Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 Rom

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro review — Samsung Milky way Note Pro review

Smartphones have been getting bigger for a while now, but now it'southward fourth dimension for the tablets to get the size boost. Check out our Samsung Milky way Note Pro 12.2 review

It'south off-white to say that Samsung hasn't quite managed to mirror the success of its Galaxy line of smartphones with its tablet siblings. Fifty-fifty though they share the aforementioned proper name, by and large similar design and even the familiar TouchWiz UI, they but haven't seemed to capture people'south imagination equally much as devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Samsung Galaxy Note three.

Just, that hasn't stopped the Korean giants from constantly releasing new tabs into the wild, hoping to finally put up a slate worthy of competing with the likes of the iPad Air and the Sony Xperia Tablet Z. While both of those tablets boast 10-inch displays, the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 packs a, yous guessed it, 12.2-inch screen, giving it a nice footling unique selling point over those illustrious rivals.

Just can the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 dethrone the king and take the tablet crown? Read on to find out.

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.two: Size and build

At first glance, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were staring downwards at any number of Samsung'due south previous tablets. The curved sides, familiar domicile button flanked past a capacitive back and multitasking key and that slightly shiny bezel are are design traits Samsung has utilised on more than one occasion.

Familiarity sticks around besides when y'all wait at the sides, which are covered in a metal-look, yet plastic rim that matches the Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note and Samsung Milky way Note 10.1 (2014 edition).

Plough the device over and Samsung'due south trademark leather-styled plastic, complete with fake stitching that covers the entirety of the back is present. It has quite a squeamish textured feel, making the whole tablet grippy and condom in the hand, but it picks upwards oily rest and scuff marks easily.

We were constantly wiping down the back, ridding it of smudges. However, the marked comeback over the slimy, inexpensive plastic Samsung used to apply on its devices is instantly appreciated. Even though we wish it would practise abroad with the skeuomorphism on the stitching, it isn't quite equally obvious as information technology was on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

If you are contemplating making this 12-inch display toting machine your tablet of choice, you're probably already aware that it is rather on the big side. That screen stretches virtually of the way over the forepart, with bezels being kept to minimum, which is always nice, but but the obvious infinite needed to fit a 12.ii inches arrive slightly unwieldy.

Even though it weighs 750g, over 250g more than than the iPad Air (469g) and Sony Xperia Tablet Z (495g) it doesn't really feel that heavy, in fact it really does need the extra weight to make information technology usable, otherwise we can run across it feeling to flimsy.

Dimensions wise, the Samsung Galaxy Annotation Pro 12.2 comes in at 204 x 295.half-dozen x seven.95mm, for a bit of comparison, the iPad Air measures 169 x 240 10 7.5mm.

Due to the size, it's probably more suited to leaving at dwelling house and browsing the web/watching videos, or keeping in the office. That is unless you're looking to completely supercede your laptop.

Information technology does experience a little more grown up than the Tab series, but there's still that lack of smoothen, a lack of finish that would put it on par with the iPad Air and the Sony Xperia Tablet Z. Samsung is slowly getting there, just there is all the same a lot more that needs to be done.

Samsung Galaxy Annotation Pro 12.2: Features

Aside from the larger display, the other large talking point surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.two is the brand-new Mag UX.

Call back a cross between the app Flipboard (which Magazine uses throughout) and Blinkfeed on the HTC 1 and that but most sums information technology upwards. This new UI has acquired quite a stir since its announcement at CES 2014, with Google patently not best pleased about quite how much alter Samsung is putting into the Android Os.

So, does the Mag UX live up to the hype? In a word, no. Actually, we were a fleck disappointed with the outcome. Acting as another domicile screen panel, Mag can be accessed by a left swipe on the beginning screen or set to always be your default page, so whenever you hit the home button, you'll be taken directly to it.

The kickoff affair you'll notice is how much it resembles the tiled interface from Windows 8, from the square widgets to the cake colours. In that location are a few different widgets to choose from, like email, YouTube and weather, along with some new sources and a few social networks, Twitter for example.

You can fit a few different tiles on each screen, resizing them as to go. It does look quite pretty and choosing which $.25 you lot want to see is quick and intuitive, it'southward just the bodily functionality that leaves a lot to be desired.

Outset off, you're restricted to Samsung's ain apps, and so the electronic mail app isn't Gmail, simply Samsung's version. The same goes with YouTube and Calendar, they're simply proprietary apps that can't be swapped in and out. This is annoying, as Samsung's ain apps are no where near as stiff or polished as Google'south offerings, then it only puts you off using them altogether.

You as well can't add in your own news source or download whatsoever extra apps for more functionality; yous're stuck with what Samsung gives you.

Some other headline characteristic of the slate is its multitasking capabilities and we have to say this is one area where it excels. Thanks to the 12.two-inch brandish, you lot can have up-to four apps open up simultaneously. So, you could have Chrome open up in one window, your email in some other and the gallery in another - handy, eh?

You can manually cull how much real estate each app takes up and thanks to the 3GB RAM, all this is shine and pretty darn quick. Information technology really improves productivity and brings the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro much more in line with laptops and Microsoft'due south Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2.

