Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsSamsung found that sweet-spot...
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2016
Let me start off by saying that when it comes to a purchase like this I research everything, and probably could be thrown into the category of someone who just has issues pulling the trigger on some things. I defend that by saying that I’m someone who doesn’t have deep pockets…I can’t afford to chase technology and constantly upgrade to the next best thing. What I do buy I expect to last. Built-in obsolescence infuriates me… Take it from a father who’s purchased one too many iPhones for his daughter simply because “there’s no more room on my phone”. As great as Apple is at what they do, I simply cannot allow myself to become part of their flock.
I started researching tablets about 9 months ago. The most important factors for me were a large beautiful screen and quick responsiveness. I’ve played around with my son’s Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 10.1 that he uses for college, and I was very impressed with it…sharp and responsive. As much as I liked it, for media consumption I wanted something with a larger screen. I read every review I could find on the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, with its big high-resolution screen…but for me there were too many concerns about all the (non-removable) Samsung bloat-ware that was included, and a few too many comments of the lag it caused. During the fall I heard rumblings of this new tablet, so I waited to see what would be revealed at CES 2016…and I’m glad I did.
There’s one tremendously important question that you need to ask yourself before making a purchase. Do you want a laptop that offers the portability of a tablet, or do you want a tablet that offers the productivity of a laptop? It’s important to be honest with yourself when answering this because it will make your decision a lot easier. If you’re primarily looking for a laptop, at this price point there are far too many better choices. There are traditional laptops (as well as 2 in 1’s) with 1080P or better resolution, lots of RAM & storage, and more built-in ports than you’ll ever need. These are intended to be productivity tools and that’s what their built for.
If you’re primarily looking for a tablet that can second as a productivity tool, then I believe Samsung has gotten close to that sweet-spot with the TabPro S. I’ve only had this tablet for just a little over a week and I haven’t had too much time to play, but so far I really like what I see. I’ll try not to restate what’s already been said in all the other reviews, so here are just a few observations…
-The screen puts a smile on my face every time I boot the thing up! (Sorry…everyone has said that already, but I couldn’t resist).
-If you have any concerns about screen brightness, lay them to rest. Even for my aging eyes it’s plenty bright. Under normal indoor/daylight conditions while web-surfing I’ve been using a brightness level of 50%. I don’t anticipate any issues using this outdoors.
-Almost no Samsung bloat-ware, but one of the items they did add I feel is very useful. If you’re not a power-user that needs 100% charge each and every day, there’s a setting that will limit the battery recharge to 85%. All lithium-ion cell batteries will degrade over time…There’s no stopping that. As long as it doesn’t interfere with your day-to-day usage, an 85% charge is a great setting to have to extend the overall life of the battery (and your tablet).
-The charging is incredibly fast and takes away any anxiety that you may get when the battery gets low.
-Since I haven’t had the unit for very long I can’t comment too much on the quoted 10 hours of performance. From what I’ve seen so far I don’t believe I’ll see that mark, but that’s okay. Since I bought a tablet for the beautiful display…I want to see it! I don’t get overly concerned with battery saving modes unless I see the charge dropping like a rock (which I haven’t seen happen).
-Because it’s Windows 10, it pretty much works with everything. Although to be honest, when I first heard that it was a Windows tablet I was not all that thrilled. I had it in my mind that I’d always end up with an android tablet. In addition, when I saw that it was housed with just 4GB of RAM…well for a while I thought that Samsung had missed the mark. However, the more I thought about the versatility of a full Windows tablet the more my concerns faded. Other than the occasional critical updates, Windows (like Android) allows you to control everything…You chose every program and app that is housed on your tablet, which ones run in the background and which ones don’t, and zero bloat ware to slow down the system. This point gets back to that question I mentioned earlier. Shouldn’t 4GB of RAM be sufficient for a tablet? Time will tell if these 4 Gigs will hold up, but I’m cautiously optimistic that this will remain a smooth running device for quite some time.
-Speakers are solid and provide good volume for YouTube, Netflix, or Amazon Prime, but when I’m planning on watching a favorite show or movie…I’m putting on a quality set of headphones to get the best experience.
-As with any device with zero ports (shame on you Samsung), I did invest in about $75 worth of accessories in the form of a screen protector, various adapters & dongles, Bluetooth mouse and wireless keypad…hoping to make my life a bit easier when I occasionally plan on using the tablet for productivity. I didn’t wait for Samsung’s official adapter. Instead I went with tried and true (highly rated) third-party tablet accessories. All have worked fine without exception.
Well that’s about it. A five-star item for now because I’m still infatuated with it, but I won’t hesitate to knock it down if it doesn’t continue to impress.
I hope this was at least a little helpful to you. Enjoy!
