Super AMOLED style. The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S is a smart 12-inch tablet that comes with a usable keyboard good battery life and an impressive screen.  The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S is the first Windows tablet Samsung have had in a while. It's positioned towards productivity rather than entertainment but is small, light and quiet enough to be used for almost anything. There are limits though and there are a lot of competitors in this growing segment. The Huawei Matebook, Lenovo Miix 700, HP Spectre X2, Surface Pro 4, iPad Pro and Dell XPS 12 ASUS UX305-CA and Toshiba Portégé Z20t-B-10C all offer similar size, weight and features in price bracket from around $800 and rising to over $2000. We've got the Core m3 model here (Core m3 6Y30) with 128 GB SSD and 4 GB RAM which is regarded as entry level in the world of Windows productivity. The launch price for this model in Europe is 1000 Euros (about 810 Euros pre tax.) It's also available with Windows 10 Pro. There are currently no other variants available which indicate that Samsung aren't aiming for the high-end in this space. This is clearly a product targeted directly at people considering the Core m3 version of the Surface Pro 4 or even the Surface 3. Galaxy Tab Pro S price update: The price of the Galaxy TabPro S has just dropped to $899 in the USA (pre-tax.) In this review we'll give you all the performance scores you need, our lab tests results for the screen, heat and battery life, highlight a few unique features and compare with the devices listed above. Graphics adapter Intel HD Graphics 515 - 1024 MB VRAM, Core: 400 MHz, Memory: 532 MHz, Skylake Y GT2, 20.19.15.4377 Display 12.10 inch 3:2, 2160 x 1440 pixel 215 PPI, 10 Fingers, Digital Flat Panel (NoName), sAMOLED, glossy: yes, detachable screen Mainboard Intel Skylake-Y Premium PCH Storage Lite-On CV1-8B128, 128 GB Soundcard Intel Skylake-U/Y PCH - High Definition Audio Connections 1 USB 3.1 Gen2, Audio Connections: Headset , NFC, Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient Light Networking Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4 (a/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 4.1, GPS Size height x width x depth (in mm): 6.3 x 290.3 x 198.8 ( = 0.25 x 11.43 x 7.83 in) Battery 39.5 Wh, Samsung SR Real Battery Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit Camera Webcam: Front and Rear Webcam Primary Camera: 5 MPix AF Secondary Camera: 5 MPix webcam Additional features Speakers: Stereo, Keyboard: Flat, mechanical, full size, Keyboard case, Volume rocker, power and Windows buttons , fanless Weight 693 g ( = 24.44 oz / 1.53 pounds), Power Supply: 94 g ( = 3.32 oz / 0.21 pounds) Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications. Let's first look at the tablet itself. The smooth metallic edges give a nice feel to this 12.1-inch tablet. Switch-gear seems good quality. One can't moan at a 693 gram productive Windows 10 PC but one could moan about the size and weight of this tablet if you were thinking of using it as a consumption-oriented tablet. The weight and size are just short of providing long-term hand-held comfort although if you're only planning to use it for short periods as a tablet it works well. The keyboard case is both good and bad. It weighs 385 grams and gives the tablet a cover, a stand and a keyboard in one. The material, plastic, feels high quality and it's good to hold. The case can be used as a two-position stand and obviously the lack of infinitely variable adjustment (as on the Miix 700, Spectre X2 and Surface 3 / Pro 3 and Pro 4 models is a big disadvantage. Combined weight of the keyboard and tablet is very good at 1070 grams (measured) and the charger doesn't add much weight or bulk. The Dell XPS 12 tested recently is quite a bit heavier at 1300 grams. The Lenovo Miix 700 is slightly heavier with keyboard (1100 grams.) The iPad Pro comes in at 1049 grams with keyboard and the Surface Pro 4 (m3) at 1161 grams. Take a look at some of the images below and then continue with our review of the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S. Razer Blade Stealth UHD i7-6500U Lenovo ThinkPad X260-20F60041GE Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Core i7 Dell XPS 12 9250 4K Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N DIN A4 321 mm / 12.6 inch 206 mm / 8.11 inch 13.1 mm / 0.516 inch 1.3 kg2.82 lbs306 mm / 12 inch 209 mm / 8.23 inch 20.3 mm / 0.799 inch 1.5 kg3.32 lbs292.1 mm / 11.5 inch 201.4 mm / 7.93 inch 8.4 mm / 0.3307 inch 1.1 kg2.41 lbs291 mm / 11.5 inch 193 mm / 7.6 inch 8 mm / 0.315 inch 1.3 kg2.8 lbs290.3 mm / 11.4 inch 198.8 mm / 7.83 inch 6.3 mm / 0.248 inch 693 g1.528 lbs297 mm / 11.7 inch 210 mm / 8.27 inch 1 mm / 0.03937 inch 5.7 g0.01257 lbs