Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Review

The Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 runs on Android 4.4 aka KitKat along with Samsung’s TouchWiz customizations. Out of the box, the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 has two default home screens with the ability to add two additional screens for a total of four. If you swipe your finger in either direction beyond the Home screens, you’ll open the Magazine Home screen which is designed to give you access to the apps and feeds you use most. An additional swipe will reveal the second Magazine Home screen which is also customizable.

Larger tablets, especially those with a high-resolution display such as the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 are well equipped to handle more than one application at the same time and still provide a useful view of both apps. Samsung recognizes this and has included Multi Window and pop-up view functionality with the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1. With Multi Window, you can use two applications at the same time. To open the Multi Window tray, swipe the screen from the right edge of the tablet or press and hold the back key.

When the Multi Window tray is open, you can tap an app to open it in a pop-up window. You can have up to three pop-up applications open at a time. Alternatively, you can also drag the app to the main window and drag another app to the left or right half of the screen, giving you two open apps in a split-screen view. Not all apps support Multi-Window, but many of the most used tablet apps are compatible including Contacts, e-Meeting, email, Gallery, Internet, Music, My Files, S Finder, Video, Chrome, Gmail, Hangouts, Maps, and YouTube.

In addition to multitasking capabilities, Samsung includes a number of business-friendly features with the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 including e-Meeting, SideSync, KNOX, and Remote PC. With e-Meeting, you’ll be able to share your screen with coworkers, provided they have a mobile device that also has e-Meeting installed.

A link to download SideSync 3.0 and KNOX can be found in the Samsung folder of the Apps listing. After downloading and installing SideSync 3.0, you can use this application to share screens, windows and data with other connected devices. This app also makes it possible for you to use the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 as an extra monitor and control it with your PC's mouse and keyboard. As you may recall from other Samsung devices, KNOX is Samsung’s security feature that lets you create a KNOX container which can secure business data and keep it separate from personal data.

Using Remote PC, you’ll be able to remotely access and control your computer using the Internet. You’ll need a Samsung account to use this service. Once we installed the Remote PC app on a PC, we had no problem connecting to the PC and controlling it using the tablet. This functionality is particularly helpful if you need to transfer files from your PC to your tablet and want to do so wirelessly or if you want to display a file or application from your PC that wouldn’t otherwise be compatible with your tablet. You can also turn off the PC using Remote PC.

Other preloaded applications and functionality include Samsung's WatchON, multi user mode with different profiles, Hancom Office Viewer, WebEx, wireless printing capabilities, and an optional keyboard dock. Samsung is also offering Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 owners a $25 Google Play credit, three months of Hulu Plus, 50GB of Dropbox space,  1 year of GoGo In-Flight internet access, and lots more through its Galaxy Perks program. There are some restrictions to these offerings however. For example, you must be a new customer to qualify for the Hulu Plus offer. Similar criteria apply to other perks as well.

During our time with the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1, we noticed occasional stutters and hesitations when opening or switching apps and using the tablet. As you’ll see in the pages ahead, the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 has the ability to perform very well and can earn some excellent benchmark scores, but during real-world use we experienced some hiccups.