs $799. Apple’s Smart Keyboard costs an additional $169.
The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S is not as powerful as the iPad Pro or a full-featured as the Surface Pro 4. There's no Windows Hello, no Trusted Platform Chip for business-level security and the 5 MP cameras, even though the rear one can shoot 1080p video, feel a little bit like after thoughts. Still, these are minor criticisms.
Samsung has deftly blended strong elements from both the Surface Pro 4 and the iPad Pro for a solid hybrid machine that should please both business users and students.

Samsung Galaxy TabPro S

The Good

Good design • Brilliant screen • Strong performance • Good battery life • Price includes keyboard

The Bad

Keyboard cover not adjustable enough

The Bottom Line

Samsung’s first tablet/PC hybrid offers a sharp design, solid performance and great value.


SHARE WITH FRIENDS AND MAKE COMMENT BELOW:



Read Also: 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by on
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)