iPad Pro Vs. Samsung Galaxy TabPro S: Which One Should You Buy?
From the archive: published Apr 11, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.
The two hottest tablets to recently arrive on store shelves are the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy TabPro S. The 128GB version of the iPad Pro, with the cost of the smart keyboard factored in, is around $900 — this is the same price as the Galaxy TabPro S, which includes a keyboard.
Both of these are excellent tablets. Let’s take a look at some important aspects.
Build And Design
The glass front and aluminum rear make the iPad Pro feel like a blown-up iPhone. The addition of two extra speakers (for a total of four) make the Pro feel like a full multimedia machine.
At a quarter-inch thick, the TabPro S is the thinnest Windows 10 tablet available. At 1.5 pounds without its case, the TabPro isn’t as light as the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, but it’s actually lighter than the iPad 2, which came out in 2011. Its glass and aluminum build feels like that of the recent Galaxy S7 and Galaxy Note 5 devices. The keyboard case, which folds to cover the complete device, has a satisfying faux-leather feeling, and the keyboard itself works fine.
Display
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro proves that LED displays can be as good as AMOLED displays. The 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution (264 ppi) is the same one as the iPad Air and iPad Air 2, but it’s so crisp and clear that you won’t be craving for more pixels. However, the iPad Pro display is noticeably better than previous iPad displays, in that the colors are more saturated and balanced.
The new iPad has what Apple calls True Tone technology, where the tone of the screen matches the environment that you are in. This works well, and you’ll know it when you turn the True Tone feature off — the screen just doesn’t look right. Besides the new technology, the screen is far less reflective than previous iPad devices.
Operating System
Comparing the operating system of the iPad Pro and Galaxy TabPro S is where things get a little murky. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
The iPad Pro runs a mobile operating system, iOS 9.3. This operating system is perfectly optimized for tablets and many of the software titles on iOS, including Microsoft Office, are almost as powerful as the desktop versions. If you are using your tablet to read books, watch movies, do some word processing, and engage in minor photo editing, iOS is all you really need.
The TabPro S runs Windows 10, which means you can use desktop versions of Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop, though the Core M processor means things will run slower when doing advanced tasks. However, Windows 10 isn’t really tablet optimized — at least not as much as iOS. So, if you are doing simpler tasks, they don’t work as well as they would on the iPad Pro. Once again, it all depends on what you are using your tablet for.
Battery Life
The battery life on both the iPad Pro and Galaxy TabPro S are outstanding. The battery life on the iPad Pro, which will last more than 10 hours for most, is obviously better than the six or seven hours you’ll get on the TabPro S, which still offers more battery life than just about any other Windows 10 tablet or computer on the market. You can leave the chargers for both of these devices at home and not have to worry about running out of juice all day.
Conclusion
It’s hard to decide which is the “better” device of the two as they really serve two different markets that intersect somewhat. However, both the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and Galaxy TabPro S will definitely help the dwindling tablet industry and force other manufacturers to up their game when it comes to making tablets.