Sadly, not all apps work in this manner, though all of Samsung's app do and most of Google's do.

As this is a Note tablet, it comes packing the fantastic S-Pen, a Wacom-based stylus thatís incredibly useful and accurate. From jotting down notes in meetings, to doodling and annotating PDFs, we establish ourselves instinctively reaching for the S-Pen every time we turned on the tab. Information technology does experience a little bit flimsy, only not and then much that nosotros felt it was going to snap.

Samsung's Galaxy Note Pro 12.2-inch comes running the latest version of Android, that's 4.4 Kit Kat, though it's all the same covered in the TouchWiz UI that is really starting to show its historic period. The colourful icons are kid-like, menus are blocky and the notification tray is a complete mess - packed with far too many toggles and shortcuts to features we'll never use.

Android, in its simplest, stock course is such a good-looking Bone that it is such a shame Samsung just doesn't seem see this.

Y'all'll also notice Bluetooth, a Micro-SD slot for retentiveness expansion and a USB 3.0 port, for charging and data syncing.

Samsung Galaxy Notation Pro 12.2: Screen

Clearly the headline feature, the 12.2-inch, TFT LCD display boasts a resolution of ii,560 x1,600 pixels and for the almost part really impresses. As soon as you turn the tablet on for the offset fourth dimension and are met with Samsung's oil painting style wallpaper you'll notice the fantastic depth of colour that the tablet gives off. It's bright, vivid and punchy, with deep blacks and accurate reproduction of skin tones.

Text is well-baked and nosotros have to say that this is one of the best ways to enjoy video, thanks to the large size it's only so much more immersive than a regular 10-inch tablet.

Pixels are not completely invisible, get up close and they're like shooting fish in a barrel to choice out, simply really when yous're looking from a regular distance the idea of pixels wonít cross your mind.

It seems pretty clear that Samsung has designed the Galaxy Annotation Pro 12.2 to exist used in landscape orientation, and merely in landscape orientation. Turn it ninety degrees and it becomes nearly useless. We tried reading a volume similar this and after nigh 30 seconds gave upward and turned it round.

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2: Camera

As tablets grow larger, the need for a rear camera becomes even less obvious. There is no reason to accept snaps with a 12.ii-inch device; it'south like replacing your compact cam with a laptop.

Only, Samsung has included one and it simply seems fair to test information technology out. And then here goes. The 8-meg snapper on the rear is, well, fine. It takes pictures that look good, with decent saturation and particular, but nothing more. At that place'southward an LED placed beneath the lens, merely that puts an overly bright glare on the pics and it's best avoided.

The front-facing 2MP camera is much more useful and it makes for nicely detailed Hangouts and Skype chats.

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2: Performance

While Apple likes to proceed full details nigh the internals of new devices fairly underground, Samsung is quite the opposite, liking nothing more than spouting total lists about the vast assortment of powerful specs it packs into its devices. The Samsung Galaxy Annotation Pro 12.2 is no dissimilar.

Nestled under that imitation leather is an octa-core 1.9 GHz processor, paired with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a bevy of sensors. We've now got to the stage where tablets are packing specs that wouldn't look out of identify on a laptop and that gives fantastic performance. Android iv.4 Kit Kat zips along, with smooth scrolling, fast load times and virtually no lag. Fifty-fifty Samsung's normally plodding TouchWiz UI performs well.

Samsung Galaxy Annotation Pro 12.ii: Battery

Samsung says the bombardment lasts for 13 hours of regular use and that certainly fits with our experience. There's certainly plenty of room for a big battery in that chassis and the 9,500 mAh version here is plenty.

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.two: Verdict

In just the same mode that 6-inch phablet smartphones are not going to be for everyone, 12.ii-inch tablets are going to interest a very pocket-sized corporeality of buyers. But, that doesn't mean there isn't a infinite in the already crowded tablet market for something a bit different.

The Samsung Milky way NotePRO 12.2 is a tablet that serves a purpose, and everything it does, information technology does with relative ease. Information technology's super quick, stacked in the specs section and the display makes this the perfect device to gorge on a bit of Netflix on.

It simply seems that every time nosotros review a Samsung device we're left with same complaints - the over bearing Samsung TouchWiz UI and the less than impressive build quality. While the materials used in the Galaxy NotePRO 12.ii are slightly more than premium than we've seen on the Galaxy Tab lines of previous years, they still pale in comparison to the sleek, aluminium build of the iPad Air.

In that location's i affair nosotros haven't yet mentioned, and that's the price. This big tablet will set you back £649 for the 32GB model, that'south around the same cost as an iPad Air with 128GB storage, a 128GB iPad Mini Retina display with LTE or 2 Sony Xperia Tablet Zs.

That's a whopping price, specially for a production that doesn't tick every box. At this price, we find it hard to recommend the Samsung Galaxy NotePRO 12.2, unless you really tin can't do without that extra couple of inches.

While Samsung's tablet line is slowly improving, there is still much room for improvement, maybe one day the Korean giants will get information technology right. That day only isn't today.

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 cost: £649 (32GB)

Samsung Milky way Notation Pro 12.ii release appointment: Out now