Differences between the Galaxy Tab S and the Tab Pro: Which one to choose?

In less than a year Samsung has launched tablets that are very similar but with some differences

Samsung is one of the brands with the most tablet models on the market. It has almost one tablet for each of the segments in which it can compete. It has launched small, medium and large sizes, and from there to choose from.

The fact is that in less than a year has decided to renew the tablet that would compete in the medium sizes (which for others would be the big one since they have not yet launched tablets over 10 inches) of high range with a somewhat improved model: Galaxy Tab S and Tab Pro.

Both are available on the market, so it can be confusing, because if someone wants to buy one of them, may look like the same . So let’s see what the differences are between them.

They look the same but they are not

The first thing you notice is the physical appearance of the tablet, and both look the same. One resource to help us differentiate them is the back : the Tab S has a dotted back like the Galaxy S5, while the Galaxy Tab Pro imitates skin like Note 3.

Another feature of the design that can differentiate them is that the Galaxy Tab S has a slightly different main button than the Tab Pro, since has a built-in fingerprint reader .

A display that lives up to expectations

Just 0.4 inches is what differentiates the screen of the Galaxy Tab S from that of the Tab Pro, a difference in size that is negligible and almost negligible.

What is also not appreciable by the human eye but which we can see in the technical specifications is the difference in the quality of the screen. We don’t know why but Samsung has mounted on its latest tablet a slightly worse screen than its predecessor: the panel of the Galaxy Tab S is a Super AMOLED with a density of 288 pixels per line, and its predecessor, the Tab Pro has a Quad HD screen with 299 pixels per line.

A little bigger but thinner

This is one of the aspects that may attract the most attention, since the Korean brand has launched a slightly larger but noticeably thinner tablet . However, the two tablets are virtually identical in weight, since there is only a difference of 4 grams between them.

Not that there is much difference between the dimensions of the Galaxy Tab S (24.73×17.73 cm) and the Tab Pro (24.31×17.14 cm), but you can see that the former is quite thin, exactly 6.6 millimetres compared to 7.3 millimetres for the latter.

Being newer should have some advantage

It is clear that technology is advancing at a frenetic pace, and keeping up with it almost becomes a mission impossible. That is why, logically, new devices tend to have better technical characteristics than previous ones.

Something like this has happened to the Galaxy Tab S, which is the latest model of tablet that Samsung has launched. Although it is equipped with the same processor as the Galaxy Tab Pro, a 1.9 GHz Exynos 5 Octa 5420, it already enjoys more RAM, as it has been equipped with a 3Gb processor as opposed to the 2Gb processor used in the Tab Pro. In addition, comes with version 4.4.2 of the Android operating system and there is no need to upgrade it.

Internal memory with the possibility to increase it externally

Samsung wanted both tablets to have the same internal storage capacity, so both have 32Gb . What will make them different is the capacity of the external memory cards we can insert.

The Galaxy Tab Pro is compatible with microSD memory cards up to 64Gb, and the Galaxy Tab S has already been upgraded to read microSD memory up to 128Gb .

Camera pixels are maintained but improvements are added

At first glance the cameras of the two tablets look the same; both have 8 megapixels in the main camera and 2 megapixels in the secondary one. What happens is that the Korean brand has introduced some improvements in the camera of the Galaxy Tab S.

In addition to the stabilizer and the face and smile detection, Samsung has added the possibility to take the picture with both cameras at the same time, as you can do with the Galaxy S4, and to be able to take panoramic pictures with the main camera.

Battery life has not yet been independently tested

We are used to having an analysis company measure, from time to time, independently of the brand, how long the battery of the devices actually lasts. Well in a certified way it is not really known how long the batteries of both tablets can last.

You have to be guided by the manufacturer’s markings and the milliamps they have, since it is assumed that if you have more, the battery will last longer. In this aspect, taking into account the technical specifications of both, it is assumed that the battery of the Galaxy Tab Pro should last longer than the one of the Galaxy Tab S , since the first one has 8220 mAh against 7900 mAh of the second one.

Galaxy Tab S or Galaxy Tab Pro… Which do I get?

As we can see, there are several details that differentiate both of them, but neither makes them too different to automatically discard the older model. It is clear that the Galaxy Tab S is somewhat better than the Galaxy Tab Pro, as it is a more recent tablet. But the Tab Pro doesn’t have to be embarrassed either, as it has better screen quality, for example.

What you can do is decide on the price , as the Galaxy Tab Pro will be cheaper than the Tab S just because it is an older model. So it’s up to you to decide if the price difference between the two is worth betting on one or the other