One USB-C port. In April 2016 this is a problem. In a years time, perhaps not but this reviewer got caught out when it came to transferring our suite of test files. Fortunately the USB-C port does support the full high-speed 10 Gbps transfer speed but there's no Thunderbolt support. We weren't able to test it with third party docks or adapters. The USB-C port also serves as the charging port so keep this in mind when trying to use accessories on a low charge. Internally there's an AC WiFi module, Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC support. We were able to transfer across an AC network (used by multiple people) to a Gigabit Ethernet connected storage at a maximum of 40 MB/s. We didn't test NFC. Without native digital video, USB 3.0 or even a Micro SD card slot it's difficult to rate connectivity highly. Cloud-based storage may not be a viable option when on the move and local network based file transfers may have speed and security issues. The ideal solution is a USB-C / USB 3 storage device that can be used as a backup / file history and transfer device but that adds to complexity, cost and weight. NFC tap-and-go transfers or WiFi-Direct transfers may be an option for some people. In addition to the USB-C port there's also a headset port. CommunicationA Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A AC WiFi BT 4.1 performs local area networking duties. WiFi is dual-band and dual-channel and we were solidly connected to a 5Ghz AC network at 867 Mbps during the review. Quality and range seems good too. In a busy city-center test we were able to remain connected at full speed to the same network at 10 meters away. SecurityWindows 10 Home doesn't support Bitlocker encryption so although there is a TPM device you'll need to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro to take advantage of it. There's no fingerprint reader or Windows Hello login support. MaintenanceDon't expect to be able to upgrade or replace any components in the TabPro S without specialized tools. Even then we don't expect much to be removable if you get inside the device. The TabPro S has been designed as a sealed unit and will probably remain that way for nearly all owners. Warranty will vary globally. KeyboardBefore we get onto the details of the screen let's consider this keyboard case as a primary input mechanism. Is it good enough to use all-day or is it just for brief usage? If you've used the Type Cover 3 for the Surface Pro 3 and Surface 3 you'll know exactly the type of mechanics that are in the Samsung TabPro S keyboard. In fact it's difficult to see how the two keyboards could have come from a different source because they are so close in design, feel and sizing. The similarity with the Microsoft Type Cover 3 makes it easy to position in terms of rating because, quite simply, the Type Cover 4 and Miix 700 keyboard are better. This author has used the Type Cover 3 for well over a year though and can say that it's good enough for most purposes. There's no backlight on the TabPro S keyboard and you can't raise the rear of the keyboard as you can on the Surface Type Covers but it does provide a better lapping experience in the second, laid-back position. It takes a similar surface area to the Surface Pro 3 / 4 but the back of the case provides a lot more friction and stability on the lap. As the keyboard lays directly on the work surface there's little to no flex on the keyboard. An NFC receiver is provided in the keyboard. As far as a thin keyboard case goes, this is one of the better ones on the market but at this price we would expect the backlight which is becoming more and more popular on laptops and tablet keyboards. TouchpadThe touchpad is very good and again, very similar to that found on the Surface Type Cover 3. Smooth multi-finger scrolling and zooming is available and up to four fingers are recognized across the system. Mouse button clicks are well-defined and there's enough space to be able to move the mouse pointer around the screen without any problems. Configuration is available in the Windows 10 settings menu. TouchscreenThe 10 finger capacative touchscreen gave us no issues during our test and scaling across the Windows 10 system supported the 2160 x 1440 resolution well. Be aware that some older Windows desktop applications don't scale well to these high resolutions and can result in unusable user interfaces with finger touch. Samsung Bluetooth C-Pen StylusSamsung have announced a stylus for the TabPro S but it wasn't part of our review package. It should support pressure and hovering. We've taken additional time to analyse the screen on the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S because it's the first AMOLED screen available on such a big tablet. In general AMOLED screens