Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 and 10.1 Review
by Jarred Walton on March 22, 2014 9:30 PM ESTClosing Thoughts
Samsung is no stranger to the tablet market, and the latest refresh of the Galaxy Tab lineup shows their experience. The Galaxy Tab Pro 8.3 and Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 are both good tablets, and the displays in particular are going to be worth the price of entry for some users. As with laptops and smartphones, it’s not just about any one item pushing a tablet over the top, though the reverse isn’t true – if any area is severely lacking, that might be enough to kill interest in a particular device. Basically, it’s more of a gestalt approach: the sum is greater than the parts, and Samsung delivers the goods with the Galaxy Pro tablets.
Of the two, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise now that we think the Pro 8.4 is the best one to buy. The more compact form factor coupled with a lower price and better performance gets the trifecta to win out over the Pro 10.1. There are areas where the 10.1 clearly wins out (color quality and battery life, specifically), but is it worth $100 more to get those, along with a bulkier, heavier device? I don’t think so; feel free to disagree however, as they’re both good tablets.
Unfortunately, as good as they are they’re also rather expensive – as usual, quality has a price, and so do the WQXGA displays. Compared to other offerings, obviously the iPad Air and iPad Mini Retina are right in the same price range. Really, the question over which to get is going to come down to your OS and app ecosystem preferences; I’m happy with Android, so for the price I’d be inclined to go with Samsung’s Galaxy Pro tablets, but iOS fans will have plenty of reasons to stick with Apple.
Android alternatives include the Nexus 7, which delivers slightly less performance in most cases than the Pro 8.4 and it “only” has a WUXGA display, but it has one big selling point: it costs $170 less than the Pro 8.4, and you could even pick up two for the price of a single Pro 10.1 – or you could grab the 32GB model and still only pay $269. The Pro 8.4 looks and feels nicer in my opinion, but it’s really difficult to argue with that sort of price competition. If you want two more options, the Kindle Fire HDX 7” ($200) and Kindle Fire HDX 8.9” ($379) pack similar performance with their Snapdragon 800 SoCs and have a lot to offer, but the lack of Google Play Services is a pretty massive drawback in my book. I really can’t find any other direct competition in the Android market for the Samsung Pro 8.4 right now, so it's an easy recommendation.
For larger tablets, there are a couple more contenders worth considering. The ASUS TF701T 10.1” ($424 with WQXGA LCD and 32GB, with a Tegra 4 SoC) and the Toshiba Excite Pro 10.1” ($471 and also Tegra 4, WQXGA, and 32GB) are 10.1-inch offerings with similar core features (Tegra 4), with both pros and cons relative to the Tab Pro 10.1. Slightly lower pricing is one benefit, more storage by default is another perk, and the lack of TouchWiz UI may be another, depending on how you feel about that. Performance goes back and forth depending on the benchmark you want to look at, though I'd still give the edge to the Snapdragon 800 overall. Plenty of other budget tablets can be found, but they’ll all come with slower SoCs, lower quality displays, and generally worse build quality.
Bottom line then is that if you’re looking for a high quality Android tablet, Samsung’s latest offerings should be at the top of your list. There are a few quirks at times (like physical buttons), but nothing that I’d consider a deal breaker. If you have the money and you want one of the best Android tablets I’ve had a chance to use, the Galaxy Pro tablet series likely has what you’re looking for. We’re still seeing pretty major jumps in performance with each new generation of SoCs, so these won’t be the “new hotness” for long, but right now this is about as good as it gets. If you have the necessary funds, I can definitely recommend both of these tablets. We'll likely see additional competition in the coming months, but until we get the next generation SoCs I don't think you'll see anything clearly faster/better than the Galaxy Pro line. Now if they could just reduce the price a bit, it would be a much easier recommendation.
