Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 and 10.1 Review
by Jarred Walton on March 22, 2014 9:30 PM ESTCamera and Video Analysis
I still need to upload the videos so you'll have to wait for those, and if you haven't figured it out by now I'm really not the best photographer in the world...not even close! But I did run around inside and outside for a bit snapping pictures with both tablets.
The cameras are identical in the 8.4 and 10.1 Galaxy Pro, so while the galleries below contain images taken with both tablets there's really no difference to speak of (other than perhaps the location of the camera lenses and the potential to accidentally get upside-down photos from the 8.4 if you're not careful).
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For video, both the front and rear cameras record at 1080p30 with a bitrate of ~17Mbps; the rear-facing camera has a slightly higher quality, but either one will work for basic video needs. Pictures are a different story, with the front-facing camera supporting up to 1920x1080 with an f/2.4 aperture and the rear-facing camera supporting up to 3264x1836, also with an f/2.4 aperture. Compression artifacts are clearly evident with both cameras, but the rear-facing does offer much better overall quality.
Low-light performance is nothing special as far as I could tell; a mostly dark room will present problems, dimly lit photos will be very grainy, and even indoor photos in general are merely okay. Outdoors the camera does better, but that's typical of any camera.
Overall, the cameras do a serviceable job at taking photos and videos. I find tablet cameras to be a bit unwieldy personally, but at least the Samsung Galaxy Pro line can provide decent photos that will rival inexpensive point-and-shoot cameras.
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TestKing123 - Tuesday, March 25, 2014 - link
It's true the Yogo 2 Pro is in an entirely different segment/market than an Ipad or Android tablet, but I found I'm using this device far more often than any of my other tablets. The screen is 13.3 but a beautiful QHD display (higher than Retina), very responsive and incredibly fast. The major apps are all on Windows 8 anyways, though I don't care for the App store that much. I can use it as a tablet or PC with a flip of the backside, and I can run all my business software AND play some decent PC games as well.It literally made by tablet collection (and I love buying the newest tablets) obsolete.
johnny_boy - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
I think the lg g pad 8.3 makes a good lower cost competitor to the tab pro 8.4. It's sporting previous gen snapdragon soc but 2gb ram and basically the same dimensions and weight. I personally don't think the extra cost of the tab is worth it over the g pad.RobilarOCN - Monday, March 24, 2014 - link
Have you owned a G Pad? I recently sold mine and switched to the Tab Pro 8.4. You might want to have a look at the XDA forum section for it. Despite an amazing aluminum body, the screen on the G Pad is terrible. I paid $350 for it (got it before LG heavily discounted it and then released the google play edition). It is hands down the dimmest tablet screen I have ever used. I was lucky enough not to get one of the "crappy" ones (of which there are apparently many), I didn't have the blue line of doom on the screen or excessive light bleed around the edges (Both of which are very common). Still, even at 100% brightness, it is dimmer than a Nexus 7 or a tab pro at 50%. Impossible to use in sunlight (I took it on vacation). Also the battery life was not good. There is a reason that LG dropped the tablet price by $100 within a month of it's release. Too bad because it has a lot of other amazing things going for it. The screen is the deal breaker though. So yes, the extra cost makes it a big difference... Plus LG is discontinuing the $250 version in favor of the $350 google play edition. A $50 difference for a vastly better screen, faster SOC and better battery? Abolutelywintermute000 - Monday, March 24, 2014 - link
if u can't ROM away the custom magazine UI then no sale. Haven't kept up but aren't Sammy devices getting harder and harder to mod?Woody - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
Haha!! what age do you consider "getting old"This is exactly what I'm thinking when I look at screen size these days....thinking about switching from my Galaxy S series for a Galaxy Note for this very reason.
Or I could just get reading glasses. ughh!
frozentundra123456 - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
Nice, but more than I would pay for any android device.martixy - Monday, March 24, 2014 - link
That moment when you skim the specs and notice that the display size is always bigger than the stated physical dimensions of the device.It takes a second...
skrewler2 - Friday, March 28, 2014 - link
You mentioned the Note 2014 having the same specs on the first page, but didn't include these in any of the benchmarks to confirm they are indeed the same tablet with just the inclusion of the S-Pen?Also, you didn't include a comparison between the Note / Note pro / Galaxy / Galaxy pro in your closing thoughts.
I got my Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition on special for $400 back in Jan (also w/ a bunch of goodies.. Google store credit, Samsung store credit, Dropbox, evernote pro, a bunch of other stuff). I was kinda bummed that shortly after I purchased it that the Note Pros came out, but other than 10" vs 12" it's hard to tell what exactly is different between them. I remember coming to the conclusion that the Pro model adds some features for businesses / BYOD, notably for compliance and security.
Does it just come down to Note 10.1 2014 being 10" and Note Pro 12 being 12"? Doesn't seem worth the $300 price premium. I also just ran the Sunspider benchmark on my Note 2014 and consistently get scores around 500ms.
maximumGPU - Monday, March 24, 2014 - link
Thumbs up to Jarred for being very active on the comments section and replying to questions or concerns.az_ - Monday, March 24, 2014 - link
I am wondering, why aren't you comparing these Pro tablets to something with Windows, just to other android tablets and the iPad? I guess if someone is trying to use a tablet to do work the Surface Pro 2, Surface 2 and Dell Venue Pro 8 would be on his radar as well.Some of the benchmarks are cross platform (all browser based ones) and you can run an emulator for android and run the benchmarks on x86 windows.
Come on guys, be a bit more creative with the reviews.