Jan 18

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 vs. iPad Air

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January 17, 2014

Gizmag compares the features and specs of the Samsung Galaxy TabPRO (10.1) and the Apple i...

Gizmag compares the features and specs of the Samsung Galaxy TabPRO (10.1) and the Apple iPad Air

For the last few years, Samsung’s tablets have been aimed squarely at the mid-range. But at CES 2014, the company pulled back the curtain on four new Galaxy tablets that finally put the high-end in their crosshairs. Let’s see how one of those new slates, the Galaxy TabPRO 10.1, compares to Apple’s iPad Air.

 

Size

 

Sizes are very close

 

Whether it was intentional or not, the new Tab Pro’s size is extremely close to that of the iPad Air. So if you’ve held an iPad Air, you already have a rough idea of how the new Galaxy Tab Pro will feel in hand.

 

Weight

 

Weights are identical

 

The striking similarities don’t end with size, as the Wi-Fi versions of each tablet weigh exactly the same. The LTE versions are also only a gram apart.

 

Build

 

Samsung is sticking to its guns with the soft pleather finish from the Galaxy Note 3

 

Remember that faux leather backing on the Galaxy Note 3? Apparently Samsung was happy with the fruits of its labor, because that “pleather” finish is found on all of the new mobile devices the company unveiled at CES.

 

Display

 

The iPad Air gives you 99 percent as much screen area

 

When you look at each screen’s total size (based on area), it’s basically a wash: the iPad gives you 99 percent as much. Both displays are extremely sharp, but the Galaxy Tab’s is especially striking, packing a whopping 299 pixels into each inch. We’ve seen it in person, and we can vouch that text, images, and colors really pop.

 

Samsung obviously sees the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 as a landscape-orientation tablet, with its navigation buttons positioned accordingly.

 

Storage

 

The iPad offers two more storage options, but the Tab supports microSD cards

 

The iPad Air offers a couple more storage options, though the Galaxy Tab Pro helps to balance that out by supporting microSD cards.

 

Processor

 

Depending which version of the Galaxy Tab Pro you get, you'll find a different processor i...

 

On paper the Tab Pro looks like the clear winner here, but Apple’s 64-bit A7 chip is a beast. We’ll have to wait for some extended hands-on time with the Tab Pro to make any claims about performance, but we didn’t see anything to worry about during our brief hands-on at CES.

 

RAM

 

The Tab Pro doubles the iPad's 1 GB of RAM

 

Samsung’s tablet doubles the iPad Air’s 1 GB of RAM.

 

Wireless

 

Both tablets are/will be sold in both Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi with 3G/LTE models

 

Both slates are sold in both Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi with cellular data versions.

 

Battery

 

Battery capacities are similar, but we'll have to wait to draw conclusions about the Galax...

 

Battery capacities are similar, but we’ll have to put the Galaxy Tab through the paces before drawing any conclusions about its battery life. The iPad Air’s uptimes are terrific: it lasted an insane eight hours and 40 minutes in our standard battery test (streaming video with brightness set at 75 percent).

 

Cameras

 

If you're going by megapixels alone (probably not a good idea) then the Tab Pro's cameras ...

 

Cameras probably aren’t your biggest priority in choosing a tablet, but we’re looking at 8-megapixel and 5-megapixel rear shooters here.

 

Infrared

 

The Tab Pro has an infrared blaster, so you can use your tablet to change channels on your...

 

Like most of Samsung’s other high-end devices from the last year, the Tab Pro includes an IR blaster. It lets you control your TV and cable/satellite box from your tablet.

 

Software

 

Samsung's tablet has the latest version of Android under the hood (and a thick layer of To...

 

A couple of years ago, you could count on Samsung devices shipping with outdated versions of Android. No more. Within the last year, the company has made a big push to launch with the latest version, and the Tab Pro is no exception. It ships with Android 4.4 KitKat.

 

In addition to Samsung’s polarizing (is it feature-rich or bloated and gimmicky?) TouchWiz UI, the Korean company has added a new element to its home screen, dubbed Magazine UX. It’s basically a series of permanent home screen widgets that bear more than a passing resemblance to Microsoft’s tiled Windows 8 UI.

 

Samsung is also throwing in lots of free apps and services with its new Pro series of tablets. Buy the Tab Pro 10.1 and you’ll get bundled content from providers like Dropbox, Bitcasa, Bloomberg Businessweek, and LinkedIn.

 

Release cycle

 

The Tab will start rolling out sometime in the next few months

 

We still don’t know the exact release dates for the new Galaxy tablets, but Samsung has said that they’ll launch in Q1. Following patterns from other Samsung devices, we’d expect a gradual, region-by-region global rollout.

 

Starting price

 

We still don't know how much the Tab Pro will cost

 

Pricing is the big mystery for Samsung’s Pro slates. Will it go higher than the iPad Air’s US$500 starting price? Considering its professional-focused branding, we wouldn’t be surprised.

 

Stay tuned

 

We’re just scratching the surface with the Galaxy Tab Pro. After all, we only had a brief hands-on with it at CES. We’ll have to spend some quality time with it before going beyond basic specs, features, and first impressions. We can, however, say that it’s refreshing to see Apple’s biggest threat in the tablet space finally coming back with some high-end slates. It will be interesting to see if they can hit the right price points to make a compelling case next to Apple’s iconic iPads.

 

The iPad Air is a much more known quantity. Though the Galaxy Tab could end up giving it a run for its money, it’s the most comfortable full-sized tablet we’ve held. More importantly, though, it gives you the App Store’s unparalleled selection of tablet apps – with a gaming library that’s even farther ahead. We don’t think that tablet app discrepancy is nearly as big a concern as it used to be, but it’s hard to argue that the Play Store is on even ground in that department.

 

For more on the iPad Air, you can hit up our full review. You can also check out our hands-on with the Tab Pro’s big cousin, the 12.2-in Galaxy NotePRO.

Jan 16

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 vs Apple iPad 3

For more details, check out our web site: www.phonearena.com Very recently, Samsung launched its long awaited Galaxy Note 10.1 Android tablet — the Korean company’s answer to Apple’s ever-beloved new iPad. With its S-Pen stylus in hand, Samsung is betting that its pen is going to be mightier than the metaphorical sword wielded by the new iPad, which so happens to have a stranglehold on the market…

Jan 05

AmazonBasics Stylus for Touchscreen Devices Including Kindle Fire HD 8.9-Inch, Kindle Fire HD 7-Inch, Kindle Fire, Apple iPad 2, the New iPad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab, BlackBerry PlayBook

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Jul 10

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