CES 2016: Hands On With Samsung’s Galaxy TabPro S, A Surface In Surface Clothing

Since the release of the Surface Pro 3, it seems like nearly every vendor is now chasing down that form-factor including Apple. Samsung is no different and has announced the TabPro S which mimics the Surface Pro style and features which isn’t exactly a bad thing.

The TabPro ships with Intel’s Skylake Core M chips clocked at 2.2ghz with 4GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of storage but the hallmark feature is the 12in Super AMOLED display which is gorgeous. With a resolution of 2560×1440 and colors that are lifelike and blacks that are so deep, you feel like you are in the Mariana trench.

The ProTab is super thin, at 6.3mm, it undercuts the Surface Pro 4 and the iPad Pro and charges via USB Type-C. Samsung says the 5200 mAH battery should be good for ‘all day’ use, they didn’t specify the exact hour figure, which is quite good considering that this tablet only weighs 1.53 lbs – without the keyboard attached.

There are front and rear cameras, the same 5 MP sensor (no Windows Hello camera sensor) and there will be versions with LTE chips, if that’s your thing.

I will say that the keyboard attachment does come up short compared to Microsoft’s Type cover. While it does a neat job of folding up to protect the display and supporting the device when on a flat surface, the key travel is a bit short and the palm rest is not very large.

It’s quite clear that this is Samsung’s take on the Surface Pro 3/4 and while some may scream “copycats” it doesnt really matter. It gives the consumer another good choice for a 2-1 which is always a good thing.

Even if it does copy the Surface, this is a good machine, the display is gorgeous, it comes in black or white, and will turn a few heads once Samsung finally releases it, sometime during February.