provide extremely high contrast and the potential for high brightness in some situations. They can also be very efficient in some situations but if you consider that each pixel is a light source that takes power you'll understand that when all pixels are 'on' an AMOLED screen can take a lot more power than when 'off' (black.) In a brief all-white test with maximum brightness we saw battery drain rise to a very high 9.2 watts (measured via Windows Perfmon tool while idle.) By reducing the amount of white on the screen to around 20% that figure dropped to around 4.2 watts. At maximum brightness with a black screen you can expect under 2.5 watts. The lowest measurement we saw was 2.1 watts at full brightness. (95% black screen.) Dimming the 'screen' to 25% doesn't really affect the lowest power usage figures. By remembering that black is good you can save a lot of battery life on the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S. For example, if you want to save battery life then set your theme to a black background and browse using just half the screen. You can also read articles in a darl reading mode in the Edge browser. Using 100% brightness in Edge reading mode we were able to view an article using just 3W. The equivalent article read under a normal browser with white background used 9.6W To prevent extreme battery drain Samsung has forced the screen to dim after 30 seconds of idle input activity. A quick touch of the screen brings back full brightness. Video and gaming will disable the dimming feature. 361 cd/m²364 cd/m²378 cd/m²369 cd/m²363 cd/m²379 cd/m²391 cd/m²402 cd/m²394 cd/m² Distribution of brightness Digital Flat Panel (NoName) tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2 Maximum: 402 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 377.9 cd/m² Minimum: 1.8 cd/m² Brightness Distribution: 90 % Center on Battery: 363 cd/m² Contrast: 12100:1 (Black: 0.03 cd/m²) ΔE Color 4.8 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5.1 ΔE Greyscale 5.04 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3 92% sRGB (Calman 2D) 73% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D) Gamma: 2.57 Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N 12.10, 2160x1440HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA 12.00, 1920x1080Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Core m3 12.30, 2736x1824Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 12.00, 2160x1440Dell XPS 12 9250 4K 12.50, 3840x2160Display Display P3 Coverage 52.9 67.5 68.1 83.9 sRGB Coverage 71.8 96.6 97.4 99.8 AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage 52.6 69 70.2 98.1 Response Times Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * 47 (16, 31) 46 (17.2, 28.8) 30 (11, 19) 36 (19, 17) Response Time Black / White * 26 (5, 21) 31 (6, 25.2) 16 (4.4, 11.6) 35 (8, 27) PWM Frequency 50 (50) 200 (18) 1000 (20) Screen -195% -105% -165% -121% Brightness middle 363 353 -3% 389.2 7% 341 -6% 437 20% Brightness 378 347 -8% 392 4% 318 -16% 399 6% Brightness Distribution 90 91 1% 92 2% 87 -3% 81 -10% Black Level * 0.03 0.44 -1367% 0.27 -800% 0.36 -1100% 0.35 -1067% Contrast 12100 802 -93% 1441 -88% 947 -92% 1249 -90% Colorchecker dE 2000 * 4.8 6.09 -27% 3.61 25% 6 -25% 3.56 26% Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * 6.91 9.3 -35% Greyscale dE 2000 * 5.04 6.24 -24% 3.8 25% 8.12 -61% 2.67 47% Gamma 2.57 86% 2.41 91% 2.16 102% 2.23 99% 2.17 101% CCT 7255 90% 7238 90% 5969 109% 7011 93% 6681 97% Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) 73 46 -37% 63 -14% 63.4 -13% 86 18% Color Space (Percent of sRGB) 71 97 97.4 100 Total Average (Program / Settings) -195% /-195% -105% /-105% -165% /-165% -121% /-121% * ... smaller is better Our test measurements on the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S screen show a maximum brightness of over 400 cd/m2 and a center brightness, on battery power, of 363 cd/m2. Color accuracy is good but not as accurate as some other devices in the class. The TabPro S might not be the best choice for professional-level photo reviewing, for example. Color coverage is very good and, as always with the near perfect black levels on AMOLED screens, the contrast is extremely good. Viewing angles are good although at very extreme angles you'll see a green tint. Direct point light sources can produce a starburst effect too. Outdoor viewing is good although there's not much in the $1000 tablet market that can work against sunlight reflecting on a glossy screen. The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S is fitted with a Core m3 6Y30 processor and 4 GB RAM which indicates that it's oriented towards the mainstream market although the 1000-Euro price and style-factor tells a slightly different story. Again, note that there is currently