Tablets are increasingly popular in the workplace , and there's a huge
prize waiting for the manufacturer that comes up with a device that can
entirely replace your notebook workaday . That prize is not won by
Samsung with its Android - based Galaxy 12.2 NotePRO , but with its
business - Focussed tweaks this tablet and pen input delivers a
compelling glimpse of a future that could be built around a tablet -
based working .
The other notable point is that 750g is a lot of weight to hold - a tablet of this size would need to be cradled in the crook of an arm rather than held in one hand . The alternative use case , of course , is to use it on desk , in a dock of some sort - although none is supplied by Samsung .
Samsung has maintained its design convention of a physical home
button and two softkeys . These are located beneath the screen , when
held in landscape orientation . Unlike with smaller 7 - inch or 8 - inch
tablets , you have absolutely no chance of getting to these with a one -
handed use .
The same goes for the power and volume buttons , the which sit on the top edge : we can manage these on our Nexus 7 one - handed , but it's out of the question here . What all this boils down to is a tablet Whose usage modes will be very different from the norm .
Like other Galaxy Notes , the Galaxy 12.2 NotePRO has an S Pen stylus
. Samsung stylus - based input does better than any competitor , and at
this screen size the stylus is more usable than on any previous Note
device . It's a good way to interact with a screen that is , after all ,
only slightly smaller than an A4 sheet of paper .
The 2,560 - by- 1 0.600 - pixel display is superb . It does not quite match the iPad Air in either pixel density ( 247ppi versus 264ppi ) or clarity , but is impressive nonetheless . Text rendering is stunningly bright , clear and sharp - it's much better for everyday document reading , editing and creation than many tablets we've used . The screen uses TFT LCD rather than AMOLED technology , and that's a wise choice : the flatter appearance of the LCD screen suits this well . Viewing angles are excellent , too .
Wi - Fi support includes the latest dual - band ( 2.4/5GHz ) 802.11ac , the which is still something of a rarity on tablets . There's a Micro - USB connector that supports MHL , so you can send the screen 's contents to any HDMI - compliant monitor . Samsung has opted for the Micro - USB 3.0 , the which caters for fast transfer of data but has a longer connector than usual . You can charge the Galaxy 12.2 NotePRO via a standard Micro - USB cable too - charge times are slow through the Micro - USB 3.0 cable and very slow via a standard Micro - USB .
A MicroSD card slot , protected by a covered flap , can be used to augment the 32GB of internal storage , of the which 25.6GB is free . There are two cameras - 8 megapixels on the back , 2 megapixels on the front - plus an infrared port on the top edge .
The Galaxy NotePRO lends itself well to 12.2 delivering presentations to groups thanks to its large screen . However , the sound quality through the stereo speakers is disappointing , with way too much treble and not enough bass . There's nothing wrong with the volume , the which goes loud enough to satisfy a group in a typical - size meeting room .
The Galaxy 12.2 is among NotePRO A relatively small group of devices to run Android 4.4 ( KitKat ) . As is Samsung 's way, Android has been seriously tweaked using the TouchWiz interface . There's something of a Windows 8 look to some parts of the UI . Samsung 's stock motion - and gesture-based features such as covering the screen with your palm to mute the sound are here . There are also features such as SmartScreen Smart Stay - keeping the screen on while you're looking at it Regardless of the timeout settings .
Visual and user interface tweaks include a pair of home screens that can contain a news feeds , diary information , app shortcuts and more . The concept is not unlike HTC 's BlinkFeed and , irritatingly , just like BlinkFeed , you can not disable it . The closest you can get is to remove all components bar one .
For a start , there 's Clearly a lot less storage capacity here than you would find on a notebook . For some people this , and the absence of on-board Ethernet and a dedicated docking station , will be a deal - breaker . A full - sized USB port would be appreciated , making it easy to use sticks and external hard drives even if Necessary . Samsung could also have a secondary Provided Home button on one of the edges to allow for more flexible use . And the speakers definitely need attention .
The bottom line is that , though compelling the Galaxy 12.2 is NotePRO , £ 649 ( inc. VAT ; £ 541 ex . VAT ) will buy you a well-appointed laptop that offers more capability for the average mobile professional .
Design Review
The Samsung Galaxy 12.2 NotePRO is one large tablet , sporting a 12.2 - inch screen ( the clue is in the name ) . When you add in the screen bezel , this device has a footprint not dissimilar to that of an average ultrabook . But this is no notebook : it's thin and , although heavy for a tablet , considerably lighter than any any 12 - inch laptop , measuring 204mm by 295.6mm by 7.95mm and weighing 750g .The other notable point is that 750g is a lot of weight to hold - a tablet of this size would need to be cradled in the crook of an arm rather than held in one hand . The alternative use case , of course , is to use it on desk , in a dock of some sort - although none is supplied by Samsung .
The same goes for the power and volume buttons , the which sit on the top edge : we can manage these on our Nexus 7 one - handed , but it's out of the question here . What all this boils down to is a tablet Whose usage modes will be very different from the norm .
