Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 review: Pros and gones

Introduction

Samsung is trying hard to diversify its tablet lineup and bring a little something for everyone to the market. The Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 is the middle child of the premium segment, or as a more succinct description would put it a Galaxy Note tablet without the S Pen.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 is available in black and white

And it's a fairly accurate one - the most obvious difference between the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 and the Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014) is the lack of the trademark stylus. Something you might miss at first glance (but not when you lift the tablet) is that the Tab Pro 10.1 is a good 70g lighter, perfectly capable of matching the delicate elegance of an iPad Air.

There are a few other differences too, like 2GB RAM instead of 3GB and no 64GB storage option (but with the microSD card slot at hand, that barely matters).

Key features

• 10.1" 16M-color Super Clear PLS capacitive touchscreen of 2560 x 1600 resolution
• Wi-Fi only model: Quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7, Mali-T628MP6 GPU; Exynos 5420 chipset
• LTE model: quad-core 2.3GHz Krait 400, Adreno 330 GPU; Snapdragon 800 chipset
• 2GB of RAM
• Android OS v4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz UI
• One of a kind split-screen multitasking and pop-up mini apps
• Quad-band GPRS/EDGE/HSPA and hexa-band LTE connectivity cat.4 (S800 model only)
• Voice calls (on LTE model only)
• 16/32 GB of built-in memory
• 8 MP autofocus camera, 3264x2448 pixels, geotagging
• 1080p video recording @ 60fps (LTE model) / 1080p video recording @30fps (Wi-Fi model)
• 2MP front-facing camera; 1080p videos
• Side-mounted stereo speakers
• Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Stereo Bluetooth v4.0
• microUSB 2.0; HDMI TV-out (adapter required), USB host (adapter required)
• microSD card slot
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Infrared port
• GPS with A-GPS support; GLONASS, digital compass
• 1080p XviD/MKV video support with subtitles
• Accelerometer, three-axis Gyroscope sensor
• Polaris Office 5 document editor preinstalled
• 8,220mAh Li-Po battery

Main disadvantages

• Expensive
• No NFC
• No DivX and AC3 codec support out of box

Another point of reference would be the Tab Pro 10.1's predecessor, the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. That would be a brutally unfair comparison though, as the Tab 3 sports a 1,280 x 800 screen, dual-core Intel Atom chipset, 3MP/720p camera and is overall a midrange offering.

This makes the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Samsung's flagship 10" tablet for the everyman who won't find much use of the S Pen or the slightly richer app package.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 live photos

That said, the new multitasking features on the tablet are unique (shared only between the Tab Pro trio) and the custom homescreen promises a Windows 8-like experience with highly customizable tiles. The Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 even shares in some of the premium goodies that the Note Pro 12.2 received, including the complete Office suite.

Samsung has always had a distinct voice when it comes to its Android devices and it has worked well for the company - it's the biggest player in town. It has been stumbling a bit with its tablet offerings recently, with the Note 10.1 (2014) lost between Galaxy Tabs that were virtually identical to the previous generation.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 signals that the lull is over and we have a proper flagship in our hands. Let's delve into it and see if Samsung finally has a tablet to challenge the iPad outside its Galaxy Note line.