• The keyboard is thin, with a quality trackpad and very pleasant typing experience
  • The TabPro S' single USB-C port
  • In tablet mode, it's just 6.3 mm (0.25-inch) thick
  • The tablet feels incredibly light in hand, though that's partially because it has a plastic back
The highlight of Samsung's CES 2016 announcements was a 2-in-1 that combines the light and thin form factor of Samsung's Galaxy Tab series with software that allows it to be a legit work machine. The Galaxy TabPro S looks like a promising Surface Pro 4 rival – and one less reason to bother with an iPad Pro.
The most important feature of the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S is that it runs Windows 10. Take the exact same form factor and put Android on it, and you have an illogical mobile device that won't make much sense as a work machine (see Pixel C or, the iOS equivalent, iPad Pro). But Samsung wisely switched to the only current OS that fits the 2-in-1 form factor in this new attempt to revive the Galaxy Tab lineup.
Based on our CES hands-on, we can't wait to get our hands on a TabPro S review unit and run it through the paces. It's incredibly light and thin: at just 6.3 mm (0.25-inch) thick it's 26 percent thinner than the Surface Pro 4 and 9 percent thinner than the iPad Pro. It's also 35 percent lighter than even the Core M3 Surface Pro 4 and 3 percent lighter than the iPad Pro. In hand, that translates to an absurdly light and thin experience, one we aren't used to seeing in Windows 2-in-1s.
That isn't a completely fair comparison, though, as both the Surface and iPad are all-metal tablets. The TabPro S has a metal frame, but a matte plastic back.
There were several Windows laptops with AMOLED screens shown off at CES, but Samsung says the TabPro S will be the first to market. It's a richer-colored, deeper-blacked view into Windows 10 – and it looks pretty sharp, at 216 PPI.
Unlike the latest Surfaces, the TabPro S will only be sold with a 6th-gen Core M processor, so those wanting the power of a Core i5/7 series chip will want to look elsewhere. The device was fluid and responsive in our demo, but you can't do anything remotely taxing in these quick hands-ons. The Core M chip does mean, however, that the tablet is fanless.
Unlike the Surface and iPad, the Galaxy TabPro S will ship with its keyboard accessory in the box (though if total pricing comes out to about even, then that will be mostly a moot point). It doesn't have a kickstand like the Surface, so there are only a few angles you can prop it up in – it's similar to the official Apple keyboard cover for the iPad Pro.
A Samsung rep said the company is also going to have a Bluetooth pen to sell separately for the device, but there wasn't anything to show off this week.
One of the biggest reasons to hesitate about the TabPro S is that, like Apple's 12-inch MacBook, it only has a single USB Type C port:
There are no other USB connectors and there's no separate charging port; only a promise that you'll be able to buy an adapter separately to expand its port selection. That somewhat fits with the device's Core M/light and thin nature, but it would have been nice to see at least a second USB-C port.
There's a lot to get excited about here, and a few things to hesitate about, but we won't have the full perspective until Samsung announces pricing. Or, for that matter, a release date: all we know now is "sometime in 2016." Based on Samsung's history, we're guessing it will fall somewhere in the iPad Pro's price range (Samsung's recent high-end tablets have been priced just like the latest iPads). But it could always be different this time.
Product page: Samsung