The 2,560 - by- 1 0.600 - pixel display is superb . It does not quite match the iPad Air in either pixel density ( 247ppi versus 264ppi ) or clarity , but is impressive nonetheless . Text rendering is stunningly bright , clear and sharp - it's much better for everyday document reading , editing and creation than many tablets we've used . The screen uses TFT LCD rather than AMOLED technology , and that's a wise choice : the flatter appearance of the LCD screen suits this well . Viewing angles are excellent , too .
Features
Samsung has given the Galaxy 12.2 NotePRO some state-of - the-art specifications , a 1.9GHz Samsung Exynos Notably Octa 5 processor supported by 3GB of RAM . That's eight cores working away to keep the device speeding along , and they deliver impressive performance . There's an LTE version of this tablet , the which runs on a quad - core Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC instead of 800 .Wi - Fi support includes the latest dual - band ( 2.4/5GHz ) 802.11ac , the which is still something of a rarity on tablets . There's a Micro - USB connector that supports MHL , so you can send the screen 's contents to any HDMI - compliant monitor . Samsung has opted for the Micro - USB 3.0 , the which caters for fast transfer of data but has a longer connector than usual . You can charge the Galaxy 12.2 NotePRO via a standard Micro - USB cable too - charge times are slow through the Micro - USB 3.0 cable and very slow via a standard Micro - USB .
A MicroSD card slot , protected by a covered flap , can be used to augment the 32GB of internal storage , of the which 25.6GB is free . There are two cameras - 8 megapixels on the back , 2 megapixels on the front - plus an infrared port on the top edge .
The Galaxy NotePRO lends itself well to 12.2 delivering presentations to groups thanks to its large screen . However , the sound quality through the stereo speakers is disappointing , with way too much treble and not enough bass . There's nothing wrong with the volume , the which goes loud enough to satisfy a group in a typical - size meeting room .
The Galaxy 12.2 is among NotePRO A relatively small group of devices to run Android 4.4 ( KitKat ) . As is Samsung 's way, Android has been seriously tweaked using the TouchWiz interface . There's something of a Windows 8 look to some parts of the UI . Samsung 's stock motion - and gesture-based features such as covering the screen with your palm to mute the sound are here . There are also features such as SmartScreen Smart Stay - keeping the screen on while you're looking at it Regardless of the timeout settings .
Visual and user interface tweaks include a pair of home screens that can contain a news feeds , diary information , app shortcuts and more . The concept is not unlike HTC 's BlinkFeed and , irritatingly , just like BlinkFeed , you can not disable it . The closest you can get is to remove all components bar one .
Conclusion
At the start of this review we said the Samsung Galaxy 12.2 NotePRO offers a glimpse of a future where the tablet - based working is the norm . It's certainly the closest we've seen to a tablet that could see us through a working day without recourse to a notebook . But there 's still a way to go .For a start , there 's Clearly a lot less storage capacity here than you would find on a notebook . For some people this , and the absence of on-board Ethernet and a dedicated docking station , will be a deal - breaker . A full - sized USB port would be appreciated , making it easy to use sticks and external hard drives even if Necessary . Samsung could also have a secondary Provided Home button on one of the edges to allow for more flexible use . And the speakers definitely need attention .
The bottom line is that , though compelling the Galaxy 12.2 is NotePRO , £ 649 ( inc. VAT ; £ 541 ex . VAT ) will buy you a well-appointed laptop that offers more capability for the average mobile professional .
Specification
Design
|
|
Device type
|
Tablet
|
OS
|
Android(4.4)
|
Dimensions
|
11.64 x 8.03 x 0.31 inches (295.6 x 204 x
7.95 mm)
|
Weight
|
|
Hardware
|
|
Processor
|
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974
|
Graphics
processor
|
Quad core,
2300 MHz, Krait 400
|
System
memory
|
Adreno 330
|
Built-in
storage
|
3072 MB RAM
|
Storage
expansion
|
microSD, microSDHC up to 64 GB
|
Display
|
|
Physical
size
|
12.2 inches
|
Resolution
|
2560 x 1600
pixels
|
Pixel
density
|
247 ppi
|
Technology
|
Super Clear
LCD
|
Colors
|
16 777 216
|
Touchscreen
|
Multi-touch
|
Features
|
Light sensor
|
Camera
|
|
Camera
|
8 megapixels, LED, Autofocus, Exposure
compensation, ISO control, White balance presets, Digital zoom, Geo tagging
|
Camcorder
|
1920x1080
(1080p HD) (30 fps)
|
Front-facing
camera
|
2 megapixels
|
Battery
|
|
Talk time
|
|
Talk time 3G
|
|
Stand-by
time (3G)
|
|
Capacity
|
9500 mAh
|
Technology
|
|
GSM
|
850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
|
UMTS
|
850, 900,
1900, 2100 MHz
|
Data
|
LTE Cat4 Downlink 150 Mbit/s, LTE, HSDPA+
(4G) 21.1 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS
|
Multiple SIM
Card
|
-
|
Positioning
|
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
|
Navigation
|
Turn-by-turn
navigation
|
Sensor
|
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass
|
Connectify
|
|
Bluetooth
|
4.0
|
Wi-Fi
|
802.11 a, b,
g, n, n 5GHz, ac
|
USB
|
USB 3.0
|
Other
|
Tethering,
Computer sync, OTA sync, Infrared
|
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