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jwh7 - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
"I really can’t find any other direct competition in the Android market for the Samsung Pro 8.4 right now, so it's an easy recommendation."LG G-Pad 8.3 !? ...and now easily found for $250 or less; or there's the Play Store edition with newer Android version. (Yes, I have the former and I'm using it now, so perhaps I am biased :-) Sure it is 'only' a 1920x1200 display in comparison to the Samsung 8.4, but I really like the LG added features versus what I've read in reviews of its Play Store edition. I only wish / hope the LG version updates to Android 4.3, or newer, eventually. I don't think I would like the Samsung's home/back button setup, either. I will close only by saying I like the LG enough that I have no desire to root/ROM it, which is saying something.
JarredWalton - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
Snapdragon 600 and 1080p means I don't really consider it "direct competition". Sorry if that wasn't clear. It's more like an alternative in the lines of the Nexus 7 -- different, good, but not all the same features.realtanu - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
No one will sell me a Samsung 10.1 Note 2014 - This is why Apple wins. I want a Samsung 10.1 Note 2014 with Cellular. I drive to BestBuy and they try to sell me one with WiFi, no Cellular - but they have Apple. I go drive to a Verizon Store in NJ and they can order and ship one for me, but easier to order online. I order online at Verizon Wireless (since they are only ones offering cellular) and I fill out extra forms because my delivery address is different than home address. They say not a problem and call a 800 # after placing order to confirm shipping address; and I get an email saying the same. I call 800 #, am on hold for 20 minutes, get to a representative, on hold for another 5 minutes and they tell me they automatically cancelled my order and I cannot get it shipped to a different address online. I call a NY Verizon Wireless store and ask them whether they have it stock; they try to sell me an old 10.1 and then after clarifying, they tell me they don't have any in stock in NY and to go to NJ or order online.After ~5 hours wasted trying to buy a Samsung 10.1 Note 2014, I think I will just order an iPad Air from Apple.com with AT&T data plan - and it looks like I can order with Amazon Prime too. I really didn't want to buy into the Apple ecosystem, but I'm now seeing the value of it... just being able to buy the product easily is eye-opening versus my Samsung/Verizon experience.
hughlle - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
Funny, because i can go straight onto Verizon and order one straight away. I don't find much merit in your argument ;)realtanu - Monday, March 24, 2014 - link
Wasn't making an argument as much as reporting the news ;)I order online at Verizon Wireless (since they are only ones offering cellular) and I fill out extra forms because my delivery address is different than home address. They say not a problem and call a 800 # after placing order to confirm shipping address; and I get an email saying the same. I call 800 #, am on hold for 20 minutes, get to a representative, on hold for another 5 minutes and they tell me they automatically cancelled my order and I cannot get it shipped to a different address online.
996_gt2 - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
The disk performance benchmarks are not completely correct for the Dell Venue 8 Pro.The disk performance numbers for the Venue 8 Pro are roughly doubled after the newest A05 BIOS, which enables eMMC HS200 by default. (HS200 could be enabled in earlier BIOSes, but was not enabled by default).
So the Venue 8 Pro should really be at the top of all of these charts, instead of at the bottom.
With the A05 BIOS, I get the following results in Crystaldiskmark:
Sequential read: 175.2 MB/s
Sequential write: 76.67 MB/s
4k read: 15.04 MB/s
4k write: 14.07 MB/s
JarredWalton - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
I'll see about retesting before posting any final review. Thanks.themossie - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
I assume these benchmarks are for the Venue 8 (not the Venue 8 Pro). Is the BIOS update for the non-pro as well?996_gt2 - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
@themossie:Good call. I read the charts and was thought that the results looked very low for the Venue 8 Pro, and then I did some searching and saw that there was also a "non-Pro" Android based Venue 8. If the #s reported in the charts are for the Android Venue 8, then they could very well be correct. Rather confusing naming on Dell's part.
JarredWalton - Sunday, March 23, 2014 - link
Okay, that explains things -- I was wondering where I would get a BIOS update for the Venue 8. LOL. So it seems the Venue 8 has rather slow NAND compared to the Venue 8 Pro.