Samsung TabPro S

In the quest for portable computing devices, many people are turning towards hardware that doubles as both a tablet and laptop.

Enter Samsung’s TabPro S, the latest iteration of its Galaxy Tab line-up (I own one of the original Galaxy Tabs. It was good then: Not so great now).

The TabPro S is  a 12-inch tablet, running Windows 10 and aims to take on the iPad Pro and probably Microsoft’s Surface Pro device.

The TabPro S in its locked, upright position

The TabPro S comes with a keyboard cover (yes, it’s included in the price) that snaps onto the base of the body via a magnetic coupling. At first, I wasn’t sure that the keyboard cover was strong enough to support the tablet in an upright position, but once I’d got the hang of it, I pretty much kept it in that position while I had it, using it to watch movies via streaming services like Netflix and Lightbox, web browsing and general tablet-related activities.

A close up of the TabPro S’s keyboard that acts as a cover

While the keys don’t have much travel and are quite close together, I was able to touch type accurately most of the time but definitely not to the accuracy that I could on a standard or mechanical keyboard. I also wouldn’t advise using the keyboard on your knees: It’s quite unstable so needs to be used on a sturdy flat surface like table or desk.

The super AMOLED screen is the hero with the TabPro S, offering full HD at a resolution of 2160 x 1440 resolution. The screen does have quite a large bezel, though, but it didn’t detract from my time with the tablet. Strangely, though, it doesn’t come with a stylus: I can see this device as just the ticket for design or art work.

The Samsung TabPro S in tablet mode

Under the hood you’ll find 4Gb of RAM and an Intel Core M CPU (a dual core CPU clocked at 2.24Mhz), which means that the TabPro S isn’t a powerhouse performer but it means that battery life is fantastic, offering several hours use  before needing a charge.  Apart from a 3.5mm headphone jack and the USB-C charge port, there are also no other connections on Samsung’s device so you can’t connect other devices or a USB flash drive.  The TabPro S has 128Gb of flash storage, which should be enough, given the push these days to save most of your content to the cloud.

A nice touch is that you can pop in a SIM card and access 4G speeds if you’re out of Wi-Fi range.

I definitely see the TabPro S as productivity machine rather than a gaming one, but thanks to its Windows 10 operating system, you can stream content from your Xbox One console to the device. I streamed Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption to the tablet and it worked flawlessly and lag free. It’s a great feature if your Xbox One is connected a TV that is being used by other people but you want to get your game on.

A downside for me, is the lack of a USB port but Samsung are clearly going for portability (it tips the scales at less than 700 grams) and thinness with the TabPro S.

The TabPro S isn’t a laptop killer or replacement thanks to its medium range specs but it would be ideal as a BYOD device for a school student or a lightweight business tablet.  It’s also a great device for consume multimedia content like Netflix or other streaming services.

A good effort from Samsung.