Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 review: The Professional

Introduction

With the tablet market reaching near-saturation, another slab that's just as thin, light and powerful as the rest of them will hardly bring crowds to the stores. Every maker is desperate to get some breathing space but few dare look for a space to call their own.

Quick to take a gamble, Samsung is trying a new size again but this time around it's not what you would call a vacant niche that the Koreans are to develop. The Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 has the scene set for its arrival by the LG G Pad 8.3 but it's actually two generations of iPad minis that the new Samsung slate is keener to meet.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 official pictures

Is there a bit of arrogance in that? Well, there may be but the new Pro lineup means business like never before. It isn't just a hardware upgrade hiding behind the same old Android/TouchWIz combo either. The Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 is vying to put Samsung's compact range of tablets back on the map - done playing second fiddle to the Notes.

Samsung has completely redesigned the TouchWiz user interface with a brand new homescreen and notification area, a new way of handling widgets, advanced multi-tasking with multi-view and floating apps. There's even a new business-grade office package. And although there is still Android KitKat below the magazine-like UI, the whole thing feels fresh and new.

Key features

Optional 3G/LTE modem with quad-band GSM, tri-band HSPA and hexa-band LTE-A connectivity
8.4" 16M-color Super Clear PLS capacitive touchscreen of 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution
Quad-core Krait 400 processor at 2.3GHz, Adreno 330 GPU; Snapdragon 800 chipset
2GB of RAM
Android OS v4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz UI
One of a kind split-screen multitasking and pop-up mini apps
16/32 GB of built-in memory
8 MP autofocus camera, 3264x2448 pixels, geo-tagging
1080p video recording @30fps
2MP front-facing camera; 1080p videos
Side-mounted stereo speakers
Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
Stereo Bluetooth v4.0
HDMI TV-out (adapter required), USB host (adapter required), Ethernet (adapter required)
microSD card slot
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Infrared port
GPS with A-GPS support; GLONASS, digital compass
Accelerometer, three-axis Gyroscope sensor
Professional office document editor suite preinstalled
microUSB port with MHL and USB On-The-Go support
4,800mAh Li-Ion battery

Main disadvantages

Expensive
No NFC
Relatively poor audio and video codec support (no DivX and AC3 audio)

There is little the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 fails to provide, and it will make up for it with great software and usability skills. There are so many new features and improvements over the old version of TouchWiz that we can't wait to show you everything.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 live pictures