only one version of this tablet so higher-end specifications are currently not available. In general the user should expect office-level performance, fast browsing and good Windows Store app performance with limitations only showing up in PC gaming, advanced media creation and extended calculations or processor loads such as video editing, professional photo editing and large spreadsheet calculations. Obviously disk speed and memory play an important part too so we've run a series of benchmarks and have added our interpretation below. The 4 GB memory might be a limit for some users but should be acceptable for most office, student and home work. The Core m3 6Y30 is essentially a down-clocked and thermally-controlled Skylake Core U-Series processor that you'll find in ultrabooks. Maximum dual-core clock is restricted to 2 Ghz where thermal 'headroom' allows and that means there can be big differences between the same processor in different devices, at different ambient temperatures and under different types of load, charging state and screen brightness. In the multi-core CPU load test of Cinebench the clock-rate held at 2.0 Ghz for about a minute before it dropped to 1.75 Ghz and eventually 1.6 Ghz. (21 degrees C ambient.) Throttling won't affect short-term performance for web browsing but must be expected in longer-term loads such as gaming and video rendering. The Cinebench multi-CPU test comparison below gives a feel for how devices in the same category perform. Tablets with better thermal design are generally giving better Cinebench multi-CPU results but there's not much difference between all the devices listed here. Mains power doesn't boost the performance and could negatively affect performance due to charging heat. Note that the Samsung TabPro S features Connected Standby so there is only one performance profile. Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Lite-On CV1-8B128 86 Points Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Core m3 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Samsung MZFLV128 NVMe 88 Points +2% Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 HD Graphics 515, 6Y54, Samsung MZNLN128HCGR-000L2 99 Points +15% HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Sandisk X300 SD7SN6S-256G-1006 80 Points -7% Dell XPS 12 9250 4K HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Samsung PM951 NVMe 512 GB 104 Points +21% Asus Zenbook UX305CA-EHM1 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Micron M600 MTFDDAV256MBF M.2 72 Points -16% CPU Multi 64Bit Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Lite-On CV1-8B128 204 Points Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Core m3 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Samsung MZFLV128 NVMe 206 Points +1% Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 HD Graphics 515, 6Y54, Samsung MZNLN128HCGR-000L2 200 Points -2% HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Sandisk X300 SD7SN6S-256G-1006 177 Points -13% Dell XPS 12 9250 4K HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Samsung PM951 NVMe 512 GB 196 Points -4% Asus Zenbook UX305CA-EHM1 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Micron M600 MTFDDAV256MBF M.2 200 Points -2% Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit 86 Points Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64Bit 204 Points Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64Bit 29.4 fps Cinebench R15 Ref. Match 64Bit 97.9 % Help The PCMark test provides a more balanced performance rating by including disk speed, CPU and GPU tests. In the results we see that the TabPro S is giving similar results to other Core m3 based PCs and that the Core m5, a higher-clocking CPU, has around 20% advantage over the Core m3. The ASUS UX305-EHM1, a laptop, produces the best Core m3 performance figures in the comparison and this is probably because of the larger volume of the unit which is able to dissipate more heat and thus retain Turbo Boost for longer. The Surface 3 (Intel Atom) has been included to show the difference between Core m3 and the lower-end Atom CPUs. PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Lite-On CV1-8B128 2217 Points Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Core m3 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Samsung MZFLV128 NVMe 2426 Points +9% Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 HD Graphics 515, 6Y54, Samsung MZNLN128HCGR-000L2 2733 Points +23% HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Sandisk X300 SD7SN6S-256G-1006 2675 Points +21% Dell XPS 12 9250 4K HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Samsung PM951 NVMe 512 GB 2277 Points +3% Asus Zenbook UX305CA-EHM1 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Micron M600 MTFDDAV256MBF M.2 