Hands On: A Week with the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro

Samsung has finally unleashed its one-of-a-kind, extra-large tablet to shake up the tech market –the Samsung Galaxy Pro. Exhibited at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES)

held in Las Vegas, it features a whopping 12.2-inch screen, the latest version of Android mobile operating system, and full cellular functionality. Available in several variants (WiFi only, LTE, and Non-LTE models), we’re lucky to have tested the tab as our daily driver for a week, before it officially launches on the market by the end of Q1. If you want to learn more about it, we’ll give you a detailed hands-on review of the product below.

A Real Pro In This Department

One thing that we like about the Note Pro is its premium specs that are geared towards our leisure and business needs. It’s the first tablet on the market to offer full phone functionality, that enable you to use it as your daily communication device; apart from a tablet’s usual purpose — which is for media consumption (videos, gaming, and browsing the internet).

It offers a Micro-SIM slot to let you unlock its cellular features; including its full support for global bands of LTE. Just to give you an overview; the first handset to offer multiple bands of LTE is the latest iPhone models from Apple (5c and 5s), which based on the specs listed on O2, is compatible with the following LTE bands: 800, 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, and 2600 MHz.

Using it for sending SMS is pretty similar to the experience when sending an email using a standard tablet. But, since it comes with an S-Pen stylus, you can try inputting texts using its handwriting recognition feature. We also tested its phone feature, and we didn’t encounter any issues with it, besides its size. You might want to consider using a headset instead.

Design

Similar to the Note 10.1 2014 edition and the Galaxy Note 3, its rear side is dressed with faux leather that’s stitched dramatically around its sides. The framing of the slate is made up of an aluminum-like plastic that closely resembles shiny silver. The bezel on its front side is a deep black-colored plastic shell. The device isn’t intended to be held on portrait mode, since its home button and soft keys are placed in its landscape bezel. It’s not a bulky device either — but it’s fairly heavy with a weight of 735 grams.

Display

Since the screen is gigantic, surpassing the previous 10-inch limit for a tablet, we thought at first that the resolution of its display will just be stretched to fit 12.2 inches. But, we actually find it very impressive. At 2560 x 1600 pixels (247 ppi), you get a sharper screen, crisp-looking images, and no visible pixilation when used with a normal distance. It’s also sharper than most of the standard laptops on the market.

OS and Unique Features

It’s one of the earliest products to debut with the latest version of Android KitKat v 4.4. The Touch Wiz interface of Samsung isn’t included here. Instead, they’ve implemented a new Android skin called the Magazine UX.

The app icons are accessible after tapping the menu button, but, the default interface for the home screen is actually similar to the Windows 8.1’s Live Tiles. The Korean manufacturer segmented the Android widgets to make it look like tiles, displaying real-time notifications when connected to the Internet. Its Android keyboard has also been redesigned like a standard laptop keyboard — with a spacious room for numbers and the inclusion of Ctrl, Shift, and Tab.

Camera

For its photographic ability, it comes with an 8-megapixel real sensor with an LED flash. As expected, it delivers great and detailed snapshots even in low-light scene. It also captures full 1080p HD videos. Its front-facing camera, on the other hand, is 2-megapixels and it can also shoot 1080 clips; perfect for HD video conferencing.

Other Specs

· A robust 9500 mAh Li-lon battery

· 32/64 GB internal storage with Micro-SD card support up to 64 GB

· 3GB of RAM

· LTE Version – Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 clocked at 2.3GHz

Verdict

We love this tablet because of its supreme hardware and software features. It’s also the biggest one on the market. But, it’ll be expensive for sure when it retails globally. What are your opinions regarding the product? For more features on consumer products, visit the review section of our blog.

About the Author

As a tech-savvy chick, Lily Sommers spends most of her free time reading about the latest technological innovations on the market. She also joins gadget launches and consumer electronics demos. If you share the same passion, you can hang out with her on Google + and Twitter.