Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 review: The Professional

The Professional

GSMArena team, 10 February 2014.

Synthetic benchmarks and performance

Unlike the rest of the Pro series, the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 is powered the Snapdragon 800 chipset whatever the edition - Wi-Fi-only, 3G or LTE.

The Snapdragon 800 platform means you will be getting four Krait 400 cores at 2.3GHz and Adreno 330 graphics. The RAM you'll have at your disposal is 2GB - it should be enough for almost everything you throw at the slate. Still, a Galaxy Note 3-matching 3GB of RAM would probably have been more appropriate for such a powerhouse.

Until we see the new generation of Krait 450 and Cortex A5x cores arrives, the Krait 400 processor remains the most powerful on the market in terms of both per-core and total power. BenchmarkPi, Linpack and GeekBench 3 scores prove the Krait 400 dominance.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    99
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    100
  • Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
    115
  • Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
    116
  • LG G Pad 8.3
    131
  • Transformer Pad TF701T
    137
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    147
  • Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
    211
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0
    324
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
    351
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus
    470
  • Samsung Galaxy 3 7.0
    483
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 Plus
    488

Linpack

Higher is better

  • LG G Flex
    1102
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    1081
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    1054
  • LG G2
    1054
  • Sony Xperia Z Ultra
    1034
  • Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
    1010
  • Sony Xperia Z1
    1004
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
    791
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
    788
  • HTC One
    646
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
    413
  • LG Nexus 5
    393
  • HTC One mini
    320

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    2937
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    2867
  • Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
    2743
  • Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
    2706
  • Transformer Pad TF701T
    2665
  • LG G Pad 8.3
    1950
  • HTC One Max
    1899
  • HTC Butterfly
    1257

The Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 comes with a display resolution higher than 1080p and while it didn't show on AnTuTu 4 test, it surely did affected its Quadrant score.

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    34016
  • Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
    33198
  • Transformer Pad TF701T
    32991
  • Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
    32796
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    31109
  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    24716
  • LG G Pad 8.3
    24440
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
    24236
  • Sony Xperia Tablet Z
    20216
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    20056
  • HTC Butterfly
    19513
  • Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
    19131
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0
    17159
  • Google Nexus 10
    12695
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0
    9070

Quadrant

Higher is better

  • Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
    21618
  • LG G Flex
    20521
  • Sony Xperia Z1
    20388
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    20052
  • LG G2
    19815
  • Sony Xperia Z Ultra
    18177
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    16769
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
    12446
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
    12376
  • HTC One
    11746
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
    11404
  • LG Nexus 5
    8844
  • Oppo N1
    8099
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
    7153
  • HTC One mini
    6048

So, how well can the Adreno 330 GPU handle the 1600x2560 pixel screen? Let's find out. First we ran the familiar GFX Benchmark's offscreen tests, which are about raw power and not real-life performance. Naturally the Adreno 330 did great and occupied the top of the charts.

GFXBench 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    26
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    26
  • Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (Exynos)
    25
  • Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
    22
  • Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
    22
  • Transformer Pad TF701T
    21
  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    17.1
  • Apple iPad 4
    16.8
  • Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
    15
  • LG G Pad 8.3
    15
  • Google Nexus 10
    13.9
  • Sony Xperia Z
    13.5
  • Sony Xperia Tablet Z
    13
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    12.8
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
    7.0
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0
    4.0

GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    9.7
  • Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
    9
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    8.9
  • LG Nexus 5
    8.5
  • Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
    5.6
  • Galaxy Note 10.1 (Exynos)
    5.6
  • Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (Exynos)
    5.6

The more important benchmarks for the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 are those running onscreen, since they will show the slate's real-life performance. Quite expectedly, because of the higher resolution screen, it delivered a lower frame rate than S800-powered 1080p flagships on the demanding T-Rex and Manhattan graphic tests. Its performance noticeably fell on the Epic Citadel as well. The Adreno 330 will still manage playable framerates on the majority of the games in the Play Store, but we suspect there will be few hiccups on the heaviest titles.

GFXBench 2.7 T-Rex (on-screen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    27
  • LG Nexus 5
    24
  • Apple iPad Air
    21
  • Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (Exynos)
    17
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    17
  • Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
    14
  • Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
    14

GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan (on-screen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    9.9
  • LG Nexus 5
    9.5
  • Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (Exynos)
    5.6
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    5.0
  • Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (Exynos)
    4.7
  • Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
    2.9
  • Galaxy Note 10.1 (Exynos)
    2.8

Epic Citadel (Ultra quality)

Higher is better

  • Sony Xperia Z1
    54.9
  • Sony Xperia Z Ultra
    54.9
  • LG G2
    51
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
    48.5
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
    37.2
  • HTC One
    35.6
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    33.2
  • HTC Butterfly
    29.6
  • Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
    27.6

Finally, we put the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 through the SunSpider and BrowserMark benchmarks to test its JavaScript and overall browsing performance. The higher resolution wasn't of a burden here and it did as great as all other S800 devices.

SunSpider

Lower is better

  • Apple iPad Air
    373
  • Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
    531
  • Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
    569
  • Transformer Pad TF701T
    606
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    651
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    1011
  • Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
    1150
  • LG G Pad 8.3
    1190
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
    1233
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0
    1366
  • Google Nexus 7
    1703
  • new Apple iPad
    1722
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
    1891
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
    1953
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus
    1992
  • Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
    2253
  • Huawei MediaPad
    2490

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

  • Apple iPad Air
    3659
  • Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
    3138
  • Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Exynos)
    3096
  • Transformer Pad TF701T
    3005
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
    2933
  • LG G Pad 8.3
    2664
  • Asus Nexus 7 (2013)
    2386
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1
    2363
  • HTC One
    2262
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0
    2228
  • Sony Xperia Tablet Z
    2170
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    1801
  • Oppo Find 5
    1797
  • Google Nexus 10
    1773
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0
    1612
  • HTC Butterfly
    1475

It is obvious the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 is a powerhouse, but even the mighty Adreno 330 sometimes struggles when faced with so many pixels. The day to day performance will be as great as you could hope for, but some gamers might be less than perfectly happy.

Something we noticed - the 2GB RAM will fill up rather quickly once you start using Multi Window extensively and may run out. Samsung did great optimizing the feature and we've never experienced actual freezing or an app crash, but we saw the RAM bar full quite a few times. Reducing the number Magazine widgets helps freeing more RAM, though.

So, the Tab Pro 8.4 is a snappy device and will deliver great performance. The Snapdragon 800 chipset powering the slate is put under more pressure than on the 1080p flagship, but it still passed the test with flying colors.

Reader comments

  • AnonD-614374
  • 27 Nov 2016
  • XMu

I have tabpro 8.4 gt-p6100 i wana buy tuch and lcd ???

  • Tino
  • 18 Jul 2016
  • ICF

My Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4, is not taking a charge where or can this port be repaired. Can I use a wireless battery charger on this item

  • AnonD-420479
  • 23 Jul 2015
  • Nqr

How can I use 3G USB modem with tab pro 8.4 wifi only