2833 Points +28% Microsoft Surface 3 HD Graphics (Cherry Trail), Z8700, 128 GB eMMC Flash 1677 Points -24% Work Score Accelerated v2 Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Lite-On CV1-8B128 3311 Points Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Core m3 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Samsung MZFLV128 NVMe 3186 Points -4% Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 HD Graphics 515, 6Y54, Samsung MZNLN128HCGR-000L2 3837 Points +16% HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Sandisk X300 SD7SN6S-256G-1006 4078 Points +23% Dell XPS 12 9250 4K HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Samsung PM951 NVMe 512 GB 3084 Points -7% Asus Zenbook UX305CA-EHM1 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Micron M600 MTFDDAV256MBF M.2 3657 Points +10% Creative Score Accelerated v2 Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Core m3 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Samsung MZFLV128 NVMe 2968 Points Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 HD Graphics 515, 6Y54, Samsung MZNLN128HCGR-000L2 3344 Points HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Sandisk X300 SD7SN6S-256G-1006 3362 Points Dell XPS 12 9250 4K HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Samsung PM951 NVMe 512 GB 2903 Points Asus Zenbook UX305CA-EHM1 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Micron M600 MTFDDAV256MBF M.2 3241 Points The comparison chart below shows performance scores for some common browser benchmarks. The Core m5 and Core m7 processors are well ahead of the Core m3 products in this list. PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 2217 pointsPCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2 3311 points Help The SSD storage module in the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S is very fast for a tablet with peak performance figures over 400 MB/s. 4k read and write speed are also good. Overall the SSD performance is well balanced and will help to boost perceived performance for application startup. Sequential Read: 419.8 MB/s Sequential Write: 162.9 MB/s The Intel HD Graphics 515 unit is capable of supporting low-end PC gaming with some older games but won't provide enough performance for modern graphic-intensive PC gaming. The video encoder/decoder is powerful enough to handle large bitrate video files and is fast enough for quick video conversion. Performance does not differ between battery and mains power. The 3DMark test results were are the bottom of the range in the comparison below with the Surface Pro 4 the best of the Core m3 devices. For comparison we've added the Surface book with the discreet graphics card to show what a very high-end,product in the convertible category can give. 3DMark1920x1080 Fire Strike Score Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Lite-On CV1-8B128 558 Points Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Core m3 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Samsung MZFLV128 NVMe 740 Points +33% Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 HD Graphics 515, 6Y54, Samsung MZNLN128HCGR-000L2 630 Points +13% HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Sandisk X300 SD7SN6S-256G-1006 660 Points +18% Dell XPS 12 9250 4K HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Samsung PM951 NVMe 512 GB 553 Points -1% Asus Zenbook UX305CA-EHM1 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Micron M600 MTFDDAV256MBF M.2 596 Points +7% Microsoft Surface Book Core i5 Maxwell GPU (940M, GDDR5), 6300U, Samsung MZFLV256 NVMe 1886 Points +238% 1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Score Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Lite-On CV1-8B128 3684 Points Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Core m3 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Samsung MZFLV128 NVMe 4604 Points +25% Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 HD Graphics 515, 6Y54, Samsung MZNLN128HCGR-000L2 3936 Points +7% HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Sandisk X300 SD7SN6S-256G-1006 4546 Points +23% Dell XPS 12 9250 4K HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Samsung PM951 NVMe 512 GB 3457 Points -6% Asus Zenbook UX305CA-EHM1 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Micron M600 MTFDDAV256MBF M.2 3778 Points +3% Microsoft Surface Book Core i5 Maxwell GPU (940M, GDDR5), 6300U, Samsung MZFLV256 NVMe 7424 Points +102% 3DMark 11 Performance 1077 points3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score 3684 points3DMark Fire Strike Score 558 points Help Unfortunately during our PC gaming test 2 of our three chosen games, The Curse of the Tomb Raider and Fallout 4, failed to start due to a graphics driver bug. A driver update is expected to fix this but wasn't available at the time of testing. As you can see in the F1 2014 test it was possible to use low settings to achieve acceptable performance. Drift Mania Street Outlaws, a Windows Store game was smooth and the accelerometer worked well. Asphalt 8: Airborn was a little jerky at high settings but very smooth at the lowest graphics setting. Minecraft wasn't tested but should run well on this platform at lower resolution settings. Mid-range video editing with Cyberlink PowerDirector 14 Ultra using full HD H.264 source files with cuts, fades, titling and some filters was no problem and rendering using the Intel Quick Sync (GPU-based hardware encoder) was acceptable. We used a fixed set of project files to test rendering speed and noticed that the TabPro S quickly down-clocked to between 1 Ghz and 1.5 Ghz. (Normal maximum is 2.0 Ghz using Intel Turbo Boost.) Despite that the 8.5 minute video was rendered out in just under 10 minutes. This is comparable to the Surface Pro 3 with a Core i5 CPU but doesn't reach the speeds seen by a Core i5 Surface Pro 4 which can be over 50% faster. There's no fan inside the Galaxy TabPro S so usage is always silent. Fanless tablets using the Core m CPUs generally do get a little warm under load and can get even warmer when charging but there are no extreme temperatures to worry about here. A maximum of 44.6 degrees C in one part of the TabPro S is acceptable. 29.4 °C 85 F37 °C 99 F42.5 °C 109 F 28 °C 82 F32.4 °C 90 F35.6 °C 96 F 29.6 °C 85 F29.6 °C 85 F30.8 °C 87 F Maximum: 42.5 °C = 109 F Average: 32.8 °C = 91 F 44.6 °C 112 F41.4 °C 107 F31.7 °C 89 F34.9 °C 95 F35.8 °C 96 F30.4 °C 87 F32.6 °C 91 F32 °C 90 F29.6 °C 85 F Maximum: 44.6 °C = 112 F Average: 34.8 °C = 95 F Power Supply (max.) 36.7 °C = 98 F | Room Temperature 22.6 °C = 73 F | Voltcraft IR-360 (±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 32.8 °C / 91 F, compared to the average of 30.2 °C / 86 F for the devices in the class Convertible. (±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 42.5 °C / 109 F, compared to the average of 35.3 °C / 96 F, ranging from 19.6 to 55.7 °C for the class Convertible. (±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 44.6 °C / 112 F, compared to the average of 36.7 °C / 98 F (+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 31.4 °C / 89 F, compared to the device average of 30.2 °C / 86 F. (+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 30.8 °C / 87.4 F and are therefore cool to the touch. (-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.1 °C / 82.6 F (-2.7 °C / -4.8 F). Although the cameras don't reach the quality of the excellent sensors on the iPad Pro 9.7 they are still good. The front camera produces clear web conferencing images and the rear auto-focus camera is capable of reasonable imaging. There's a lot of sharpening, some noise in low light and no optical image stabilizer but again, they're offering better quality than most tablet cameras. The question is, what will you use the 5 mp rear camera for? Most people have a better camera in their smartphone! Take a look at the two sample indoor images below. One at 16:9 ratio and the other at 4:3 aspect ratio. The stereo speakers on the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S are reasonable but not exceptional. A comparison with the Apple iPad Pro 9.7 we have recently tested shows how much better a tablet can sound with better speaker design. Our power consumption results, measured at the mains plug, are shown below. Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Lite-On CV1-8B128Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 HD Graphics 515, 6Y54, Samsung MZNLN128HCGR-000L2HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Sandisk X300 SD7SN6S-256G-1006Dell XPS 12 9250 4K HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Samsung PM951 NVMe 512 GBAsus Zenbook UX305CA-EHM1 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Micron M600 MTFDDAV256MBF M.2Power Consumption -42% -23% -51% Idle Minimum * 3.4 4 -18% 4.5 -32% 5.4 -59% Idle Average * 8 8.6 -8% 7.7 4% 10.2 -28% Idle Maximum * 9 9.3 -3% 8.3 8% 12.5 -39% Load Average * 12 18.6 -55% 19.8 -65% 21.4 -78% Load Maximum * 16.1 36.3 -125% 20.6 -28% 24.4 -52% * ... smaller is better The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S uses a 39.5 Wh battery which is similar in capacity to that found on the Surface Pro 4. As mentioned earlier, battery life can be affected greatly by the use of white pages and images so it is recommended to browse with a 'night' setting or in half of the screen if battery life is a critical issue. We measured idle usage figures down to 2W (screen on) although in Connected Standby mode many apps will operate with the screen off to provide notifications and audio playback. Our idle test with the lowest brightness setting is unusable because of the extremely low minimum brightness of the screen but shows that the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S could run for nearly 19 hours. We set the brightness at 25%, usable in normal room lighting and simulated a typing session using Notepad covering 50% of the screen. It's the sort of setup that you might have on a flight or train journey. An Average drain of just 3.2 watts gives over 12 hours of 'typing' battery life. On our browser test we set the brightness at around 150 nits and kept the screen awake by tapping the screen as soon as it dimmed. We saw a big variance in spot checks on the power usage with some interactive, mostly white sites causing power usage levels of over 9W. At the other end of the scale figures of 3.4 watts were seen. The total 15 minute browsing session averaged out to 4.4W usage which gives nearly 9 hours of browsing life. This could be improved with a dark themed site, a night-reading plugin or by positioning the browser windows on just half of the screen. Similar battery life figures can be seen when playing back video at 150 nits. Overall the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S has very good battery life with the potential to extend it further through the use of dark themes. Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Lite-On CV1-8B128Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 HD Graphics 515, 6Y54, Samsung MZNLN128HCGR-000L2HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Sandisk X300 SD7SN6S-256G-1006Dell XPS 12 9250 4K HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Samsung PM951 NVMe 512 GBPower Consumption -42% -23% -51% Idle Minimum * 3.4 4 -18% 4.5 -32% 5.4 -59% Idle Average * 8 8.6 -8% 7.7 4% 10.2 -28% Idle Maximum * 9 9.3 -3% 8.3 8% 12.5 -39% Load Average * 12 18.6 -55% 19.8 -65% 21.4 -78% Load Maximum * 16.1 36.3 -125% 20.6 -28% 24.4 -52% * ... smaller is better Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S W700N HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Lite-On CV1-8B128Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Core m3 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Samsung MZFLV128 NVMeLenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 HD Graphics 515, 6Y54, Samsung MZNLN128HCGR-000L2HP Spectre x2 12-a003ng K3D42EA HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Sandisk X300 SD7SN6S-256G-1006Dell XPS 12 9250 4K HD Graphics 515, 6Y75, Samsung PM951 NVMe 512 GBAsus Zenbook UX305CA-EHM1 HD Graphics 515, 6Y30, Micron M600 MTFDDAV256MBF M.2Battery RuntimeWiFi v1.3 525 488 -7% 440 -16% 361 -31% 243 -54% 382 -27% Battery Runtime Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)18h 30minWiFi Websurfing8h 45minBig Buck Bunny H.264 1080p8h 35min Pros
Cons- screen can be a power drain at times - one USB-C port for data and charging - some CPU throttling under heavy load The AMOLED screen on the Galaxy TabPro S is the key feature here. It's bright and punchy and if you're careful you can get impressive efficiency from it. Style plays a big role too. Nothing really disappoints us with the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S - they've done a great job putting together a well-rounded tablet/keyboard case package. Compared to laptops costing the same price you're getting less performance but a great deal of portability. The keyboard isn't quite best in class and it needs a backlight to be able to compete with the likes of the Surface Pro 4 and the Type Cover keyboard but it's not bad. The keyboard case / stand has advantages and disadvantages. You're protecting the tablet when in transit and getting a basic stand but it's not got the angle flexibility of the Miix 700, Surface Pro 4 or Spectre X2. Finally, we weren't able to test the Samsung Bluetooth C-Pen Stylus as it's not available yet. That could be the deciding factor for some people. Don't ignore the fact that there's only a single charge/data port on this tablet. You'll need to budget for adapters which could get expensive if you're looking for a portable docking solution with video output and charging. If you've been looking at a Surface 3 with 4GB RAM and 128 GB SSD you might want to consider the jump to this more capable tablet. For those considering the Surface Pro 4 with Core m3 but without a stylus then again the TabPro S could be the one. The TabPro S is also more stylish than the Lenovo Miix 700 but the Miix beats the Samsung on processing power and keyboard quality. Don't forget the HP Spectre X2 or the Toshiba Portégé Z20t-B-10C The detachable tablet sector is growing quickly and there are some great options in the space. Look out for changing prices and don't forget to read through all of our reviews. |
